by Jon Irons and Gregory Smith
The Visual Mode plugin lets you texture levels in the engine, much like Forge's visual mode did.
In Aleph One, go to your Environment preferences, and enable the Visual Mode plugin. Now, choose the map you want to texture. Start the game.
Across the top of the screen, you'll see some descriptive labels that will help you. You can switch between texture and move modes by pressing the action key. You can get more options by holding down the microphone key, or switching to overhead map mode, or both.
If you apply the wrong texture, press and hold the microphone key, and then press the action key, to undo.
To save your level, bring up the console by pressing the console key, and type:
.save level Levelname.sceA
When you save successive times, you only need to type
.save level
and it will overwrite your previous save.
Since Aleph One is a little sloppy about clearing out the data in levels it exports, I recommend opening and resaving in Weland when finished texturing.
Congratulations, you now know everything you need to know about Visual Mode!
Why don't I see the texture palette?
Some HUD plugins don't display a texture palette. Try disabling any HUD plugin you may have enabled.
How do I switch textures?
In texture mode, hold down the mic key and press prev or next weapon
Does it work in co-op?
Yes! Unzip the plugin, and select the Visual Mode.lua file inside as your netscript. Since Visual Mode uses the mic key, you'll have to resort to text chat.
How do I apply transparent textures?
In texture mode, switch to the overhead map. Press the secondary trigger to change between solid and transparent apply
How do I create rechargers, terminals, pattern buffers, and switches?
Apply one of the first 5 textures. Visual mode will enter a device mode, where you can choose which control panel you want (only control panels that are appropriate for the texture you selected will be shown). Then press the primary trigger to save, or secondary to cancel without saving changes to the control panel.
Warning: .save level will save the tag switches in their current position, so make sure if you need to set them to move around the map, that you reset them before you save. Platform and light switches will assume the correct position when the level loads, so you don't have to worry about them.