Play & Edit 1 Walkthrough

This is the easiest Play & Edit in the Ancient Dangers template. It'll give you enough know-how to make simple levels, without diving too deep into more complex mechanics and logic.

Lesson 1#

It’s a bit quiet in here!#

A nice easy one to start. First press and select edit mode. Then go to the guides menu and turn on obey auto guides. Now go to search and select the AD Play & Edit 1: Elements collection - it should be pinned at the top. In the Music & Ambience sub-collection, choose any of the three music elements (those are the elements on the left). Stamp it into the scene on the marked pedestal with . You can hear your selection if you start time with . Feel free to delete it and replace it if you don’t fancy it. When you’re ready, press and select play mode.

Lesson 2#

The path is missing!#

Go to guides again and turn on precise move. Grab the bridge with and, by moving your controller, move it down into position. Can you see what precise move does? It tries to lock your movement to a single axis - you really have to be determined to go in a whole other direction to stop it. This guide is great for making stuff like this easy and precise.

You could also use grid snap here. Or you could do it free hand with no guides at all! If you feel like it, you can look in the collection and find something else to use here - as long as it bridges the gap for you to cross.

Lesson 3#

An invisible barrier!#

To see what’s stopping you from progressing, go the the show/hide menu and turn off preview invisibility. This shows you what objects are set to be invisible. You’ll now see a large pink object in front of you. Just hover over it and press to delete it. Do not forget to turn preview invisibility back on! Firstly because your view in edit mode will be crowded with effects and stuff and make it confusing to see what’s going on. And secondly it’s just a good idea to get used to turning show/hide filters (and guides!) on and off. Head back to play mode and carry on.

Lesson 4#

A locked gate!#

Did you remember to turn preview invisibility on again? Go to show/hide and do that now if you didn’t. Now go to guides and make sure precise move is on. It might still be on from lesson 2, if not, turn it on. Now grab the key with and move it down and to the right, over the chest. When you’ve done it right the key will disappear and the message “Contained!” will appear. Ancient Dangers elements have handy logic for containing collectables. Once you’ve got the key in the chest, switch back to play mode and collect it from the chest so you can open the gate and head onwards.

Lesson 5#

It’s time for a checkpoint!#

We’ve got hazards coming up, so it’s a good idea to place a Checkpoint so that the player’s progress is saved and they don’t have to replay too much should they meet an untimely demise. Make sure obey auto guides and preview invisibility are both on. Now go to search and find the Checkpoint in AD Play & Edit 1: Elements. You may need to back out of Music & Ambience with . Stamp the Checkpoint with and then use to head back to play mode

Battle Time!#

Not a lesson, just a bit of gameplay to demonstrate multiple enemies being emitted for a battle room. Enemies are expensive elements, so we don’t tend to stamp them throughout the level, as we’d soon hit a thermometer limit. Instead, so that we can build bigger levels, we use emitters and logic to spit out enemies where we want them, when we want them. We use a single reference element to do that, i.e. a single enemy. This stuff is covered in Play & Edit 3. For now play on and defeat these pesky chompers!

Lesson 6#

Empty containers!#

Search the collection for something to put in these containers. You should still have obey auto guides and preview invisibility on, but switch them on if not. Like you did with the key a couple lessons ago, stamp a collectable (a Health Potion, some Gold - whatever you fancy) over the central barrel with . You only need to fill this barrel to progress, but feel free to fill the other containers too before heading back to play mode.

Lesson 7#

Gold all over the place!#

This time we need to put containers over the collectables. This is best practice when your treasure is Gold, so that when you collect it’s nicely on the floor rather than mid-air. Make sure obey auto guides is on, go to search and get yourself a container from the collection. Doesn’t have to be a barrel - use whatever container you like. Hold it over the pile of gold until you see “Contained!” and stamp it with . You must contain the gold directly in front of you to progress, but feel free to contain the other piles before heading back to play mode.

