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1994-08-31
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Tile Maker Utility
Version 2.1 September 1, 1994
For use with Mah Jongg or Tile Match
Nels Anderson
585 Edmands Road
Framingham, MA 01701
U.S.A.
USING TILE MAKER
The Tile Maker utility allows you to make your own sets of tiles or
modify sets made by others. These tiles can be used with my two
solitaire games, Mah Jongg and Tile Match.
The utility is similar to many paint programs with which you might be
familiar, though because of its specialized nature it includes less
functions. Tile Maker can be controlled with your mouse or keyboard
and requires EGA or VGA graphics.
The best thing to do is get Tile Maker running and experiment.
You'll find designing good tiles is quite a challenge, but it will
allow you to have your own personalized version of the game when
you're done.
You might want to look at other already completed tile sets to see
some of the techniques used. Because the drawing area is so small
you often have to trick the eye to get the effect you want. One
thing to avoid is changing the sloping sides of the tiles. Generally
this will ruin the 3D effect and simply doesn't look good when tiles
are stacked up.
HOW TILES ARE STORED ON DISK
First, some basics about working with tile sets. A Mah Jongg tile
set includes 42 different tiles. Eight of them are in the "wild
card" suits (normally the flowers and seasons suits) where any tile
in the suit matches any other. The other 34 tiles use the standard
matching rule where there are four of each tile on the board and the
tiles must be matched exactly to be removed. You'll want to keep the
game rules in mind when designing your tiles.
Tile Match only needs 36 tiles. Tiles 1 through 34 are used plus
tiles 35 and 39.
All 42 tiles are stored in a single disk file. You'll need to know
how the tiles are numbered so that you store your new tiles in the
proper place. For reference, the standard tile set ("MAHJONGG.TIL")
is numbered as follows:
Tiles 1 - 9: suit of dots
Tile 10: white dragon
Tiles 11 - 19: suit of bamboo
Tile 20: green dragon
Tiles 21 - 29: suit of characters
Tile 30: red dragon
Tiles 31 - 34: suit of winds
Tiles 35 - 38: suit of seasons
Tiles 39 - 42: suit of flowers
GETTING STARTED
Start up "TILEMAKR.EXE" by typing "tilemakr" on the command line.
There are no command line options, but you can include the name of a
tile set file on the command line and that tile set will be
immediately loaded once Tile Maker starts up. Note the drawing area
on the left and the tile set display on the right. If you did not
include a tile set name on the command line the tile set displayed
will be blank, but as soon as you read in a tile set it will be shown.
Along the top of the screen are a series of menus you can select. If
you're using a mouse you just need to point to the word you want and
click. If using the keyboard you can use the functions keys (each
menu is numbered sequentially so Help is F1, Info is F2, etc.). You
can also select menus by holding down the Alt key while also hitting
the first letter of the menu name; for example, you'd hit Alt-F to
open the File menu.
DRAWING
Normal drawing can be done with the keyboard or mouse. Using the
mouse, select the desired color by pointing at the color chart and
clicking. Then to draw just point at the drawing area and click on
each spot where you want to draw.
Because it's common to switch back and forth between two colors, Tile
Maker remembers the last color you've selected as well as the current
one. Use the right mouse button at any time to toggle back and forth
between the current and previous drawing color.
If you're drawing with a mouse there are a few basic drawing shapes
available in addition to the simple dot. Under the drawing area is a
set of push buttons where you can select dots, line, circle,
rectangle, filled circle or box. Click on the desired button and
you'll see it push in to confirm proper selection.
When using the line or rectangles, move the mouse cursor to one end
(corner) and hold down the mouse button. Then move to the other end
(corner) and release the button. When using the circles you start in
the center and pull away until the circle is the desired size. You
can pull in any direction since the circle is symmetrical.
The seventh drawing tool is a special one. It allows you to outline
an area and then change all pixels within that area that are a
specific color into a different color. Select this tool and then
outline a rectangle just as you would with the rectangle drawing
tool. When the area you want is outlined, release the mouse button.
You'll be prompted to select the color you want to change; point
anywhere you want on the screen and click when pointing to the
desired color. Then you'll be prompted for the color you want to
change to; again you can point anywhere on the screen and click. Now
the selected color will change.
