Vertex/Editing

Vertex · Getting started · Editing · Custom content · Map logic · Game integration

Build a small room and test its scale and collision in your game before adding detail. The active game profile sets the map's units; changing the connected profile does not rescale an existing map.

Move around and select

Input	Action
Z, then WASD / Q / E	Enter free camera and move. Hold Shift to move faster; Escape exits.
F	Frame the selection.
1–4 / Space	Choose a view / maximize the view.
S / G / R / T	Select / move / rotate / scale.
V / E / H	Edit vertices / edges / faces.
B / Shift+A	Draw / texture tools.
[ / ]	Decrease / increase the grid size.
I / Shift+C	Isolate the selection / preview collision.

Shortcuts yield to text fields and free camera. Select an object before selecting its vertices, edges, or faces. Delete in a component tool removes those components; deleting in the hierarchy removes whole objects.

Switch Global / Local above the views to choose transform axes. Local follows the active object or selected face. Numeric fields accept arithmetic, so you can enter a value such as 128*2.

Draw geometry

1. Choose the draw tool and a shape.
2. Set the grid and depth, then drag out the footprint.
3. Apply the preview with Enter or Apply. Escape cancels.
4. Use Move, Rotate, and Scale to position it. Keep large structural pieces on the grid.

Drawing on an existing collider starts the new shape on that surface. Empty space uses the draw plane. Hold Shift while drawing for equal width, height, and depth. Stairs fit the drawn bounds; adjust their step count in the creation settings.

Parametric shapes retain their settings. Use Convert to brush when you need to edit individual components. That conversion gives up the original shape controls.

Geometry shortcuts

The contextual bar above the viewports shows actions for the current tool and selection: Extrude and Inset for faces, Bevel for edges, Weld for vertices, and construction actions for objects. Each action has an icon and label, with its shortcut in the tooltip, and starts the same live adjustment as the keyboard. Unavailable actions stay disabled.

Select faces, edges, or objects, press the operation's shortcut, then drag the +/− handle in any viewport or type a value. Release the mouse to pause; grab the handle in another view to continue the same preview. Moving between views does not change the amount. All views show the same value. Enter or a click in empty viewport space applies; Escape or right-click cancels. The entire operation, including drags in different views, is one Undo.

Mouse adjustments snap to the grid. [ / ] changes the grid during an operation without leaving the preview or changing mouse sensitivity. Hold Shift for slower adjustment and a finer grid step, or Ctrl/Cmd to bypass snapping. Typed values and calculations such as 128/3 stay exact. Backspace edits the input; clearing it returns to mouse adjustment. Invalid input must be corrected or canceled before applying.

Every viewport shows a +/− adjustment gizmo that follows its view direction. Drag along the arrow to increase the amount, or back toward − to decrease it. Extrude and offset follow the face normal; inset points inward from a face edge. An axis viewed head-on, and operations without a single direction, use a horizontal guide. Movement across the guide does not change the amount.

Mouse sensitivity follows the view's world scale, independently of grid spacing; copy counts use 10 pixels per copy. The pointer wraps at viewport edges while dragging and is free as soon as you release it. On desktops without pointer warping, release and re-grab the handle to continue.

You can right-drag to orbit or pan, middle-drag to pan, scroll to zoom, frame the selection, and maximize or restore a viewport without ending the operation. Z enters free camera while keeping the preview and exact input. Mouse look and WASD/QE move the camera; Z or Escape returns to adjustment. Escape after leaving free camera cancels the operation. During bevel, scroll changes segments; Ctrl/Cmd+scroll zooms instead. Linear and radial copy shortcuts adjust the number of additional copies, using the configured spacing or angle.

Shortcut	Operation
Shift+E / Alt+E	Extrude individual faces / extrude a region
Shift+I / Shift+B / Shift+H	Inset faces / bevel edges / hollow walls
Alt+F	Offset faces along their normals
Ctrl/Cmd+J / Shift+S	Combine objects / subtract last selected
Shift+W / Shift+K	Weld vertices / connect vertices
Shift+X / Shift+D	Split edges / dissolve edges
Shift+F / Shift+J	Cap holes / bridge boundaries
Alt+Delete / Alt+R	Delete selected faces / repair mesh seams
Alt+T / Alt+W	Convert a face to terrain / sew terrain patches
Shift+T / Alt+Shift+T	Sculpt terrain / toggle terrain and surface
Alt+B / Alt+Shift+B	Convert to brush / split into brushes
Alt+A	Create an editable array
Alt+Shift+A / Alt+Shift+R	Make linear / radial copies
Alt+M / Alt+Shift+M	Create symmetry / unlink selection
Alt+Shift+C / Alt+Shift+W	Clip at symmetry planes / weld independent symmetry
Alt+Shift+U	Remove all symmetry links
Alt+P / Alt+X / Alt+L	Pick pivot / use face axes / align to another face

Commands without a numeric adjustment apply immediately; picking, alignment, and sculpting enter their existing tools. Shortcuts appear in the Geometry menu and inspector button tooltips. They only edit the map from the Level workspace, and yield to text fields and free camera.

