Designer Menu

Menu Bar

The designer menu bar is itemized here.

File

File menu items initiate new designs and exit the designer. File menu items access designs in files, in the on line library, and in an avatar's gear.

New Building

Clears the design space. Configures the designer for designing a building.

New Spacecraft

Clears the design space. Configures the designer for designing a spacecraft.

Open

Opens a design from an SoH file. The file contents cause the designer to configure appropriately, for designing the kind of design read from the file.

Save

Saves the current design into an SoH file. If the current file name is already known, it is overwritten without asking for a file name.

It is strongly recommended that you save all of the designs in SoH files that you intend to finalize in the on line designer. That way you have a backup copy of your designs, in case the server data is lost or reset.

Save As

Saves the current design into an SoH file. Asks the architect to provide a file name.

It is strongly recommended that you save all of the designs in SoH files that you intend to finalize in the on line designer. That way you have a backup copy of your designs, in case the server data is lost or reset.

Open Building from Library

Opens a building design from the universal library. Building designs created by you are available for opening. Configures the designer for designing a building.

Only available in the on line designer.

Open Spacecraft from Library

Opens a spacecraft design from the universal library. Spacecraft designs created by you are available for opening. Configures the designer for designing a spacecraft.

Only available in the on line designer.

Open from Gear

Opens a blueprint from media in your personal gear. The designer is configured appropriately, for designing the kind of blueprint read from the media.

Media contains publishing terms for the blueprints that are stored there. Publisher terms can prohibit you from opening a blueprint in the designer.

Only available in the on line designer.

Save Building to Gear

Stores a building blueprint onto a storage device in your avatar's gear, from the universal library. Building blueprints finalized by you are available for storing to the storage device.

Terms similar to publishing a blueprint are specified by the architect, to restrict use of the blueprint.

Only available in the on line designer.

Save Spacecraft to Gear

Stores a spacecraft blueprint onto a storage device in your avatar's gear, from the universal library. Spacecraft blueprints finalized by you are available for storing to the storage device.

Terms similar to publishing a blueprint are specified by the architect, to restrict use of the blueprint.

Only available in the on line designer.

Import

There is a lot of 3D model data available on the Internet. Spacecraft, buildings, weapons, vehicles and all kinds of other things can be found, many for free.

Importing brings 3D models created in other programs into the Hazeron designer. Imported models can provide a starting point for a fully functional spacecraft or building in Hazeron.

No model will be ready for use immediately after importing. Many downloadable models lack interior details, such as rooms. Often times they are not textured. Further work in the Hazeron designer is always needed, before an imported model can be finalized for use in the game.

Buildings are easier than spacecraft because no interior is required at all. Interior spaces of Hazeron buildings are optional.

Spacecraft are probably the most rewarding to import and flesh out. They really come to life when you add a few interior spaces and windows, texture everything, make the doors work, and add the little details like blinking lights and control stations.

3DS

3DS is one of the file formats used by the Autodesk 3ds Max 3D modeling, animation and rendering software. It was the native file format of the old Autodesk 3D Studio DOS (releases 1 to 4), which was popular until its successor (3D Studio MAX 1.0) replaced it in April 1996.

Some 3DS files can be imported into the designer. Sometimes a 3DS file will be accompanied by a corresponding texture image, such as a BMP, PNG or JPG file.

In testing, good success was achieved by importing 3DS files that were exported from Blender, which is a free modeling program. Poor success was achieved importing some other 3DS files from unknown sources. In some cases, a troublesome 3DS file can be salvaged if it is first imported into Blender, then exported as a new 3DS file. Blender can also import other model file formats and export them as 3DS files.

The 3DS model is oriented to the grid plane when it is imported. The parts of the 3DS model are appended to the current design as generic mesh parts. Use the Design, Make options to convert them to other kinds of parts.

3DS files do not specify their unit of measure. A 10 in the file could mean 10 feet, 10 inches, 10 meters, who knows. A window appears when importing the file to ask what unit of measure you think the 3DS file is using. Your answer affects the size of the resulting model. i.e. If you pick inches and the result is 12 times too small, try feet instead. If the result is too big or too small, it can be imported again using a different unit of measure or the designer can stretch it to a different size afterwards.

