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Text File | 1993-01-13 | 18.5 KB | 450 lines

Page 1 WordUp Software Productions presents.... WGT Map Maker v1.5 Crippleware Release ------------------- This program is a crippleware version of the WGT Map Maker version 1.5 and is designed specifically for use with the WGT library systems. It is designed as a utility to create game worlds (using tile maps) and has several limitations: ****** Fully functional except for SAVE feature ****** You MUST register this product to save. a) You must create all bitmap images with the WGT Sprite Creator. b) All sprites in a tile file must be 16*16 pixels with no substitutions. c) Version 1.5 file selector only displays files from the drive which it was started on. d) All tile/object files are expected to use the same palette if they are to be displayed simultaneously. Keep this in mind when designing the bitmaps (don't make tiles with one palette, objects with another) ***** Software Agreement ***** The Crippleware version is intended to be passed around to as many users as possible. It may be copied freely, and uploaded to any location you wish to send it. Users should be notified that the SAVE feature does not work, to prevent the loss of a few hours work. We have been forced to produce our utilities in crippleware format after discovering that many shareware copies were being used commercially. If you believe that this product is worth $20.00, you are encouraged to register. This entitles you to full technical and theoretical support, as well as upgrades when available. Release 1.5 Notes: It was discovered that on some faster processors the PLOT mode locked because it was polling the mouse too fast. This version allows you to enter a delay time at the command line to adjust to meet your needs. If the system locks in PLOT mode, or the mouse behaves strangely, try this at the command line: C:\ WGTMAP 20 (Sets a delay of 20 in the PLOT loop) Trial and error will determine the correct speed for your system. Page 2 DOCUMENT SUMMARY ---------------- Introduction................................1 Software Agreement..........................1 Document Summary............................2 Map Theory..................................3 Starting Out................................3 Screen Layout...............................3 Keyboard Control............................4 Load Options................................4 NONE...............................4 TILES..............................4 MAP................................4 OBJECTS............................4 TYPES..............................4 Save Options................................4 MAP................................4 TYPES..............................4 File Selection..............................5 PICK Mode...................................5 PLOT Mode...................................5 Scroll Pad..................................5 MAP Mode....................................5 EDIT Mode...................................6 DRAW...............................6 LINE...............................6 BAR................................6 RECTANGLE..........................6 REGION FILL........................6 GET SECTION........................6 PUT SECTION........................6 QUIT...............................6 SIZE Menu...................................7 OBJECT Mode.................................7 OBJECT Menu.................................7 Status Window...............................7 Conclusion..................................8 Page 3 Basic Information about Maps ---------------------------- Game worlds are often difficult to store on a computer system without using large amounts of memory. The best approach to designing a complex environment for graphical characters is by using tiles. Each tile contains a 'piece' of the background screen. Frequently used images can then be described by indicating a number for a particular tile. This saves space in memory and on disk. Some important figures to remember about this system are as follows: * Each map is made up of a maximum of 320*200 tiles, a minimum of 20*10 (w*h) * Each tile is expected to be 16*16 pixels in mode 13h for the VGA card * A single tile file (created with Sprite Creator) contains up to 200 tiles * Each map uses only 1 tile file at a time * Objects are the characters and creatures you want to superimpose over the background map, and they are created with the Sprite Creator as well * Each tile may be assigned a special value to be used to indicate the TYPE of tile it is. This value is in the range 0..255 and may be interpreted by the users program in whatever manner is desired * Object files may have up to 1000 bitmaps (Sprites) Starting Out ------------ Begin your session with the Sprite Creator (version 2.0 or greater). You should set the image size (upper right hand corner of the screen) to reflect 16 pixels in width and 16 pixels tall. Create your sprites and store each one in a different location. We recommend that you store all tiles with similar properties in groups. For example, if you are creating a wall, or some ground tiles, place all of these in sequential sprite locations. You may then store all objects that your characters may pass over in another sequential group. The reason for this may not be evident, but it will become apparent when you start your program code. Save your images to a file, and exit the program. You are now ready to start with the Map Maker. You should have a batch file set up to switch to the Map Maker's directory and run the program. The program will not be able to find its data files if you are not in the correct directory. Once the Map Maker passes its opening screen, you will be presented with the following screen layout: ******************************************************************************* *SIZE EDIT PICK PLOT MAP* ******************************************************************************* * * * * * * * ...Work area * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ******************************************************************************* * ____ ____ LH: World X: [] [] [] * * [ ] [ ] LOAD RH: World X: [] [] [] * * [____] [____] SAVE OBJECTS [] [] [] * ******************************************************************************* Page 4 WGTMAP Keyboard Summary ----------------------- F1 - Displays this summary ESC - Aborts file selection process F5 - Enter PICK mode F6 - Enter PLOT mode F7 - Enter MAP mode F10 - Ends program (be sure to save first) S - Displays status menu (not in EDIT mode) O - Enters object menu (only in OBJECT mode) Cursor keys - Move highlighted cursor in file selection + and - - Advance to next/previous object in memory (OBJECT mode) N - Toggles numerical display of objects (OBJECT mode) G - Toggles 16 pixel grid lock (OBJECT mode) LOAD Options ------------ NONE - Select this if you don't want to load anything TILES - A Map Maker session always begins with this selection. This brings up a file selection screen and prompts for the user to select a tile file to load. See FILE SELECTION. MAP - Loads a previously stored map file for editing. This loads in the map data, the object location data, and the tile type data for that particular map. OBJECTS - Loads the creatures and characters you will superimpose on the map so that you may see what they will look like. Map Maker also allows you to set the initial locations of these objects as well as their display state (on/off). This prevents the programmer from trying to calculate starting positions when doing their code. TYPES - Loads a 200 byte file containing the tile types for each of the 200 tiles. Each has a value 0-255. SAVE Options ------------ NONE - This aborts the SAVE menu if you have changed your mind MAP - Saves the current map, object information, and type values into a map file. You must specify the filename for the system, as it does not assume you want to use the same name as when you loaded the data. TYPES - Creates a 200 byte file with the type values for the current tile set. Use this feature if you wish to use similar values for many different maps. FILE SELECTION Page 5 -------------- The file selection screen is a generic system for loading and saving specified files. WGTMAP will only load 132 files of any given extension into memory at one time. If your directory contains more than 132 files of a given type, they will not all be accessible. This figure should be sufficient for MAP and SPRITE file listings. The current map filename is displayed in the upper left-hand corner, the current directory and extension mask on the upper right. Options are displayed along the bottom line, along with a reminder of what you are doing. Pressing ESCAPE will abort file selection, F1 will allow you to type in a filename manually, F2 will change the file extension to be used for that particular file type (TILE, MAP, OBJECT). You may use the mouse to select a file or directory as well as the cursor keys. Pressing the left button while positioning the cursor over a file will highlight that file. Pressing the right button will select that file or directory. On the keyboard, ENTER has this effect. If you selected a subdirectory, the file manager will redisplay files within that area. PICK Mode --------- Selecting PICK will enter the tile selection screen. All loaded tiles will be displayed in the work area and the two active tile boxes (lower left- hand corner) show the current work tiles. This screen allows you to assign a tile to each mouse button (2 button mouse). Place the mouse over the desired tile and click either the left or right button. The active tile box for that button should now display that tile. After you have selected your working tiles, select PLOT. PLOT Mode --------- This option places the map into the work area. You may place a tile on the map by pressing either the left or the right button when the desired location is highlited. World co-ordinates are displayed on the bottom panel to help you in map design. These values are between 1 and 320 (x direction) and 1 and 200 for the y direction. You may scroll any direction by clicking on the SCROLL PAD. A faster method involves the MAP option. SCROLL PAD ---------- The nine boxes on the lower right-hand corner of the display allow the user to scroll around their map in the appropriate direction. The left mouse button will scroll 1 tile at a time, the right button will scroll 2 at a time, and users with a three button mouse may scroll 4 at a time with the middle button. Higher speeds may be achieved by holding combinations of buttons. MAP Mode ---------- Selecting MAP from the top menu bar will bring up a condensed version of your entire map (centered on the screen). Your cursor will become a 20*10 pixel rectangle (to select the next PLOT location). Click