# Navigating the viewport

The viewport shows the level in 3D with its textures, vertex colours and object models. You move
the camera with the mouse, a few keys and the view cube. The right and middle mouse buttons
always belong to the camera, whatever tool is active. If you already use another 3D program,
pick its mouse scheme under [Navigation presets](#navigation-presets).

![The viewport with the view cube in the top right corner](img/nav_viewcube.jpg)

## Mouse and keys

These controls are the same in every preset:

| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Right mouse button** held, move the mouse | look around (fly mode) |
| **Right mouse button** held + **W A S D** | fly forward, left, back, right |
| **Right mouse button** held + **Q** / **E** | fly down / up |
| **Shift** while flying | fly four times faster |
| **Mouse wheel** while flying | change the fly speed |
| **Mouse wheel** | zoom smoothly towards the point under the cursor |
| **Ctrl+middle** drag or **Alt+right** drag | zoom |
| **Alt+left** drag | orbit |
| **F** | frame the selection |
| **Home** | frame the whole level |
| Double-click | select and frame |

The middle mouse button depends on the preset:

| Input | Fusion 360 (default) | Blender | Unity / Unreal |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Middle** drag | pan | orbit | pan |
| **Shift+middle** drag | orbit | pan | pan |
| Double-click **middle** | frame the whole level | – | – |

* **Orbit** turns around the surface point under the cursor where you start dragging (if there is
  none: the selection, then the view centre). A small red-green-blue cross marks that point
  while you orbit.
* **Pan** moves the point you grabbed exactly with the cursor.
* **Zoom** changes the distance by a fixed percentage per wheel notch (default 12 %) towards what
  is under the cursor, so pointing at the sky or a far cliff does not make huge jumps.

> **Tip:** Fly mode is the quickest way to get around a big level: hold the right mouse button,
> steer with the mouse, move with W A S D and adjust the speed with the wheel.

## The view cube

The cube in the top right corner of the viewport shows which way you are looking.

* Click a **face** (Top, Front, Left …), an **edge** or a **corner** to look at the level from
  there. The camera turns smoothly and keeps its pivot.
* **Drag** on the cube to orbit.
* The small **house** button goes to the **home view**: a view from the front-right-top that shows
  the whole level (also **View → Navigation → Home view**).

**View → Navigation → View cube** hides or shows it.

## Views

| Key | View |
|---|---|
| **Numpad 5** | perspective / orthographic |
| **Numpad 7** | top – looking straight down, orthographic |
| **Numpad 1** | front, orthographic |
| **Numpad 3** | side, orthographic |

The same views are in **View → Camera** and in the view box of the options bar. Orbiting an
orthographic view switches back to perspective. The top view is handy for laying out paths, coin
lines and zones; the 3D view for checking heights and jumps.

## Navigation presets

**View → Navigation** chooses the mouse scheme: **Fusion 360** (the default), **Blender** or
**Unity / Unreal** (see the table above). The status bar shows a one-line summary of the chosen
scheme, and **Help → Viewport navigation** shows the complete cheat sheet for it.

### Viewport preferences

**View → Navigation → Viewport preferences…** opens the **Viewport & navigation** settings:

![The viewport preferences with the navigation cheat sheet](img/nav_prefs.jpg)

| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Navigation preset** | Fusion 360, Blender or Unity / Unreal; the table below the settings shows its controls. |
| **Zoom step (%)** | Distance change per wheel notch (2–40 %, default 12 %). |
| **Invert zoom direction** | Wheel away from you zooms out instead of in. |
| **Orbit speed (°/pixel)** | How fast the camera turns while orbiting. |
| **Show the view cube** | The cube in the top right corner. |
| **Show back sides of one-sided faces** | See [Back faces](#back-faces). |
| **Back side opacity** | How strongly back sides are drawn (default 30 %). |

## Back faces

Many faces in the game are *one-sided*: the game does not draw them from behind (you can see
through a cliff wall from the inside). The editor shows these back sides **darkened and hatched**
so you can still see and click them. When the mouse is over one, the status bar adds
"(back side)". **View → Show back faces** switches this off; the opacity is a viewport
preference.

> **Note:** The hatched back sides are invisible in the game. If a wall must be visible from
> both sides, look at it from behind in the editor before you play-test.

## Looking through a game camera

**View → Camera → Look through camera (pilot)** (**Ctrl+Shift+L**) puts the viewport into the
selected camera object or camera node; flying then moves that camera. See
[Cameras and triggers](11-cameras-triggers.md#look-through-camera).

## What the viewport shows

* The **grid** marks the level's cells; geometry outside it has no collision in the game.
* **Markers** stand for logic objects without a model (cameras, triggers, the exit, checkpoints'
  respawn points).
* **Collision** (**C**) colours every collision polygon by its material: normal ground, exit floor
  (16), death floor (30) and others. Invisible walls and blocks are drawn translucent red.
* **Waypoints** of the selected objects are drawn as connected points; **View → Show waypoints
  of all objects** shows every chain.
* With **View → Fog preview** the viewport shows the game's fog for the zone the camera is in;
  everything beyond the fog is drawn as a pale "ghost" so you do not lose track of it.
  **View → Vertex colours only** (**Shift+V**) hides the textures to judge the lighting
  ([Environment](12-environment.md#view-options)).

Use **Layers** in the options bar to switch any of these on or off
([Layers](03-editor-window.md#layers)).

> **Note:** The viewport does not animate textures and shows the level with the editor's own
> lighting of object models. What you see is very close to the game, but always play-test
> ([F5](15-build-play.md)) before you share a level.