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1991-02-10
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MONOLITH
--------
"My God, It's full of stars!"
This was the last transmission from Dave Bowman in '2001: A Space Odyssey'.
Please run monlth.mod & try COM radio before reading further!
----------
File: MONLTH.DOC Date: Feb. 10, 1991
By: Andrew Tuline Ph: 604-521-3540
327 Devoy St.
New Westminster, BC CIS: 70465,1223
CANADA V3L 4E8
Introduction
------------
Microsoft/BAO have added code and structures in FS4/A&SD that have not yet
been put to full use. I have recently investigated the ability to add
height and rotation to objects in the A&SD universe. I'm sure there are
numerous other abilities of which I'm not yet aware. For instance, the
Shareware program 'SEE' allows the designer to import custom made objects,
such as a lighthouse, buoys, boats, etc. You can even place buildings on some
of the above objects. This document tells you to modify your existing objects
in A&SD for height and rotation.
Monlth.mod & Monlth.sc1
-----------------------
The plane in MONLTH.MOD is flying away from the monolith. We are looking out
the rear of the plane, facing the monolith. As you turn around, you are faced
with the lines, a polygon and a building, all raised from the ground.
These files have been created to demonstrate adding height and rotation to
objects. The black monolith from 2001 has been raised and rotated on two axes.
As well, lines and polygons have been also been raised. Unfortunately I don't
know if those lines and polygons can be rotated in a similar fashion. It could
be done in one form or another if the A&SD designer knew the structure of .SC1
files. I, for one would like to be able to create my own objects. Power lines
running across the city are a real hazard to low flying planes. A raised
transport system with cars on top. Multi-shaped buildings, unfinished
buildings, cranes, etc. Some of these effects can now be done with the
information included here.
How was this done
-----------------
You too can spend an afternoon flipping bytes in .SC1 files. Create a simple
.SC1 file, insert a single object and start hacking away. This method is
not advisable once you start adding multiple objects. This is where SEE comes
in handy. You can perform the following steps:
- Add an object to a .SC1 file
- Find out the object type and number you wish to modify
- Export object to a .ELE file
- Modify the .ELE file with debug
- Delete the object from the original file with SEE
- Import the modified .ELE file into your .SC1 file
Warning: Once you have performed these 'unsupported' modifications, do not
edit the file with A&SD. You will lose the mods. I have even ended
up with a corrupted .SC1 file. Be careful!!!
Modifying .ELE files
--------------------
Using SEE is the simplest method to modify your objects. This requires the
latest version (2 or better) of SEE, obtainable from Compuserve as follows:
'go gamers', 'dl 12', 'cat/key:laemming/des'.
British Columbians can get it from Mindlink (604-576-1214), a pay for use BBS
with 16+ lines. It's located in the MSDOS.FLIGHT section.
Lines
-----
I don't know how to vertically rotate a line. Lord knows I've tried.
Offset 10h, modifies the low byte of height.
Offset 11h, modifies the high byte of height.
Polygons.
---------
Same rotation problems, although I didn't really try hard this time.
Offset 10h modifies low byte of height.
Offset 10h modifies high byte of height.
Buildings
---------
These are much more flexible objects. If you add height to a tree, however, it
turns into a line when you fly below its height. I have only tested this with
a rectangular building.
Offset 18h modifies low byte of height
Offset 19h modifies high byte of height
Offset 21h modify one angle of rotation
Offset 23h modifies another rotation angle
Sample modification
-------------------
1) Create a new .SC1 file with A&SD and add a building.
2) This building is object type 9, element 1. Create a SEE '.ELE' file by
exporting the building in the following SEE '.DAT' file. You must also
delete the building from the .SC1 file. The object's location is contained
within the .ELE file.
---- Sample .DAT file to export an element ----
indir, c:\fs4\see
input, test.sc1
outdir, c:\fs4\see
output, test1.sc1
libdir, c:\fs4\see
report
export, build.ele, 9, 1
delete, 9, 1
save
end
------------ end of export file --------------
3) Now go into debug and perform the following:
c:\fs4>debug build.ele
-e 118
20
-w
-q (You have now added height to the building)
4) Now import the building into a .SC1 file with another SEE '.DAT' file.
---- Sample .DAT file to import an element ----
indir, c:\fs4\see
input, test1.sc1
outdir, c:\fs4\see
output, test2.sc1
libdir, c:\fs4\see
report
import, build.ele, 9
save
end
------------ end of import file --------------
5) VOILA!!! The file test2.sc1 now has the modified building. Test1.sc1 has
the elements to be changed, removed. Test.sc1 is the original, unmodified
file.
Hints
-----
The above offsets were tested on simple objects. For now, it is up to the
reader to find offsets for other objects. Hopefully, SEE or another program
will be published/updated to do this for us. (I don't program much these days,
so you're on your own for now). In a .ELE file, somewhere around the offset 10h
are four 0's in a row. The low byte of height is the second 0.
Conclusions
-----------
This information greatly expands the designs that we can now produce with A&SD.
Once we can vertically rotate angles and lines, and create objects out of them,
ie. object oriented, I will be MUCH happier. Microsoft probably didn't include
these ability in the first release of A&SD because of some of the anomalies that
may show up when you do this. Anyone who can modify their files as discussed
above can surely deal with these problems.
Happy designing!!!
[The End]