CryEngine SDK Sandbox 3 Documentation — Editor Quick Tips

Let me introduce you a quick list of useful shortcuts, tips and tricks for recently released CryEngine 3 SDK and its editor — Sandbox 3. While this tips aren't unique and all of them available as "Tip of the day" directly in Sandbox 3 Help menu, I think it's still may be somewhat useful to have them all gathered in one place. Later I will probably update this article with some examples and screenshots.

So here it is — a list of tips for Sandbox 3, as the part of useful CryEngine 3 SDK Documentation.

• You can toggle snap to grid by pressing G.
• Ctrl+Shift+Clicking somewhere with an object selected quickly moves the object to that position when in move mode.
• Pressing M will open the material editor.
• Show and Hide helpers is bound to Shift + Space by default.
• Enable AI/Physics is bound to Ctrl + P by default.
• You can save a viewport location by pressing Ctrl + F1 through F12 and go to that position using Shift + F1 through F12.
• You can link objects together by using the link command on the top menu of the editor.
• Pressing 1 through 5 on the keyboard will cycle through brush operations such as move or scale.
• You can simply bind keyboard shortcuts to editor functions by going to Tools –> Customize Keyboard.
• Pressing H will hide the selected objects, Ctrl + H will unhide all hidden objects.
• Pressing F will freeze the selected objects, Ctrl + F will unfreeze all frozen objects.
• Pressing F3 will toggle wireframe view.
• Camera/terrain collision can be toggled using Q.
• Pressing Ctrl + C with an object selected will clone that object.
• Toggle the console by pressing the tilde (~) key.
• You can dock windows by dragging them onto the blue helpers that appear when you grab a window by the titlebar.
• You can select materials by clicking on the dropper icon in the material editor and then clicking on the material you wish to select.
• You can right click on the previewer in the material editor and change the model to different shapes and background colors.
• Materials can be saved in the local level folder for re-distribution.
• Always keep your level free of errors and immidiately fix errors reported by the error report screen when you load your level.
• You must always export to engine before you can run it in pure game mode. (File –> Export to engine)
• You must re-triangulate AI before playing your level in game mode. (AI –> Generate all navigation)
• You must always re-generate surface textures after you finish painting the terrain. (File –> Regenerate surface textures)
• Press Ctrl + G or F12 to go into the Game mode, ESC to return to Editing mode.
• Quickly rebuild a level (without regenerating the ground texture) by pressing Ctrl + E.
• Hold down the third mouse button and drag to move the camera up and down.
• Missing objects are represented by a bright yellow sphere.
• Hold Alt + Middle Mouse button to rotate around an object.
• Select multiple objects by holding Ctrl.
• You can place multiple instances of vegetation by holding Shift and clicking on the terrain.
• A number of useful commands can be found in Tools –> User commands. This can also be dragged and docked to the main window.

Got something like this to share? Feel free to post your tips in CryEngine 3 SDK - Help, Questions & Answers, How To Use on our Forum!