Mac Action 1996 January/mac-action-07.iso/mac/For Marathon 2 Demo/M2.DOPE-1.0/DOPE Readme

Text File | 1995-10-22 | 12.3 KB | 272 lines | [TEXT/R*ch]

Durandal Object Placement Editor v1.0
By Eric Bennett ([e-mail], [e-mail]) (I love parentheses!)

I like to pronounce DOPE as "Dopey" (just so you know :).

==============================================================================
What's New in 1.0 (10/22/95)
==============================================================================

Everthing and yet nothing--the program is new but I only had to change a
couple bytes of code from the old OPE and fiddle with my string resources.

Since version 0.0d, I have:
- disabled the randomizer (before there was just a warning: don't use it!

- verified that the Sets commands work

- adding more objects that v0.0d didn't recognize

- increased the maximum number of items that DOPE recognizes to 45
    (the 45 alien limit is unchanged)

- redone the icons; if you have used DOPE v0.00d on your machine, you may
    not see the new icons unless you rebuild the desktop (probably not
    worth it)


I would like feedback on the following:

- what are the proper names for things?  The names I chose in the menus are
    my own choice.  I have not played through the demo myself so I don't know
    what names, if any, Bungie gave to certain objects or creatures.

- are there items available in the demo that I don't list?

- what do you want to see in future versions?  The interface is still
    bad; any suggestions (I have a few ideas but maybe you have better ones)?

- any bugs?  Of course there aren't any... ;)

==============================================================================
General
==============================================================================

This program tries to do for Marathon 2: Durandal what the original OPE did
for Marathon.

Have you played Marathon 2 over the network enough times that you're sick
of seeing the same aliens/items repeatedly?  This program allows you to
change:

-how many aliens/objects of each type are initially present on a level
-how many aliens/objects of each type are present during play
-whether aliens/objects are placed randomly or in specific locations
-how often aliens/items are replenished
    [this doesn't seem to work for aliens in the M2 demo; I don't know why]

DOPE includes a randomizer for quickly resetting all of the above parameters
for any given level (it still needs improvements, but it does work in its
own crude way).

Although these changes are primarily useful for modifying net play, you can
also use this program as a cheater in the regular game by adding objects
or removing aliens.

==============================================================================
License and (lack of) Warranty
==============================================================================

This program is freeware.  You don't owe me anything for DOPE.

The author (Eric Bennett) in no way warrants that the program will perform
as described in this manual (or any other document).  USE THIS SOFTWARE
AT YOUR OWN RISK!

You may NOT redistribute beta releases of OPE under any circumstances.  DOPE
betas should be available ONLY from DOPE's home pages on the World Wide Web.

You may redistribute full release versions this program provided that you
include the original, unmodified application and readme files and NOTHING
ELSE.  You may charge duplication fees for distributing this program, but
your fee may not exceed the basic cost of media duplication (you are not
allowed to make money by distributing DOPE). You may place this
program on an online service as long as downloading the file incurs only
standard connection charges).

DO NOT DISTRIBUTE DOPE TO THE FOLLOWING SITES:
sumex-aim.stanford.edu
America Online (Macintosh Games Forum)
ftp.amug.org (well, I suppose you can, but I will put it on AMUG's web
    server, so why bother?)

I will update these sites myself, so please don't send them extra copies.

The author specifically grants permission to the maintainers of the
archives at Sumex-Aim.stanford.edu to include this program on the CD-ROM
distribution of the archive.


==============================================================================
Special Considerations--READ BEFORE USING!
==============================================================================

You should NEVER have to change the amount of memory allocated to DOPE in the
Finder.  If DOPE needs more memory, it will obtain it from the system
software.  In other words, if you open a 3.5 meg map file and DOPE has only its
standard 390k of memory, your system software will expand to use an additional
3.5 megs of RAM.  "About this Macintosh..." under the Apple menu in the Finder
will reflect this increase in memory use.  As soon as you close your file in
DOPE, the memory will be released for use by other applications.

You should be able to use maps from the Marathon 2 Demo.  Maps from the full
commercial version of Marathon 2 may work, but I haven't tested it myself so
don't be surprised if it doesn't work.  Maps from the original Marathon will
load, but the descriptions of characters and items will be wrong, so you
should use the original OPE v1.3 or v1.32b since it was designed for the original
Marathon.

EDIT ONLY A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR MAP FILE.  This program is not based on solid
information from Bungie; it uses information uncovered by Tom Klancer and
myself.

==============================================================================
How to use DOPE--Basic Editing
==============================================================================

After loading DOPE, select "Open..." from the file menu and load your map (you
can also drag-and-drop a map in the Finder).  DOPE will scan the file for
valid levels.

Now select the desired level under the "Levels" menu.

