CSBwin/CSBuild/Basics

Download

Download the most recent version of CSBuild here

Getting familar with CSBuild

Zed5Duke has posted a beginners guide covering the very first steps to be taken when building a custom dungeon: Building first steps

Also Kentaro wrote a very nice and easy to understand documentation with lots of screen shots about the basic usuage of CSBuild and DSAs.

It is a -very- good starting point and covers all the things you need to know about to get started: First steps in CSBuild + include a first DSA (written by Kentaro)

You'll learn how to increase the level size, how to add wall decorations, buttons and champions. You'll also see how doors can be opened not only by a button to be pressed, but also how a DSA can open the door for you. This way you'll get familar with the idea of DSAs. However, for now you may find yourself feeling more comfortable with the 'standard' options like preasure pads and alcoves you know so well from Dungeon Master.

Another almost covering everything collection was done by Beo. Look here.

Examples

Adopting Kentaros style you may have a look how a torchmaker can be added to your dungeon: Building a torchmaker.

Let's say you have the general idea of light being a problem in your dungeon. You may want to force the player to actually generate them in a kind of workshop instead of finding them.
Torches usually are made of wood and pitch. There are sticks in DM, but no pitch to be found. Let us instead use ashes. Well, ashes won't burn, so we have to alter the graphics for ashes and change the item name using ADGE. So this will not only cover how a wall decoration works as an actuator and how counters and teleporters are used, but also the basic usuage of ADGE. It will also show the limits of the standard DM engine and how handy a DSA can be.

Next we will use DSAs to create a series of Example Quests given by a 'non-player character'. This NPC (a monster actually) will give you new quest (items, monster hunt) after you accomplished the previous one.