Amiga Collections: Amiga Club Hoorn/ACH ClubDiskette No.23 (1995-04)(Amiga Club Hoorn)(NL).zip/ACH ClubDiskette No.23 (1995-04)(Amiga Club Hoorn)(NL).adf/WB2/Megabal_Boarded.lha/BoardEd.guide

Amigaguide Document | 1993-11-22 | 24KB | 394 lines

@database BoardEd.guide
@index INDEX
@node MAIN
@title "Welcome to the MegaBall Board Editor!"
Hi!  Welcome to the MegaBall Board Editor.  Please don't distribute
this program or this documentation, because they are
   Copyright
1994 Ed Mackey, all rights reserved.
   1.  @{" Quick Installation " link MegaBall.guide/INSTALL}  (Same as MegaBall installation!)
   2.  @{" General Overview and Instructions " link INSTRUCTIONS}
   3.  @{" Tips for board-designers " link TIPS}
   4.  @{" Author & Copyright " link MegaBall.guide/AUTHOR}  (Same as MegaBall)
   5.  @{" History " link MegaBall.guide/HISTORY}  (Same as MegaBall)
Well don't just sit there.  Click on stuff!
@endnode
@node INSTRUCTIONS "General Overview and Instructions"
OK, let's take a quick look inside the Board Editor.  The first thing
you should know, is that all MegaBall boards are grouped into SETS.
A "set" of boards may contain up to 50 boards.  A set of boards may
be stored on disk, as a normal AmigaDOS file, with a filename that ends
in ".BDS".  A set of boards can be loaded into the registered version
of the MegaBall game, by pressing the "L" key on MegaBall's title screen.
And finally, a set of boards can be loaded into or saved from the Board
Editor, by using the @{"LOAD" link LOAD} or @{"SAVE" link SAVE} gadgets.
In this document, I describe a lot of different functions that interact
in what I hope to be an intuitive way, once you get the hang of it.
If you start to feel overwhelmed, click on @{" INDEX " link INDEX}.
The root of all these things is the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.
            ** Note **    ** Caution **    ** Warning **
    The thing that never fails to confuse new users, is the fact
    that the @{"SAVE" link SAVE} gadget will not save the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.
                  see @{"GET" link GET}, @{"PUT" link PUT}, @{"LOAD" link LOAD}, and @{"SAVE" link SAVE}.
@endnode
@node CLEAR "The CLEAR Gadget"
The @{"CLEAR" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It will erase the contents
of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  It does not erase any of the boards in the
@{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}.
The board that got "cleared" will actually be in the @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER} until
your next action.
@endnode
@node GET "The GET Gadget"
The @{"GET" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It takes you to the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW},
and asks you to select a board from the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}.  That board is then
copied into the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.
The @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} does NOT keep track of which board you last picked
to @{"GET" beep 0}.  If you make modifications you wish to keep, you must use @{"PUT" link PUT}.
    see also
        @{"PUT" link PUT}
@endnode
@node PUT "The PUT Gadget"
The @{"PUT" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It takes you to the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW},
and asks you to select a board from the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}.  Then, it might give
you a choice (if you selected a blank board, this choice is not given):
                    Take editor board, and Overwrite
                    or Swap with selected board?
                    Overwrite              Swap with
If you choose "Overwrite", the contents of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} will be
copied over the board you selected from the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW}.  The board you
overwrote is sent to the @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER}, where it will probably get erased
by the next thing you do.
If you choose "Swap with", the contents of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} and the
contents of the board you selected from the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW} will trade
places.  No change to the @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER}.  This is far less dangerous than
"Overwrite".
Once you @{"PUT" beep 0} a board into the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}, you can use @{"SAVE" link SAVE} to save the
whole @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET} to disk.
Note that there is no need to use @{"GET" link GET} before you use @{"PUT" beep 0}.
    see also
        @{"GET" link GET}
@endnode
@node LOAD "The LOAD Gadget"
The @{"LOAD" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It presents you with a file
requester.  It will load a .BDS file from disk into the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}.
Note that the file requestor is set up to hide any files that do not end
in ".BDS".  This is so that score files, etc., cannot be selected.
However, you can force it to show all the files in a drawer by erasing
the text from the "Show" or "Pattern" gadget in the file requester.
