Crawly Crypt Collection 2/crawlyvol2.bin/games/mapper/mapper.doc

Text File | 1985-11-17 | 22KB | 661 lines

                                DUNGEON  MAPPER
                                  Version 1.0

                            A Role Playing Game Aid
                             In The Public Domain
                                By Jeff Casbeer

         This documentation and the program it describes may be freely
         copied and distributed by absolutely anyone, to anyone who
         wants it, to do absolutely anything at all with it, so long
         as anyone wants to distribute or receive it, for absolutely
                            any reason whatsoever.

         The author would ask that you keep all original files intact.
         If you grok it all up with your code, please make it clear,
         both here in the documentation and in the program's author
         box, that it's not my original stuff, but please leave me
         credit for what original stuff you leave around.  You can
            even say it's better with your stuff in it if you want.

                               GEnie: J.CASBEER
                             CompuServe: 76214,450
                                 January, 1990
                            Can We Get On With It?!



































         Welcome to DUNGEON MAPPER!

         Dungeon Mapper is like a word processor for role playing game
         (RPG) maps.  It's designed to produce an output quality
         somewhere between full-blown artwork and hand-drawn maps.  It
         is an icon based program; maps are drawn with graphic
         "blocks" which are produced in advance, but can be edited
         later.

         Here's a brief laundry list of features:

              * Maps can be any size up to the limits of memory.  A
              512K machine is capable of holding about an 80 X 80 map.
              (This is a guess -- the author doesn't have a 512K
              machine!  Can someone verify this?)

              * Legend facilities: Icons can be legended, with up to
              five lines of text per entry. Icons included in the
              legend are compared to the actual map and a map legend
              is automatically created at print-time.  Legend entries
              can be added, edited, and deleted as the map is being
              created.  Legends can be any size up to the limits of
              memory.  (The legend must use memory space that could
              otherwise be designated to the map.  The 80 X 80 map
              mentioned above includes a 50 icon legend space.)
              Legends are created, saved, loaded, and logically
              maintained seperately from maps.  This means that a
              single legend can be maintained for multiple maps (for
              example, multiple levels of a game).

              * As with the legend, icons are created, loaded, and
              logically maintained separately from maps.  This means
              that if icons are edited on an existing map, the map
              will change to reflect the new icons (and so will the
              legend).  The program comes complete with a simple set
              of icons and an editor built-in.

              * The map editor includes facilities for rotation (oh,
              THAT'S North!), flipping (uh, yeah, east is RIGHT...),
              vertical and horizontal insertion and deletion, titling
              and subtitling, and a useful fill feature ("fill this
              whole space with this icon").  This makes it practical
              to update the map after each play session, or even to
              use the program during game play if the game isn't on
              your ST.

              * The program will output maps either tiled (tape the
              pages together into one big map) or paged (put them in a
              notebook; includes edge-of-page references to other
              pages as needed).

              * Program will produce simple graph paper on the
              printer.  Use this for creating hand-drawn originals
              when playing RPG's on your ST.  Then, after the game












              session, use those maps and DUNGEON MAPPER to produce
              higher-quality (and higher-legibility) maps for a
              permanent record of the game.  This feature has only
              been tested on an Epson.  If you have another printer
              brand that doesn't work with this feature, drop me a
              line.

              * The program uses screen prints (like <Alt-Help>) to
              produce maps.  A printer set-up feature lets you
              configure for your printer output size (1280 or 960
              pixels).  You can also print to the screen for
              previewing, or print selected pages to the printer.

         And now... on with the show!  It's recommended that you load
         up the program and follow along with this walk-through
         documentation (you'll need to be in low-resolution).





















































                         DUNGEON MAPPER DOCUMENTATION


         OVERVIEW:


         The program loads to a dialog box requesting information
         about map size.  The default is an 80 X 80 grid with space
         for 50 legend entries.  You may change this -- if you ask for
         a size larger than memory, you'll be warned and given another
         chance.  The minimum size is a 30 X 30 map.  The program will
         round up to 30 X 30 if you ask for something less.

         Alternatively, you may just skip this and load a previously
         saved map into memory by clicking on "Load".

         The core of the program is contained in two (2) basic
         screens. The first screen (displayed when the program is
         started) is the icon screen.  This can be thought of as a
         palette of blocks which are used to draw on the map.  When an
         icon is chosen from this screen it becomes the "cursor". To
         choose a cursor, point at the desired icon with the arrow and
         left-click.

         After selecting a cursor, right-click to move to the second
         major screen, the map.  To drop a copy of the cursor onto the
         map, left-click in the desired location.  To return to the
         icon screen, right-click.

         That's all there is to drawing on the map.

         Most maps are larger than one physical screen.  While the map
         screen is visible, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to
         scroll around.  If you've defined a map larger than about 30
         X 30 (minimum size), the map will scroll 10 blocks in the
         direction of the arrow key chosen.  An alert box pops up to
         inform you when you're on an edge of the map.