STL

STL (an abbreviation of "stereolithography") is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. STL has several backronyms such as "Standard Triangle Language" and "Standard Tessellation Language".

Some STL files can be imported into the designer.

The STL model is oriented to the grid plane when it is imported. The STL model is appended to the current design as a generic mesh. Use the Design, Make options to convert it to another kind of part.

STL files do not specify their unit of measure. A 10 in the file could mean 10 feet, 10 inches, 10 meters, who knows. A window appears when importing the file to ask what unit of measure you think the STL file is using. Your answer affects the size of the resulting model. i.e. If you pick inches and the result is 12 times too small, try feet instead. If the result is too big or too small, it can be imported again using a different unit of measure or the designer can stretch it to a different size afterwards.

STL files do not specify any texture information.

Export STL

Exports all of the visible faces of the current design into an STL file.

The exported result is oriented to the design plane and sized according to the unit of measure specified on the export options window.

Depart Studio

Avatar leaves the design environment and returns to the game universe at the point of entry.

Only available in the on line designer.

Exit

Closes the Shores of Hazeron program.

Edit

Edit menu items operate on objects in the designer.

Edit menu items are generally usable regardless of part vs face mode.

The edit menu also provides access to program settings.

Undo

Restores the design to the way it was before the last editing operation was performed.

Redo

Restores the result of undo, as if the undo was not performed.

Cut

Removes the parts that are selected from the design.

The removed parts are copied to the clipboard, oriented according to the grid plane when they are cut.

Copy

Copies the parts that are selected to the clipboard, oriented according to the grid plane.

Paste

Parts on the clipboard are appended to the design, oriented to the grid plane.

Paste At

Pastes the clipboard contents using the cursor. The design grid describes how the part is copied and pasted. The clipboard contents are centered at the grid origin when copied to the clipboard. When pasting, the clipboard content is centered at the cursor location. In other words, the grid center when copied is the insertion point of the pasted objects.

Steps:

• A point is entered to paste the clipboard contents.

Key Commands:

• Left/Right Arrows rotates around the Z axis in 10 degree increments.
• PgUp/PgDn rotates around the Y axis in 10 degree increments.
• Up/Down Arrows rotates around the X axis in 10 degree increments.
• Shift reduces rotation to 1/10 degree increments.

Paste Radial

Pastes the clipboard contents using the cursor. The pasted objects rotate around the center of the design plane according to the position of the cursor.

The grid describes how the part is copied and pasted. The clipboard contents are centered at the grid origin when copied to the clipboard. When pasting, the clipboard content is centered at the cursor location. In other words, the grid center when copied is the insertion point of the pasted objects.

Steps:

• A point is entered to paste the clipboard contents.

Key Commands:

• Left/Right Arrows rotates around the Z axis in 10 degree increments.
• PgUp/PgDn rotates around the Y axis in 10 degree increments.
• Up/Down Arrows rotates around the X axis in 10 degree increments.
• Shift reduces rotation to 1/10 degree increments.

Delete

Removes the selected objects from the design. They are not copied to the clipboard.

Select All

Selects all visible objects.

In part mode, this is all visible parts. In face mode, this is all faces in the part.

Select Contiguous Faces

Faces that share a common edge with the currently selected face(s) will be selected.

The angle allowed between the facing direction of faces is allowed, to select them. Faces that join at a steeper angle are not selected.

• A small angle will select contiguous faces that are in the same plane as the selected face(s).
• An angle of 180 or larger will select all contiguous faces, regardless of their angle to each other.

Only available in face mode.

Select Edges

Selects all visible edges.

Only available in face mode.

Select Faces

Selects all visible faces.

Only available in face mode.

Select Vertices

Selects all visible vertices.

Only available in face mode.

Deselect All

Deselects all selected objects.

Invert Selection

Reverses the selection state of all visible objects. Selected items become unselected. Unselected items become selected.

Align Selected Objects

Moves and rotates the selected parts.

The move is described using the grid. The grid is oriented relative to the selected parts. That grid location is identified as the starting reference for the move. The grid is then oriented to the destination location and rotation.

