To launch the Map Editor, go to the root folder for your Grey Goo game
install and run the file "Public_PGTerrainEditor.exe”. Some Windows users, for example, may find it located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\GreyGoo folder.

For most users, your custom map files can be found in the C:\Users\(Your_Name)\Documents\Petroglyph\Goo\Custom_Maps folder by default.

Important Things to Note about the Map Editor

When publishing to the Steam Workshop, remember that your map must meet certain
requirements to be playable. If your map fails to meet certain requirements for gameplay,
you may be prompted to fix any blocking issues before being able to upload it to the
Workshop.

One of the requirements your map must meet is for your start markers
(MARKER_PLAYER_START) to have sufficient space around them and meet requirements
for level terrain. The area around the marker signified with a yellow square indicates the
area which must be clear of obstructions and level so that all races are able to enjoy
gameplay on the map.

Potentially Useful Hotkeys

• Spacebar – Toggles gameplay camera view states.
  
• [ and ] keys – Alters the currently active brush to be smaller or larger.
  
• Holding Shift and selecting an area will instantly paint that area with the selected brush.
  
• Holding Control will activate the rectangle tool and instantly paint that area with the selected brush in a rectangular shape.
  
• Alt + Left Click – Sample the height, color, or texture that is currently under the cursor.
  
• Holding Ctrl + the Right Mouse Button - Allows you to quickly rotate your camera.
  
• Holding Alt + Right Mouse Button - Allows you to quickly drag your camera view around the map.
  
• Ctrl + D – Places the camera in a top-down view of the map.

In the Map Context Information dialog, you will have the chance to edit 3 different settings:

Biome Set: Here you will choose which default Biome set you will select to be the base for
your map file. A Biome is a file containing a map’s settings which can include texture
settings, lighting settings, environment settings, and other user-selected map options.

Tip: If you modify any map settings (textures, lighting, etc.) while using the map editor,
you can save them together as your own Biome file for use later with any of your new
or previously existing maps. Simply go to File>Save Map Biome Set to save your
custom settings as their own Biome.

Width and Height In Patches: You are able to set the width and height of your map in
“patches”, a rough unit of measurement.

Tip: It is highly recommended that you set a map with an equivalent width and height,
since non-square maps can sometimes cause performance and gameplay issues.

Tip: For reference, Grasslands and Mountain Pass are approximately 16x16 patches.

Bounds Size: The bounds size will determine the size of the surrounding impassible,
decorative area which lies on the borders of the map. This area cannot be traversed by
any unit type, and exists to allow visual continuity.

Click “OK” once you are satisfied with your selections. These settings can be altered after your
map has been created if you wish to do so.

The “Height” tab will allow you to change the topography and structure of your terrain in both the passable play area and in the border area that creates the bounds of your map.

To alter the terrain, select one of the brushes under the Brush Controls section and Left Click the
terrain. To reverse the direction of the brush, hold down the Control key and Ctrl+Left Click the
terrain.

Tip: When using tools such as the surface noise brush which can rapidly change the terrain, be sure to repair or smooth out any visual tears in the terrain before saving and uploading your map.

Tip: If you wish to save a set of Copy Paste brushes for use in another session or map file, simply click the blue diskette icon to save the file. Similarly, if you wish to import a set of Copy Paste brushes, place the file in the same folder as your other Copy Paste Brush Files and then select that file from the dropdown list when in the terrain editor.


The texture tab allows the user to paint textures onto the environmental terrain. Texture sets, specific materials, brushes, and cliff texture settings can be altered here.

To place a texture material on the map, select the desired texture from the Texture Set window
and Left-Click the Terrain. To use the Cliff Brush, select it from the dropdown menu in the “Brush
Style” section and select the first texture in a series of matching textures, then Left-click the
terrain to apply the material(s).

Tip: When attempting to create natural looking terrain, use a small radius leveling brush with small height variations throughout an area prior to using the texture brush.

Tip: The Cliff Healing Brush is useful for situations where preexisting cliff terrain has been readjusted or re-shaped and requires its cliff terrain textures to be recalculated without disrupting any surrounding or layered textures that are not part of that cliff brush.


Decorative props can be placed onto the terrain to further enhance your map. Trees, bushes, roots, decorative rocks, structures, special effects, and more can be placed and edited in the Props tab.

To place a prop, select it from the list and Shift+Left Click the terrain. Props can be rotated using
the circular “Rotate Gizmo” and can be moved around the terrain by either dragging the
movement arrows surrounding the prop, or by Left Clicking the prop and dragging it to the
desired location on the map


The color tab can be used to paint and blend solid colors over terrain textures. This can help add complexity to map art and improve the visual depth.

To paint color onto the map, select the desired color under the Vertex Color setting and Left-Click the brush onto the terrain.

Tip: Holding shift and selecting an area will instantly paint that area with the selected color. Holding Control will activate the rectangle tool and instantly paint that area with the selected color in a rectangular shape.


Splines can be used to create roads, rivers, waterfalls, or variety of other similar line objects with animated textures on it.

To make a new spline, select the desired Spline style from the Presets section then Shift-Left
click on the terrain. Subsequent spline sections can be added by Ctrl+Left clicking on the terrain
once a start point has been placed. A Spline must have at least 3 total points to display on the
map. Spline shape and angle can be adjusted by dragging the spline’s points along the terrain.


Decals can be used to add interesting features, imperfections, or aspects to the ground of the terrain.

