4. Creating Maps and Map Entities
Creating maps and map entities is at the heart of the Imperial Commander Editor. The map not only displays the tiles and tokens used in the mission, but also "virtual" entities like deployment points that tell the app where to deploy groups and information about possible interactions with tokens.
The mission used for the example maps here is "A New Threat" from the core game.
In the Imperial Commander Editor, maps are divided into sections. Sections consist of at least one tile, often many more, that are separated from the other tiles, usually by a door. While all tiles in a section are usually connected to each other, there's actually no need for that.
Hidden vs. open maps
When starting an Imperial Assault mission, usually the entire map is revealed to the players. You can do this in ICE by simply adding all tiles to the Start Section. However, since balancing and fairness for the Imperial player is no issue when playing cooperatively via Imperial Commander, it is recommended to only show the starting area of the mission to the players. Only the sections immediately visible to the Rebels are shown, and everything that is behind doors or other borders is hidden from them. As they explore the map and open doors, more and more of the map is revealed to them. This enhances the sense of exploration and uncertainty, but it's going to make some missions harder, so keep that in mind.
To create a map section, click on Sections, then click the Add a Map Section icon at the top. This immediately opens the new section's properties.
Clicking the pen icon in the section overview opens the section's properties.
- Name: A unique designation for the section.
- Invisible until activated (default NO): If left at No, the section is visible when the mission starts. If switched to Yes, the section is hidden until an event activates it via the event action Map Management.
- Tile Count / Map Entity Count: Shows the number of tiles and map entities in the current section.
- Trigger Count / Event Count: Shows the number of triggers and events currently designated to this section.
Click REMOVE to remove a section.
When removing a section, you can also choose to remove all associated tiles, entities, events, and triggers.
By clicking the map icon on the section, you automatically open the map editor and switch the selected section to active.
When you open the map editor for the first time, it is shown as a large grid of empty spaces. The center of that grid is marked with a blue cross to make it easier to navigate. Every space in the grid corresponds to a space of an Imperial Assault map.
On this grid, you can add and manipulate tiles and entities simply by clicking, dragging and rotating them. It makes no difference where on the grid a map is started, the app will zoom in on the tiles later no matter where they are placed. However, it is advisable to build the map around the blue cross so that the "Center Map" function will immediately move the view to the map.
| No. | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1 | The main portion of the screen displays the map and all map entities of all sections. |
| 2 | A list of common actions for map entities, such as duplicating them, switching to the map section of an entity, or removing them. |
| 3 | A list of all tiles used in the map. The list can be filtered to only show tiles from the active section. |
| 4 | A list of map entities. The list can be filtered to only show entities from the active section. |
| 5 | Properties of the selected entity. Scroll down to view all properties. |
| 6 | Center the map on the general canvas or the selected tile / entity. |
| 7 | A list of icons to add tiles, crates, terminals, doors, deployment points, tokens, and highlights. |
Here's how you navigate the map editor and use the various views.
- Panning: Left-click any empty space and drag the mouse around to move the map view. Alternatively, middle-click any space (even one occupied by a tile or map entity) to do the same.
- Zooming: Use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out. You can press [Shift] while zooming to zoom in smaller increments. Press [CTRL] while zooming to zoom in / out centered on the currently selected tile or entity.
- Center View: Press M to center the view on the blue cross of the map editor. Press S to center the view on the currently selected tile.
The currently active map section can be selected under Active Section at the top of the screen. All sections that are not currently selected are dimmed in the map editor. Select a map section from the dropdown menu to set it as the Active Section.
When a tile or map entity is selected, press W or click SWITCH MAP SECTION at the top right to switch the map section of the selected tile / entity to active.
The right side of the screen displays two lists: One for tiles and one for map entities. You can select a tile / entity by simply clicking on it in the list. Double-clicking an entity opens the entity properties, if available.
Click Filter by Active Map Section to only display tiles / entities of the currently active map section.
Multiple tiles or entities can be placed at the same square, overlapping each other. To select a tile or entity beneath another tile or entity, either select it from the lists on the right, or temporarily drag the overlapping tile / entity away with the mouse, manipulate the object, and drag the first object into place again.
Click the square icon [◻] at the bottom left of the editor to open the Tile Gallery. At the top right of the tile gallery, select the expansion and whether you want to use side A or B of the tile.
- Hover with the mouse over a tile to display a bigger view of the tile.
- Double-click the tile or click INSERT SELECTED TILE to add it to the map in the currently active section.
If you want to add multiple tiles to the map at once, you can use the TILE QUEUE. Simply right-click a tile to add it to the tile queue, or select it and click ADD SELECTED TILE TO TILE QUEUE. You can remove tiles from the queue by clicking the red cross.
Once you have added all tiles to the queue, click INSERT QUEUE to add them all to the map. They are placed in the same space, so click & drag them apart to separate them.
- Left-click and drag a tile to move it into position.
- Right-click a tile or door to rotate it 90° clockwise. Alternatively, press [ or ] to rotate them.