Lesson 8#

Treasure!#

Continuing in the theme of loot and the things that contain it… Make sure obey auto guides is still on. Now make sure precise move is off, because that particular guide locks the rotation of elements and we don’t want that. Search the collection for a Chest to put over this treasure. The Chest element has a correct way around, and if we had precise move on it would come in the wrong way around. Precise move is great for moving things, not so great for stamping them. Stamp a Chest over the treasure with . The treasure should disappear and the “Contained!” message should come up. Head back to play mode and open that chest!

Lesson 9#

This archway needs a door!#

First thing to note is that doors are tricky to place. They don’t have auto guides, so obey auto guides won’t help. You don’t want precise move for the reason we just explained - your door might come in the wrong way around. So you’re going to have to freehand it. Search the collection for a door. You can use any of them, but the One-Way Door is useful for stopping the player from backtracking and comes with a Checkpoint in it. Stamp the door with . If you forgot to turn off precise move and your door is the wrong way around, use + to rotate it.

Lesson 10#

Need a checkpoint?#

If you placed a One-Way Door in the last lesson - congratulations, you don’t need to put a Checkpoint here. If you used a different door, switch on obey auto guides, search for a Checkpoint and stamp it in with . You’re not completely off the hook if you did use a One-Way Door though - you need to hover over that there One-Way Door switch and press to turn it on.

Battle Time!#

Time out from lessons for a quick fight. This time we have two waves of monsters, with the second coming after the first is defeated. This is the beauty of emitting enemies rather than stamping them. We’ll be looking at this in Play & Edit 3. Play on and defeat both waves to progress.

Lesson 11#

This chest needs a lock!#

Let’s show you how you can add a Lock to a Chest. Doing this is a good way to introduce puzzle elements to your creations, as the player will have to find a key for the lock. Make sure obey auto guides is on and search for the Lock. Stamp it on the Chest with . The internal logic now means this Chest is locked and needs a Key to open it. Search for a Key and stamp it anywhere (of course if this was a level you were making you’d probably want to hide it!). Head back to play mode, grab the Key and open the Chest.

Lesson 12#

Empty containers!#

Another chance to set up some collectables as contents. Make sure obey auto guides is on and search for a collectable to put in the central barrel. Training wheels are off now - you won’t get the “Contained!” message, but as long as your collectable disappears when you stamp it, you’re golden. Feel free to fill the other containers too before you head back to play mode and carry on.

Lesson 13#

How do we open this gate?#

A tiny introduction to wiring. You’ll do a lot more of this in Play & Edit 2. Be on the lookout for nodes on elements - they’re there to make wiring up the correct logic simple. Let’s wire these two nodes together. The node on the left will tell the node on the right to open the gate. Make sure grid snap is off, as it can make wiring difficult. In edit mode you’ll notice the nodes have little bumps on either side. These are ports, where the wires go. Output ports are on the right and input ports are on the left. Hover the imp over the output port on the right side of the yellow node (the one on the left pillar) and press to make a wire. Now move the imp over to the input port on the left side of the purple node (the one on the right pillar). Press again to connect the wire. Now the signal to open the gate passes between the nodes and the gate is opened!

Lesson 14#

Blow up the wall!#

We’ve made it easy to use exploding and destructible elements in your levels. Plonk a Destructible Wall someplace, give your player something explosive nearby and voila - a puzzle. Make sure obey auto guides is on and search for something explosive. It doesn’t have to be the Exploding Barrel - it could be a Bomb Pickup, but bear in mind when you place those it’s wise to also place a Bomb Dispenser, as the player could easily lose a bomb. Stamp your chosen element next to the wall and blow it up with a sword swipe when ready to progress. Don’t forget to back off before it explodes!

Lesson 15#

Don’t let the player escape!#

If you put a Forcefield Barrier in front of a door, the player will have to clear all the enemies in the room before they can get through it. The forcefield has to be placed the right way round, so as before we must make sure precise move is off. While you’re there make sure obey auto guides is on. Search for the Forcefield Barrier and stamp it in place with . You’ll know if it’s the correct way round as you’ll be able to read “This Way Round” on the front of it. Successfully place it and a new enemy will be emitted - defeat it to open the barrier.

That’s it for Play & Edit 1. If you’re feeling creative you could give the Foundation a spin and try creating a simple room or two. Or if you want to keep learning, head onto Play & Edit 2, where things get more in-depth!