ATY Scripts/Doku/Map Editor/Layers and projects

Layers and projects

Two different kinds of organisation, easy to confuse:

Layers group props within the live map, so you can hide and manage parts of it
Projects are named snapshots of the whole map, saved on the server

Layers

Create a layer, then assign props to it. A prop belongs to exactly one layer; anything unassigned sits in the default group.

Assigning:

Drag a prop from the active list onto a layer
Or select many props and use Mass edit → Properties → Layer

What a layer gives you:

Action	Effect
Show / hide	The eye toggle hides every prop in the layer while you work on something else
Collapse	Fold the group in the list, without hiding the props
Export by layer	Export scope Layer exports just this group as its own resource
Delete layer	Removes the group

Layers pay off on any map with distinct areas: interior vs exterior, ground floor vs first floor, permanent build vs event dressing. Hide the exterior and the interior stops fighting it for your attention.

Layer assignment is stored per prop and survives export and re-import through the JSON format.

**Move the props out before you delete a layer.** Deleting removes the group, not the props — but the props keep pointing at a layer that no longer exists, so they stop appearing under any group in the list. They are still on the map and still come out of an **All** export; they are just no longer reachable from the layers panel. Drag them to another layer, or to the unassigned section, first.

Projects

A project is the whole map, saved under a name, on the server.

Action	What happens
Save	Writes every current placement to a named project
Load — replace	Clears the live map and loads the project
Load — merge	Adds the project's props on top of what is already there
Delete	Removes the saved project

**Replace clears the live map.** It is one undo step, so it can be reversed — but save the current state as its own project first if it matters. Merge is the safe option when you only mean to bring extra props in.

What projects are for

Checkpoints. Save before a large area fill or a mass edit. If it goes wrong, load the checkpoint back.

Variants. A "christmas" version of the town square and a "normal" one, switched by loading a project.

Moving a build between servers. Save a project, copy the file from the resource's data folder to the other server, load it there.

Projects are files on the server, not in your browser, so they belong to the server rather than to whoever placed the props.

Environment

The environment panel sets time of day and weather — for everyone, not just you. The server is authoritative: it validates, stores and broadcasts the change.

This is a building tool, not a cosmetic one. A night scene has to be checked at night, and a light source that looks correct at noon can be invisible or blinding after dark. Set the time to match what you are working on.

Because it applies server-wide, changing time or weather on a live server affects every player. On a busy server, do lighting work when it is quiet, or on a build server.

Previous Lights Next World eraser

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