Posts by WINDSGN

Hi everyone!

I’d like to share the new 3D Map Editor, now included in OpenNeoUA Studio.

It replaces my older Sektor 2 editor and moves map editing from a 2D view into a full 3D workspace. You can explore your level, see the terrain, buildings and units together, and get a much clearer idea of how everything fits before trying it in the game:

The aim is to make creating and editing Urban Assault maps easier and more visual, while continuing to work with the game’s existing level format and assets...

Some of the main features :

-Explore and edit maps in 3D, using models and textures from your own Urban Assault or OpenNeoUA installation.

-Edit terrain and place buildings and units, with tools for moving and copying elements around the map.

-Check the view from a Host Station, squad or gun, to help assess positions and lines of sight.

-Place and configure Beamgates, Super Items and Gems, including key sectors and gem effects.

-Edit technology, scripts and level settings within the same editor.

-Preview placements before confirming them, and use Undo/Redo while working.

-GPU rendering, with a software fallback when needed.

-GPU rendering, with a software fallback when needed

- Compatible with modded game installations.

The Map Editor is part of OpenNeoUA Studio, alongside the Model Editor, Snapshot Studio, Entity Designer and Wireframe Editor, so the map and asset tools are available in one application.

The editor is new; There is still work to do and you will probably encounter some bugs: If something goes wrong, please report it in this thread or on GitHub. A short description of what happened, a screenshot, or the affected level file would help me investigate.

- Download OpenNeoUA Studio for Windows -

To open it, launch Studio and choose Map Editor from the startup screen.

I hope this makes working on new maps a little easier; happy map making!

Quote from sectlord

This is great to see. At one point, opening these files was something that could only be dreamt of.

After playing around with it a bit, I do have a question. I'm interested in adding new skies into the game. Is there a way to replace the sky images in the base files and save a new file (say I wanted to edit 1998_01.bas and swap the image out with some different .png's)? I didn't see an obvious way to do that but let me know if I missed something. I'm less familiar with this part of the game.

I did see an example on the discord where someone made a 3D .obj file with a new sky and added it in UA Open, but trying to make my own version led me down a rabbit hole about how to edit those files.

In the future OpenUAStudio will also support modifying and adding skies, along with other types of models and textures.

I am pleased to introduce OpenNeoUAStudio, a new all-in-one asset editing, inspection and extraction tool for Microsoft Urban Assault and OpenUA

OpenNeoUAStudio replaces and unifies my previous standalone projects:

- SKLtron 3D
- SKLtron 2D, now integrated as the Wireframe Editor
- BASet
- Sektor, now integrated as the Map Editor

Instead of maintaining several separate applications all their functionality is now being developed inside a single unified program.

OpenUAStudio is designed to provide the tools needed to create, inspect, extract, convert and edit Urban Assault assets through one consistent interface.

Main features:

- 3D Asset Workbench

- BAS Archive Tools

- Wireframe Editor

- Map Editor

Supported and researched formats

- SKL;
- SKLT;
- BASE;
- BAS;
- SET.BAS;
- ILBM;
- ILB;
- VBMP;
- ANM;
- VANM;
- LDF;
- PNG conversion workflows.

Project philosophy:

OpenUAStudio is intended to be a conservative and reliable tool for Urban Assault modding, preservation and technical research.

OpenUAStudio is available on GitHub:

GitHub - TeuZzZ-17/OpenNeoUAStudio: All-in-one tool for editing and extracting Microsoft Urban Assault assets

All-in-one tool for editing and extracting Microsoft Urban Assault assets - TeuZzZ-17/OpenNeoUAStudio

github.com

License:

OpenNeoUAStudio is free and open-source software released under the GNU General Public License.

Quote from Schloss Charlottenburg

The fragmented loading mechanism of the individual decompressed SET.BAS package data and asset files is a feature that is already natively supported in the original game engine as well as the main branch of OpenUA repository. Although there are some files that have to be manually created (such as slurps.lst, colside.skl, or colcross.skl) and placed inside the corresponding locations accordingly in order for this method to work properly.

Therefore, in theory this new tool should be compatible with the original UA game and all iterations of the OpenUA branches by default. I may have to test this new tool in the near future, and while I agree that the repack function is not strictly necessary, it would be also preferable to have it than not since writing a parser for this task wouldn't be too complicated or time-consuming to achieve.

Another good potential failsafe feature would be rendering the official/vanilla files 'read-only' by default when inspecting with this tool, which can be disabled as necessary. This will prevent accidental modification or corruption of the base game files from inexperienced users. However, it is only a minor suggestion similar to the abovementioned function.

