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Tutorials: Mapping: Setting Up and Getting to Know Embrace

by Kiramin

Before you can get started making your maps for Vampire, you have to download the Nod SDK (Software Developement Kit). It contains all the tools you should need to edit Vampire: The Masquerade. You can find the latest version here. Once it has finished downloading, run it. The setup process will begin. Follow the instructions to install it (Note: Make sure the installation path is your Vampire directory, otherwise the SDK may not work). When the installation is complete, open up the NodSDK directory in your Vampire directory.

Ideally, you should read through the documentation by opening the index.html file you see there. But lets be sensible... The last thing I wanted to do in your situation was read through pages and pages of technical explantaions. So lets just start up Embrace.exe (the Vampire map editor) and get to the good stuff.

It should recognize that this is the first time you are running Embrace, and the preferences screen should come up. It looks like this:

Make sure to set what type of mouse you have, but everything else can (and probably should) be left unchanged. Hit OK. When Embrace is finished loading, you will be presented with an almost empty window. At the far right of the toolbar, you will see the button. Click it. (That was the Default Windows Setting button... anytime your windows get messed up and you want to return them to the default size and position, just click that button). Your screen should now look like this, minus the blue text:

You will see that I have added blue labels in the above image. Read through them so you know the names of the different windows. I will describe each as I familiarize you with Embrace. However, first I want you to place your cursor over the large area on the right side, labeled "1) 2D Window". Hold down the left mouse button, drag the cursor a very short distance, and release. This should have made a red-dotted square. This is a brush. Think of brushes as the building blocks you will use to build your level. I had you create this brush so I can better explain the functions of the different windows:

1) 2D Window - This window is where you will do most of your level building. Any brushes you have selected will show up as red, while unselected brushes will appear white. You can zoom in and out on the 2D window by using INSERT and DELETE respectively. Also, you can shift the view up, down, and side-to-side by placing the mouse cursor in the 2D window, holding down the right mouse button, and moving the mouse. Currently, the 2D window is displaying an XY (top down) view of your level. You can also switch to YZ and XZ (front and side) views, by pressing CTRL-TAB or clicking the button on the toolbar. Other than your brush, you should currently see a bunch of grey lines (the grid) and a strange blue mark. That mark is actually two, overlapping. The square is the Z-checker and the diamond is the Camera position. Those will be explained below.

2) Camera Window - This window offers you a 3D view of your level. You should see your brush floating in a world of gray. The camera's position is marked in the 2D window by the blue diamond. You can move the camera around by using the following controls:

KEY	FUNCTION	KEY	FUNCTION
FORWARD	Moves the camera forward.	BACKWARD	Moves the camera backward.
LEFT	Rotates the camera left.	RIGHT	Rotates the camera right.
A	Tilts the camera up.	Z	Tilts the camera down.
D	Moves the camera up.	C	Moves the camera down.
COMMA	Moves the camera left.	PERIOD	Moves the camera right.
HOME	Centers the camera view.

Experiment with moving the camera around. If you get lost (which is very possible), you can open up the View menu and select Find coordinates.... Then type in a zero in all three fields. This will teleport your camera to the position (0,0,0) which should be close to the brush you made.

3) Z-height Window - This window gives you a means to keep track of and manipulate the height of your brushes without having to constantly switch back and forth between the top and side views. You can move up and down in the Z-height Window as you would in the 2D window, by holding down the right mouse button. Any currently selected brush shows up as a red box, while any brush the Z-Checker intersects shows up as a solid-blue box. The Z-Checker is the blue "Z" square in the 2D Window. You can move it by holding down SHIFT and right-clicking somewhere in the 2D window. Try moving it in and out of your brush. You will notice that your brush always appears as a red box (because it is currently selected), but only becomes solid blue while the Z-checker is inside.

4) Console Window - Currently, this gives you info on what is going on in the editor. This is also where the Texture Window and Templates Window will appear when they are activated. You will learn more about these in the next tutorial.

There are the basic explanations of the major windows in Embrace. For more detailed information and controls, check out the HTML manual that is included with the SDK. If you are ready to start editing, check out the the tutorial Building your First Vampire Map.

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