THE SPISPOPD EDITOR v1.0 By Mike Hommel A Jamul Software Production --------------------------- WHAT'S INSIDE? -------------- [1] Hi there, welcome to SpisEdit [1.0001] Some Basic Stuff [2] The Main Screen [3] The Image Editor [4] The File Menu [5] The Options Menu [6] GIF256/Victory/Etc. [7] The Player APPENDIX A: TERRAIN APPENDIX B: BADGUYS [1] HI THERE, WELCOME TO SPISEDIT --------------------------------- Well, first of all let me say I'm glad you've shown an interest in creating your own Spispopd levels. In the hopes that it'll become a widespread inter- national passion, I've gone to all the trouble of making a nice mouse-driven editor for this game. To pay me back, you need do just one thing: 2> Make THOUSANDS of levels so that they have to open a whole directory just for Spispopd Levels on every major ftp site in the world. Okay, well, I just dropped in to say hi, and now I guess you can go ahead and read the documentation, convoluted though it may be, and then edit away. But who am I kidding? You've probably had the editor for a week already, since you've finally settled down to reading the docs. Don't worry, all those questions you've got are answered in here somewhere. If you can find them. [1.0001] SOME BASIC STUFF ------------------------- Thought I'd let you know some important facts. A Spispopd World, which is what this editor allows you to make, is a set of eleven levels. The last one is secret of course, and can only be accessed if Bouapha steps on a secret block. Each level has up to three floors (technically they all have three floors, but you don't have to use them all). Each floor can have up to fifty enemies, fifty generators, and fifty items. Each level must have one launchpad (or more). The launchpad will be usable once Bouapha has collected all the candles from the level, and killed all enemies that are worth candles (generally what one would consider a "boss"). [2] THE MAIN SCREEN ------------------- Click at the title screen, and you'll see the main screen. The editor starts with DEFAULT.SLF loaded. The 26 boxes on the left side are used to show a list of terrain types, monster types, or item types, depending on what mode you're in. Clicking on one of these pictures during normal operation selects it as the current "tool" (represented by an oddly flashing box on top of it). The six buttons with little icons on them, in the middle of the screen, are the main buttons. The first one, with a disk on it, is the file menu. Next to that, the candle picture, is to enter item mode (the button for the mode you are in is always lit up), where clicking on the map will place one of the highlighted item on that spot, and put ItemFlr underneath it (Bouapha can ONLY pick up items that are on ItemFlr). The button next to that (red X) is delete. Clicking or dragging on the map in this mode will remove any items or foes that are on the square you click on. It will however leave the square as ItemFlr if there was an item there. The second row of buttons starts with Terrain Mode (the tree symbol), and in this mode, you place the highlighted terrain on the map by clicking. However, in this mode you can drag across the map to place multiple terrain. Note that you can only have fifty squares of Generator terrain. The "G" next to these buttons represents the number of generators on the current floor. Next is Enemy Mode. In Enemy Mode, clicking places the highlighted enemy on the map. This makes no allowances for enemies stuck in walls, etc., so you've got to keep track of that yourself. If you mess up, just delete the badguy and put it somewere else. The last button is for the Image Editor, which is described below. Along with these buttons is a display area. There is a "G" with a number next to it. This is the number of generators on the current floor. The number next to the "I" is the number of items on the current floor. There is a max of 50 for both of those. Then come the arrows. The purple arrows move through the floors of the current level. The red ones move through the levels of the world. Don't screw up and start editing the wrong floor. The display next to the arrows shows the current floor, a dash, and then the current level. Level 10 is the final level, and level 11 is the secret level. Floor 1 is where Bouapha starts on every level, and it is the top floor of that level. Next to this display is an odd button with a picture of Bouapha's head. This button is used to set the starting point, marked by a big white X. Note that it can be set from any floor, and can be seen when editing any floor, but only applies to the first floor of the level. To set it, click on this button then click anywhere on the main map display. The X will appear where you clicked. Next to the head icon is an "O" button. This button brings up the Options menu, which is described below. The last button is "Q" for quit. Click it when you're done, and have your work all saved and everything. NIFTY TRICK: press Shift-F, and then click in the upper portion of the screen (the big display area). This will fill the current floor of the current level of the world with the highlighted terrain. NIFTY TRICK II: press ALT-C, and then click in the upper portion of the screen (the big display area). This will copy the current floor of the current level to all other floors and levels. Note that it only copies the terrain, and not items or monsters. [3] THE IMAGE EDITOR -------------------- The image editor has four handy-dandy buttons across the top. The first is "C" for copy. Click on it, then click on the terrain image in the lower left of the screen that you want copied to the image you're currently working on. Clicking elsewhere cancels the copy. The second button is a big red X. This fills the image with the currently selected colour. The third looks like a disk. Clicking on it will display RESULT.256, whatever that may be (and if RESULT.256 has a different palette than SPISPOPD the picture will appear really messed up), and if you move the cursor around, a 10x10 block under the cursor will be lit up (or just funky-looking), and if you click at this point, your current picture will look just like the block highlighted. If you click below the picture, in the main menu area, you will exit from the picture sucker without destroying your current picture. The fourth is a Q. It quits the image editor. Under these buttons is a box full of colour gradients. Clicking anywhere in here makes the current colour be whatever is under the cursor. Clicking on the zoomed-in version of the picture will draw in the current colour. The normal size version of the picture is visible in the lower-left of the screen. If you click in the lower-left portion of the screen, the terrain picture clicked on will be the current picture to be edited. The big list of words under the image editor is the type that this terrain should be. See Appendix A for the terrain definition info. [4] THE FILE MENU ----------------- This is a very simple menu. Click on the name displayed to type in a new one (no extension please). Click on Load to load the named file. Click on Save to save under the given name. Click on quit to get back to editing. If Load or Save is clicked, there IS NO CONFIRMATION! Don't accidently save crap over your best work. You'll know a load or save worked if the file menu goes away. If you try to load and it plays a sad noise at you, then the file doesn't exist. [5] THE OPTIONS MENU -------------------- These are some global options you can set for your world. An option is turned on if it is lit up white. Click on Quit to get out of this menu. Animate Genrtrs- If you have two Genrtr terrain types in a row in your list, you can have this option on to make it animate between them whenever a pumpkin is being created. Animate Tporters- Turn this option on to make teleporters animate in the same way. The teleporters on your map will randomly wiggle between the two pictures if this is on. Animate Slides- If you want slides (S-Left,S-Right,S-Up,S-Down) to animate in the same way mentioned above, make sure you've got them in pairs, and turn this option on. Tporter Type- When this shows a blue fireball type thing, Bouapha will teleport in the famous "water-drop" style. When it shows a hole in the ground, Bouapha will sink into the ground and pop back up elsewhere when he teleports. Experiment if you don't know what I mean. Choose Std. Pumpkin- If you click on this, then you must click on an enemy picture in the lower-left. Whatever you click on is what will come out of generators. Some creatures, such as water ones and bosses, are not a good idea, but are still perfectly acceptable. [6] GIF256/VICTORY/ETC. ----------------------- Along with this editor a small utility is packaged called GIF256.EXE. It will prompt you for the filename of a GIF you want to convert into my space-wasting, but easy-to-use, 256 format. This is an old program I wrote, so it isn't too exciting in terms of interface. If you give it a valid filename, it will flood the screen with a bunch of numbers and then say "Made It!" (kinda stuck on the end). Now a file called RESULT.256 exists that looks just like the GIF named. Whatever is in this file is what the Image Editor will load automatically when you enter Picture Sucking mode. But there's another use! If you copy this picture to the same name as your World file (.SLF), but with the extension .256, it will be displayed when the player beats your world. The traditional Spispopd credits are always shown after the picture. (for instance, OLDULTMA.256 for my OLDULTMA.SLF file) By the way, as a cool added special bonus, a GIF of all the original Spispopd terrain graphics is included. You are encouraged to take advantage of this to more rapidly create your own levels. The process of using them in your levels is simple: from DOS, you run GIF256, tell it you want to convert ORIGINAL.GIF, then run SPISEDIT. In Spisedit now, when you choose the Picture Sucker from the Image Editor, it will show you these graphics. Click on the one you want. The other special amazing bonus file is WIN.GIF, which is simply the default win picture, and you are welcome to use it in all your SpisWorlds if you don't feel artistically inclined. [7] THE PLAYER -------------- If you want to test your level, or play something someone else made, get back to DOS, and type SMASH to play. For instance, if you want to play the Oldultma world that comes with this editor, type "SMASH OLDULTMA". All the wonderful old cheats still work, and gameplay is the same as always. I was gonna add some new badguys, but I have better things to do. The Smash command allows other parameters too: SMASH filename genrate gamespeed Genrate is the rate (from 0-200) that pumpkins are generated. Note that 2 is standard. So 100 and above are truly horrid. Gamespeed is the