The eighth function is fill. Using this function you can fill in an
area of any shape with the currently selected color. When you select
fill the cursor will change to the word "FILL" with a little target
to the upper left. Position the target in the area you want filled
and click to fill. Using the keyboard you can fill by moving the
keyboard cursor within the area to be filled and hitting the Z key.
The ninth function is text entry. Because of the small size of the
tiles only one simple font is used. Characters are five pixels high.
Several different widths are available and Tile Maker will try to use
the widest characters possible given the space available. Depending
on whether you have border set on or off (from the Options menu) the
letters may go right to the edge of the tile face or a one pixel
border will be enforced.
To enter text, position the mouse to the upper left corner of where
the text should start (if using the keyboard, use the arrow keys to
position the keyboard cursor and then hit the L key). You'll then be
prompted to enter the text you want. Lower case letters are not
available but capital letters and most other characters can be used.
If the text you enter is too much to fit in the available space
you'll be told how many pixels too wide it is and you can then adjust
accordingly.
When within the drawing area, the mouse cursor snaps to the center of
each pixel when moving around or drawing dots, lines or rectangles.
If you prefer that the cursor move smoothly you can turn off the snap
function by using Snap Cursor on/off under the Options menu. For most
drawing you'll probably find the snap cursor useful as you'll be able
to more clearly tell what pixel is being pointed to.
Drawing with the keyboard requires typing the letter or number of the
desired color, then moving the cursor around with the arrow keys and
finally hitting space when you want to draw a dot. If you hold down
the space bar a line of dots will be drawn in the direction of the
last arrow key used.
When drawing the position of the mouse cursor is shown just below the
color selection area. If you wish to see the position of the keyboard
cursor instead, just move the mouse cursor outside the drawing area
and move the keyboard cursor with the arrow keys.
MENUS
All functions have keyboard shortcuts that are shown in parentheses
after the name of the function. You can use these keys to access
functions directly without going through the menus. A list of all
keyboard shortcuts is at the end of this document.
If using a mouse you just point to the function you want and click.
If using the keyboard you can select menus using the function keys or
the Alt key plus the first letter of the menu name. Within the menus
you can select functions by number or by using the arrow keys to move
to the function you want and the Enter key to select it.
Most of the functions available from the menu are pretty
self-explanatory, but let's cover each menu and function in detail.
HELP
Under the help function is an abbreviated set of instructions for
using Tile Maker. To move from one help screen to another click on
the Next or Prev (previous) box. To quit help click on the Quit box.
You can also use the letters shown in red for next, quit or previous.
FILE MENU
This is the menu used for all disk access. The first choice allows
you to clear any current drawing and start a new tile. You'll be
prompted to make sure you mean to do this.
Save Tile allows you to save your work into a tile set file. You'll
first be prompted for the name of the file that your tile should
become part of. If the file you choose is different from the last
one you read in, the new file will be read in and displayed on the
right side of the screen. Finally, you must choose what position
your tile will take. If you're editing an existing tile and just
want to put it back in the same position you just need to click on
OK. Otherwise you can either enter the new position number from the
keyboard or you can point and click on the tile on the right side of
the screen you wish to replace.
Read Tile Set allows you to read tiles from the disk. The entire
tile set is always loaded and displayed on the right side of the
screen. If the set does not contain all 42 tiles blanks will be
shown at some positions.
The Load Tile function is only needed if you don't have a mouse. It
allows you to transfer a single tile from the tile set shown on the
right side of the screen into the editor. When prompted enter either
the number of the tile you want to edit or hit the Esc key to abort.
Import .PCX Picture gives you a limited ability to load tile faces
from PCX drawings, such as you might create with a full-featured
paint program or with a scanner. The PCX pictures must be in 640x350
pixel size and use a 16 color EGA palette.
When you select import .PCX picture, the normal file selection box
will pop up and you should select the PCX file you want. The picture
will load and a square cursor will appear. Use the cursor to
surround the portion of the picture you want (the square is exactly
the size of a tile face) and click. You'll be switched back to the
editing screen with the PCX image now on the tile face. If you're
using the keyboard you can use the arrow keys to move the cursor
around and the Enter key to select. Hit Esc to abort.
