GtkRadiant Editor Manual: Page 4.1

# GtkRadiant Editor Manual

# Tools 1: Selecting and deselecting

The most basic interaction with the editor is selecting and deselecting objects and components. Everything else builds off from these commands.
The shape of objects can be changed by selecting and editing their component parts. The editor has three component-selection modes: Face (F); Edge (E); Vertex (V). These can be toggled on and off by using their shortcut key or toolbar button. Use ESC to exit a component-selection mode.

## Selecting Objects and Components

Select single object or component
In the Camera or Orthographic Windows, this toggles selection of the object/component that is “closest” to the viewer and the mouse pointer.
Use SHIFT+ALT to replace the current selection instead of toggling

Select multiple objects or components
In the Camera or Orthographic Windows, this toggles selection of all objects/components that touch the box.
Use SHIFT+ALT to replace the current selection instead of toggling

Cycle through stacked objects or components
Beginning with the component closest to the viewer, the user can cycle through vertically stacked components that are directly beneath the mouse pointer.

Deselect all selected objects/components
All selected objects/components are deselected.

## Copying, Pasting, Cloning and Deleting Objects

Copy
(Menu: Edit)
(CTRL+C)
This function copies all hi-lighted objects onto the clipboard. Contents of the clipboard may be pasted into the current open map file or into another open map file.

Paste
(Menu: Edit)
(CTRL+V)
The map information previously copied into the clipboard is pasted at the same XYZ coordinates as the original.

Duplicate
(Menu: Edit)
(Shortcut: SPACE)
Selected map components are immediately duplicated. The clone remains selected.

Delete
(Menu: Edit)
(Shortcut: BACKSPACE)
All selected map components are removed from the map.

Undo
(Menu: Edit)
(Shortcut: none)
Undo will undo any command that made a change to the map.

The number of levels of Undo can be set in Preferences. The default is 64, the maximum is 1024.

## Working with Regions

Regions are an important tool to learn and use early on. Whether you isolate off a single brush, or half a map, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without this tool in other editing programs. The selections on the Region Menu allow the mapper to isolate, and work on, a subset of the map. There are innumerable benefits to working in a “regioned” area of the map. However, the following are the most important:

- It allows you to work with a few objects at a time, without the distraction of the rest of the map.
- When you want to perform CSG operations, regioning lets you isolate the pieces from the rest of the map, reducing risk of making unwanted cuts or splits.
- Map regions can be compiled without having to compile the rest of the map. This can be an incredible timesaver. Instead of spending hours to compile an entire map just to check for leaks in new construction, or check the appearance of a room, or test a lighting effect, minutes can be spent processing just the room itself.

There are several ways to select a region, by a group selection, by XY map window dimensions (or the corresponding view in YZ and XZ), or by a few selected objects.

The commands for selecting regioned areas are found under the View > Region Menu heading.

View > Region Menu
Off
This returns you back to the full map. Brushes that were selected while in the regioned mode remain selected until ESC is pressed to unselect them.

Set XY

Any map components that are inside, or that are touched by the bounds of the XY Map window are converted into a region. The size or shape of the window does not matter. Nor does the degree of Zoom matter. This is an excellent way to select are larger subset of your map, such as a complex room or group of rooms. Any brushes selected before regioning the map remain selected.

Set Brush

This functions in a similar manner to the group selection command, Select Touching. Any map components contained within the XYZ bounds of the brush, or touching the XYZ bounds of the brush will be regioned off. The selecting brush itself is discarded.

Set Selected Brushes

If you need to work with just a few brushes, this is the option to choose. Hi-light the brushes to be worked upon then select this option. Only those brushes are moved to the region. The selected brushes are unselected when the region is created.

Compiling Notes: Sometimes, when compiling a regioned area, md3 map object models near the edge of the region can cause a “false leak” situation to occur. This can usually be corrected by adjusting the region size to include more of the map near the md3 map object model.

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