speed of gameplay (from 0-255). The default, and the setting I use, is 235. Adjust it accordingly for your computer. It's a good idea to use the included batch file (SM.BAT), and modify the gamespeed value listed to be whatever you want for your computer. APPENDIX A: TERRAIN ------------------- The terrain types are listed below. Also note that "Std. Flr" may be selected for any ONE terrain type in the game. This terrain is the one that will: A> show up after a generator is destroyed B> appear when a pushy block is pushed C> appear when an item is taken D> appear when a door is opened E> appear when an explody or explod2 block explodes It can of course be any type, but Floor is recommended. Floor - anyone but water creatures can walk on it Wall - Nobody can walk on it, and only green seed bullets can pass thru it Breaky - Will be replaced by what follows it in the terrain list if it is hit by a hammer, snowball, or energy blast Pushy - If Bouapha walks into this, it will be shoved aside, leaving Std. Flr behind Launch - the launchpad, every level must have one Water - only the serpent, his body parts, and sea pumpkins can walk on this. Bouapha drowns if he steps on it. Ice - slippery floor Door - An obstacle that can be shot through, and Bouapha needs a key to go through it. LadrUp - Takes Bouapha up one floor. Badguys can't walk on it. Note that up means DOWN numerically (up from second floor is first) LadrDn - Opposite of a ladder up. Please make these correspond exactly with the positions of your ladders up. It makes it so much more real. Tportr - Will send Bouapha to any other Tporter on the screen, totally at random. If "Animate Tporters" is on in the Options menu, then there should be two tporter terrain types in a row in the terrain list for the game to flip through when it animates. Badguys can't walk on it. Hole - Badguys can't walk on it, but if Bouapha does, he dies by being sucked in. S-Left - Badguys are unaffected by it, but it'll push Bouapha to the left if he stands on it. S-Right- Moves Bouapha to the right. S-Up - Moves Bouapha up. S-Down - Moves Bouapha down. Secret - Badguys can't walk on it. If this is stepped on, Bouapha will be sent to the secret level (level 11) along with some cool music. Space - exactly like water, except when Bouapha steps on it, he flies off and explodes. ItemFlr- Badguys can't walk on it, but otherwise it acts just like Floor. However you MUST have this in your terrain list to put items on your maps. Genrtr - Only badguys can walk on it. This is the stuff that pumpkins come out of. If "Animate Genrtrs" is on in the Options menu, then there should be two generator types in a row for the game to flip through when it animates. Lava - Again, exactly like water and space, but if Bouapha steps on it, he burns up. Explody- New to this editor. It is a wall- but if a generator adjacent to it is destroyed, it will explode, chain-reaction style, turning into whatever is Std. Flr. Try it out. Look at the default level for an example (1st level, 2nd floor). Explod2- Like explody, but can be walked on. Neither explody nor explod2 can hurt anyone when they explode. These are used for the generators in Hell. APPENDIX B: BADGUYS ------------------- Badguys are listed as Name:HitPoints, and then a brief description of their activity. This list is in the same order as the display of enemies in the editor, so use it if you're not sure which is which. If an enemy is worth a candle (that is, must be killed to pass the level), it has a B (for boss) after its hit points. Anything listed as 0 hit points is invincible. Any aquatic enemy will have a W after its hit points. NOTE: Centipede body parts MUST be placed on the map BEFORE the Centipede Head they are intended to follow, or they will drift offscreen and cause the game to crash, or at least mess up royally. Baby:1 - random movement. IceBaby:1 - random movement. RedBaby:1 - random movement. CylonBaby:1 - random movement. NomadBaby:1 - random movement. FunkyBaby:1 - random movement. EvilBouapha:50B - A dark Bouapha, semirandom movement. Rapidfire hammer toss. BigOrange:5 - splits into two babies when killed. slow, random movement. Yeti:50B - Snowball throwing, semirandom movement. Smog:20B - VERY fast. Sometimes tracking, usually random movement. Grim Sower:7 - random movement. Major damage. CentiHead:20B - semirandom movement. If killed, and is being followed by CentiBody parts, then the next body part will become a head. CentiBody:0 - follows CentiHead. Serpentail:0W - totally random movement. Can't hurt Bouapha, and will die when any SerpentHead on the screen is destroyed. SerpentBody:0W - Just like a tail, it is not a meaningful part of the game, just window dressing, and will explode when the Serpent is killed. SerpentHead:50WB- Spits semiguided green seeds. Moves randomly. Spider:200B - Fires a Chaingun of semiguided energy blasts. Shatters into fifty lesser pumpkins when killed (babies of all types and big oranges). Semirandom movement. Huge:200B - Vomits up baby pumpkins. Slow, random movement. Mutant:100/100B - When "killed" once, the glass on its containment tank shatters and the mutant inside can be seen. It then spits out purple globs at Bouapha. It doesn't move. Chef:200B - Throws pumpkin pies. Semirandom movement. Squash:2 - voracious trackers. Robo:50 - Shoots energy blasts. Slow, tracking movement. SeaPumpkin:8W - Shoots green seeds. Semirandom movement.