Tools and mouse grammar

Creator has 14 tools. Pick one from the left rail or with its shortcut (see Keyboard shortcuts); the status bar always shows the active tool’s mouse grammar, and the right dock swaps to that tool’s inspector.

The Mouse grammar line under each tool is the exact string the app shows you in the status bar. If the two ever disagree, the app is right and this page is stale.

Select

Pick prefabs in the viewport. The starting point for every prefab edit.

• Mouse grammar: LMB select · Ctrl+click toggles · drag empty ground to box select (Ctrl adds, Alt removes) · Alt+click picks one piece of a group · click again cycles overlaps · Shift+click lists every overlap
• Inspector: Transform

Move

Drag a selected prefab along an axis handle, or snap it to the ground.

• Mouse grammar: LMB drag moves · axis handles constrain · Alt+drag snaps to prefabs · G snap to ground · X local or world · Ctrl+Shift+T tunnel grid · Alt+click picks one piece of a group
• Inspector: Transform

Rotate

Turn a selected prefab with the axis rings.

• Mouse grammar: Drag a ring to rotate on its axis · Outer ring turns about the view · Shift snaps · X local or world · Esc cancels
• Inspector: Transform

Scale

Resize a selected prefab with the axis tips.

• Mouse grammar: Drag an axis cube to scale that axis · Center cube scales all three · Shift snaps · X local or world · Esc cancels
• Inspector: Transform

Sculpt

Raise, lower, smooth and stamp terrain height with a brush. Sixteen modes, including clone, bridge, terrace, hydraulic erosion and the stamp library.

• Mouse grammar: LMB paint · Alt+drag size/strength · Ctrl+RMB pick height · [ ] size · , . strength · M mode · Esc cancels
• Inspector: Terrain

Paint

Paint a terrain layer: the ground textures (splat), the biome, the topology bits, or alpha (holes). Every layer honors the selected brush shape, falloff and rotation.

• Mouse grammar: LMB paint layer · Alt+drag size/strength · 0-7 channel · [ ] size · , . strength · Esc cancels
• Inspector: Terrain

Paths

Author the road, rail and river splines the map stores natively.

• Mouse grammar: LMB pick node · click terrain adds a node · Del removes · Esc clears
• Inspector: Paths

Volumes

Place and size trigger volumes (an app-only layer saved beside the map).

• Mouse grammar: LMB pick volume · drag to move · axis handles resize · Del removes
• Inspector: Volumes

SpawnPoints

Place the spawn points an NPC spawn group stands on, and set which way each one faces. Make the group first, on the NPC SPAWNERS tab.

• Mouse grammar: LMB place a spawn point · drag to face · click a point to re-face · Del removes
• Inspector: SpawnPoints

Markers

Place the markers that show up on the in-game map.

• Mouse grammar: LMB place a map marker · click one to select · drag to move · Del removes
• Inspector: Markers

IoWire

Wire electrical and industrial IO between placed prefabs.

• Mouse grammar: LMB an IO prefab to add a node · click a slot then another to wire · Esc cancels · Del removes
• Inspector: IoWire

Zipline

Place and aim the prefabs that make the server build a zipline, and see the line it will build. Shows every launch point, the target it solves to, and whether the line of sight is clear.

• Mouse grammar: LMB a launch or target · click a pair to test it · drag to aim · Alt+click swaps launch · Del removes · Esc steps back
• Inspector: Zipline

Sockets

See and author the sockets a prefab piece joins on, in the prefab workspace. Shows every socket in the document as free, mated, the candidate a release would commit, or unable to mate, and lets you add sockets to pieces that ship with none.

• Mouse grammar: LMB pick a piece to edit its sockets · click empty space to clear · drag in the Move tool to snap them together
• Inspector: Sockets

IslandStamp

Stamp one of the four Deep Sea tropical islands into the map: its own height, ground textures, biome and topology go into the map’s layers and its palms and rocks on top, as one undo step. Refuses a footprint that leaves the map or lands on a monument.

• Mouse grammar: Move to preview · LMB stamps here · [ ] turn (Shift: 1 degree) · Shift+LMB pins · Drag the ring to turn a pinned island · Enter stamps the pin · Esc unpins
• Inspector: IslandStamp

Notes

• Every edit is undoable. One user-visible operation is one undo step, including whole-map operations. A live drag mutates in place and commits a single step on release.
• Paint tools rebind what you see immediately: the terrain shader reads global control textures, so a paint and its undo both refresh the affected region.
• Brush strokes are spaced, not per-frame. Dabs are laid at a fixed distance along the pointer path (the Spacing row, a fraction of the brush size), so the same gesture paints the same result at any frame rate and a fast drag leaves no gaps. Esc during a stroke cancels it: the terrain returns to how it was and no undo step is recorded.
• Adjusting the brush without leaving the viewport: [ and ] step the size (by a percentage, so it stays useful at every size), , and . step the strength, and Alt+drag sets both at once (left/right = size, up/down = strength).
• Brush presets persist. Save the current size, strength, opacity, shape, falloff, rotation, spacing and paint filters under a name in the Terrain inspector; they are kept in brush-presets.json beside your other settings.
• Ziplines are not saved in your map. The server works out every line when it boots, from the prefabs you placed. Move a prefab or raise the ground under a line and the line changes or disappears the next time the server starts.
• A launch point that finds no target is deleted by the server. The tower stays, the zipline does not. The Zipline panel says so for the selected launch before you export.
• Lines only run downhill. A target may sit at most 3 m above its launch, so a zipline gets you down, never up, and never back.
• A platform pylon starts TWO lines, one in each direction. Alt+click swaps between them and you should check both.
• Range is 370 m dead ahead, narrowing as the target moves off the launch’s forward: at the edge of the cone it is about 74 m. The wedge drawn on the ground is the real limit.
• Line of sight comes in two tiers. The terrain check is exact (the ground is real geometry); the prefab check is approximate (prefab bounding boxes). If either could not run, the panel says NOT CHECKED rather than OK.
• A blocked line is offered a relay at the point where the line needs the smallest lift to clear, and an out-of-range pair is offered an intermediate platform at the middle of the line. Both are one click and one undo step.
• Check it on a real server. With admin rights, ziplinelaunchpoint.report prints how many ziplines exist plus their total and average length, and ziplinelaunchpoint.highlight draws an arrow along each one. If the editor and the server disagree, the server is right.
• Volumes, markers, IO wiring, spawn points and loot/vending/NPC profiles are stored either in our own blocks inside the .map or in a sidecar file next to it. See Where your files live.