Preparing a Level for Playing
Overview
In order to play a map in Launcher using the game launcher application, the level needs to be prepared by generating and exporting some data.
Exporting the Level to the Engine
On the File menu, click Export to engine:
This will write the level data into the level.pak file that is read by the engine in the pure game mode via the Launcher.
For the Evaluation SDK, exported levels are encrypted for security reasons. In order for the Launcher to be able to read encrypted levels, it is necessary to provide the decryption key, which is shown by Sandbox after "Export to engine" has been used. The key is copied into the clipboard and can easily be used. The Launcher application expects the decryption key in file system.cfg. To set the key, write following line into the file:
level_decryption_key = key
Where key is to be replaced by the key in the clipboard.
Only the PC Launcher is able to read encrypted levels this way. On console, no encryption is necessary. Therefore, export levels for console specifically, by using menu option "File / Export to engine for console". If you are moving along from an evaluation to a full license, levels which have been created in the evaluation phase cannot be read by the full license initially, as the full license cannot handle encrypted files. Therefore, if you want to transfer levels from evaluation to full license, please send those levels to Crytek, in order to have them decrypted.
Generating All Navigation
On the AI menu, click Generate all AI:
This will write the AI navigation data into the level.pak file, which can be read by the game in the pure game mode.
Without this information, the AI will most likely not be able to navigate through the level.
Generating the Level Surface Texture
On the File menu, click Generate surface texture:
This will write the painted ground textures to the terraintexture.pak file.
For final quality, select the 16384 x 16384 option, and also select the High Quality and Calculate Terrain Sky Accessibility check boxes.
For testing, the default 4096 x 4096 will do.