All of the character sharing, map sharing, and other online functionality is accessed within the network menu. You can access it from the pause menu while you're in the overworld, or by going into the house on the far left (next to the boat).


You won't be able to access the network menu until after you've done the first few dungeons. The game will let you know when you're able to access it (You'll get a little cutscene).

The first time you access the network menu, the game will make you click to open the EULA. It'll open in a browser in a separate window, just alt-tab back to the game when you're ready to continue.

Once you're in the network menu you'll have the following options:


AUTO MODE: This lets you wander around a bunch of (semi-)randomly chosen user-created maps, to see what everyone else has built. This is good if you don't care about sharing out your own things.

ADVANCED MODE: This is where you can create and share your own maps, or connect directly to a specific map (if you have someone's friend code), or stitch together your own world from maps you've downloaded, or view the in-game tutorial.

OFFICIAL WORLDS: The (currently 3) (currently all in japanese) worlds that the game's developer has made and uploaded. This is good if you want to grab a couple pregenerated NIS characters, or see what's possible in the editor.

CHECK OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: See any updates or news from the game's developer.

Once you've loaded into someone else's map (either using Auto Mode, entering an Official World, or connecting directly with their friend code) you can move your own character around and explore it.

If you find other peoples' characters, you can interact with them. They might have something to say, or trigger music or sound effects. Some of them might have things for sale or let you have a copy of a randomly generated dungeon map.

If you see a character you want to copy for your own use, go up to them and press (Keyboard default: X/gamepad default: Y) to copy their "Edit Data". It'll get copied into one of your 256 edit slots (be careful to not overwrite any of your own characters!)

Once you have the edit data saved, you can either create a new character with it or just overwrite one of your existing characters with the edit data. You can even add it to your own maps! (Please be nice, and don't claim someone else's creations as your own.)

(This is not going to go into the advanced features like editing your own tilesets and music)

To start making your own map, go to Advanced Mode, and then choose Create a Map.



You'll be presented with this screen, with 15 map slots to work with, and one slot (16) that's reserved for whichever map you've published to the network. (We'll get to that in a bit.)

First choose any of the slots 1-15, and you'll be presented with this menu:


To start, you can either choose Edit to jump right into the map editing interface, or you can choose Load Sample Map to pick from a couple different templates as your starting point:



For this guide we're going to use the first option (Retro RPG Style) but pick whatever appeals to you. Once you've decided, pick 'Edit' to get into the editing interface.



There's a lot of new buttons and menus here, but don't panic. All we're going to concern ourselves with for right now is opening up the menu by pressing Space Bar/Gamepad B, and then choosing 'Placement Mode'.


Choose what character you want to place (using keyboard H/J or controller RB/LB or LMB), and then choose a tile to place them on (keyboard C/controller A/LMB).


Optionally, press the menu button again (Space Bar/Gamepad B) to open up the menu, then choose "Change Edit Behavior" to open the character behavior menu. You can change character behavior, if you'd like to have your characters give access to your game's shop or hand out copies of your Map-Geons, or if you want them to walk around or disappear after being talked to.

For now, open up the menu again and choose "To Map Editor", and then open the menu again and choose "Save" and then "Exit".


You'll be back on the map selection screen again. Pick the map you were just working on and then choose "Upload to the Internet - Public". It'll take a few seconds to upload, especially if you've made a lot of changes or added a ton of characters, but then it should be publicly available after that. Congratulations!

IMPORTANT: If you make changes to your custom map after uploading it, make sure you upload it again, otherwise people will still be on the old version of your map!

My own custom map (such as it is) is at 0316-3891 if you want to check it out. I'm going to be working on it over the next couple of weeks... as long as I can find the time when I'm not working or playing the actual game. (It might be a while, in other words.)

I hope this guide has been helpful. There's a lot more that can be done with custom maps, like custom tilesets and music, that I haven't covered here... but I wanted to at least get a basic guide out to get people started. Have fun! I'll be looking forward to seeing what people can make with the game.