I've talked about the upcoming Hotline Miami 2 level editor a while back and now, after a bit of waiting, December 10 has finally rolled by and with it the level editor.

The editor is in a true state of beta testing and you might find that some things aren't as easy as they will be in the final release so if you're not willing to bear with some flaws I'd suggest you wait a month for all of the problems to get ironed out.

If you want the full guide on how to use the various parts of the editor I'd suggest you head over here while I'll try to simply explain how to get the whole thing running.

First and foremost, while the editor will be available on Mac and Linux once its finally released, the beta runs only on the Windows version of Steam. To actually install it you need to go to Hotline Miami 2 in your library, then in to properties. From there you have to go in to the beta tab and select editor_beta after which Hotline Miami 2 should start updating itself and if it doesn't I'd suggest you restart Steam and try again.

The usage tutorial is linked above but once you've done creating your hellishly difficult map I'd imagine you would want to share it as well. Currently the support for Steam Workshop is not active so you will have to upload your map to a file sharing service or send it via email to friends.

To launch custom levels you need to copy them in to My Documents/My Games/HotlineMiami2/Levels/single or /campaigns/ depending on if its a single level or a campaign, for those that might be confused by such complex ideas.

There are more things you can do with the editor, such as create mods, but that is a fairly involved process so I won't waste your time going over it when there are far better tutorials planned by the developers themselves.

As a final note, bear one thing in mind: This is a beta test, there is no guarantee your levels will be playable in the official release nor will it always be easy to port them between beta versions depending on how many changes/patches happen.

But don't let that discourage you from creating something awesome, I at least will be looking out for some cool maps that emulate the style of the first game.