Building, problems and play-testing

Before the game can load your level, the editor builds it: brushes and meshes become tiles, textures are packed, objects and waypoints are written, and everything is checked. Building is fast (a few seconds) and happens in the background, so you can keep working.

Check for problems

Level → Check for problems runs all checks without building. The results appear in the Problems panel:

Errors (red) would break the level. They block Build and Play until you fix them.
Warnings (yellow) are things that probably do not work as you expect.
Info (blue) are hints.

Double-click a message to select the item it is about (and frame it with F). The button in the panel's toolbar validates again without building.

What is checked

Area	Examples	Details
Level	no player start (error), several player starts, no exit in a new level, no geometry	Objects
Geometry	tiles outside the grid, tile models over 8000 vertices, overlapping identical tiles, no floor under the player start, no exit floor (16) in the door's cell, small gaps between floors	Building geometry
Objects	wrong parameter counts, values out of range, missing waypoints, impossible exit targets	Objects
Waypoints	chains not stored in one piece (with an automatic repair)	Waypoints
Environment	fog too short or too long, missing start zone, teleport targets outside the grid, black or ignored lights	Environment
Visibility	the player start in a region that does not draw itself, regions that are never drawn	Visibility regions
Textures	more than 127 texture pages, textures on missing pages	Textures

Build

Level → Build (Ctrl+B, toolbar Build) checks and builds the level. When it is done the Problems panel shows Build OK with the numbers of tiles (and how many came from brushes), objects and waypoints, the size of the level file and the time it took – plus any warnings. The status bar keeps the result of the last build; click it to open the Problems panel.

File → Export level WAD… builds the level and saves the game file (.wad) wherever you like – for your own experiments; to play or share a level you do not need it.

Play-testing

Level → Play (F5, toolbar Play) does everything in one go:

builds the level,
installs a temporary copy of it as a level mod (next to the mods you have switched on),
prepares the play-test save slot (unlocked up to your level),
starts the game directly in the level – no logos, no menus, no map.

While the game runs, the editor says so: the status bar shows a green Game running: … badge and the toolbar's Play button turns into Stop game (click it to quit the game). Both go back to normal a moment after the game has ended.

In the game, press Escape to quit straight back to the editor. When the game has ended, LlamaMod switches your normal mod selection back on and deletes the temporary copy – play-tests do not fill LlamaMod's mod list. While the game runs, the copy shows up in LlamaMod as "name (play-test)" with a blue temporary play-test badge.

If the editor is closed before the game, the clean-up happens the next time the editor starts. To keep a level in LlamaMod, use Level → Add to LlamaMod… (see Playing without the editor) or switch on Keep play-tested level in LlamaMod.

Play from the camera position

Level → Play from camera position (Shift+F5) starts the llama on the ground in the middle of the view, facing the way the camera looks. Point the view at the spot you want to test – a difficult jump, the end of a parkour – and press Shift+F5.

While you hold Shift (or point at Play from camera position in the toolbar or the Level menu), a small crosshair marks the middle of the view: green means the llama can start there, red means it cannot – the status bar says why.

The editor checks that there is walkable collision at that point: many things that look solid (tree crowns, roofs, decoration) have none. If there is no floor nearby, it tells you instead of dropping the llama into the void. The original level's opening fly-by is skipped in this mode.

Play-test options

Option (Level menu)	Default	Meaning
Play boots straight into the level	on	Off: the game starts at the main menu with the map cursor on your level (choose Spiel starten → slot → Enter on the map); groove.exe is not changed.
Escape quits the play-test	on	In a play-test the pause key ends the game at once. Off: Escape opens the normal pause menu.
Keep play-tested level in LlamaMod	off	On: Play installs the level as a normal level mod in the `levels` folder (as Add to LlamaMod does) and it stays switched on after the game.
Play-test save slot (Edit → Preferences)	3	The slot the game plays with; it is backed up before it is changed.

Note: Booting into the level uses the Boot to level mod, which adds code to LlamaMod's private copy of groove.exe. Some antivirus programs warn about such files – see Troubleshooting.

When something goes wrong

Message or symptom	What to do
"The game is still running"	The level files cannot be replaced while the game runs. Click Quit game and play to close it and start the play-test, or quit it yourself.
The llama falls through the floor	Look at the collision (C); give the floor collision (the brush's collision faces, or a collision material other than 30).
The level door does nothing	The door needs exit floor (16) in its own cell – use the Exit setup of the Objects panel.
The game crashes while loading	Run Check for problems and fix all errors; keep everything inside the grid; only one player start.
Objects are missing in the game	Some objects only appear after an event or a cut-scene; also check the visibility regions.

Playing without the editor

Level → Add to LlamaMod… copies the current state of the level into LlamaMod's levels folder as a normal level mod – on the TestLevel chapter chosen in the Level settings, or replacing its original chapter. Adding the same project again updates that mod. To play it the normal way, tick it in LlamaMod's Levels category, click Apply and Play. New levels are on the world-9 (TestLevel) map – unlock it in Save games → Unlock TestLevel (world 9); edited original levels replace their chapter.

A level you no longer want in LlamaMod is removed with Remove… on its card (see Mods).

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