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- The AMAZINGLY, ASTONISHINGLY, ASTOUNDINGLY,
- W O N D E R F U L
- DUNGEON MASTER / CHAOS STRIKES BACK EDITOR
-
- (Version 1.0, or some large number if you count all the versions that
- were written in STOS BASIC)
-
-
- Introduction
- ============
- A few weeks ago, my good friend Antony Burden, with whom I wrote the
- original version of this program (in STOS BASIC), told me that he had
- had a request for an updated version which was STE compatible. That
- shows how long it was since we last did any work on this program --
- roughly 3 years.
-
- Anyway, I managed to dig out a copy of the source code from the bottom
- of a disk box, and set about compiling it with the most recent version
- of STOS which I possessed.
-
- There was a slight hitch. After compiling, it simply didn't run.
-
- So, faced with the choice of picking my way through the old version to
- find out why it didn't work, and re-writing it from scratch, I decided
- to do a complete re-write.
-
- So, a few weeks later, this is the result. This program is now
- written completely in C, and compiled with the GNU C compiler with all
- the optimisation settings on.
-
- It isn't very pretty, it doesn't use GEM, and control is by keyboard
- only, but it works. (Having said that, I haven't had the opportunity
- to test it on any other machine than my 5-year-old STFM, with TOS 1.2,
- but it ought to work on any TOS version).
-
- The one big restriction is that it runs in low (320 x 200) resolution
- only, and it takes up the whole screen.
-
- Enough waffling, on to the instructions.
-
-
- Instructions
- ============
- Run the editor. You will be faced with a simple title screen; press a
- key to clear it.
-
- You will now see my simple file selector. You can either type a
- filename in directly, or press ESC to switch to a list of files which
- you can scroll through with the cursor keys. Pressing RETURN will
- select the currently highlighted file or directory. You can change
- drive by pressing SHIFT + the drive letter. Undo will quit without
- returning a result.
-
- When you select a file, the editor will load it and attempt to
- identify what type of file it is by its length. If it cannot tell what
- type of file it is, it will ask for another.
-
- The editor will recognise several types of file: game positions saved
- from within DM and CSB, as well as game positions saved from the CSB
- Prison (useful if you want to get both of the hidden characters in
- your team) and the DUNGEON.DAT and MINI.DAT files which are used as
- the initial state of the dungeon for DM and CSB respectively.
-
- I should mention here that there are 2 versions of Dungeon Master. The
- original version (sold by Mirrorsoft) creates saved game files of
- 47914 bytes, and as far as I can remember the later version (which I
- believe is included in the DM/CSB double pack sold by Psygnosis) makes
- saved game files of 47916 bytes. The extra 2 bytes are used as a
- checksum, and since I don't know how to calculate it, Dungeon Master
- will complain about damaged files when you try to reload a file that
- has been edited.
-
- Having loaded a file, the editor will display a map of the top level
- of the dungeon contained in that file.
-
- The following keys now come into effect:
-
- Cursor keys:
- Move the pointer around the screen. As it moves across the map, a
- brief description of the current map square will be displayed in the
- top-right of the screen.
-
- Return:
- Changes the map square currently pointed at to something relevant --
- e.g. doors open and close; walls change to empty spaces and vice
- versa. For full details, see the list at the end of this file.
-
- N:
- Asks for a new byte value for the square currently pointed at. A
- full list appears at the end of this file.
-
- R:
- Read another file from disk for editing.
-
- S:
- Save the current file back to disk under its original name.
-
- A:
- Ask for a new file name and save the current file under that name.
-
- P:
- Ask for a file name and save the current screen image under that
- name in DEGAS .PI1 format.
-
- U:
- Move up 1 level.
-
- D:
- Move down 1 level.
-
- L:
- Ask for a level number to display.
-
- T:
- Toggle whether descriptions of map squares are displayed.
-
- Q:
- Quit (asks for confirmation first).
-
-
- Meanings of byte values
- =======================
-
- Byte
- Value(s) Represents Changes to
- ======== ========== ==========
- 0-15: WALL EMPTY SPACE
- 16-31: OBJECT ON WALL WALL
- 32/40: EMPTY SPACE WALL
- 48/56: OBJECT OR MONSTER EMPTY SPACE
- 64/80: PIT (CLOSED) PIT (OPEN)
- 68/84: INVISIBLE PIT (CLOSED) INVISIBLE PIT (OPEN)
- 72/88: PIT (OPEN) PIT (CLOSED)
- 73: FALSE PIT EMPTY SPACE
- 76/92: INVISIBLE PIT (OPEN) INVISIBLE PIT (CLOSED)
- 96/112: EAST-WEST FACING STAIRS (DOWN) unchanged
- 100/116: EAST-WEST FACING STAIRS (UP) unchanged
- 104/120: NORTH-SOUTH FACING STAIRS (DOWN) unchanged
- 108/124: NORTH-SOUTH FACING STAIRS (UP) unchanged
- 144: EAST-WEST FACING DOOR (OPEN) EAST-WEST FACING DOOR (CLOSED)
- 146: EAST-WEST FACING DOOR (HALF-OPEN) unchanged
- 148: EAST-WEST FACING DOOR (CLOSED) EAST-WEST FACING DOOR (OPEN)
- 149: EAST-WEST FACING DOOR (HACKED) unchanged
- 152: NORTH-SOUTH FACING DOOR (OPEN) NORTH-SOUTH FACING DOOR (CLOSED)
- 155: NORTH-SOUTH FACING DOOR (HALF-OPEN) unchanged
- 156: NORTH-SOUTH FACING DOOR (CLOSED) NORTH-SOUTH FACING DOOR (OPEN)
- 157: NORTH-SOUTH FACING DOOR (HACKED) unchanged
- 176: SPINNER (OFF) SPINNER (ON)
- 180: TRANSPORTER (OFF) TRANSPORTER (ON)
- 184: SPINNER (ON) SPINNER (OFF)
- 188: TRANSPORTER (ON) TRANSPORTER (OFF)
- 192/200: DISAPPEARING WALL (CLOSED) DISAPPEARING WALL (OPEN)
- 193/201: FALSE WALL EMPTY SPACE
- 196/204/ DISAPPEARING WALL (OPEN) DISAPPEARING WALL (CLOSED)
- 208/212/220
-
- All other byte values are, as far as I know, undefined, and the editor
- will change them to empty spaces.
-
-
- Please feel free to send any comments, bug reports, job offers, large
- sums of money, marriage proposals, etc. to:
-
- Simon Oke,
- 10 Symn Lane,
- Wotton-under-Edge,
- Gloucestershire,
- GL12 7BG.
-