GENERIC MAP EDITOR (AGA) V1.15 ------------------------------ The editor has 3 separate sections :- a) Graphics This section allow the user to load in dpaint images to be used as pages to create the map from (max currently of 4 pages at a time). Page sizes are dependant on the mode of the editor (lo or hi-res). Lo-res mode used 320x256 pages, whereas hi-res mode uses 640x256. Various operations can be performed on blocks such as rotations combinations etc etc. Operations can be performed between different pages, i.e a block can be moved from page 4 to page 1. The pages can also be saved back again (note - in uncompressed format). b) Edit Map Where the user can create maps from the pages loaded. The editor allows 2 maps to be loaded to allow copying of chunks from one to the other, lots of other operations are also available such as copy, paste, and fills. 8 buffers are available for copying much used data. c) Edit Data This was primarily for ABII, each map has a similarily sized byte map which contains alien numbers - these are then created and added to the game as the screen scrolls. This data is currently automatically saved with the map data. d) Map SetUp This allows the user to define the size of the map, the number of planes the map is to use and the size of the map data (byte or word). ** The user can re-size maps without destroying the data. The map editor supports project files, anything that has been loaded in the graphics section, map secion etc will be re-loaded, so basically load in all the stuff you want and then at the main menu screen click on SAVE PROJ -once saved, LOAD PROJ will load it back in as saved. NOTE - quit the map editor to ensure all data is saved away properly. The most important part of the map editor is its features, many of them are not obvious and are not documented. These are as follows: When in modes 'a'-'c', the 'f' key flips between full/screen and button mode + '1','2' and '3' keys move straight into the 3 modes. When in map edit mode : Left mouse button - place current block Right mouse button - delete using currently selected delete block Click on gridded blocks to choose current block - cursor keys move selected block. Map can be scrolled using joystick or by clicking on arrow buttons (joystick is better as you can edit with the mouse as the same time). Note - the joystick fire button toggles between workbench and the map editor - this was a nasty frig however!!!!! Note - a few of the following can also be selected by clicking on buttons and not all of the buttons have a keyboard equivalent. 'j' - Flip between maps - 2 maps can be loaded at once (different sizes is ok) - User can then cut and paste between them 'F1'-'F8' - Select current buffer - 'PICK BUFF' button allow user to save buffers and to name each one ',' - Scroll block pages down '.' - Scroll block pages up 'p' - Make currently selected block delete block ' '(space)- Selects block under cursor (on map) as current block to draw with '-' - Decrease mouse sensativity '=' - Increase mouse sensativity SHIFT+'c' - Select copy block mode SHIFT+'p' - Select paste block mode SHIFT+'x' - Select cut block mode - Note when pasting if user holds left mouse down an outline of the block will be displayed and can be moved around before releasing and dropping the block down SHIFT+'f' - Select FILL mode - fills with currently selected block 'g' - Toggle block grid mode on/off 'u' - Undo last edit, note if an edit is unchangeable (such as inserting a column) then the undo button will dissapear 'z'/'a' - Move current block page up/down line 's' - Show whole map - displays a small version of map - use can move to a location on the zoomed-out map by first clicking on the scaled map and then moving a representation of the screen around. Clicking the mouse will then move to the location currently highlighted. PROJECT FILES: The following details are saved in project files: All graphic pages in use Current map + position Spare map + position All map buffers Current mouse sensativity Current Delete Block (picked by 'p') Block Data file (for ABII) BUGS: There may possibly be bugs in this version as it has never been extensively tested. However the only major addition in this version is the project files option, so any debugging should be targeted at that code.