Selected parts are moved such that the grid orientation at the start location aligns with the grid orientation at the destination.

This is the same as aligning the grid to the objects, cutting them to the clipboard, then aligning the grid to the destination and pasting the clipboard contents there.

The tutorial video Adding a Turbo Lift to Del Rey Station shows how to use this command to align a turbo lift at a stop. That has changed and it will no longer work as shown in the video. To position a turbo lift at a stop, use the command Designer, Align Turbo Lift Stop.

Grab Selected Objects

Moves or copies the selected objects.

The guide point is the grid center when the grab is initiated using a menu command. The guide point is the cursor location when the grab is initiated using a hot key.

Steps:

• A point is entered at the destination.

Key Commands:

• X,Y,Z locks movement to an axis. Default is none.
• Ctrl when held, copies the selected objects instead of moving them.

Note: When the movement vector is known, there is another easy way to move and copy selected objects, without using this Grab Selection command. To do so, type the movement vector into the Coordinate Input box of the input tool bar. Press Enter to move the selected objects, Ctrl+Enter to copy the selected objects.

Rotate Selected Objects

Rotates the selected objects.

The pivot point is the grid center. Objects rotate around the pivot point.

Steps:

• A point is entered to rotate the selected objects. Input into the Coordinate Input box is interpreted as 3D rotation angles around the X, Y and Z axes. e.g. To rotate 45 degrees around the Z axis, enter 0,0,45, or simply ,,45.

Key Commands:

• X,Y,Z rotates around a specific axis. Default is Z.
• Ctrl when held, copies the selected objects instead of moving them.

Stretch Selected Objects

Stretches the selected objects.

The base point is the grid center. Objects shrink toward the base point and they expand away from the base point.

Stretch factor is determined by the cursor's distance from the center of the grid. When the stretch is initiated using a menu command, stretch factor 1 is at 10 grid increments. When the stretch is initiated using a hot key, stretch factor 1 is at the cursor location. Move closer to the grid center to reduce the stretch factor. Move farther from the grid center to increase the stretch factor.

Symmetrical copies of parts can be created using this command. To make a symmetrical copy along the X axis, type -1,1,1 into the coordinate input box and press Ctrl+Enter. To make a symmetrical copy along the Y axis, type 1,-1,1 into the coordinate input box and press Ctrl+Enter.

Symmetrical copies made in this way are inside out. Use Reverse Faces to restore the proper facing.

Another way to make symmetrical copies is to use the Part, Symmetrical Copy command. It does not leave the parts inside out.

Steps:

• A point is entered to stretch the selected objects. Input into the Coordinate Input box is interpreted as 3D stretch factors along the X, Y and Z axes. e.g. To double the overall size, enter 2,2,2; to reduce the X dimension by half, enter .5,1,1.

Key Commands:

• X,Y,Z locks stretch of one or more axes. Objects do not stretch along locked axes. Default is all, which acts like none.
• Ctrl when held, copies the selected objects instead of moving them

Settings

Displays the Shores of Hazeron settings window.

The Designer page contains settings specific to the designer.

Part

Align Turbo Lift Stop

Moves and rotates the selected turbo lift stop.

This method must be used when establishing the location of each stop of a turbo lift. Routine move, rotate, and mouse drag operations affect all stops of the lift simultaneously.

The move is described using the grid. The grid is oriented relative to the selected turbo lift stop. That grid location is identified as the starting reference for the move. The grid is then oriented to the destination location and rotation.

Selected turbo lift stops are moved such that the grid orientation at the start location aligns with the grid orientation at the destination.

Associate Parts

Certain parts can be associated with certain other parts. Association is a loose connection between parts. The meaning of this association depends upon the parts involved.

A part can be associated with only one other part. Any number of parts can be associated with the same part.

Parts are selected for the association. One or more parts to be associated are selected. A single part is also selected that is the target of the association. This command does nothing if no parts are selected that can be associated. This command does nothing if no target part is select or more than one target part is selected.

Dissociate Parts

Removes any associations from the selected parts.

This only affects parts that are associated to other parts.

This does not affect the part that is the subject of those associations. That part does not have to be selected.

