Map authoring tutorials
Use these steps in a contribution draft. Map images, floors, and overlays are available there on every plan.
Create a mapCreate a map
Start with an accurate overhead map or field diagram. Keep the source link and permission to reuse its artwork.
- Choose Create a map and select its game. Choose Custom game if it is missing, then enter its name, category, address, and description. We review the game and first map together.
- Open the level's actions and choose Edit. Name the level, then choose Upload map. Use Replace map when updating existing artwork.
- Use Placement to align the image. Drag to move it, use the corners to scale it, or use the rotation handle to turn it. The placement fields accept precise values.
- Add the remaining floors as levels, highest first. Align the floors before placing annotations, then choose Done.
- Open Save or submit contribution in the board menu. Name the map and record its revision or season in What changed? Save a private draft.
Check your work
Check recognisable landmarks against your source at full-map and close zoom. Map placement changes do not move existing annotations. Recheck them after replacing, cropping, or rotating artwork. Only enter physical measurements when the map has a verified scale.
Create overlays
An overlay groups objects that should appear together. Name it for its contents, such as Callouts, Zones, or a game mode.
- Open Overlays and choose Add overlay. Enter an Overlay name. The editor starts editing that overlay.
- Place the objects that belong in it. New objects join the overlay being edited. To move an existing object into it, select the object and change its Overlay setting.
- Turn Selectable off for fixed map annotations. Keep it on for player tokens and other objects people move while planning. Base board objects are outside overlays and do not have this protection.
- Choose Done, then show and hide the overlay from the list. To change its protected objects later, open its actions and choose Edit.
Check your work
Outside its edit mode, clicking or dragging a callout or zone must leave it in place without selecting it. Editing a different overlay must keep it protected too. Locked prevents movement but still allows selection; use Selectable off for map annotations.
Add standard callouts
A complete set contains the standard names for the entire map, including every floor, in one named Callouts overlay. Keep a reference for the names and locations.
- Create the Callouts overlay or choose Edit from its actions. Select the correct floor.
- Use Text to place a standard callout name. Use a consistent text style and a solid background where the artwork is busy. Position the label without hiding the feature it identifies.
- Enable Hold screen angle in the text's properties and set its starting angle upright. The label then keeps its screen angle when the view rotates.
- If the label sits away from its location, add a short Line and an anchor marker. Keep their geographic endpoint on the feature. Put the label, line, and anchor in the Callouts overlay.
- Turn Selectable off for every label, leader, anchor, and region. Keep Hold screen angle off for geographic lines, anchors, and region shapes.
- Repeat on every floor. Compare the whole set with your source, then choose Done. Rotate the view and check at normal zoom and close up.
Check your work
Labels stay upright; leaders still point to the right locations; region outlines follow the map. Correct overlap and ambiguous leaders. Move a player token near a label to check that the annotations do not intercept selection. One whole-map set earns one bonus on a new map, regardless of the number of labels or floors.
Draw zones
Use zones for objective boundaries, capture areas, and named regions. Follow a source for the boundary.
- Edit the right overlay and select the floor. General regions belong in Zones, a callout's region in Callouts, and a mode-specific region in that mode's overlay.
- Use Rectangle or Ellipse for a regular area. Choose Polygon for an irregular boundary. Click corners or drag to create curves. Click the first point or press Enter to close it. On touch, tap the first point to close.
- Set a readable outline and a light fill so entrances, cover, and boundaries remain visible. Use names or shapes as well as colour to distinguish adjacent zones.
- Turn Selectable off and leave Hold screen angle off. Add any label as separate text in the same overlay, with Hold screen angle on and Selectable off.
- Choose Done. Rotate the view, then show and hide the overlay.
Check your work
The boundary stays aligned while its label stays readable. Select and drag a player token across the visible zone. Polygon drawing requires a pointer or touch; its properties and overlay controls can be used with a keyboard.
Add game modes
A complete mode needs its playable map content: objectives, zones, stages, and fixed starts where the game defines them. An empty named overlay is incomplete.
- Create a root overlay named for the mode. In its actions, choose Category, then New category, and name it Game modes.
- Give other mode roots the same category. Leave Show with others off for mutually exclusive modes. Switching one on then hides the others.
- Edit the mode and add its objectives, boundaries, and fixed starts on the correct floors. Use the zone and callout steps for annotation protection and rotation.
- For rounds or objective stages, choose Add sub-overlay. Keep related children under the mode root. The root can show All or one child; nesting is one level deep.
- Keep general callouts outside the Game modes category so changing modes does not hide them. Choose Done and test each mode and child.
Check your work
Only the intended mode's objectives appear. Check every playable floor and stage against the source. In the submission dialog, select each complete mode once. Reviewers check the content before awarding the extra week.
Align floors
Floors should share scale, orientation, and position so stairways and other connections line up.
- Add each floor as a level and order them highest first. Name them using the game's or venue's usual names.
- Edit a level and open Placement. Use stable shared landmarks, such as stairwells, lift shafts, or exterior corners, to compare it with the other floors.
- Turn on Onion skin while aligning. Move, scale, and rotate the map until at least two shared landmarks match. Check a third landmark to catch a crop or scale error.
- Repeat on every floor. Turn Onion skin off and choose Done. Add each floor's annotations to that level.
Check your work
Switch between floors at the same zoom and position. Connections line up and annotations belong to the correct floor. Onion skin is a local editing aid and is not part of the published map.
Check and submit
The reviewer receives a fixed copy of the version you submit. Later saves stay in your private draft.
- Check every floor, overlay, and mode at full-map and close zoom. Rotate the view. Move a player token beside callouts and across zones to test selection.
- Remove private tactical notes, recordings, audio, and videos from the contribution copy. Keep it focused on the reusable map.
- Open Save or submit contribution. Enter the map name, your public credit name, what changed, and sources with artwork permission. Confirm permission to publish and edit the work.
- For a new map, select the complete modes and the one whole-map standard callout overlay you included. The dialog shows the reward those claims would earn if approved.
- Choose Submit for review. Read the receipt email or open Submission and feedback. If changes are requested, edit the private draft and submit a new version.
Check your work
If you need to replace a pending submission, withdraw it first. If the official map changes during review, start a fresh edit from the current official version and bring your changes across. Approval and reward confirmation arrive in separate emails; Billing shows confirmed earned time, credit, and the next payment date.