Back in ancient times, some 10 or so years ago, level editors were commonplace and players were free to create and share their own maps with the world.

These days however its a much rarer sight to behold which is why I'm happy to tell you that the psychedelic shooter/brawler Hotline Miami 2 is beta releasing its own level editor, dated for December 10.

All of the information you might need can be found on the developer's blog but given the color scheme used over there allow me to spare your eyes and list the most important details below:

First and foremost this beta release will be freely available to everyone that owns the Hotline Miami 2 and will contain all of the game's material. The early version of the editor will be Windows only with Mac and Linux support coming in later.

The beta, which is planned to run from December to early January, is going to be Steam only though even non-Steam versions will be able to use the editor (how this will be done wasn't specified).

Steam Workshop support will most likely not be in the beta release but will be added later on. The cutscene creator as well as the campaign editor will also be missing from the initial release though they are being worked on and will be added soon.

Most importantly, keep in mind that the transition from beta to release might contain significant code changes hence there is no guarantee your beta maps will work on the final version. So don't go pouring your heart and soul in to the best map ever only to have it simply become unusable.

Finally, if you're interested in making your own maps but don't really know how there are going to be video tutorials released before the actual level editor beta so keep an eye out on the development blog for future updates as we get closer to December 10.