Note also that @{"LOAD" beep 0} has no effect on the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  The @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}
can therefore be used to "carry" boards from one set to another.
To see the boards you have loaded, use @{"GET" link GET}.
    see also
        @{"SAVE" link SAVE}
@endnode
@node SAVE "The SAVE Gadget"
The @{"SAVE" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It presents you with a file
requester.  It will take the 50 boards in the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET} and write them to
a .BDS file on disk.
Note that @{"SAVE" beep 0} has no effect on the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  The @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} can
therefore be used to "carry" boards from one set to another.
To save the contents of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}, use @{"PUT" link PUT}.
    see also
        @{"LOAD" link LOAD}
@endnode
@node UNDO "The UNDO Gadget"
The @{"UNDO" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It only causes one action:
It makes the contents of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} and the @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER} trade
places.
 ** NOTE **  The @{"UNDO" beep 0} gadget has no effect on the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}.
    see also
        @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER}
@endnode
@node CANCEL "The CANCEL Gadget"
The @{"CANCEL" beep 0} gadget is in the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW}.  It just takes you back to
the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  Use it to abort the operation of the @{"GET" link GET} or the @{"PUT" link PUT}
gadget.
@endnode
@node MAINWINDOW "The Main Window"
The @{"Main Window" beep 0} is the first thing you see after the initial copyright
message.
The very top-left of the @{"Main Window" beep 0} has a close gadget.  Click on this
to exit the MegaBall Board Editor.
Filling most of the space in the @{"Main Window" beep 0} is the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.
At the bottom of the @{"Main Window" beep 0}, there are a number of gadgets that
perform various useful actions:
                       @{"Using:" link USING}             @{"CLEAR" link CLEAR}
  @{"Brick Choosers" link CHOOSERS}                        @{"GET " link GET}  @{"PUT " link PUT}    @{"Symmetry Gadgets" link SYMMETRY}
                      @{"Arrow Gadgets" link ARROWS}     @{"LOAD" link LOAD}  @{"SAVE" link SAVE}
                                           @{"UNDO" link UNDO}
@endnode
@node SELECTWINDOW "The Select Window"
The @{"Select Window" beep 0} appears after you press @{"GET" link GET} or @{"PUT" link PUT}.  It is mostly taken
up by the display of all 50 boards of the @{"Board Set" link BOARDSET}.
The left side of the window has board numbers.  The boards are arranged
sequentially, going left-to-right and working their way down.  At the
top-left you see the number "01", meaning the first board.  At the
bottom-left you see the number "50", meaning the last board.
The bottom of the window has a message telling you whether you are in
@{"GET" link GET} or @{"PUT" link PUT} mode.  Click on one of the 50 minature boards to perform
the @{"GET" link GET} or @{"PUT" link PUT} operation on it.
The bottom-right of the window has the @{"CANCEL" link CANCEL} gadget.
@endnode
@node EDITORBOARD "The Editor Board"
The @{"Editor Board" beep 0} is that big grid, filling up most of the space in the
@{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  This is where all the action is!
The @{"Editor Board" beep 0} holds the board you are currently working on.  This
board NEVER has a number associated with it.  It's just the board being
edited.  (see @{"PUT" link PUT}).
The @{"Editor Board" beep 0} is sensitive to mouse clicks.  Press and hold the left
mouse button to place some bricks of the current color you are @{"Using:" link USING}.
Press and hold the right mouse button to erase bricks (parts of the grid
reappear when bricks are erased).  When drawing or erasing more than one
brick, move the mouse around with the button still held down.  The @{"UNDO" link UNDO}
gadget will only take you back to the most recent time you pressed down
a mouse button.
The @{"Editor Board" beep 0} can also be affected by the @{"Arrow Gadgets" link ARROWS},
@{"Symmetry Gadgets" link SYMMETRY}, @{"CLEAR" link CLEAR}, @{"GET" link GET}, and @{"UNDO" link UNDO}.
@endnode
@node BOARDSET "The Board Set"
Although the term "board set" can generally be used to refer to any set
of boards, in this text it refers to something very specific.
When you see @{"Board Set" beep 0}, I am talking about the set of 50 boards that the
Board Editor keeps in memory.  These boards are displayed, in miniture
form, in the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW}.
