Introduction to the Map Editor
In Fleet Operations, the Map Editor can be accessed directly from the main menu. There is a nice list where you can select the map you want to edit or even create a whole new map.
Map Editor Interface
The map editor interface works mostly with a keyboard. The map object menu is used with the function keys (F1 to F6 and F10)
| F1 | Map objects |
| F2 to F6 | Factions |
| F10 | Non playable units (and triggers) |
| Tab | Return to previous level in map object menu |
| Delete | Delete a map object |
| Shift+Up/Down | Switch player |
| Ctrl+R | Open map settings window |
| Ctrl+S | Open the save dialog |
The map objects can be dragged to different locations by selecting the object and holding down the left click button and they can be rotated by holding down the right click button. If you want to change the object's placement in the Y direction, it is recommended that you follow the instructions given in the Advanced Settings section. Note that if you want to avoid placing objects off the playable map, you should activate the grid feature by pressing Alt + G. This will show you the map boundaries.
Creating a Minimap
After you are finished with your map, you probably want to put the minimap with your map so that you can see it in the map selector. One way to do this it to move your screen in the left or right corner of the map, zoom in all the way, take a screenshot and crop the minimap out of it. The dimensions should be 160 by 160. Make sure to save the minimap image as a BMP in the bzn folder. The minimap image shares the map's name so that they both have the same filename (but a different file extension).
Note that sometimes objects that have been moved after having been placed on the map will not show up on the minimap. Everything will appear in the correct place after a simple save and reload.
Saving Your Map
You can save your map by pressing Ctrl+S. To be able to play the map, you must save it to bzn folder in Fleet Operation’s Data folder.
If you try to save a map direction to the bzn folder with User Account Control (UAC) fully active with either Windows7 or Vista as your operating system, you might get a message preventing you from saving the file in that location. If upon saving it to a different location and later you cannot find the file, you *should* be able to find your saved file by pressing win+r (the Windows key + R key on your keyboard together). When the "Run" dialog pops up, type (or copy and paste) %localappdata%\\\\virtualstore\\ in that field and press OK. Now you should see a directory tree with some folders you should recognize from your hard drive. This is the 'virtual' drive UAC relocates files to in case you aren't usually supposed to save in a location you chose previously. If UAC was really enabled you should be able to find your map there. Running Fleet Operations in administrator mode should avoid this map saving issue.
The map editor may crash occasionally, so remember to save your map often.