Skip to main content

​
Drawing mode

Drawing mode lets you freehand draw lines and arrows on the map to show movement paths, sightlines, and tactical information.

​
Activating drawing mode

Switch to drawing mode in any of these ways:
  • Press Q to toggle drawing mode on/off
  • Click the drawing tool button in the toolbar
  • Press S to return to navigation mode
When drawing mode is active, clicking and dragging on the map will create drawings instead of panning the view.

​
Creating drawings

1

Enter drawing mode

Press Q or click the drawing tool icon.
2

Draw on the map

Click and drag your mouse to create freehand lines. The drawing follows your cursor smoothly.
3

Release to finish

Release the mouse button to complete the drawing. The line is automatically smoothed using the Douglas-Peucker algorithm.

​
Drawing properties

Customize your drawings with these options:
  • Color: Select from the color picker to match different team roles or action types
  • Line style: Toggle between solid and dotted lines
  • Arrow heads: Add arrows to indicate direction of movement
Use different colors consistently throughout your strategy. For example, use yellow for entry fraggers, blue for support players, and red for enemy positions.

​
Technical details

The drawing system uses coordinate normalization:
  • Drawings are stored in normalized coordinates (0-1000 height, aspect-adjusted width)
  • Paths are rebuilt when zooming to maintain visual quality
  • Smoothing reduces point count while preserving shape
  • Bounding boxes enable efficient eraser collision detection

​
Path smoothing

When you finish a drawing, Icarus simplifies the path:
  1. Raw input points are collected as you draw
  2. The Douglas-Peucker algorithm reduces points (epsilon: 1.4)
  3. The simplified path is rebuilt using quadratic Bezier curves
  4. For single points, a small circle is rendered

​
Eraser tool

Remove unwanted drawings with the eraser tool.

​
Using the eraser

1

Activate eraser mode

Press W to toggle eraser mode on/off.
2

Erase drawings

Click and drag over any drawing to erase it. The eraser detects line segments within its radius.
3

Return to normal mode

Press W again or press S to return to navigation mode.
The eraser uses line segment distance calculations to detect which drawings to remove:
  • Checks if the bounding box is within eraser range
  • Calculates distance to each line segment
  • Removes entire drawing if any segment is within eraser radius
  • Eraser radius is configurable in settings
The eraser removes entire drawing strokes, not just parts of them. If you need to modify a line, erase it and redraw.

​
Undo and redo

All drawing actions support undo/redo:
  • Undo: Press Ctrl+Z (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Z (Mac)
  • Redo: Press Ctrl+Shift+Z or Cmd+Shift+Z
Drawing actions are tracked independently from other elements like agents and abilities.

​
Interaction states

Icarus uses distinct interaction states:
  • Navigation: Default mode for panning and selecting elements
  • Drawing: Active when creating freehand drawings
  • Erasing: Active when removing drawings
Only one state can be active at a time. Switching states updates the cursor and interaction behavior.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us