The @{"Board Set" beep 0} acts as a buffer space between the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} and your
board files on disk.  Use @{"GET" link GET} or @{"PUT" link PUT} to move the contents of a single one
of these boards to or from the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  Use @{"SAVE" link SAVE} or @{"LOAD" link LOAD} to move
all 50 of these boards to or from a .BDS file on disk.
@endnode
@node UNDOBUFFER "The Undo Buffer"
The @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0} is an odd place, in that it is not displayed anywhere in
any of the Board Editor's windows.  It is a very temporary storage space
for any board that the user has decided to do away with.  To see the
contents of the @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0}, use the @{"UNDO" link UNDO} gadget.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above paragraph probably tells you all you ever need to know about
the @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0}.  If you like being a "power user", though, read on.
The @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0} only holds one board, and is overwritten by most actions
in the Board Editor.
Here are some actions that will write to the @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0} (always as a
side-effect of the intended action):
 Clicking either mouse button with the mouse pointer positioned over
    the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  This is so that clicking @{"UNDO" link UNDO} will erase the last
    thing you drew there.
 Using the @{"GET" link GET} gadget.  The contents of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} are sent to
    the @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0} just before the @{"GET" link GET} takes place, so that clicking
    @{"UNDO" link UNDO} effectively undoes the @{"GET" link GET} action.
 Using the @{"PUT" link PUT} gadget in "Overwrite" mode.  The board you select as
    a destination for @{"PUT" link PUT} will first be copied to the @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0}.
    Unfortunately, clicking @{"UNDO" link UNDO} will not undo the @{"PUT" link PUT} action, but it
    will at least bring back an otherwise doomed board.  To fully undo
    the action, click @{"UNDO" link UNDO} and then use @{"PUT" link PUT} again in "Swap with" mode.
 Using the @{"UNDO" link UNDO} gadget itself.  The intended action here is to bring
    the contents of the @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0} TO the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  But in the
    process, the previous contents of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD} are sent to the
    @{"Undo Buffer" beep 0}.
@endnode
@node USING "The `Using:' Indicator"
The @{"Using:" beep 0} indicator is at the bottom-center of the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  It
displays the color and type of brick that will appear if you press the
left mouse button over the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.
To change the brick you are currently @{"Using:" beep 0}, click on one of the
@{"Brick Choosers" link CHOOSERS}.
@endnode
@node CHOOSERS "The Brick Choosers"
The @{"Brick Choosers" beep 0} are in the bottom-left of the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  There are
twelve bricks visible, along with a "+" and a "-" sign.  The "+" and "-"
signs put different banks of bricks into the twelve slots.  Currently,
there are three banks of bricks.
Click on "+" or "-" until you see a brick that you want to use.  Then,
click on that brick, and it will appear in the @{"Using:" link USING} indicator.  You can
then draw with that brick on the grid of the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.
Most of the bricks are "ordinary" bricks, that is, they require one hit
during the game to make them go away.  A few of them are "special"
bricks, that should be used with care.  If you play MegaBall a lot,
you already know most of these bricks.  But for completeness, here's a
list of the special cases:
 The "empty" brick, bounded by a gray dotted line.  This is actually
    an empty square of the grid.  It's used for erasing bricks from the
    grid, but you might find your right mouse button more convenient!
 The "empty" brick, bounded by a pink dotted line.  If you draw with
    this brick, it looks like the grid is just turning pink in those
    places.  But beware, you are actually placing "invisible" bricks!
    When the ball hits an "invisible" brick, the brick will be revealed.
    It then requires a second hit to destroy.
 The "puffy" gold brick.  This gold-colored brick never knows when
    to quit.  There is usually no way for the ball or lasers to get past
    it.  There is also no need to get rid of it in order to move to the
    next board.  Certain bonuses, such as "Zap Gold", may help the
    player out with these.
 The gold brick with the purple border.  This odd brick requires one
    hit from the ball or lasers, but then turns into an annoying
    "puffy" gold brick (above).  Be very careful to make sure the player
    can always hit each one of these, without the use of special bonuses.
 The "puffy" gray bricks.  These bricks require 2, 3, or 4 hits.
    Each time they are hit, they lose a bit of "puffiness."  Eventually
    they become ordinary gray bricks.
