What a collection is

A collection is a named, game-specific library of assets and configuration. Collections are what bridge your map data to the requirements of a target game — they tell the Editor how to classify and display geographic features, which textures to use, which 3D models are available, and how to structure the final export.

Every collection is tied to a specific game. The Editor and export system automatically draw on the collections associated with the game your project is targeting.

Why collections exist

Each supported game has its own conventions: how roads and fields should be textured, what 3D models are available, how vegetation is encoded, and how the export package should be structured. A collection encodes those conventions as a reusable library so your project does not need to carry that knowledge directly.

Separating collections from projects also means that when a game updates its format or content, the collection can be updated independently. Re-exporting an existing project picks up those changes without any edits to the project itself.

Platform and community collections

Platform collections are provided and maintained by MapToPlay. They are available to all projects targeting the relevant game and are kept up to date as games and their content evolve.

Community collections are created by users. A community collection can be kept private to your team or published publicly for anyone to use. This lets you bring in your own content — custom textures, building packs, mapping rule sets, or anything else a game supports — without modifying the platform defaults.

All collections available to your team, both platform and community, are listed on the Collections page in the dashboard.

Collections in the Editor

The Collections panel on the right side of the Editor shows the content provided by the active collections for your project's target game. You can browse trees, buildings, electricity infrastructure, water surface types, and foliage from this panel and use them while editing.

Active collections also drive how the Editor interprets your data. The vector mapping collection determines how imported geographic features are classified into layers and categories. Ground texture collections drive the terrain surface appearance. Object collections populate the pickers used during placement.