Library and collections

The Library tab, collections of reusable resources, where they come from, and how they get into a level and out of it

What a collection is

A collection is a folder of reusable resources. It holds any of seven kinds:

A collection is not tied to a level. It sits on your device and serves every level you open

A level never refers to a collection. Importing always copies into the level, so a level stays a self-contained folder that plays anywhere

Sources

The library lists resources from three sources. Each is a filter chip at the top of a list:

A read-only collection is changed by copying its entries into a collection of your own

The Library tab

Library is a tab on the editor's home screen, right after Create Level

A narrow column of buttons picks the kind:

• Collections
• Prefabs, Themes, Shapes, Effects
• Textures, Fonts, Audio

The list is to the right of that column

Collections

• New collection creates an empty collection of your own
• Import archive adds a collection from a .zip, .tar.gz or .tar file. If that collection is already on the device, the game asks whether to replace it
• Refresh reads the folder again

Each row has Open. Your own collections also have Delete. It asks first and removes the collection with every file in it

A collection's page

The fields are Name, Description, Authors (comma separated) and License (Not stated or one of the typical licences)

Below them are the contents, with Remove on each entry

A read-only collection says Read only. Copy its entries into a collection of your own to change them

In a Steam build the page of your own collection also has a publish section. More - Publishing

Prefabs, themes, shapes, effects

Each of these pages lists every entry from every source. The chips narrow the list

Copy into picks one of your own collections as the target. It is Nowhere by default. Once a target is picked, every row gets Copy

Entries you can change have Delete, and it asks first

Textures, fonts, audio

These pages list the files of all collections. There is no personal library for files, so these kinds live in collections only. Rows have Copy and Remove

What a copy takes along

A copy takes everything the entry needs: a prefab's shapes, textures, fonts and nested prefabs, an effect's particle shape. The credits of those resources go along too

The Collections tab

Collections is a level settings tab, right after Prefabs. It has two modes at the top: Import and Build a collection

Import

1. The tab lists the collections. Press Open on one
2. Tick the entries you want. All and None tick everything or nothing
3. The line Selected: N, dependencies added: M shows what will come in. Dependencies are added on their own
4. Press Import

The whole import is one undo step

Textures, fonts and audio always get new ids in the level. Their files are copied into the level folder under a unique name

Build a collection

1. Into picks A new collection or one of your own. A new one takes its name from Name
2. Tick the level's resources, of any of the seven kinds
3. Press Build

A new collection takes the level's authors

A protected level cannot be turned into a collection. More - Export and protection

Pickers and search

Search and the resource pickers have a Library tier for prefabs, themes, shapes and effects. It lists every source. The pickers are the shape, collider, effect and theme fields and Place Prefab…

Picking a library entry imports it into the level with its dependencies and assigns it. A conflict asks the same question as the Collections tab

The library browsers inside the level's resource tabs work the same way and show the source chips. More - Level resources

Conflicts

An imported entry may already be in the level under the same id:

• the same content - nothing to do
• different content - the window Already in the level opens

The window lists every conflict with an Import as a copy toggle:

Keep all and Copy all set every toggle at once. Import applies the choices, Cancel imports nothing

No version wins silently. Every conflict with different content is decided in this window

Credits

A level's resource records cover themes, effects, shapes and prefabs as well as textures, fonts and audio. Importing copies the matching records into the level, so the credits arrive with the resource

More - A resource's record

On disk

Collections live in resources/collections/<collection-guid>/ in the game's data folder. That is the same resources folder next to levels that holds the device library. More - The level folder and backups

A collection travels as an archive: Export .zip or Export .tar.gz on its page, Import archive in the list. An archive that is not a collection is refused

Next: Publishing, Reuse: prefabs, copying, generators, A resource's record