TeamSpecBot: Level Editor: getting started page

2026-10-20T03:45:24Z

Level Editor: getting started page

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This page gets you from opening the Level Editor for the first time to having a saved map you can work on. For a full build from an empty map to playing it, follow [[Level Editor/Workflows/Your first map|Your first map]] afterwards.

== First launch ==
When the editor opens you see an empty map: a floor grid in the 3D view, the toolbar along the top, the [[Level Editor/Panels/Scene tree|scene tree]] on the left and the tool and selection properties on the right. The status line at the bottom says ''Ready - TeamSpec Map Editor''.

=== Tell the editor where TeamSpec is ===
Before you can run or playtest a map, the editor needs to know where the game is.
# Click '''Settings''' in the top bar.
# On the '''General''' tab, next to '''TeamSpec Executable Path''', click '''...''' and pick <code>TeamSpec.exe</code>.
# Click '''Close'''. The setting is kept for next time.

If you forget, the editor opens Settings for you the first time you press '''Run''' or '''Quick Playtest / Apply''', and the status line says ''Set the TeamSpec executable in Settings before launching.''

=== Optional: your TF2 install ===
Only needed if you [[Level Editor/Workflows/Importing Source maps|import Source maps]] and want their materials and models. The editor finds Team Fortress 2 through Steam on its own; if it cannot, set '''TF2 install''' in [[Level Editor/Settings|Settings]] to the folder called <code>Team Fortress 2</code>.

== Maps are folders ==
A map is saved as a '''folder''', not a single file. The folder holds the map's level, its gamemode scripts (<code>server.gd</code>, <code>client.gd</code>, <code>bot.gd</code>), its baked lighting and the custom assets you imported. You keep working on this folder; when the map is ready you '''export''' it to a <code>.tsmap</code> file that TeamSpec loads (see [[Level Editor/Workflows/Exporting and publishing|Exporting and publishing]]).

=== Saving for the first time ===
# Choose '''File > Save As...''' (or press {{Key|Ctrl}}+{{Key|S}} on a map that has never been saved).
# The dialog is titled ''Save Map As: Choose an Empty Folder''. Make a new folder for the map and choose it.
#* An empty folder is used as it is.
#* A folder that already holds a map asks ''That folder already holds a map'': '''Replace''' overwrites that map with this one.
#* A folder with other files in it is refused: ''holds other files. Choose an empty folder, or a map's folder to replace it.''
# The status line says ''Saved map to:'' and the folder.

From then on {{Key|Ctrl}}+{{Key|S}} or '''File > Save''' saves to the same folder, and '''auto-save''' saves for you a few seconds after each edit (3 seconds by default; see [[Level Editor/Settings|Settings]]). Auto-save only runs for a map that has been saved once.

=== Opening a map ===
'''File > Open...''' asks you to ''choose its folder''. Pick the map's folder (the one with <code>meta.json</code> in it). A folder that is not a map is refused with ''is not a map folder: it has no TeamSpec meta.json.''

=== New map ===
'''File > New''' clears the editor for a new, unsaved map.

{{Warning|File > New does not ask whether to save the open map first. Save it ({{Key|Ctrl}}+{{Key|S}}) before you choose New. Quitting does ask: ''You have unsaved changes. Do you want to save before quitting?'', with '''Save''', '''Discard''' and '''Cancel'''.}}

A new map comes with a working starter gamemode: walk into a zone named <code>CapturePoint</code> to score for your team, first to 10 wins. See [[Level Editor/Scripting|Scripting a gamemode]].

== Undo ==
Almost everything you do is one undo step: {{Key|Ctrl}}+{{Key|Z}} undoes, {{Key|Ctrl}}+{{Key|Y}} (or {{Key|Ctrl}}+{{Key|Shift}}+{{Key|Z}}) redoes. Edit menu: '''Undo''' and '''Redo'''.

== What to read next ==
* [[Level Editor/Interface|The interface]]
* [[Level Editor/Viewport and camera|Viewport and camera]]
* [[Level Editor/Workflows/Your first map|Your first map]]
* [[Level Editor/Keyboard shortcuts|Keyboard shortcuts]]

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[[Category:Level Editor]]
[[Category:Level Editor workflows]]

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TeamSpecBot: Level Editor: getting started page