In order to play a map in Game Executable Launcher using the game launcher application, the level needs to be prepared by generating and exporting some data.
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.
Game -> AI -> Generate Cover Surfaces
This second step is only necessary if you have placed Cover Surface objects in your level.
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.