Crawly Crypt Collection 1

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Text File | 2004-10-10 | 16KB | 431 lines

T y p e d i t Version C 1.20 (C) Oskari Koskimies 1992 Programmed in STOS Basic. This program allows you to change the properties (firepower, speed, production rate, graphic representation and so on) of the unit types in StrataGem. You can also create completely new types. The maximum number of types is 100. Please note that this program cannot edit the STRDATA?.MBK files that StrataGem 1.00 uses. When the program starts you will have to select a type file to be loaded. It isn't possible to just begin with "an empty board" as in Mapper. This program differs from the last version only in that submarines, stealth planes and Shell pierce - dependant damage values are now supported, and a few bugs with the Copy/Add functions have been fixed. The first one (Cargo data got garbled when a type was pasted and added) was my fault, but I claim innocence with the second one (Entering speed values could affect two units if you had used the Copy/Add functions). The mid$(...)= function seems to leave something to be desired, and had to be replaced with others. Some cosmetic work has also been done, and there's a new viewing function in the drawing section. MAIN MENU The Main menu contains five options: D a t a This is the main part of the program, where you are allowed to set the values of the types. A selection window will appear, allowing you to choose the type you wish to edit. There are <Previous> and <Next> buttons in case the types won't fit one window. If you want to go back to the Main Menu, press the right mousebutton. When you have chosen the type, the editing screen appears. It looks something like this: 16: Bomber Infantry Fuel 30/300 Cruise Mis Carry limit: 4/40 Ball. Mis Weight: 10/100 Tact. Mis Hit points: 4/40 Armor: 0 Evasion: 65 Fire range: 1 Shell pierce: 100 Fire accuracy: 25 Shell damage: 6 Fire rate: 3 Observing area: 2 Produce time: 10 Ammo: 10/100 Machines/unit: 10 Metatype: Air Unit Sound: Bomber Sea 9 Hill 9 Road 9 Shllw 9 Nuclr 9 Pl1 C 9 Reef 9 Mount 9 Pl2 C 9 Field 9 Vulcn 9 Ntr C 9 Forst 9 Desrt 9 Ruins 9 << >> PR AD CP DL Some values have a slash (/) after them and then another value. This means that these values are per machine in one unit, and total sum (for example of fuel or ammunition) in one unit is the number after the slash. The different areas are: Nr: Name +---------+ +-----------------------+ | | | | | The | | | | types | | | | this | | | | type | | | | may | | Type | | carry | | characteristics | | | | | | | | | | | | (Values like fire | | | | range, armor etc) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-----------------------+ | | | | +-----------------------+ | | | Speed in different | | | | sorts of terrain | | | | | | | +-----------------------+ | | <----- Command Line -----> +---------+ The type characteristics area also contains the graphic representation of the type, both Player 1 (upper) and Player 2 (lower). These can be edited by clicking on them. See the Land section for details on the picture editor. The name of the type, its characteristics, and its speed are changed simply by clicking at the value or name of the characte- ristic and typing in the new value (or the new name of the type). Some characteristics are changed by making selections from a selector box, like Sound. The types the type being edited can carry are changed by clicking at the "The types this type may carry" area. A selector box appears with all the types. Those which this type can currently carry have a marker to their left. Click at a type currently having the marker to remove it from the list, or at one that doesn't have a marker to add it to the list. If you try to add a type that is too heavy you will hear a crash. Right button exits the selector box. The unit characteristics have the following meanings: Fuel negative = does not consume fuel. (If it's a tanker craft, this means that it can refuel other craft indefi- nitely) zero = cannot move. postitive = the amount of fuel one machine carries, and therefore the range of the type. Carry limit The maximum amount of cargo one machine can carry. If zero the type cannot carry anything. Weight The unit's weight. This is used to calculate how many will fit into a transporter unit. Hit points The number of damage points a machine in the unit will sustain before it is destroyed. Armor If the <Shell pierce> value of the shooting unit is lesser than the <Armour> value of the unit being shot at, the shot fails to cause any damage. Evasion The probality of evading a shot. This is a proportionality constant that should be set according to the speed and manouvera- bility of the type (when a unit shoots, its chance to hit (%) is <the unit's fire accuracy> / <the enemy's evasion> * 100 * <the unit's experience>, where the experience ranges between 0.5 and 1.5.). See Fire accuracy. Fire range If set to one, the unit of this type cannot shoot from a distance but must engage the enemy unit in direct combat. With missiles this is the warhead, i.e. the radius of the explosion circle. Shell pierce See Armor. Fire accuracy The probality of scoring a hit. This is a proportionality constant that should be set according to the targeting systems, speed and manouverability of the type. See Evasion. Shell damage The damage a hit makes. (i.e. the deduction from the hitpoints of the striken unit) If the value is negative then it is calculated as follows: Shell damage = abs(Shell damage) * (unit's shell pierce value - target unit's armour value) / unit's shell pierce value. Fire rate The amount of shots one machine makes per turn. This means that the actual number of shots per turn is the fire rate multiplied with the number of machines in the unit. Observing area The area in which the unit detects enemy units (and terrain if previously uncharted). The value is "a radius of a square".