Thanks for the clarification.

Right that OpenUA already has some support for loading loose/extracted files through its virtual filesystem. I probably should have worded my previous message more carefully: what I meant is more specific in my experimental build I added a SET loose override layer for Data/Set_/Loose/, especially for resources that are normally embedded inside SET.BAS, such as ILBM textures, SKLT resources and bitmap animations. The existing filesystem/mod mechanism was already there. My change is mainly about allowing extracted SET resources, including embedded ones, to override the original archive contents without rebuilding SET.BAS, while keeping vanilla fallback behavior.
In this override path, 4-letter extensions such as .ILBM, .SKLT and .BASE can be read directly as they are, instead of being forced - truncated to the older 3-letter forms like .ILB, .SKL or .BAS. The fallback to the legacy 3-letter names is still kept for compatibility. Another nice improvement is that the experimental build can now also load PNG replacements directly, so for some texture overrides it is no longer necessary to convert everything back to the original ILBM format and i am still learning the internal resource system

Hello Urban Assault community!

I am happy to release Sektor 2, the new version of my map editor for Microsoft Urban Assault, OpenUA and UA Source:

Sektor was created to make Urban Assault level editing easier, more visual and more accessible. Instead of manually editing large LDF files only through text, Sektor allows you to build and modify maps through a visual interface, while still exporting proper Urban Assault-compatible level files.

The first public beta was released on December 6, 2025. At that time, Sektor was still a rough experimental prototype: useful, but limited, unstable in some areas, and mainly a proof of concept.

Sektor 2 is a completely different beast now. The project has evolved from a simple beta editor into a much more mature and practical tool for real map creation.

Legal notice:

Urban Assault © Microsoft Corporation. Sektor 2 was created under Microsoft's "Game Content Usage Rules" using limited visual reference assets from Urban Assault, and it is not endorsed by or affiliated with Microsoft.

Sektor 2 is a free, non-commercial community tool for Urban Assault/OpenUA modding and preservation. It is not a standalone copy of the game and does not include the full original game content. Some converted visual reference assets are included only where required for map preview and editor functionality.

Microsoft Game Content Usage Rules:

Game Content Usage Rules | Xbox

Find out how you can use things like gameplay footage, screenshots, music, and other elements of our games to make things like  machinima, videos, and other…

www.xbox.com

Main features:

• Visual editing of Urban Assault LDF maps.
• Support for the main map layers: sector/type map, ownership map, height map and building map.
• Support for all graphic environments/sets.
• Load existing LDF maps or create new maps from scratch.
• Resize, fill, reset and clear-view tools.
• Improved interface with dedicated editing modes:
  • Sector
  • Building
  • Owner
  • Height
  • Beamgate
  • Bomb / Superitem
  • Gem / Upgrade sector
  • Squad
  • Host Station
  • Tech
  • Script
• Improved height editor with a clearer 0–60 editing scale and real hex output.
• Beamgate editor with support for target level, open/closed models, key sectors and briefing visibility.
• Bomb/Superitem editor with model presets, timer, trigger model and key sectors.
• Gem editor with building ID, upgrade type and editable actions.
• Squad editor with owner, vehicle, unit count, AI/useable flag and briefing visibility.
• Host Station editor with owner, station type, energy, altitude, reload constant, view angle and funny AI presets.
• Tech editor for enabling vehicles and buildings per faction.
• Custom script area for manually adding extra LDF commands.
• Support for modding.
• “Ghost” handling for unknown sector/building IDs found in maps, useful for old vanilla leftovers or modded content.
• Briefing and debriefing map selection.
• Sky selection with preview.
• Music and intro movie fields.
• Undo and redo system.
• Windows .exe and Linux launch script.
• Cleaner project structure and more maintainable code.
  
  And more...

Compared to the old Beta 1, the difference is huge. Beta 1 was basically the first working skeleton of the editor. Sektor 2 is now much closer to a complete level design tool.

The UI is cleaner, the workflow is more logical, many special Urban Assault objects are now handled directly, and the editor is much safer when dealing with existing maps. It is no longer just a small experiment: it can now be used seriously to create and edit custom Urban Assault levels.

That said, some small bugs may still exist, especially with unusual LDF formatting, heavily modified maps, or strange old vanilla leftovers.

Please always make a backup of your LDF files before editing them.

If you find a bug, please report it with:

• the LDF file if possible,
• a screenshot,
• a short explanation of what happened,
• and what you expected to happen.

This will help me improve the editor further.

Download:

[GitHub Release link]

I hope this tool helps people create new Urban Assault maps more easily.

Happy map making!