SiegeSmith How Do I

How do I…? — quick answers

One line per question, straight to the control. Deep detail lives in the World Builder Guide and Studio Guide; the full path from nothing to a playable map is Making a Game from Scratch. Press F1 in the World Builder for the controls cheat sheet.

Building terrain

How do I…	Do this
…start a map?	Nodes palette → pick a mesh → Place as anchor.
…lay terrain fast?	Tick 🖌 Paint terrain, then click-drag across the ground.
…place a specific doorway join?	Connect to selected node with explicit door picks (palette + Inspector).
…make a looping corridor?	Select a node → Inspector → Link existing doors.
…swap a tile without redoing its connections?	Select it → Nodes palette → pick the new mesh → Replace mesh on selected node.
…change how a tile is skinned?	Select the node → Inspector → Texture set.
…spot gaps and overlaps?	Tick the Bounds overlay above the Outliner.
…edit a region from the original game?	Region tab → Load a region from the game.

Placing things

How do I…	Do this
…place a prop or monster?	Objects palette (Mode toggles props/actors) → drag it into the viewport, or Place on selected node.
…find anything in the huge template list?	Search box, the tag dropdown, ★ favorites, or Recent.
…plant a forest / spawn a mob pack?	Tick 🌿 Scatter, set count/radius/gap, click the ground.
…move / rotate something?	Drag it · Shift-drag rotates · toolbar 15° rot snap for exact angles.
…set an exact position?	Inspector X/Y/Z boxes — drag the box to scrub or click to type.
…select several things at once?	Ctrl+click each; drag any member to move the whole group.
…line up a fence row?	Multi-select it → Selection page → Align / Distribute.
…swap 20 pines for oaks?	Multi-select them, pick the oak in the palette → Set template from palette.
…reuse my campfire arrangement?	Multi-select → name it → 💾 Save prefab; place it from the Custom tab in any map.

Making it a game

How do I…	Do this
…make one monster a boss?	Select it → Instance overrides → Life (and Scale ×).
…guarantee a loot drop / chest contents?	Select the actor or chest → Instance overrides → Drop = an item template.
…make a guard walk a route?	Select the actor → tick 🚶 Draw patrol route → click waypoints → untick.
…add fire or smoke?	Effects tab → Add fire/smoke emitter (toolbar FX: live animates it).
…put a sign/scorch/carpet on the ground?	Effects tab → Add ground decal → give it a texture.
…light a scene?	Lights tab → Add sun (whole scene) or point light (local glow).
…add fog / rain / snow / wind?	Region tab → Atmosphere (tick Audition fog to tune it live).
…set the music?	Region tab → Mood & music — ambient / standard / battle tracks.
…make something happen when the player arrives?	Logic tab → Add trigger volume — the full-width Triggers panel opens below: give its row a party_member_within_bounding_box condition and a send_world_message action.
…give an NPC dialogue?	Logic tab → Add conversation — the Dialogue panel opens below: write lines, then Bind to selected placed actor.
…run any editor command without hunting for it?	▤ Commands (or Ctrl+Shift+P, or type > in search) — every action, filtered as you type; Enter runs the first hit.
…get the viewport out of the panels' way?	F11 (or the ⛶ button) — everything collapses around the 3D view; press again to restore.
…start a quest from dialogue?	On the line, set activate_quest to your quest key (Map tab → Add quest defines it).
…see all my logic wiring at once?	Graph tab — click any box to edit it; grey stubs = dangling references.
…check nothing is broken?	Toolbar Validate — red rows name exactly what to fix, and clicking a red row jumps to the offender.
…play it?	Play ▶. After edits, ⟲ Sync game restarts the running session in one click.
…ship it?	The status bar names the packed .dsmap — that one file is your game.

Multi-region worlds — stitching

How do I…	Do this
…grow my map beyond one region?	World tab → pick a shipped region in the dropdown → Add (straight from the game's tanks), or browse for a custom nodes.gas.
…stitch two ORIGINAL-game regions together?	Load one via Region tab → Load a region from the game, add the other from the World tab dropdown, then stitch their doors.
…stitch two regions together?	Pick a free door on this region and one on the sibling (the lists, or the blue/violet door cubes in the viewport) → Create reciprocal stitch. Both sides are written together.
…see where a region will sit BEFORE stitching it?	Pick a free door on each side — the neighbour previews in bronze at the prospective join; stitch to keep it, or pick different doors and watch it move.
…see the neighbouring region while I stitch?	Automatic — committed neighbours draw translucent grey-blue at their exact in-game position.
…tell which doorway is which?	Free doors show as blue cubes (this region) and violet cubes (the selected sibling); the picked pair enlarges.
…spot a broken or one-sided stitch?	The world mini-map — a dashed red line is dangling; the diagnostics readout and Validate name it too.
…disconnect two regions?	Select the stitch in the list → Delete selected stitch (removes both sides).

Spell & ambient effects — the Effects Lab

How do I…	Do this
…see how DS1 built a spell effect?	World ▸ Open Effects Lab… → pick fireball (or any of ~1,000 stock scripts) — it plays live.
…make my own effect?	Effects Lab → Copy to project a stock script (or New) → edit; with Auto-play on, every keystroke replays it.
…know if my effect will work in-game?	The diagnostics panel — the badge says engine-covered or flags exactly which verbs won't render.
…see it exactly as the game renders it?	Engine filmstrip → Render — 9 frames through the game's real particle system.
…test a projectile over distance?	Drag the Target slider (bronze cube = caster, red cube = target).
…fire my effect in the world?	Save it, then a trigger action call_sfx_script("my_effect") — it ships inside your map.
…replace a stock effect in my map?	Copy to project keeping the same name — your version overrides it in packed maps only.

Custom content

How do I…	Do this
…use my own texture / model / music?	Custom tab → Set assets folder → Import texture / mesh / audio.
…make my own weapon / armor / monster / NPC?	Custom tab → Custom templates creator — it appears in the palette immediately.
…make my own terrain tile?	Custom tab → Custom .sno tile (flat or ramp, your texture, walkable).
…build terrain in Blender?	Export glTF → Custom tab → Import terrain mesh — walkable, nav-built, in the Nodes palette immediately.
…put doorways on my Blender terrain?	Add Empties named door1, door2… with +Z aimed out of the room before exporting (or tick fallback N/E/S/W sides).

Modding the original game

How do I…	Do this
…look at the game's files?	Main window → open a tank from the rail — every format has a viewer.
…see what an animation looks like?	Click the .prs — it plays on its rig.
…change weapon damage / monster stats?	Extract the template .gas, edit (live validation), Build Tank from Folder, Build & Install.
…repaint a texture?	Viewer → Export PNG → edit → Custom tab Import texture → ship the .raw at the same path.
…undo my mod?	Delete its tank from Resources — originals are never touched.

When something looks wrong

Symptom	Fix
I can't click a piece	Its family's eye is off in the Outliner, or another piece is in front — try the Outliner or Ctrl+F.
My trigger never fires	Validate (template typo? SCID target?), then check the Graph for grey stubs; is the row start_active?
My quest never appears	The dialogue line's activate_quest must match a quest key on the Map tab — Validate checks it.
A decal shows as a cube	Its texture doesn't resolve — check the name or import it (Custom tab).
I lost my work	%APPDATA%\SiegeSmith\autosave has a packed copy from the last 3 minutes.
What did I even change today?	Map tab → 📸 Baseline early, Diff later.