- Pres X or click REMOVE SELECTED on a selected tile to remove it.
Sometimes it can be useful to give a tile a unique name, for example if you want to activate a single tile manually. Select the tile and scroll down to SELECTED ENTITY PROPERTIES on the right side to enter a name.
To flip a tile to the other side after you placed it, select the tile and scroll down to SELECTED ENTITY PROPERTIES on the right side. Toggle between Side A and Side B.
By default, all tiles and sections start as active. You can set a section to inactive by opening the section properties and switching Invisibile until activated to Yes. You can also set individual tiles to active or inactive by switching Is Active? between Yes and No in the SELECTED ENTITY PROPERTIES in the map editor.
Inactive sections and tiles can be activated by events, and active sections and tiles can be deactivated by events. To do this, an event has to launch the event action Map Management. You can find out more under Creating Events and Triggers and in the Event Action List.
Map Entities are everything that belongs to a mission map that is neither a tile nor a figure. Most map entities are represented by physical tokens, for example terminals, crates, doors or mission markers. Other map entities are just virtual to tell the app which map coordinates to use for specific purposes, such as deployment points or space highlights.
To add a map entity to a map, simply click the respective icon at the bottom of the Map Editor screen.
| No. | Entity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Map tile |
| 2 | Crate |
| 3 | Terminal |
| 4 | Door |
| 5 | Deployment Point |
| 6 | Mission Token |
| 7 | Space Highlight |
Use the mouse to drag the map entity into the desired position. Press D to duplicate a map entity in its entirety. Press X to delete a map entity. Doors can be rotated by right-clicking them or pressing the [ and ] keys.
When you select a map entity, scroll down on the right side of the screen to view the selected entity's properties. The available properties vary between entities. Many properties (active status, color, description, interactions) can be changed using the Modify Map Entity event action.
| No. | Entity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Give the entity a unique name. |
| 2 | Click here to assign the entity to the currently active section. |
| 3 | Switch whether the entity is active or inactive by default (see below). |
| 4 | Select the token / deployment point color |
| 5 | Click to edit description and interactions |
Doors have most of the same options, but they can't be assigned a color. Instead of being active/inactive, they have the status open/closed.
Space Highlights again have the default options, but additionally they can be assigned a duration and a size.
Duration: Determines how long the space is highlighted (in rounds). Once the set duration ends, the space is no longer highlighted. Set 0 for infinite duration. (They can still be set as inactive with an event action.)
Size: Determines the size of the highlight in spaces.
Map entities can be active (visible) or inactive (invisible). You can change their status with the event action Modify Map Entity. Please note that even map entities that are active are not visible until the section they belong to is visible. Once a section is revealed, all active map entities are revealed as well.
Deployments points can be set to Active and Inactive, as any other map entities. When no specific deployment point is set for a deployment, the app randomly selects an active deployment point. Inactive deployment points will never be selected randomly for deployment, but can still be specifically selected for deployment by an event.
An inactive door is considered closed. An active door is considered open.
Map entities can have a description and interactions. A description is text that is shown when the map entity is clicked by the players. Interactions are buttons below that text window. All map entities feature a Cancel button that allows you to close the window without altering the game state. You can add as many buttons as you like.
Note: Deployment points cannot be assigned descriptions and interactions. Instead, they can be assigned traits, see below.
Buttons feature custom text. They can be set to either fire a trigger, launch an event, or both.
| No. | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Enter the description of the entity here. |
| 2 | Click to add a new button that can be assigned to existing triggers / events. |
| 3 | Click to create a new trigger and automatically assign it to a new button. |
| 4 | Click to create a new event and automatically assign it to a new button. |
| 5 | Enter the button text. If it requires an interact action, don't forget the Action icon {A}. |
| 6 | Select which trigger / event to assign to the button. |
| 7 | Remove the button. |
By default, any deployment point can deploy any figure. However, deployment points can be set to only use specific factions, figure sizes and traits for groups. For example, a deployment point can be set to only deploy Mercenary figures, only Large figures, or only figures with the Creature trait. Simply double-click a deployment point and uncheck any properties you do not want the point to deploy.
"Changing ownership" means assigning tiles and entities to a specific section (its "owner"). Select the tile or entity, then select the target section from the dropdown list above the map editor. Next, scroll down to the tile / entity properties on the right side and click Change Owner.
| Entity | Token | Color | Interactions | Descriptions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crates | Crate token | Any | Yes | Yes | - |
| Terminals | Terminal token | Any | Yes | Yes | - |
| Mission tokens | Mission token | Any | Yes | Yes | Can be Imperial, Rebel, or Neutral |
| Doors | Door token | None | Yes | Yes | Inactive doors are closed. Active doors are open. To open a closed door, activate it via an event action. |
| Deployment points | None | Any | No | No | Can be assigned traits, see above |
| Space highlights | None | Any | Yes | Yes | Can have duration and size, see above |