Coming from SCMDraft 2

Most of what you know from SCMDraft 2 applies here. This section covers what carries over, what is in a different place, and what to check before you move a map you care about.

What carries over#

• Your maps. Open the .scx, .scm or .chk file as it is; there is nothing to convert. On save the editor rewrites only the parts of the file that changed (unless you choose Smallest that plays when saving): your edits, and any fixes the Repair plugin made to a damaged map when it opened (see Damaged and protected maps). Everything else, including sections and archive files it does not understand, is saved exactly as it was.
• Text triggers. The Text Trigger Editor uses SCMDraft's TrigEdit syntax, so trigger text can be pasted in either direction. It is a plugin that starts off: turn on TrigEdit in Plugins ▸ Manage Plugins… (see The Text Trigger Editor).
• .trg files. File ▸ Import and Export read and write SCMDraft's .trg format. A .trg stores string numbers rather than text, so use it only between copies of the same map; use text triggers between different maps (see Importing, exporting and checking triggers).
• Undo depth. The history keeps 200 steps by default, as SCMDraft does. You can change this in Preferences.

What is different#

• Layers have single-key shortcuts. T D U S L F C switch between Terrain, Doodads, Units, Sprites, Locations, Fog of War and Cut / Copy / Paste, and [ and ] change the brush size. Every command can be given other keys on Preferences ▸ Hotkeys (see Keyboard and preferences).
• Dialogs are in the undo history. Each OK or Apply in Player Settings, the Trigger Editor and the other dialogs is one undo step, in the same history as your terrain strokes. A resize and a tileset change are one step each too.
• Saving depends on where the editor runs. The desktop app and Chrome or Edge save over the file you opened; the desktop app copies the old file to a .bak first. Firefox and Safari download every save instead (see Saving).
• Plugins are different. SCMDraft's plugins are Windows programs and do not run here. scmJS has its own plugins, several of them on by default (see Plugins).
• Symmetry has limits. It does not mirror the Blend brush or pasting, and the Tile brush does not flip edge tiles (see What it does not do).

Before you move a project#

• Keep a copy of the map as SCMDraft last saved it.
• Open the map and run Check Map. It lists what the game would refuse or silently drop, which is worth knowing before you change anything.
• Make one small change, save, and play the map in the game. Then open the saved file in SCMDraft and check that SCMDraft still opens it as you expect.