You can select which character/object you wish to edit by selecting it from
the "Characters" or "Objects" menus.  In the main window, there are six
edit fields:

-Placement method
        If you place a 1 here, objects will be placed randomly on the level.
    Net levels work in this way.  Regular game levels have a zero, meaning that
    aliens are placed in specific places on the level.  Changing the default
    value on a given level from 0 to 1 should not cause problems, but I don't
    know how Marathon responds when directed to placed objects in specific
    locations when they're usually random.
        If you use a value other than 0 or 1, OPE substitutes a 1 because 1 is
    guaranteed to work.
-Initial # of object
        The object will be placed this many times on the level before game
    play begins; objects are placed depending on the value of the first field.
-Minimum #
        Marathon will do its best to keep this amount of the object in play.
    However, if you have nonrandom placement (first field) on and you ask for
    more objects than the map has placement positions, Marathon may not be
    able to replenish fast enough.
-Max #
        This represents the total number of the alien or object that can be
    present on the level at once.  For example, a value of 10 in the record
    for napalm canisters means that at most 10 canisters can be in play (held
    by players or sitting on the floor) at any one time.  Or, suppose Min# of
    missiles is 4 and Max# is 8; there will always be 4 missile packs in play,
    and there may be up to 8 (the speed of the increase from 4 to 8
    depends on the replenishment field; see below).  Note also that if Min# is
    greater than Max# then Max# is irrelevant.
        [NOTE! for aliends, the M2 demo seems to ignore this field; you will
         always have "Minimum #" aliens present]
-Extras
        The total number of objects which Marathon will add over the course of the game
    in addition to the minimum number which must always be there.  An example explains
    this better: suppose Min# fighters is 2, Max# is 4, Extras is 10.  There will
    always be at least 2 fighters; fighters will be added until up till four are present,
    but only ten times--after this only the two required fighters will be present. Or
    you can think of the Min# field as having precedence over the Extras field. 65535
    supposedly represents infinite replenishment (as if anyone would play long enough
    to exhaust 65534 items...).
-Replenishment freq.
        The higher the number, the more often Marathon will add the object in an attempt
    to reach Max#.  Values are from 0-65535.

If you want none of an object, set both min# and max# to zero.

If you enter a value less than 0 or greater than 255 for Initial# or Max# or Min#, OPE
will substitute ZERO.

To clear all characters or objects from the level, choose "Remove all aliens"
or "Remove all objects" from the special menu. "Clear All Records" does both.

==============================================================================
How to use DOPE--Level Randomizer
==============================================================================

Currently disabled.  It would probably make you crash since I haven't
rewritten it for Marathon 2 yet (I need to change a few constants but haven't
done so yet; the randomizer is really pretty bad anyway so I doubt anybody
used it in the original OPE anyway).

==============================================================================
How to use DOPE--Sets
==============================================================================

    If you have several map configurations that you like to use, it's probably
annoying to keep multiple large map files around just to preserve these
configurations.  DOPE can extract the object placement information from
a map file and save it in a much smaller file, called a "set file."  This
file records the placement information for EVERY LEVEL in the current map
file, not just the level you're currently editing.

    Once you have a map file open in DOPE, choose "New set..." from the
Special menu.  DOPE will ask you where to save the set.  The set file that
results contains all of the information that OPE is capable of changing--the
contents of the six edit fields in the main window for ALL entries in the
Characters and Objects menus for ALL levels in the current map file.  When
you want to put this object placement configuration back into your map file,
simply load the map file, choose "Load set..." from the Special menu, and
choose the desired set.

    DOPE does not currently support drag-and-drop opening of set files.

==============================================================================
A KNOWN BUG IN OPE THAT'S IN DOPE TOO
==============================================================================

    If you create or edit map files with some of the full-fledged map editors,
OPE will report garbage for the names of the levels you have edited.  This is
a consequence of the way OPE reads level names.  I will fix this sometime.  (I
was expecting the name to be in the same place relative to the object
placement information, an assumption which is invalid.)

    DOPE uses the same method, but I don't know that I can fix it in DOPE
until I receive or uncover more info about the format of the Marathon 2 Map
file.  Of course, since you aren't likely to run into a custom-made M2 map
for awhile, this shouldn't be a problem... yet...


==============================================================================
Version History
==============================================================================

10/22/95     v1.00   Several people have downloaded v0.00d and nobody
                    found anything wrong, so here goes...

10/16/95     v0.00d  first version I compiled as DOPE.  Should be stable since
                    it's really just OPE with modified constants.

==============================================================================
HOW TO REPORT BUGS
==============================================================================

If you find a bug, please figure out how to reproduce it, then send me a bug
report at any of the following email addresses:

[e-mail]                (guaranteed to reach me any time of year)
[e-mail]         (the Penn State Mainframe :-0 )
[e-mail]             (last resort; I don't check this regularly)

==============================================================================
Special Thanks
==============================================================================

Thanks go to:

-Tom Klancer     : provided information on the map file format that I used in
                    both OPE and DOPE.
-Bungie Software : created Marathon and Marathon 2 :).
-Zedcor, Inc.    : published my S'pht, FutureBasic 1.0.3.

Less specifically, thanks to everyone on the 'net who sent me suggestions for
new features and icons etc.

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