Today, we will be taking an important step forward on our plans for Stormgate by releasing the very first external Alpha test of our Terrain Editor. Community members will now be able to create standard Versus Mode maps in Stormgate, for use in places like custom 1v1 (or 2v2!). This will not include the ability to edit data or triggers—the tools needed for more complex mods—but will open the door for us to begin having community members play their own creations.

A small group has access to the Terrain Editor as of today while we collect the initial feedback about how it operates. We plan on expanding access soon, so keep an eye on our Discord for instructions on how you can request access during later stages. There will not be any restrictions on discussing or showcasing the tool, so anyone who wishes to talk about it publicly is able to show and talk about the tool and their creations publicly. Also, since we’re only releasing this to creators today, we don’t expect there to be any new maps to play with until map authors get up to speed on how to use the tool and start experimenting.

How It Works

A player with editor access may host custom games using their creations. Once hosted, anyone within the Stormgate client is able to join these games and play, even those without access to create those maps. The maps will be shared to everyone in the lobby similar to custom RTS game experiences of the past.

Frost Giant Lead Engineer and longtime RTS map maker James Farris has created a video that introduces the Terrain Editor and how to get started, how to save, and how to use what we’ve made to make a map. As we are early in the process, we won’t be able to provide much hands-on support and troubleshooting with this tool for the foreseeable future (and we’re sure you’ll encounter new bugs too as this had very limited testing), so for now it will largely be up to the community to dive in and see what you can make with the initial set of tools we’ve provided.

We’re happy to share this modest start on our map editor project with our community and can’t wait to see what you come up with!