         From either the map or the icon screens, press a printable
         key to bring up the main function menu.  (The space bar works
         well.  If you're right handed, lift your thumb off the mouse
         and hit that enter key on the keypad.)  This menu is divided
         into four main catagories: File, Edit, Print, and Legend
         Entries.


         THE FILE MENU:


         The file menu allows saving and loading of either maps or
         legends.  The program will remind you if you attempt to:













          1) Overwrite a map or legend that hasn't been saved.
          2) Quit the program without saving a map or legend that has
          been changed since it was last saved.

         The file menu also offers the option of ending the program.

         A NOTE ABOUT FILES:  It is possible to build maps and legends
         that load into your RAM seperately, but not together.  For
         example, two different runs of the program, building a large
         map one time and a large legend space the next, may create a
         map/legend combination too big to fit in your memory.  It is
         suggested that you set up your sizes in advance, making sure
         it all fits in memory at once (with the opening dialog box),
         and then stick with that size for the entire project.  You
         can change the CONTENTS of the maps and legends, but use the
         same size -- or test new sizes before doing any work.


         THE EDIT MENU:


         The edit menu allows editing of the map and icons.

         1) FILL allows filling an enclosed area with an icon.  Fill
         never extends beyond the visible limits of the screen.
         Filling in a non-enclosed area (on a blank map screen, for
         example) will fill the entire screen with the selected icon.

         It's easiest to learn how fill works by just trying it a few
         times.  For those who prefer a written explanation, here
         goes...

         Fill performs the following logic.  First change the selected
         map location to the fill cursor.  Then look at each adjacent
         map location (North, East, South, and West only -- fill
         doesn't work on the diagonals).  If the location contains the
         same icon as was just replaced, change that location also.
         Then repeat the process with each changed location until no
         more map locations can be filled or the edge of the screen is
         reached.

         When fill is selected:

              a) The program will display the icon screen.  Choose the
              icon to be used as the fill cursor.  (Optionally, just
              select the current cursor.)
              b) Right-click to confirm the fill icon selection.
              c) The map will be displayed and the cursor will become
              a flashing cross.  Select the location to begin the fill
              by pointing at the location and executing either a left-
              or a right-click.
              d) The fill will be completed and the system will redraw
              the map, leaving you on the map screen.














         2) ROTATE simply turns the whole map 90 degrees (1 compass
         point) to the east.  Therefore, four rotations will return a
         map to the same position.  An alert box will ask for
         confirmation of Rotate.

         Disk space is needed to complete a rotate.  The entire map is
         written to disk and reloaded.  A 100 X 100 map needs about
         50K of disk space free to complete a rotate.


         3) FLIP turns the map over from east to west.  It will be as
         if the map were held up in a mirror.  Logically, two flips
         will return a map to the original position.  Using both Flip
         and Rotate, a map can be re-oriented in any direction.

         As with Rotate, Flip uses disk space to complete it's work.
         A similiar quantity of disk space is needed for both
         operations.


         4) INSERT COLUMN/ROW and DELETE COLUMN/ROW will add or remove
         columns or rows from the map.  Several notes:

              a) Neither function actually changes the size of the
              map.  They simply rearrange the existing map.
              b) If an insertion will "push" icons off the edge of the
              map, either east (for columns) or south (for rows), the
              system will warn you.
              c) Unlike fill, both of these functions work on the
              ENTIRE map, not just the portion visible on the screen.

         To complete an insertion or deletion, select the appropriate
         menu selection, then respond to the alert box's question
         about which one is desired (column or row).  The cursor will
         become a flashing cross.  To execute the chosen change, place
         the cursor on the column or row where the insertion or
         deletion should occur and press either mouse button.


         5) TITLE will offer you a dialog box with which you can title
         and subtitle the map.  If a map is saved to disk, this
         information is also saved.  Titles are arranged on map
         printouts.


         6) EDIT ICONS provides a simple utility for creating and
         changing icons.  When you select this option the program will
         request you choose an icon to be edited.  As usual,
         left-click to select, right-click to confirm.  You will be
         presented with a copy of your icon at original size (at the
         top of the page) and as a 10 X 10 grid showing your icon
         blown up.  To edit the icon, left-click on the appropriate












         spot on the blow-up.  Both the blow-up and the original size
         copies will be updated.  When you're done editing,
         right-click.  The "save" options are:

              a) DISK - Rewrites the entire icon file, including your
              changes, to DMICONS.DAT, which is the disk file the
              program uses to store icons.
              b) Screen - Only saves your icon changes to memory, not
              to disk.  When you leave the program the changes will be
              gone.  This lets you work with an icon for a while
              before making a final decision.
              c) Neither - This cancels the edit and reverts to the
              icon as it was before the edit.

         NOTE: Because the disk save option saves ALL icons, you may
         edit several using "Screen" save, then go back into edit at
         any point (using any icon) and select "DISK" to save to disk.
         This must, of course, be done before ending the program.


         THE LEGEND MENU:


         The Legend Entries section is used to attach a legend note to
         a particular icon.  Note that this is attached to the icon,
         not a particular map location.  When the map is printed, the
         legend entry will be displayed on any page containing that
         icon.

