How to Access the Level Editor

The level editor is included! Here is how you get it running.

Preface

The Steam edition and the GOG edition of the classic Shadow Warrior both come with the build editor just as it was included on the original Shadow Warrior CD. The trick is, it doesn’t come ready to use. The textures are zipped up in the SW.GRP file. Here is a simple guide on how to locate the editor, and unpack the textures needed to make it work.

As far as how to USE the editor… well, you’re on your own.

Finding the Editor

In both editions of the game, the build editor is located in the "Build" directory.

GOG Version:
C:\GOG Games\Shadow Warrior Complete\build

Steam Version:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadow Warrior Original\gameroot\build

Side note:
One difference in orginization between the two version is the placement of DOSBox. In the GOG version, DOSBox is dumped in with the rest of the files whereas the Steam version places DOSBox in a seperate folder entitled "Bin".

This will get you into the editor. Although the editor will launch, 3d mode will not work because textures are missing. So let's get them in there!

Extracting the Textures

Okay so this is the method I have been using since 1997. Still works today. First, copy the SW.GRP file from the game directory into the BUILD directory. The program required for the extraction is called “KEXTRACT.EXE” and is also located in the BUILD directory.

Once you have SW.GRP copied, you need to access KEXTRACT in a command prompt. A simple way to do this would be to back out into the BIN folder. The BIN folder contains DOSBox. Just create yourself a shortcut to DOSBox on your desktop. Now go back to the BUILD directory. Drag KEXTRACT.EXE over to the shortcut of DOSBox and it will open that program in the command prompt.

You should now have a DOS command prompt open to your BUILD directory. The KEXTRACT usage is as follows:

KEXTRACT [GROUPED FILE] [FILE TO EXTRACT]

So here is an example of what you have to type to start extracting the needed files:

KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES000.ART

That command string will extract the first art file. There are 22 art files you need to do this for and they are all numbered.

So a simple way to explain it would be to say, just type in all the following commands:
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES000.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES001.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES002.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES003.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES004.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES005.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES006.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES007.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES008.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES009.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES010.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES011.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES012.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES013.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES014.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES015.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES016.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES017.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES018.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES019.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES020.ART
KEXTRACT SW.GRP TILES021.ART
(There is no tiles022.art since the count starts with 0)

Once they are extracted, just leave em right where they lay. They need to be in the BUILD directory for the editor to find them.

How to Play Custom Levels

This is a pretty commonly asked question. Custom levels are run from the setup screen. To access the setup, click play from your Steam library, then select “Configure Shadow Warrior Original”. This should take you to the good ol blue box set up screen from 1997.

The third option from the bottom is marked “User Level Selection”. Select that and you are shown two more options. The top one reads “Change User Level Search Path”. This is where you input where you are placing your custom maps relative to where the game files are. I suggest typing in “/BUILD”.

Once you have done that you can go to “Select User Level” and pick out what you have made or downloaded. If you chose the BUILD folder, you will find the level “Example.map” which was included in the original game to show you some of the stuff you can do with the editor.

Once you have selected the level you want to play, just back out to the top menu in the setup screen and select “Save and Launch Shadow Warrior”. Yes, you will always have to come here to launch custom levels. (That is, unless you decide to play with a source port. If that is the case, disregard this section.)

Other Documentation

The BUILD editor is not super difficult to use. I was able to figure it out as a junior high school student with only the included documentation. Here is some information on what’s included and where else you can go for help.

All of the documentation is lumped together into one folder. Here it is:

Steam
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Shadow Warrior Original\gameroot\docs

GOG
C:\GOG Games\Shadow Warrior Complete\docs

Here is a small excerpt from one of those files which details their contents:
ADVANCED.TXT - Brief explanations of room-over-room, sector objects, and
other advanced Shadow Warrior mapping topics.
EDITART.TXT - Instructions and reference for using the EDITART program.
EXAMPLE.TXT - Documentation to accompany EXAMPLE.MAP, which includes
demonstrations of almost all of Shadow Warrior's map functionality.
SLABSPRI.TXT - Instructions and reference for using the SLABSPRI program.
SWSOUNDS.TXT - An index of the sound effects and ambient sounds.
SPRITAGS.TXT - Sprite tagging reference. Your guide to all the special
sprites in Shadow Warrior and how to use them.
SWBUILD.TXT - A tutorial and reference guide to using the BUILD editor.
WALLTAGS.TXT - Wall and sector tagging reference. These are all the wall and
sector tags used in Shadow Warrior.

For further help, there is a website called “Shadow Warrior Central” which has been around in one form or another since 1999. Unfortunetly Steam removed the link as spam. Thanks Steam.

Good luck and good mapping!

Change Log

2/19/2014 -Steam mods censored an external link in the documentation sections.

[ChristianKiss]

Two quick tips:

1. Instead of calling KEXTRACT.EXE multiple types, copy and paste all the "KEXTRACT SW.GPR (...)" in the tutorial above into a *.bat file and run it directly in your DOSBox emulator. It saves time.

2. If you're getting a resolution error whilst trying to run BUILD.EXE from DOSBox, I managed to fix this issue using the following DOSBOX configuration file:

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=1366x768
windowresolution=800x600
output=overlay
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
usescancodes=true

The "fullresolution" value can match the one you use in your monitor, of course.

[Critical Failure]

@swigs, try running it in DOSBox

[Sorazora]

Won't run, just says "This app can't run on your PC"

[chesse]

finally i can make boobieland

[cactus of doom]

Thanks

[Yamapikarya215]

Nice! I was searching for this c:

[MISSING STRING TABLE ENTRY]

Awesome! Works perfectly!

[CLEANERS filter]

cool!!