UE1:UnrealEd 1

UnrealEd 1, or UEd1 for short, is the map editor of Unreal Engine 1 games. Its actual name depends on the game it comes with, but even this is handled very inconsistently.

Note that shortening UnrealEd to "UE" may cause confusion because that abbreviation is commonly used to mean the Unreal Engine in general, specifically UE1 stands for the Unreal Engine 1, which comes with a different version of the Unreal Editor.

The UnrealEd is a separate executable for Windows versions of Unreal Engine games, but is very tightly integrated into the game. This means it's not possible to use the UnrealEd.exe of one game with a different game, or even with a different patch level of the same game. Also, there is no UnrealEd for Linux, MacOS or console versions of Unreal Engine 1 games.

User Interface

Unlike later versions of the Editor, UnrealEd 1 featured a row of buttons 3x14 that allowed the developer to create brushes from simple cubes and cylinders to highly complex creations using a variety of the available tools. The program also featured the ability to export or import textures and sound packages. And also included some preset actors for adding special effects such as explosions, time delays and specific level instructions. An experimental Floor lofter for creating terrains was also included.

File:UnrealEd1-Interface.png

Components of the UT Editor main window.

The following is an overview of the components of the UnrealEd 1 main window:

1. The menubar
2. The toolbar
3. The toolbox
4. The statusbar
5. A viewport toolbar
6. A viewport

History

UnrealEd 1 is the first version of the Unreal Editor released in 1999 by Epic Games, and was used to create a vast array of games by a range of game manufacturers.

Known issues

This basic engine tended to be buggy and caused an enormous amount of trouble for developing level designers. Some games, such as Wheel of Time were packaged and sold retail without a working Editor engine. Two of the game designers Sam Brown and Glen Dahlgren worked on releasing a suitable fix for this on their own time, finally releasing the WoTEd patch within three months of the games original release in November ’99.

One known major issue was that it required specific versions of COMDLG32.OCX and TABCTL32.OCX to be installed in the PC’s Windows system 32 folder. Without these two files, the editor would crash when the map was re-built. Other problems caused the editor to crash for no apparent reason, giving a multitude of errors.

The editor included in Wheel of Time was also released without an accompanying help file or contextual tips, unlike later versions of the editor.

Patches

When Unreal Tournament was released in 1999 the UnrealEd saw an almost entirely new version, the 436 patch updated the editor to what could almost be called version 1.5 as it differed only slightly from UnrealEd 2. There are also a number of arguments on different websites as to whether Unreal Tournament used version 1 or version 2.

Communities also developed specific patches for games. It was discovered (through trial and error) that to enable the editor for Wheel of Time to work, the patches had to be installed in the correct order. WoTEd fix 3 had to be installed before UnrealEd fix 4. Both of these had to be installed before the game could be updated to the Wheel of Time 333b patch.

See also

• UnrealEd 2
• Mapping articles
• Mapping tutorials

External links

• WoT Maps - User made maps, tutorials and a chm help file
• Chimeric Tutorials On UnrealScript
• Wolf's Tutorials Basic information on creating maps and using the Editor