 The "pulsating" brick.  This fun little brick will explode when you
    hit it.  It destroys ANY bricks that are touching it, even on a
    diagonal.  If other "pulsating" bricks are touching it when it
    explodes, it will cause a chain reaction!
@endnode
@node ARROWS "The Arrow Gadgets"
At the bottom-center of the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}, just below the @{"Using:" link USING} indicator,
there are four @{"Arrow Gadgets" beep 0} pointing up, down, left, and right.
Clicking on one of these will make all the bricks in the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}
shift one space in the direction of the arrow.
For example, if you click the arrow pointing up, then all of your bricks
will move up one row.  The top row of bricks will appear on the bottom.
@endnode
@node SYMMETRY "The Evil Symmetry Gadgets"
At the bottom-right of the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}, there are four @{"Symmetry Gadgets" beep 0}.
Here are their names:
    +----------+ +----------------+
    | Diagonal | |   Horizontal   |    These names don't show up
    | Symmetry | |    Symmetry    |    in the @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.  Instead,
    +----------+ +----------------+    there are little icons
    +----------+ +----------------+    representing these functions.
    |          | |                |    The diagram (left) shows which
    | Vertical | |     Polar      |    names go with which gadgets.
    |          | |                |    There is no room to write out
    | Symmetry | |    Symmetry    |    these full names in the
    |          | |                |    @{"Main Window" link MAINWINDOW}.
    +----------+ +----------------+
Each of these gadgets has an "on" state and an "off" state.  When you
click one, it will change states.
When a gadget is in the "on" state, it becomes highlighted, and applies
its own flavor of symmetry to any bricks you draw AFTER switching it on.
For example, if you switch on "Horizonal Symmetry" and draw a few bricks
on the left, a few bricks will also appear on the right (in "mirrored"
positions).
Horizontal Symmetry (left-and-right), Vertical Symmetry (top-and-bottom),
and Polar Symmetry (thru-the-center) all act independently of each other.
** NOTE ** For the popular "4-draw" effect, you must switch all three on
           at the same time, NOT JUST Horizontal and Vertical!
The last one, Diagonal Symmetry, is a little bit wacky.  It goes
top-left-and-bottom-right.  Worse than that, it adds its effects to the
output of the first three symmetries, rather than working independently
of them.  The only reason for it to exist is this:  If you switch all
four types of symmetry on at the same time, you get the popular "8-draw"
effect.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, if all of this is confusing to you, you can forget the details of
how the symmetries interact, and just remember this nice, simple list of
favorite combinations:
 Any one of the four symmetries, by itself, produces a simple but
    pleasing effect.
 Horizontal, Vertical, and Polar form the "4-draw" effect.
 Polar and Diagonal together form a kind of diagonal version of
    the "4-draw" effect.
 All four symmetries, at the same time, form the "8-draw" effect.
Experiment!  You'll get the hang of it.
@endnode
@node TIPS "Tips for board-designers"
@next INDEX
Here are some general tips and helpful advice for people who have tried
making a few boards and want to improve:
 Don't put a lot of bricks close to the bottom of the board.  It's
    usually "too close for comfort."
 Remember:  The sides of the board are closed (the ball can't go
    "around" a block on the far left or the far right), but the
    bottom AND THE TOP of the board is open!  That is, the ball can
    go above and over the highest brick, and of course can go below
    the lowest brick.
 If possible, always put the @{"Symmetry Gadgets" link SYMMETRY} to good use.
 Remember the board number of a board you @{"PUT" link PUT}.  The board numbers are
    shown in the @{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW}.  You can use the board number to skip
    directly to that board during the game, by using the @{"CHEAT KEYS" link CHEAT_KEYS}.
 ALWAYS check for gold bricks and one-hit-gold bricks that might
    completely prevent the ball from getting to an area of the screen
    with non-gold bricks.  In other words, don't wall something off and
    count on a "Zap Gold" to appear and save you.
 Try not to over-do it with those invisible bricks.  If a player hits
    all of the visible bricks, and there are still some invisible ones
    left, he @{"or she" link MegaBall.guide/SHE} can get confused and annoyed.
 You don't always need a plan for a masterpiece before you start.
    Most of the best boards have been made just by aimlessly fooling
    around and then getting an inspiration.
