Designer Menu

Menu Bar

The designer menu bar is itemized here.

File

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 loading. 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 loading. 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 stuff.

3DS

3DS is a file format for storing 3D models. It is supported by AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, Blender and other programs. 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 resized 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.