Jig Cut

Jig cutting requires that a jig and one or more other parts be selected, depending on the jig.

The jig may be a part sealed by another architect. Parts cannot be cut if they are sealed by another architect but a sealed jig can be used to cut parts.

Cutting Jigs

Cutting jigs cut the faces of parts. Cutting jigs require that one or two other parts be selected. The jig is positioned to penetrate the parts to be cut. The jig cuts the hole. When two parts are cut, the gap between them is lined with faces to create a solid connection.

Not all parts can be cut by jigs.

Door Jigs

Door Jig

Door jigs create operational doors that connect rooms with each other and to the outside. Door jigs require that two other parts be selected that are rooms or hulls, or one of each. The door jig is positioned to penetrate both parts to be cut. The jig cuts the hole and lines it with faces to create a solid connection.

A door is created from the cut out faces. It can be modified to represent open and closed states.

When a door jig cuts only one part, no door is made. The cut out pieces remain in place.

Window Jigs

Window Jig

Window jigs create transparent windows that connect rooms with each other and to the outside. Window jigs also create translucent windows.

Translucent windows are opaque panels that glow in response to internal lighting conditions, to simulate a window. Translucent windows are used to create a facade of greater internal room detail, without having to make the rooms behind them.

To create a window, the window jig is positioned to penetrate the parts to be cut. The jig and one or two other parts are selected to be cut by the jig. Those parts must be rooms or hulls, or one of each. The jig cuts the hole. When two parts are cut, the gap between them is lined with faces to create a solid connection.

Window panes are created from the cut out faces. Window glass is optional and it can be deleted where it is not wanted, to achieve the desire appearance.

• When a window is created between a room and the hull, a single thin two-sided transparent window pane is created from the hull skin.
• When a window is created between two rooms, two one-sided transparent window panes are created.
• When a window is created in one room or hull, a one-sided translucent window pane is created.

Launch Tube Jigs

A launch tube jig creates a space vehicle launch tube to connect an internal room with the outside.

To create a launch tube, the jig is positioned to penetrate the parts to be cut. The jig and one or two other parts are selected to be cut by the jig. Those parts must be one room and one hull. The jig cuts the hole and lines it with faces to create a solid connection.

A thin two-sided door is created from the faces cut from the hull. It can be modified to represent open and closed states. The launch tube door is optional and it can be deleted if unwanted.

Note that a door jig can also be used to create a launch tube. It just depends on the type of door desired, thick or thin. After the launch tube is cut out, a space vehicle launcher must be installed to complete the launch system. Refer to the Vehicles, Space Vehicle Launcher menu option.

Join

Join multiple parts together to combine them into a single part.

Helpers

Move Grid

Moving the grid changes the location of its center. The rotation of the grid does not change. The grid center is where the red X axis and green Y axis lines cross.

The grid is a tool for drawing. It is like a ruler, not a piece of graph paper. The grid should be moved and rotated as needed, wherever it will help to draw. All drawing takes place in the coordinate space of the grid.

Steps:

• A point is entered at the new grid center.

Key Commands:

• S restores the center of the grid to the true center of the design space without changing its rotation.

Position Grid

Positioning the grid changes the location of its center and the rotation of the grid lines. The grid center is where the red X axis, green Y axis, and blue Z axis lines cross.

The grid is a tool for drawing, It is like a ruler, not a piece of graph paper. The grid should be moved and rotated as needed, wherever it will help to draw. All drawing takes place in the coordinate space of the grid.

Steps:

• A point is entered at the new grid center.
• A second point is entered to set the direction of the red X axis line. Its distance from the center does not matter as it only determines a direction.
• A third point is entered to set the direction of the green Y axis line. It may be entered at any location in the new grid plane.

Key Commands:

• B backs up to reenter the previous point requested.
• C restarts the action at the beginning.
• S restores the grid to the true center and rotation of the design space.
• F restores the grid rotation to flat, without moving the grid.
• X rotates the grid 180 degrees around the X axis, without moving the grid.
• Y rotates the grid 180 degrees around the Y axis, without moving the grid.
• Z rotates the grid 180 degrees around the Z axis, without moving the grid.