Press C to draw a clipping plane, then Enter to apply it. While clipping, Alt+C toggles Slice (keep both sides) and Alt+F flips the kept side, including an existing preview. Alt+Left/Right, Alt+Up/Down, and Alt+Page Up/Down flip the selection along the focused view's axes.

You can still use the inspector. Enter in a construction numeric field creates and applies the operation directly. Changing a distance during an active preview updates that preview; Enter applies and Escape cancels. Enter in an open surface's extrusion field uses region extrusion. Preview buttons remain available when you want to inspect a result first.

Doorways and windows

For a doorway through a solid wall, place a box cutter through the wall, select the wall and then the cutter, and apply Subtract last selected. The operation removes the cutter.

For a framed opening, use Inset faces, apply it, scale the selected inner face, and delete that face. A thick wall needs openings on both sides. Bridge boundaries joins compatible open rims to form the inside surfaces.

Choose Auto or Exact collision for a wall with an opening. Box and Convex collision can fill that opening even when the rendered wall looks correct.

Materials, models, and prefabs

The Built-in material folder provides Developer Gray, Orange, Blue, White, and Red. These grid textures use matte materials without shine. Maps reference the game's shared developer materials instead of bundling their own copies. Existing compiled maps need rebuilding to replace the older embedded materials.

Drag a material from Materials onto a face. Hold Shift during the drop to apply it to the whole brush. These drops preserve the existing UV alignment.

In Texture mode, left-click samples a face's material and alignment; right-drag paints them. Adjust texture size and offsets in the inspector. Texture lock keeps the mapping attached while moving or resizing geometry.

Drag models from Models into a view, or use Place at pivot. Game models retain references to the SDK assets. For your own models or textures, use Content import.

Prefabs contains reusable assemblies supplied by the game. They can include geometry, models, entities, and scripts. Linked instances retain local changes when refreshed. Unpack removes the source link. Save your own selections with File → Save selection as prefab….

Terrain

Select one four-sided face and press Alt+T (or choose Convert to terrain). Type the subdivision count and press Enter. The terrain replaces that brush with an open patch, so duplicate the brush first if you need to keep the solid.

Choose Base texture and Paint texture in the Terrain inspector. Paint textures reveals the second texture; Shift erases back to the base. Sculpt terrain raises, lowers, or smooths the surface. Use enough subdivisions for the shape you need, and inspect collision after sculpting.

In paint and sculpt modes, scroll up to enlarge the brush and down to shrink it. Shift+scroll adjusts strength; Ctrl/Cmd+scroll zooms the view. The brush outline and radius field update immediately. Changing brush settings does not paint or create an Undo step.

Collision and lighting

The Collision section controls whether an object blocks movement, its collision shape, and its filters. Start with Auto. Use Create collision proxy when a simpler invisible shape would make movement smoother, such as a ramp over stairs. Creating a proxy disables the original collider; deleting the proxy does not restore it.

Set the sun, sky, ambient light, and fog in Map Environment. Game SDKs decide which lighting and spatial bakes are required. Inspect the built map in the game: the Vertex viewport does not reproduce every game shader or baked lighting effect.

Entities and logic

Choose an entity in the creation controls, place it, and edit its properties in the inspector. A point has a position and direction. A bounds entity defines a volume. A brush entity owns geometry placed under it in the hierarchy.

Name entities before wiring them in VSig. Game-specific reference pages explain their behavior; Grimwar's entity index covers every supplied type.

Validate and export

Use File → Validate map to find geometry, reference, asset, and collision problems. Validation reports problems without repairing the map.

Export compiled meshes… writes .vertexmesh for engine import. Export selection as model… writes OBJ or FBX geometry for other tools. Model export does not carry game entities, engine model placements, or collision. Use the game's Build controls for a playable package.

Hidden objects still export. Hide and isolate are editing aids; delete an object or change its output settings when it should not ship.