How to Create New Levels for Braid

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You'll be creating a new "universe" folder to hold all user-made levels, then another within that named after your level - we'll use "videogamer". Getting the base game data in there to work with is a little tricky, so make sure you follow the steps closely.

First, copy package0.zip from your Braid/data directory to the basic braid one, unzip both, and then copy the whole Data Directory into your videogamer folder. Run the game with the command "Braid -editor -universe videogamer -no_packages" and you're there.

The good news is that building a Braid level is pretty easy. There are handy links to the left as you're playing with the editor that provide you with trouble shooting hints and advice.

There are a few things that you'll need in order to build new Braid levels.

• The home of Braid snipurl.com.gkm36
• Braid creator Jonathan Blow's blog snipurl.com/gkm4i
• BraidsMods, the unofficial home of Braid editing snipurl.com/gkm2f
• The fantastic official soundtrack snipurl.com/gkm5f

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Once you have set up the game as described above, load the game. Enter into the first world and the first level. Press F11 to open the Editor, and then click New World. Click Save As and type "world2-1.", tap F11 to leave the editor, and hop back in. You should be looking at a black void, if everything went as planned.

Braid is a tricky game, and what you think you're looking at isn't necessarily how the game works. For starters, levels aren't made up of blocks clicked together to make platforms, but two different types of items: Pieces and Entities. Pieces are the scenery you'll be looking at, like cliffs and ledges. Entities cover everything from switches to cannons, giving the illusion of a working world.

Time to make an entrance. This door is where John will enter the level. Click Entity Panel from the menu, and Deselect if it's showing anything. Choose the door item from the list and click Instantiate. A block (not an actual door) appears on the screen. If doesn't matter where you put this, but drag it around with the mouse.

Let's make some cliffs and grassland to run on. Click Add Piece Config, and type "ledges_and_caves02". This will dump all the sets in your Braid/Data/Pieces directory and all of the current Ledges and Caves set onto the screen. Click one and press CTRL-C to copy it, CTRL-V to paste it.

You're not limited to one position. In the Entity Window, the option facing_left lets you flip the object around and holding down the right mouse button lets you rotate it. Put together a ledge for John to land on, and another one a short distance away. You'll see other ways to play with Pieces in the list, including Add and Multiply mode, which are useful for creating depth and backgrounds.

Try to run the level, and John falls to his death. This is because all we've made is a picture of a ledge, not a ledge itself. Open the Entity window, and choose Surface. Instantiate it and drag it to the start of the ledge. Pressing Tab to create new points, create a path across your ledge. This will be invisible to the player, making it look like the grass graphics are holding John up.