[Tool] StarMade-Block Editor - Visual custom block editor with 3D preview

[blackcancer]

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a new tool for StarMade: StarMade Block Editor.

It is a local visual editor for StarMade block definitions. The goal is to make custom block editing much easier by providing a browser UI, a real 3D preview, texture atlas selection, icon editing, and safe custom BlockConfig saving.

GitHub:
GitHub - blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor: Visual block editor for StarMade with 3D preview, atlas editing, and safe custom BlockConfig persistence

Release:
Release StarMade Block Editor v1.0.0 · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor

Direct download:
https://github.com/blackcancer/Star...wnload/v1.0.0/StarMade-BlockEditor-v1.0.0.zip

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What it does:

StarMade Block Editor reads the StarMade BlockConfig data and lets you edit blocks visually.

It includes:

- A searchable block list
- Vanilla + custom block support
- 3D block preview
- StarMade texture atlas picker
- Per-face texture editing
- Custom atlas import
- Individual custom tile replacement
- Build icon picker
- Light source preview
- Shape/orientation/slab preview
- Advanced BlockConfig property editing
- Multi-language UI
- User guides in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese

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How to use:

1. Download the release zip
2. Extract it
3. Run the startup script

Windows:

start.bat

Linux / macOS / WSL:

./start.sh

The script will install dependencies if needed, use the prebuilt dist files, start the local server, and open the browser.

Default URL:

http://localhost:3847

You can also force a rebuild:

Windows:

start.bat --rebuild

Linux / macOS / WSL:

./start.sh --rebuild

Custom port:

Windows:

set PORT=8080
start.bat

Linux / macOS / WSL:

PORT=8080 ./start.sh

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First launch:

On first launch, the app asks for your StarMade installation directory.

Example on Windows:

D:\Jeux\Steam\steamapps\common\StarMade\

Example on WSL/Linux:

/mnt/d/Jeux/Steam/steamapps/common/StarMade/

The server automatically resolves common nested StarMade folders and validates the installation by checking for files such as:

data/config/BlockConfig.xml

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Texture atlas support:

The editor uses the StarMade atlas layout:

Page 0: t000.png    IDs 0-255
Page 1: t001.png    IDs 256-511
Page 2: t002.png    IDs 512-767
Page 3: t003.png    IDs 768-1023
Page 4-6: reserved  IDs 1024-1791
Page 7: custom.png  IDs 1792-2047

Normal maps follow the same layout with the _NRM suffix.
The custom atlas manager can import a full custom atlas or replace one custom tile at a time.

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Requirements:

- Node.js 18+
- npm
- A local StarMade installation

Node.js 20+ is recommended.

The release package includes the built client and server dist files, but does not include node_modules. This keeps the zip small; dependencies are installed through npm when needed.

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Documentation:

User guides:
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/guide_en.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/guide_fr.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/guide_de.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/guide_es.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/guide_ru.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/guide_ja.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor

Codebase documentation:
StarMade-BlockEditor/docs/CODEBASE_DOCUMENTATION.md at main · blackcancer/StarMade-BlockEditor

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This tool is part of the StarMade tooling work I have been doing recently, alongside StarMade-Decoder, StarMade-DB and StarMade-NPC Creator.

Feedback, bug reports and feature requests are welcome.