Is there an available 3d map editor for xna? or will I have to create my own? I'm planning on designing my own levels for my game and theyre going to be very large so Im wondering whats the easiest way to do it.

DeleD is a great little modeling tool, but that's what it is a modeling tool. It doesn't quite fit the role of a world editor, because everything you place in a scene will be its own mesh, so you won't be able re-use assets. It would be better to use DeleD to build the individual assets, or maybe even the general terrain/level layout and then use another editor to combine everything together and package it.

Of course if what you have in mind is not terribly complex and/or you're not that concerned about re-using assets then using DeleD is certainly doable.

You have to weigh the complexity of writing your own editor (that you can extend to infiinity) vs something else off-the-shelf (that you won't extend at all).

With the second option, you may hit the ground running, but very soon hit a brick wall.

With the first option - you will slowly start to crawl, then walk and after 2 months of work on the editor, you'll be reaching hypersonic speeds in productivity.

So, which one do you want ?

My map isnt that complex. Just a bunch of cubes really. Grass, mountain, and probably some other textures to make it look not so boring. I would prefer to write my own editor, but I wouldnt even know where to start

I would prefer to write my own editor, but I wouldnt even know where to start

1. Create a 2D Grid composed of lines - say you have 50 rows and 100 columns, then create a vertex buffer for 50+100 lines. Have a float GridSpacing = 10.0f (or whatever spacing you are currently using)

2. Create a 3D Cursor from lines (or triangles if you prefer - but then you'd have to render it in wireframe or transparent (to see what is at given quad), which is a needless complication at this moment)

3. Keep a current position of the quad within the grid (e.g. int CurrentRow, CurrentColumn)

4. Use your keys (ASWD) to move the 3D cursor around the grid. Just use a simple Matrix.CreateTranslation (CurrentColumn * GridSpacing, 0.0f, -CurrentRow * GridSpacing) for rendering the cursor

5. Use some other keys (e.g. PageDown/PageUp) to increment/decrement the object at a given grid position into a list of all objects in the level (e.g. List <CObject> ObjectList = new List <CObject> () ). Make sure to store the CurrentROw/Column for each object

6. Have another method void RenderAllObjects () that will bruteforce render all objects from the ObjectList

Once you have that, you can start thinking about putting more objects at the same quad or a finer placement within that quad. But start with the above, that should get you up&running in no time.

I have no idea how to write scripts lol. I have an idea in my head of what I want the map to look like, but the only editor Ive ever used is mappy. I havent done any 3d modeling or texturing. The blocks Im using wont be very hard to make tho..I just need to figure out how big they will be and how to stack them up to create mountains and valleys and things like that

There is a program I just found called MCEdit which is a minecraft editor that's exactly what I'm looking for, but I want to be able to use my own textures and objects as the blocks for my game will be much smaller than the ones in minecraft