(if the unit's coordinates are X,Y the square's upper left corner is at X-r,Y-r and its lower right corner at X+r,Y+r where r is the "Observing area" -value). Please note that since the detecting is done so that the square is copied from an accurate map in the program's memory to the player's map, a large observing area means that the copying will take some time, and the unit will move very slowly (like the Laser Tower in the current setup). However, enemy Submarines, Stealth Planes and Mines are invisible until you run into them except if you are using a satellite (The same applies to any enemy land units in a forest). Produce time The minimum number of turns it takes to produce a unit of this type. (The time also depends on city resources and population). Ammo The number of shells each machine in a unit of this type can carry. Machines/unit The number of machines a unit of this type (initially) consists of, i.e. the unit's strength. Metatype The "type of type" this type is. The following exist: Land Unit Any ordinary unit travelling on land. Sea Unit " " " " on sea. Air Unit " " " " in the air. Infantry - Can conquer cities. - Can inhabit cities (increase population). - Takes its strength (2000 * strength) from city population. Land Pioneer Builds roads, removes mines. Town Builder Builds new towns. Ground Mine/ Submarine Affects land and sea units. Is destroyed by others. / An invisible sea unit. If the type has a non-zero Fuel value, it will be classified as a Submarine, otherwise it will be a Ground Mine. Sea Pioneer Can make rivers deeper, removes mines. Air Mine/ Stealth Plane Affects air units. Is destroyed by others./ An invisible air unit. If the type has a non-zero Fuel value, it will be classified as a Stealth Plane, other- wise it will be an Air Mine. Satellite Able to get "deep scan" info about enemy units. Cannot land once launched. Sees ALL enemy units within observing area. VTOL Craft The only air unit that can land elsewhere than in the cities, and thus doesn't consume fuel when not moving. The only difference between this and a land unit that can move everywhere is really that VTOL Craft are classified as aircraft and therefore can be fueled only by Air Tankers (or other units of the same type), and that they are hit by air mines and not by ground mines. Missile Nuclear missile. Once launched nothing can be done about its destination. Cruise Missile Nuclear missile that can be moved around like any air unit before detonating it. Land Tanker Can give supplies to land units. If it uses fuel (Fuel value >0) the fuel and ammo loaded into the other units are deducted from the unit's stores. Sea Tanker Same as Land Tanker, but for Sea Units. Air Tanker " " " " " " Air Units. Sound The sound this type of unit makes. The different sounds are stored in SOUNDFX.MBK and can be edited with the STOS Music accessory. IMPORTANT! The following values MUST NOT be set to zero: Hit points Evasion Fire rate Machines/unit The Command Line The following options are available: << Previous type. >> Next type. PR Print the current type or all types. AD Add (insert) the type in the cutboard. If no types have been copied to the cutboard (see below) it will contain the first type. CP Copy the current type to the cutboard. DL Delete the current type. Right mousebutton exits to the type selector box, and right button again exits to the Main Menu. L a n d This option allows you to change the graphical representa- tion of the different terrain types. The editor is the same for this function and for editing the graphic representation of different types. Remember, when you exit the edit screen the changes go to memory, and the old picture is lost. So if you get second thoughts and want to have the original picture instead, click at UNDO before exiting. The edit screen consist of (in the left - right top - down order): Picture The picture that is being edited (scale 1:1). Options Clear: Clear picture. Undo: Restore original picture. Mirror: Horizontal mirror. Can be used to make Player 2 pictures from Player 1 pictures. Plr. 2: Changes all black pixels to current colour. Is used with Mirror to make Player 2 pictures. Get Pict: Get one of the other pictures (Type pictures if you are editing a unit type, Land pictures if you are editing a terrain type). Load Scr: Load a Neochrome or Degas screen from which a picture may be grabbed (see below). Grab Pic: Grab a picture from a previously loaded screen (see above). You will see the screen and a rectangle which can be moved around with the mouse. Pressing the right mousebut- ton switches between smooth movement and 16- pixel jumps. Pressing the left button grabs the area inside the rectangle. Both buttons pressed simultaneously (better press the right one down first) cancels. Pressing <SPACE> lets you see how the picture will look when it is part of a terrain consisting of several such pictures. It is just for viewing, and no editing can be done in this mode. Press any key to return to normal drawing. The Edit Window The picture can be edited here. Each pixel is represented by a 8 X 8 block, which can be set to the current color by pointing at it with the mouse and clicking the left mousebutton. The Palette Window You can choose the drawing colour by clicking at it. The current drawing colour is marked with » « at its sides. The right button exits the edit screen. L o a d Load a type data file (.TYP). S a v e Saves a type data file. Q u i t Quits the program. You will be asked for confirmation, just in case you forgot to save your changes.