If you've designed a Space but want to expand it—maybe to add a secret lounge or spin up a Space for a social activity—you can do so! All you need is access to the Mapmaker (which you have if you're set a Space Admin or Builder). In this article, we're going to add a door in the Fancy Office Complex template to the Speakeasy template.
Add a New Room
Select Build in the toolbar, then select Edit in Mapmaker. The Mapmaker opens in a new tab. In the right panel of the Mapmaker, select the Rooms tab. Then select Create a new room and enter a name for your new Room.
To add a room, open the Mapmaker, select the Rooms tab in the right panel, and select Create a new room. Then give your room a name.
The Create a New Room window opens, with the following options:
- Create a blank room: Create a basic rectangular room with wood floors and brick walls. Perfect for visionaries who know exactly what they want to make or who want a sandbox to play in.
- Choose from template: Select a room from our existing templates. Ideal for popping in an extra room to meet a specific need, like a social activity or all-hands room.
- Choose from an existing Space: Select a room from a Space you've already created. This useful for connecting to existing rooms you've made, but keep in mind you will only be connecting to one room within that Space.
After entering a name for the new Room, select what type of Room you'd like to add.
For this article, we're going to Choose from template and grab the speakeasy.
Warning: It sometimes takes several seconds for the list of available templates to load.
Scroll through our templates to find a room that meets your needs. We're using the speakeasy for this article.
Once you've made your selection, the template opens in Mapmaker. You can see the new room now in the Rooms tab in the right panel.
Note: As you follow the steps, be sure to click Save in the Mapmaker to save your progress.
In the speakeasy template, the entrance is at the left of the map. This means we have two options: (a) add a door in our original Space at the right of the map, or (b) edit the new room to change where the entrance is.
Add a Door
In the right panel of the Mapmaker, in the Rooms tab, select the original room that you want to connect to the new room. Decide where you want your entrance to the new room to be, keeping in mind how to move naturally between rooms.
Tip: Make an entrance that makes sense in the Space to replicate natural movement. If I walk through a door at the right of a room, I expect to enter the new room from the left.
You can have a stealthy entrance to a room or Space, like an unassuming office plant, or a sci-fi portal object, but we're going to use a traditional door in this article.
With the Objects mode active in the Top Nav Menu, click More Objects in the right panel. The Object Picker opens. Search for a door. Turn the door so it matches the orientation you need.
You can search for a door in the Object Picker. Choose the color and orientation that you want.
Tip: If you want to add a more sci-fi entrance instead of a door, just search the Object Picker for "portal" or "teleporter." Then you don't have to pay any attention to whether you're imitating natural movement between rooms.
Place the door in the original room. Now, we need to be able to "walk through" the door, which means we need to remove Impassable tiles.
In the Top Nav Menu of the Mapmaker, select Tile Effects. Then click the Erase tool in the Left Nav Menu. From the Tile Effects panel, select Impassable Tiles. Remove the tiles that are currently blocking the doorway.
To create the feeling of walking through a door to enter the new room, remove the Impassable tiles from the door object.
Connect the Rooms
To connect two Rooms, you'll use Portal tiles. Be careful to put the Portal tiles down in a way that imitates natural movement (see more in the Portal Best Practices). For this article, we will be connecting the main Room of the office to a new speakeasy Room via a doorway. We'll be connecting the original Room to the new Room first, then connecting the new Room back to the original Room. (Remember, Portal tiles are one-way, so you need to place tiles for both directions.)
Tip: Check out our article on how to add a Room, which also provides details on how to add a door!
Original Room to New Room
From the original Room, select Tile Effects in the Top Nav Menu of the Mapmaker. Select the Stamp tool. In the Tile Effects panel, select Portal Tiles. Place the first Portal tile in the one of the tiles of the doorway. (Portal tile effects are indicated by a translucent blue color.)
In the Mapmaker, select Tile Effects in the Top Nav Menu. Select the Stamp tool in the Left Nav Menu. Select Portal in the Tile Effects section of the right panel. When you place a Portal tile effect, the tile will become translucent blue.
Note: More than one tile effect can be applied to a tile. For example, a Portal tile effect can share the same tile as a Spawn tile effect.
After you select the tile, the Pick portal type window opens. Select Portal to a room.
When you place a Portal tile, select where the tile will create the portal to. For this example, select Portal to a room.
A list of Rooms in the Space displays. Choose the Room you wish to connect to (for this article, the speakeasy).
Select the Room you wish to connect to. For this article, we're picking the office-speakeasy.
The Room you selected opens in the Mapmaker. Place the portal tile in the new Room where you wish to arrive.
Place the portal tile in the Room where you wish to arrive, typically in front of a doorway.
Once you've placed the tile, the Mapmaker returns to the original room. Add another Portal tile following the same steps so that walking through either tile in the doorway of the original room will lead to the new room. Select Save in the Top Nav Menu.
New Room Back to Original Room
Now you need to connect the new Room back to the original Room. This will let you walk back and forth.
In the Rooms tab in the right panel of the Mapmaker, select the name of the new Room (the speakeasy). The new Room displays in the Mapmaker. Select Tile Effects in the Top Nav Menu, then select the Stamp tool in the Left Nav Menu, and then Portal in the Tile Effects panel. Place a portal tile in the doorway. Choose Portal to a room, and select the original Room.
The original Room displays. You may need to scroll to find the door to place the Portal tile down. Repeat this step so that the entire entrance from the new Room portals to the original Room. Select Save.
Return to the Space. Test the portal between the two rooms.
Was that super confusing? Here's a screen recording of the process.
Related Articles
Have some more editing to do? Check out these articles on some more advanced editing techniques:
- Connecting Spaces: Learn how to connect one Space to another, which is ideal for hosting large events
- Removing Extra Rooms: Learn how to erase doorways, edit tiles, and remove rooms.
- Best Practices in Space Design: Review overall best practices when creating or editing maps.