Shift+Left click on the terrain to place a new decal. The settings of the new decal can be adjusted
after placement in the left side of the editor.


The Grass tool allows you to place animated small-scale vegetation onto the map to help enhance the terrain environment.

You can paint grass onto the terrain by selecting the desired grass in the selection window, and
left clicking on the terrain. To remove already placed grass, select the “Clear” or “Subtract” brush
modes from the dropdown menu.


The Water tab is where you to control what your map’s water appearance, how easily it becomes visible, and many other aspects of the water table.

The water table is visible when the terrain is lowered in height enough for it to be visible. If you
want to see the water table on your map, either lower some areas of the terrain enough for it to
show or increase the height of the water table itself.

Environmental settings control the settings for the map sun, fog, wind, and other environmental effects. You can set whether your map is a night or day map, in addition to altering how Fog of War appears at different levels of reveal as well.

Before proceeding with your environment settings, be sure to select a Post FX Chain from the
dropdown list so your settings will display as they would ingame. Changing settings such as the
map’s brightness can be done by changing the Intensity under Sun. Other environmental aspects
like Fog and Clouds can be enabled from this tab as well.


The Lighting tab is where you can add individual decorative light points and objects to your terrain.

Individual lights can have their own tint, brightness, display frequency, and other settings which
can be altered in the left-hand settings panel for each light. To place a light object, Shift+Left
Click on the terrain. To move a light object, Left Click and drag the light to the desired location.


The PostFX editor will allow you to specify the different graphical settings you wish to utilize on your map. Effects like bloom, color correction, and Depth of Field can be adjusted here.

Color tint of the entire map can be altered at once by adjusting the saturation and color
correction of the PostFX settings. Default settings generally work best with a wide variety of
maps if you wish to retain the same graphical settings as the game’s base maps.


Gameplay objects like player spawn points, AI functionality markers, and destructible blocking objects can be placed in the Objects tab.

To place a gameplay object onto the terrain, Shift+Left Click on the terrain where you wish to
place it. To alter specific settings about the object(s) you have placed, select their associated
spawners, which appear as green flags on the terrain. Spawner Flags can be moved around on
the terrain to a convenient location without impacting the location of their associated objects. Be
sure to keep objects you wish to have attackable by all players as “ENEMYPLAYER” allegiance
(default setting), such as resource blockers or destroyable debris.


Placement of gameplay objects under the Objects tab known as AI Markers will allow AI players to function properly on your custom map.

You can place an AI Marker onto the terrain with Shift + Left click. Once an AI Marker has been
placed, you can adjust the marker-specific options under the “AI Marker Controls” section in the
Objects panel.


The Passability tool will allow you to alter the pathing aspects of different terrain types, add brush areas, and change visibility/targeting behavior on the map.

If you wish to have passability automatically calculated for your map, you can simply click the
“Generate Default” button to have the map editor generate a rough passabilty map. To manually
alter the passability, select the desired passability type from the Passability brush controls
section and Left Click the terrain. To change the type of passability you are applying (movement,
brush, etc), select the desired category from the dropdown menu.

Tip: When creating brush areas on your map, the context value is important. Brush areas with the same context value will share vision, so be sure to give a new context value to every brush area on your map if you want them to each grant their own individual vision areas.


The Instance options tab allows you to set instance options such as player count and map name. The Instance tab is also where you can add resource fields and spigots.

To add a resource field, click the “Add” button and name the resource field. Then, Leftclick the
terrain to paint the areas in which that field will appear ingame. Spigots can be added to the field
by selecting the “Edit Spigots” option and then Shift-Left clicking in the resource field. Spigots can also be added to the resource pool by dragging them into the field. To change the amount of
resources in a resource pool, select it from the Resource Fields section, alter the amount of
resources in the “Resources” field, and press Enter.

Tip: If you are having difficulty visualizing resource field sizes relative to drain efficiency rates,
remember that a brush size of size 3 Is approximately 8 drain, brush size 4 is approximately 10 drain, and brush sizes 6 or higher are approximately 13 drain.


The Audio tab allows you to set audio events which will determine which audio files play in certain areas. It will allow your map to have a unique combination of ambient sounds.

To start a new Audio path, Shift+Left click on the terrain. Hold the Shift button and Left Click on
subsequent areas that you wish to denote the borders of the audio activation/origination area.

Please note that the Grey Goo Custom Asset 3DS Max plugin is intended for use in 3DS Max 32-bit only.

You can download the plugin here: http://content.greygoo.com/GooAssetTools.zip

Tip: When adding custom props to your maps, those props must be stored in the map file to be
shareable with others – keep in mind that map file sizes will grow accordingly. Additionally, it is
important to note that the complexity of the model will be a large determining factor in the speed at
which the Asset plugin can process the file.

Tip: Remember to center your prop in 3DS Max before exporting – otherwise, it may experience issues if viewed in the Asset Viewer or when you are attempting to properly position it in the Terrain Editor.

Tip: Any texture files used must be represented in powers of 2 (ex. 256x256, 512x512, 1024x1024). Texture files of size 512x512 are recommended for best results. Texture files should be in Targa (.TGA) format.

Tip: Two main conventions exist in Grey Goo shaders: that used for terrain textures and that used for “hdr_mesh_standard”/”hdr_skin_standard” shaders.

For a list of all the commands, download the complete guide[content.greygoo.com]!