Level editor

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EditWorld, the Warzone 2100 map editor

A level editor (also known as a map, campaign or scenario editor) is a software application used to design levels, maps or campaigns for a computer or video game. In some cases the creator of a video game releases an official level editor for a game, but other times the community of fans steps in to fill the void. An individual involved with the creation of game levels is a level designer or mapper.

Sometimes a level editor is integrated in the game, and is an integral part of the game. Other times (and most often), it is a separate part of the game. The latter is almost always the case for fan-released level editors.

Some level editors include:

Boom Blox has a create mode where you can make your own levels and puzzles.
Doom Builder, a level editor with an ACS scripting editor for Doom and Doom II and source ports such as ZDoom
MapMaker (Editor) for TimeSplitters
Quake Army Knife, an extensive level editor for Quake Engine games and similar engines such as Source, Crystal Space and Torque
The Rollercoaster Tycoon series has a mode where you can make your own theme parks.
Sandbox Editor Map editor for Crysis and FarCry
Sauerbraten In-Game Level Editor
SimPE, level and content editor for The Sims 2
Star Wars Battlefront BFBuilder for Star Wars: Battlefront
StarEdit Editor for StarCraft
UnrealEd, level editor for Epic's Unreal series of first-person shooters
Valve Hammer Editor for Half-Life (and related Source games)
Warcraft III World Editor

In the early years of video-gaming, some games came with a utility called a Construction set. This was similar in many ways to a level-editor. Some games used them to create extra levels, whereas others (like the Shoot'Em-Up Construction Kit) used them as a means to create a game rather than be a game in itself. Some examples of games with Construction sets include: