Undo = Create?

[6649bf6681327Yankee Clipper]

I decided to add an object to the inventory of a corpse. I figured I needed to create an instance of the object itself (laser pistol), not just use the whole tree. So I went into the object hierarchy to laser pistol and clicked the create button. As soon as I clicked create, the laser pistol window closed and I was back in the default view in ShockEd. I figured I was supposed to click the screen to tell it where to create the new laser pistol, but nothing happened. I tried drawing a box where it should go - still nothing. After clicking around for awhile with nothing apparently resulting, I figured I should use the undo button a few times to make sure that if anything had changed that I wasn't aware of, at least I would reverse it to get back to my starting state.

Then I noticed that every time I used ctrl-z, the display was reporting a new laser pistol object, with a specific object number. So, I went and added that object into the inventory of the corpse, portalized, saved and tested. It seems that I got what I wanted. I tried it again from scratch, and it looks like I have stumbled onto the procedure for creating an object.

But, it doesn't seem right. Why would you need to use undo to create an object? It just seems backwards. I even checked my key bindings to make sure I wasn't just thinking I was using undo when I was actually doing something else. But, there it is in the bindings: ctrl-z is undo.

What's going on? Is that really the correct procedure to create an object?

[6649bf66814b1xdiesp]

Be very careful with the undo command, as it can screw things up in fantastic ways you never believed possible. For starters, backup the map and gamesys you're editing.

Then when you want to create a lser pistol, hit F5, type "laser pistol" in the search field, highlight it and click on Create. That menu will disappear: you now need to drag the mouse button in the 2nd window to draw a rectangle, which is going to be your item. Move it around with the numpad, and in particular numpad plus and minus.

For a corpse to contain something, click on it and select links from the lower toolbar. The corpse must have a link of the type contain, directed toward the laser pistol. I usually type the number of the item and press tab or enter, to fill the link field.

[6649bf66815b7Yankee Clipper]

LOL. I thought I was being very careful - by using the undo command. What good is an undo command that instead of undoing, goes ahead and does who knows what?

Thanks for the tip.