1 - Creating a campaign

1 A - Installing the editor tool

Download the campaign editor (download it from here).

Then open the executable file (windows only, sorry for mac/linux users). You can find the editor under {PLUGIN DIRECTORY}\Data\Campaign Editor.exe

1 B - Creating the campaign

In this first part, we're going to see how to modify the campaign informations like name, description, levels, etc ...

1 B.0 - The editor tool

The software should look something like this when opened:

The editor is divided in two major parts: the settings tab and the levels tab.

1 B.1 - The settings tab

The settings tab allows you to modify basic campaign infos:

• Campaign name The name of the campaign displayed in the game.
• Campaign description The description of the campaign (keep it short as the text can get hidden if it gets too big).
• Campaign logo The path to a png file representing the campaign logo. NOTE: the path must be relative to your pak file (campaign file) and can include sub directories.
• Authors List of everyone who was involved in the creation of the campaign. NOTE: To add multiple authors, separate their names using a semi-column ;.

Example:

1 B.2 - The levels tab (1/2)

Having a campaign with a name and a description is fine but adding levels to it is better.

Once in the levels tab, right-click in the list and click Add.

You should see a new window appear called "Custom Campaign SDK - Add a level".

1 B.3 - Adding a level

The levels window is used to add a level to the campaign playlist (be careful: the game doesn't allow duplicates).

• Level file The path to the level file. NOTE: the path must be relative to your pak file and can include sub directories (saved campaign file) and end with the file extension .bytes (otherwise, the OK button will be grayed out).
• Level name The level name displayed when the level starts.
• Level sector name The sector name displayed when the level starts (Example: - SECTOR 17 -). NOTE: you can write anything here. you're not limited to sector names !
• Loading background The background used when loading the level (Like for Lost to Echoes levels). NOTE: you can leave this field blank to use the default backgrounds.

Example:

1 B.4 - The levels tab (2/2)

Once you have added multiple levels, you can reorganize entries by clicking and dragging an item on top of another (you should see a line where the item will be moved).

You can edit a level entry at any moment by right-clicking on an item and then select Edit or by double-clicking on an item. From there you can follow the steps described in 1 B.3 - Adding a level

You can remove a level entry by right-clicking on an item and then select Remove. This action can't be undone (unless you re-open the file without saving but you will lose any unsaved changes) NOTE: This action won't erase any file on your disk and will only remove the item from the level playlist.

Example:

2 - Exporting the campaign

In this second part, we're going to see how to package everything needed for the campaign to work into a zip file (easy to share).

2 A - Opening the packager and exporting as a zip archive

To open the packager window, click on Pack files in the toolbar. You will then be prompted to open a pak file. If you want to pack the campaign you're editing make sure you save the file before you re-open it in the packager.

After selecting your pak file, the packager window should open and search for errors (missing files).

If you don't see any line hilighted in red. That means you can click on Export as ZIP file and save your campaign to your disk.

If files are missing, refer to 2 B - Missing files

2 B - Missing files

If the packager window indicates missing files when exporting, that means that either you saved your pak file in the wrong directory or you haven't included the files in its directory.

Example:

How to fix it:

In this example, the Images/Campaign.png file is missing.

Let's say your pak file is saved in C:\Campaigns\Campaign.pak. Then the folder structure should look like that:

C:/
| Campaigns/
  | Campaign.pak (your pak file)
  | Images/
    | Campaign.png (the missing file)
    | Loading.01.png
    | Loading.02.png
  | Levels/
    | 01.bytes
    | 01.bytes.png
    | 02.bytes
    | 02.bytes.png

Using this representation of the folder structure, you can see that the Campaign.png file should be placed under C:\Campaigns\Images.

When you are done, click Refresh to update the list.