Resources

A resource (also called an asset) is content from an external file that was created in an application other than the LevelEditor. Although resources can be of any file type, they are typically files that you use in a level, such as models made with the Autodesk® Maya animation software, behaviors written in a text editor, and textures created with Adobe® Photoshop® software. The LevelEditor provides built-in support for several resource file types.

When you drag and drop a resource from the Resources list to your LevelEditor document, the LevelEditor creates a reference to that resource. You can also drag-and-drop files from the Windows Explorer with the same result.

The Resources list displays Resources that are in a folder known as the Resource Root. The default Resource Root folder is the .\AssetRoot folder. To specify a different folder, select Edit > Preferences > Resources > ResourceRoot.

LevelEditor documents (.lvl files) use a relative path from the Resource Root folder to save the reference to the Resource. Thus, an .lvl file can always find a resource, regardless of where you save the .lvl file.

 

To add assets to the LevelEditor:

  1. Open the LevelEditor.
  2. If the Resources list is not open, select the Window > Resources menu item.
  3. Specify the thumbnail view for the Resources list: Right-click in the Resources list. If the Thumbnail View menu option appears, select it. If, when you right-click the Resources list, the Details View menu option appears, the thumbnail view is already active and you can click anywhere in the LevelEditor to dismiss the menu option.
  4. Navigate to a folder that contains resources, as shown in the figure below.
    The left pane shows the directory tree for the assets. Thumbnail images of available resources appear in the right pane. Depending on the software installed on your computer, some asset types might not show a thumbnail view.
  5. Optionally, you can open the Resource Preview pane, select an ATGI file from the Resources list, and view a preview of the object in the Resource Preview pane. In addition, the Resource Metadata pane displays metadata about the selected resource.