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Getting started & Basic Navigation

Rufus Pearce

Fio is a hybrid 2D/3D level editor and engine built for rapid block-out, logic wiring, and instant gameplay testing — build a room, drop in a player start, and press Play without leaving the app.

This page covers the absolute basics: getting around the viewports and building your very first playable room.

The workspace

Fio shows several views at once:

  • 3D viewport — a live, rendered view of your level that you fly around like a first-person camera.
  • 2D viewports — orthographic Top / Side / Front views for precise placement. Draw and align brushes here.
  • Property editor — context-sensitive settings for whatever you have selected (and a Debug Console tab).
  • Scene Hierarchy — a tree of every brush and entity in the level.
  • Asset Browser — textures and models to drag onto surfaces.

Panels are dockable — drag them around to taste, and use Ctrl + Shift + R to reset the layout if things get messy.

Viewport Controls & Camera

3D viewport

  • Free camera / mouselook — hold the Right Mouse Button and use W A S D to fly around.
  • Vertical movement — Space rises straight up, C drops straight down (when nothing is selected).
  • Zoom — the Mouse Wheel zooms in and out.

2D viewports

  • Pan — hold the Right Mouse Button and drag
  • Zoom — Mouse Wheel.
  • Cycle views — Ctrl + Tab steps through Top, Side and Front.
  • Draw a brush — with the Brush tool active, hold the left mouse button and drag out a box.

Selecting

  • Click to select a brush or entity; Ctrl + Click (or Shift + Click) to add to the selection.
  • Esc deselects.
  • Delete removes the selected object.
  • H hides the selection; Shift + H unhides everything.
  • Space clones the selected object.

Your first room in 60 seconds

  1. Pick the Brush tool, then hold the left mouse button and drag a box in a 2D view.
  2. Click the Room button Room to turn that box into a hollow room — walls, floor and ceiling are created and a light is placed automatically.
  3. Right-click inside the room and choose PlayerStart from the menu to set where the player spawns.
  4. Press F5 (or the Play button) to jump straight into the level.
  5. Press Esc to return to the editor.

That's the whole loop: block out → add a player start → play → tweak → repeat. From here, add Entities (Things) like monsters and pickups, and wire them together with the Triggers & I/O Logic System.

In a hurry? The Procedural level generator builds an entire playable space in one click.

Global Keyboard Shortcuts

(The F-key shortcuts are configurable under Settings → Shortcuts.)

Key Action
Ctrl + Tab Cycle the 2D viewports (Top / Side / Front)
F1 Toggle connection lines (Logic Links)
F2 Toggle Wireframe render mode
F3 Toggle the System Monitor overlay
F5 Enter / Exit Play Mode
` (backtick / tilde) Show the Debug Console
T Toggle the Asset Browser
Space Clone the selected brush / object
H / Shift + H Hide selected / Unhide all
Delete Remove the selected object
Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V Copy & paste brushes
Ctrl + Shift + R Reset the UI layout

Play Mode controls

Press F5 to play. Standard first-person controls apply:

  • W A S D — move · Mouse — look · Space — jump · E — use / activate (doors, use triggers, level changers).
  • ` — open the in-game Debug Console · Esc — return to the editor.

Handy in-play toggles:

Key Action
F1 Show logic connection lines
F2 Wireframe mode
F3 System Monitor overlay
F6 Toggle model collision
F7 Monster AI debug overlay
F9 Split-screen mode
F12 Fullscreen / kiosk mode

Toolbar

# Tool Description
1 Select Select entities and brushes
2 Brush Create and resize brushes
3 Room Turn the selected brush into a hollow room (auto-places a light)
4 Hollow Hollow the selected brush with a chosen wall thickness
5 Clone Duplicate the selected brush (shortcut: Space)
6 Rotate Rotate the selected brush 15° (relative to the current 2D view)
7 Subtract CSG-subtract the selected brush from any brushes it touches
8 Scissor (shortcut: x) Place two points, then slice a brush along that plane
9 Tint Apply a colour tint to the selected brush
10 Procedural Tools Terrain Generator and Procedural level generator
11 3D Grid Show / hide the 3D grid
12 Play Launch into Play Mode

Where to next

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