In the upper right corner of the screen, you will see a blue and white image. This image represents the mission map. The Area Editor provides the ability to select the size and location of the mission bounds (or area). Strangely, it also provides a terrain editing feature. It should be noted that manipulating the mission area seems to have some side-effects. In particular, when you re-center the mission area, it tends to move the existing interiors and shapes in the mission. The problem is that this movement seems to be inconsistent. So, my advice is, if you are going to adjust your mission area, do it before you place a significant number of objects in your mission, or you may be very upset at the outcome. Now, lets take a look at the parts of the editor and explain how it works.

The Mission Area Editor is very simple to use. Simple click the Edit Area checkbox and handles will appear on the mission area box. Now drag and resize to your heart's content. You will be able to see the effect of your changes in the 3D World View Window also. One thing to keep in mind is that the image is inverted. That is, the top of the image is what most would consider South, the bottom North, and the left and right respectively West and East. This could quickly become cumbersome to remember, so the creators of the Area Editor provided a device to give you a better hint as to where you are looking when you edit. The device I'm speaking of is the Field Of View (FOV) V. Look at the labeled example below:

Before moving on there are a couple of things that you should know:

As I mentioned above, the Area Editor also provides what I would label a terrain editing feature. Namely, the ability to mirror the terrain. This is very useful if you wish to create a balanced (in terms of terrain obstacles) mission area. To use this feature, click on the Mirror and you will see the image below.

The premise of this tools is simple: