TeamSpecBot: Level Editor: testing a gamemode

2026-10-20T03:46:24Z

Level Editor: testing a gamemode

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To test a gamemode you run the map in TeamSpec and read what your scripts print. How to start the game from the editor is on [[Level Editor/Workflows/Playtesting|Playtesting]]; this page is about checking the scripts.

{{Note|Set '''TeamSpec Executable Path''' in [[Level Editor/Settings|Settings]] first. Run and the playtest buttons need it.}}

== Ways to run ==
* '''Run > Run (Console)''' is the best way to test scripts: it starts TeamSpec on a copy of the map with a console window (<code>TeamSpec.console.exe</code>, when it is beside <code>TeamSpec.exe</code>) that shows everything the game prints.
* '''Quick Playtest / Apply''' keeps the game open and sends your new scripts to it each time you apply. The status line reports every step, including why a change was refused. A script that steps outside the [[Level Editor/Scripting/Sandbox limits|sandbox]] is refused like this, and the game keeps the last version that worked:
<pre>
Playtest could not apply: Map validation failed: server.gd (server script): line 12: `OS` is not available to a server script; the current world is unchanged.
</pre>

== Reading the output ==
* [[Level Editor/Scripting/Reference/GamemodeServerApi#log|api.log]] prints a line tagged with the map and the side: <code>[gamemode/mymap server] your message</code>. The bot script's lines are tagged <code>server</code> too, because it runs there. <code>print</code> works as well, without the tag.
* When the map starts, the game prints the zones it found, for example <code>[gamemode] mymap: 3 zone(s)</code> followed by their names. If a zone your script expects is missing from that line, check its '''Is Area''' box and its '''Trigger Name'''.
* A player falling out of the world prints where it happened: <code>[left_world] entity 7 judged out of the world at (...)</code>.

== Before you test ==
* <code>_player_died</code> calls <code>api.respawn_in</code>, unless nobody should come back.
* Every counter the client script shows is declared in the server script's <code>_declare()</code>, spelt the same way.
* Your script compares <code>api.zone_label(zone)</code> with names that match the zones' '''Trigger Name''' exactly, capitals and spaces included.
* Every team you use has spawn points, and there is a '''World Boundary''' below the map. See [[Level Editor/Scripting/Teams and spawning#Spawn points|Teams and spawning]].

When the mode works, export it with '''File > Export to TeamSpec (.tsmap)'''. See [[Level Editor/Workflows/Exporting and publishing|Exporting and publishing]].

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[[Category:Level Editor]]
[[Category:Gamemode scripting]]

Level Editor/Scripting/Testing - Revision history

TeamSpecBot: Level Editor: testing a gamemode