When you're done with your tile set, use the add name function. The
name you enter will be displayed at the bottom of the screen when
playing Mah Jongg or in the Info screen when playing Tile Match. The
name for the currently loaded tile set is also shown at the right
bottom of the Tile Maker screen.
At some point you may wish to rearrange the order of the tiles in the
set. You can use the swap two tiles function to swap the positions
of any two tiles in the currently displayed set. When prompted,
select each of the tiles that you want swapped either by entering the
tile number or by using the mouse to point and click. If you change
your mind hit the Esc key or select "No" when asked to confirm.
EDIT MENU
This menu allows you to do special editing functions on the current
tile. These functions are described below.
The flip functions let you reverse the image left/right or
top/bottom. Hitting the same function a second time will flip the
image back the way it originally was.
The rotate function rotates the image clock-wise around its center.
Four consecutive rotates puts the image back the way it originally
was.
The shift functions move the image in the specified direction by one
pixel. This is handy if you, for example, want to center an image.
The final function on the edit menu is undo. Using this will restore
the tile as it was before the most recent change. The image that
will be restored is shown along the left side of the screen directly
below the current image. You can also undo by clicking directly on
this previous image, or on any other image that is below it. Up to
three previous images are kept along the left side of the screen.
OPTIONS MENU
This menu allows you to select options that affect how other
functions work. Each option can be toggled on or off. If an option
is currently on a check mark will be shown to the right of the option
name.
When Tile Maker starts up it is set with snap cursor on. In this
mode the mouse cursor jumps to the center of each pixel when in the
drawing area, which ensures that you know exactly what pixel you're
drawing. If you prefer you can turn this mode off and the cursor
will then move smoothly.
When drawing with the dot tool (freehand drawing) you can have your
drawing mirrored left to right, top to bottom, or both. Toggle the
appropriate mirror settings on and off to fit your needs.
TEXT MENU
The first three options let you choose whether text you enter will
be left justified, right justified or centered. A check mark will
indicate which choice is currently selected.
When entering text using the text tool you have a choice on how close
to the edge the text will be entered. Text usually looks best if
there is a border around it at the edge of the tile face. However,
if you have a long word that you wish to display you might want to
disable this border to make the text fit. Try entering text first
with the border enabled, but if you only need one or two more pixels
to make it fit you can turn the border off and try again.
Share Your Creations!
If you develop any tile sets you'd like to share please upload them
to the support BBS (Xevious: 508-788-6951) or mail them to the author
on a diskette. I'd suggest that you include a text file describing
your tile set. If you do include a text file give it the same basic
file name as the tile set file; for example, the tile set MYTILES.TIL
would have a text file MYTILES.TXT. You should also include your name
in both the tile set itself and in the text file. I'm looking forward
to seeing what you come up with!
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
All Tile Maker functions can be accessed from the keyboard. Below is
the complete list of keys and their function.
Key Function
------------ ------------------------------------
F1 or Alt-H Help
F2 or Alt-I Info
F3 or Alt-F File Menu
F4 or Alt-E Edit Menu
F5 or Alt-O Options Menu
F6 or Alt-T Text Menu
F10 or Alt-Q Quit (exit Tile Maker)
X New (clear tile)
S Save Tile
R Read Tile Set
Alt-L Load Tile Into Editor
P Import .PCX Picture
N Add Name To File
Alt-S Swap Two Tiles
Alt-D Delete Tile Set
Q Quit (exit Tile Maker)
< Flip left to right
> Flip top to bottom
@ Rotate clock-wise
- Shift Right
+ Shift Left
^ Shift Up
| Shift Down
U Undo
L Use the letter function (enter text)
Z Use the fill function
# Snap Cursor on/off
M Mirroring left/right on/off
Alt-M Mirroring top/bottom on/off
T Text Border on/off
0 Drawing color is black
1 Drawing color is blue
2 Drawing color is green
3 Drawing color is cyan
4 Drawing color is red
5 Drawing color is magenta
6 Drawing color is brown
7 Drawing color is light gray
8 Drawing color is dark gray
9 Drawing color is light blue
A Drawing color is light green
B Drawing color is light cyan
C Drawing color is light red
D Drawing color is light magenta
E Drawing color is yellow
F Drawing color is white
- - - - -
Tile Maker is copyright 1994 by Nels Anderson. All rights reserved.