 The @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER} can be used to help you move two boards at a time
    from one board set to another.  @{"LOAD" link LOAD} a set, then use the @{"GET" link GET} function
    twice.  The first board you got will be moved to the @{"Undo Buffer" link UNDOBUFFER} when
    the second one fills the @{"Editor Board" link EDITORBOARD}.  Then, @{"LOAD" link LOAD} a different set,
    and @{"PUT" link PUT} the second board in it (using "Swap with", NOT "Overwrite"),
    then click @{"UNDO" link UNDO} to see the first board again!  You can now @{"PUT" link PUT} that
    one as well.
 Relax, enjoy, experiment!!
 If you made some boards that you like, upload them!  Send them to
    your BBS or FTP site.  Let the world share in your creative genius.
    I speant a lot of time making this Editor, and almost 500 people
    have legal copies of previous versions of it.  But I hardly ever see
    anyone else's boards...
@endnode
@node CHEAT_KEYS "...Shh!  Don't tell ANYONE!!  ;-)"
There are a few cheat keys in MegaBall.  Their primary purpose is to
allow registered users to test boards they have created.  As such, I
would like to keep them available only to registered users.
There are currently three cheat keys.  All three work during the game.
They are all "ALT" keys, designed for the American "Qwerty" keyboard.
If you use the Dvorak or an "international" keyboard, @{"click here" link INT_CHEAT_KEYS}.
ALT-E or
 : This one stands for EXIT, and lets you move on to the next
             board immediately.
ALT-P or
 : This one stands for POWERS.  It gives you a "Zap Gold"
             bonus, which gets rid of gold bricks and lets you see all
             the invisible bricks.  It also gives you Laser, Catch, and
             Brickthrough capabilities at the same time.
ALT-W or
 : This one stands for WARP.  It will end your play of the
             current board and ask you which board you would like to warp
             to.  Enter a number between 1 and 50, and it will take you
             to that board (or, if that board doesn't exist, the next
             higher board that exists).  This is good for testing those
             high-numbered boards.
Note that the board numbers appear down the left side of the Board Editor's
@{"Select Window" link SELECTWINDOW}.
@endnode
@node INT_CHEAT_KEYS "Cheat keys from around the world..."
The cheat keys are designed to be ALT-E, ALT-P, and ALT-W.  But the game
doesn't look for "alt" and "e", it looks for the copyright symbol "
that is produced by pressing ALT-E on the American "Qwerty" keyboard
(usa0 or usa1).  If you are using Dvorak (usa2) or one of the
"international" keyboards, the "e" may have moved away from the "
".  If
you can't find it with the chart below, you can look it up with the
"Keyshow" tool in your SYS:Tools drawer.  The same warning applies to
the other two cheat keys.  ALT-P is the paragraph symbol "
", and ALT-W
is the "degrees" symbol "
The first row of letters in a "Qwerty" keyboard looks like this:
  TAB Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] RETURN
        ^ ^             ^
If you are using the Dvorak or an "international" keyboard, you may have
different letters in this row.  But, the "TAB" and "RETURN" keys will be
in the same place.  Also, the pattern of characters produced by the
"ALT" keys seems to be the same on all Amiga keymaps.  So, the cheat
keys should be in the same physical locations as the "E", "P", and "W"
keys shown above, even if your keyboard is not labeled "E", "P", and "W"
in those spots.
@endnode
@node INDEX "The Index"
@prev TIPS
Here is a complete list of the "special" terms you will encounter in this
document.  You don't have to memorize all of these, as the editor's use
should be mostly intuitive.
    @{" Board Set " link BOARDSET}
    @{" Editor Board " link EDITORBOARD}
    Gadgets,
        @{" Arrow Gadgets    " link ARROWS}
        @{" Brick Choosers   " link CHOOSERS}
        @{" CANCEL           " link CANCEL}
        @{" CLEAR            " link CLEAR}
        @{" GET              " link GET}
        @{" LOAD             " link LOAD}
        @{" PUT              " link PUT}
        @{" SAVE             " link SAVE}
        @{" Symmetry Gadgets " link SYMMETRY}
        @{" UNDO             " link UNDO}
    Windows,
        @{" Main Window   " link MAINWINDOW}
        @{" Select Window " link SELECTWINDOW}
    @{" Undo Buffer " link UNDOBUFFER}
    @{" Using: " link USING} Indicator
@endnode