         1) ADD/EDIT will allow original entry of an icon into the
         legend, or provide a method for changing a legend entry that
         already exists.

         2) BROWSE will display the entire legend one icon at a time.
         Entries can also be edited or deleted during this process.

         3) DELETE will remove a legend entry.

         ADD/EDIT and DELETE work in a similiar fashion.  After
         choosing the function, you'll be asked to select the icon to
         work with from the icon screen.  As usual, left-click to
         choose, right-click to confirm.


         THE PRINT MENU:


         This is the output section, including these options:


         1) PRINTER CONFIG does two things:

              a) It allows switching between Atari-mode and Epson-mode
              printing.  Atari mode is 1280 pixels per line and Epson












              mode is 960 pixels per line.  If you're not sure which
              applies to you, I suggest you create a small map as a
              sample and try them both.  The correct setting will be
              obvious.  (The author doesn't own a printer that uses
              1280 pixels/line, therefore I couldn't road test this
              feature.  If you experience any problems with such a
              printer, please let me know!)

              Note that this option works in conjunction with the
              control panel, or other printer set-up tools.
              Technically, it only operates on bit 2 of "setprt", or
              XBIOS function 33.

              b) It allows switching between screen and printer
              output.  If printer output is chosen (the default), all
              tiled and paged printing goes to the printer.

              If screen output is chosen, all printing just goes to
              the screen.  After each screen is drawn however, you
              will be given the chance to print just that screen to
              the printer.  In this way, selected screens can be
              printed or reprinted.


         2) PAGED will print the map in such a manner that the output
         will be in a succession of single-sheet pages, each
         referencing the appropriate joining page on it's four edges.
         Each page contains a legend which shows the entries visible
         on that page.


         3) TILED will print the map as a series of pieces of one
         larger map, such that the pieces can be joined side-to-side
         and end-to-end with tape to produce the final map.  The
         legend is a single product at the end of the map.  Tiled
         always prints left to right and down the map.


         4) PRINT GRAPH PAPER is really a separate little program all
         it's own.  It creates graph paper of varying sizes on the
         printer, which can be used while playing RPGs.

         Neither of the printer config. options will affect graph
         paper printing, which only outputs to the printer.  Graph
         paper printing is only confirmed to work on an Epson LX-86.
         This is the kind of feature that is most likely NOT to work
         on another printer, particularly a non-Epson compatable
         model.  If you want to help me out with details from your
         manual, maybe we can set this up for your hardware.



















                            HACKING AT THE PROGRAM


         The program comes uncompiled with all necessary information
         to change it.  (At least, that's the way I distributed it...)
         You'll need GFA Basic 3.x to edit the program file.  The
         resource definition file is also included, for those who want
         to fool with the dialog boxes.  At the beginning of the
         source code is a procedure named "general_comments" which
         contains some program documentation, including important
         variables and logical flow.


         KNOWN WEAKNESSES:


         Here's a few places where I know the program could use some
         help.  If you find more, please let me know (see "And
         Finally...", below).

              1) Load and Save are particularly slow, especially on
              large maps.  Anyone know a quick way to throw numeric
              arrays out to a file, along with other (string)
              variables, and then get them back in again later?

              2) The program could use some better error checking on
              file I/O.  It currently just recovers and gives the
              operating system error message.  In the case of disk
              space errors in particular, it should decide how big a
              file it needs and decide if space is available.  This
              would be affected by the answer to #1, thus I haven't
              fooled with it much.  Also, if anyone has a nice generic
              error trap routine that they'd like to share...

              3) There's a problem with mouse activity and my dialog
              boxes.  Currently you can click an area of the screen,
              then call up the main menu dialog (hit a key), and if
              you had clicked in the same area as one of the menu
              choices, the choice will execute!  I've worked around
              this by making sure that destructive menu choices offer
              a second chance before executing -- they should anyway
              -- but the problem is annoying.  If you've fooled with
              the program much, you've probably seen this quirk.  Does
              anyone know how to correct for this?

              4) Maps and legends should be resizable.  Currently,
              size information is saved along with the map/legend and
              is not editable.  Well, that's what version 2 is for,
              right?

              5) The "Icon Editor" is a tack-on afterthought to the
              whole program.  In summary, it works, but it ain't












              pretty.  Originally, I was just going to force the user
              to use Degas or something to edit icons.  In using the
              program, I found that (1) icons tended to be
              created/edited on the fly and (2) stopping all the time
              and loading an art program was very cumbersome.  Thus,
              Icon Save and Load are not in the File dialog where they
              probably should be.  Likewise, many features could be
              included to improve the editor -- moves, copies, etc.
              Maybe a future version will expand on this and better
              integrate it with the rest of the program.



         AND FINALLY...

         Well, that about covers it.  I encourage you to drop me a
         line on either GEnie or CompuServe and let me know if the
         program helps you, how it helps you, and/or what it could do
         better.  I'll be much more inclined to continue improving
         this thing if I know someone besides me uses it.  Enjoy!

         Jeff Casbeer  :  GEnie - J.CASBEER  :  CIS 76214,450