with either button when the cursor is over the desired location. The system will go into PLOT mode and display the new map section. Page 6 EDIT Mode ( Only available if XMS is being used ) --------- This option puts the user into a paint-style drawing mode. Left and right buttons still apply for all functions. Two screen areas are used in this mode, one being the function selection panel, the other is a condensed map. Pressing ENTER swaps the cursor between areas. An important note, this feature requires an extra 64k of memory, and may cause problems if you are short of memory. Do not use this feature unless you have about 100k or more of free memory (main). If XMS is being used, some of the extra buffers are allocated there. DRAW (Pencil) ------------- In this mode, single tiles are placed on the map while the user presses either button. Generally not a desired function due to difficult accuracy control on the user's part. LINE ---- Click and hold the mouse button to draw a line with an active tile. The line begins where the button was pressed, and ends where it was released. BAR --- Controls are similar to LINE, except result is a solid bar between co-ordinates. RECTANGLE --------- Same as bar, but hollow image. REGION FILL ----------- Fills a region bounded by any other tile than the one on which the button is clicked. Very good for filling ground and sky regions, for example. GET SECTION ----------- Controls are similar to bar, except result is the capture of that portion of the map to be used as a PASTE section. User automatically enters PUT mode after capture. PUT SECTION ----------- Once a map section has been captured with GET SECTION, you may paste copies of it anywhere on the map. QUIT ---- Exits EDIT mode. Page 7 SIZE Menu --------- This brings up a menu which allows you to set the height and width of your map. Map data is not lost when you set it to a smaller size. If you decide to increase the size later, you will see the previous data on the condensed map. Remember this if you load a map and increase its size. OBJECT Mode ----------- This option allows placement of objects in their initial positions. The screen will flash while in object placement mode. You cannot enter this mode unless an object file (sprites) has been loaded with the LOAD menu. Once the screen starts flashing, you're ready to place your sprites. Move the mouse cursor into the map area, and you should see the first object which was in the file. You start at object #1 and storage location #1. Pressing the + or - keys will cycle through the loaded objects. This mode begins with a grid lock on, locking the cursor into locations which match the 16*16 tiles. Pressing G will toggle this grid on and off, allowing placement with finer detail. To place the object, click a mouse button. The next time you click, you will place the second sprite, and so on. Pressing N will toggle the numerical display mode. If NUMBERS are on, each object is displayed with its storage location superimposed. This lets the user know which object is which when deleting. Click on OBJECTS again to exit this mode. OBJECT Menu ----------- Pressing O will enter the object menu. This displays information for each of the 1000 objects possible for storage in each map file. The storage location number you are looking at when you leave this menu will become the current slot in which to fill. Clicking on NEXT or PREVIOUS will move to a different storage location. The right mouse button will advance by 5. Find will search forward or backwards for the first empty storage location (dependent on left or right FIND button). You may enter values for the various components manually by clicking on the value you wish to change. Valid entries are as follows: On/Off - 0 or 1 World X - 0 to 5120 World Y - 0 to 3200 Image Number - 1 to 1000 Delete will reset all values for the current storage location to 0. STATUS WINDOW ------------- Pressing S will bring up a status window which shows available memory and loaded files. Any key or mouse button press will exit this display. XMS is used in version 1.5 if you have at least 192k available. The program will crash if you use all available memory, so please keep aware of the amount you have in use. Page 8 CONCLUSION ---------- We believe this is the most comprehensive, easy to use, world designer available for the IBM PC in this graphics mode. Our WGT programming library follows the same idea. If you wish to use this product, please register. If you do not have Turbo C++, and wish to know the file formats, we ask that you register the product, and send us a note asking for the information. Sample files are included for you to experiment with, although the SAVE feature is non-functional. They are to be used as follows: Traditional arcade: TILES: pacman.spr MAP: pacman.wmp OBJECTS: pac.spr Side-view scrolling: TILES: munchmap.spr MAP: munch.wmp OBJECTS: munchkin.spr Overhead-view scrolling: TILES: castle.spr MAP: castle.wmp OBJECTS: guy.spr You will probably find that we are not artists, but even these simple files can produce impressive results. Look for our programming kit for Turbo C++ and Sprite Creator with filenames matching WGT*.ZIP. The order form is included for those who wish to purchase any of our software. Write to the following Internet addresses for further questions: egerter@obelix.gaul.csd.uwo.ca (Barry - Map Maker Author) chris.egerter@homebase.com