Black Shift

This is just another game to enjoy! If you choose 'Level Editor' on the Blackshift main menu, you too will be able to create challenging and complicated levels. I'll be the first to admit it isn't the most user-friendly utility in the world, but if you read this guide you'll be building fantastic death mazes in no time flat.

Once you've made your new file in the fairly intuitive file making screen, you'll be presented with an empty level grid, which you can scroll around by holding the right mouse button and dragging the mouse around. To fill it with stuff, you've got to understand that there are three different types of objects that you can place: tiles, items and entities.

Tiles are static game squares like the floor, wall and proximity bombs. To place one, press its shortcut key (see the key chart) and then click on the square you want to put it in.

Hold down the ` (backquote, or whichever key is to the left of the 1 on your keyboard) and click a square to pick up whatever tile is already there.

Some tiles have variants - notably the floor (N) and wall (Z) tiles. To pick from a list of variants, place a tile somewhere then alt-click on it. This is how you can paint arrows on the floor or faces on the walls.

Items are things you can pick up and carry about, like keys and missiles. You place them in the same way that you place tiles, except you can delete them by placing a 'null item' (shortcut 0) on top. Note that the time-bomb (shortcut P) counts as an item, although you can't pick it up.

Entities are moving creatures, like the various enemies and the vehicle you control. To place an entity, hover the mouse over the target square and press its shortcut key. To change the direction an entity is facing in, hover over the entity, hold down Ctrl and Shift and press one of the directional arrows. To delete an entity, hover over it and press the comma key.

And that's pretty much it. If you didn't get it, read it through a few more times. You may not like it now, but once you're making levels you'll be glad the editor was designed for speed rather than helpfulness. And you've always got this guide, right?