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Editing Map Files

Giza includes a map editor. It allows you to create and alter your own maps. It will only let you edit the original map file that comes with Giza if you register.

You can also use your own graphics or text to customize Giza. See "Using your own graphics and text" below.

Menus

File:
New: Create a new map file.
Open: Open an existing map file.
Close: Close the current map file.
Save: Save the current map file.

Options:
Clear Grid: Makes all squares clear other than the outside which    
                      always remain an Indestructible wall type.
Fill Grid:     Makes all squares, other than the outside edge, the current   
                      selected wall type.
Summary:  Gives a summary of the walls and objects used on the 
                      current level.

Level:
Add: Adds a new level to the map.
Delete: Deletes the current level.
First: Saves the current level and loads the first level.
Previous: Saves the current level and loads the previous level.       
Next: Saves the current level and loads the next level.    
Last: Saves the current level and loads the last level.
Import: Imports a level from a different map to the current level of the 
               current map. Be careful it does not add a new level! It will 
               overwrite the current level. The best way to import a level is to 
               Add a new level and then Import the particular level.

Editing

The editor window has two parts. The left is the grid where you put walls and objects. The right is the palette of walls an objects you can use. To place an object or wall on the grid click on the small icon on the palette of the object or wall you want to add. This will select it making it the current wall or object. Next click on the grid where you want that wall or object to appear. It's that easy!

The palette is organized by walls and objects. The walls are on the left and the objects are on the right.

Walls

Clear: This is actually not wall. It isn't anything at all, just empty space.
Indestructible: An Indestructible wall can not be destroyed in any way. Bombs, moving blocks and crystal power have no effect on them. It is also the only kind of wall you can not move through while ethereal. It has a plain stone texture.
 
Plain: A Plain wall is exactly like it sounds. It has a plain stone texture. It can be destroyed by bombs, moving blocks.

Purple/Yellow/Red/Green/Blue: These walls have the "eye" texture on them and can be destroyed by the same color crystal power.

Moving Block: This is the moving block that can destroy most walls and objects and all players. The moving block is set off when a "trigger" wall is destroyed. A trigger wall is any wall that is in direct contact with the moving block. When the trigger wall is destroyed the moving wall begins moving in the direction of the now missing wall. It will continue moving until it hits an Indestructible wall.

Glyph: This wall is like a plain wall but has a Hieroglyphic texture.

Door A/B/C/D: The doors must be opened by activating the switch of the same color(letter).

Switch A/B/C/D: The switch opens the corresponding door.

Painted 1/2/3/4/5/6: The painted walls are the same as the plains walls except they have painted textures.

Secret Up/Right/Down/Left: The secret walls are not really walls. They are just markers that tell which walls are secret doors. Any wall can be a secret door. Just place the secret marker in the grid space next to the wall you want to be secret. The arrow of the secret marker should be pointing towards the wall that will be secret door. The secret door will move in the direction of the secret marker's arrow when the player stands in the secret marker's square and hits the action key. To make a smoothly animated secret door you should place a wall, that is the same type as the secret door, two squares away from the original secret door in the direction that the secret door will move. Wow. That's confusing. See figure 1 for a picture of this. The "3" wall is a secret door. When the user is next to it and hits the action key the door will move to the right. The second "3" wall is two squares to the right of the secret door. You could leave this second wall out but then the secret door will seem to disappear when it is finished opening. You can try it if you like.

                                                               Figure 1

Objects

Player:

 This is the marker of where the player will start the level.
Puzzle: 

A puzzle piece.
Ethereal: 

Etheral potion.
Gold: 

Gold (No kidding).
Object Map: The scroll that gives the player the ability to see all objects 

(except bad guys) on the map.
Tunnel Map: The scroll that gives the player the ability to see all walls on 

the map.
Bomb: 

The bomb is triggered the same way as the moving block 
                           (See Walls above).
Transporter: This will transport you from one place on the level to   
                            another.
Little/Big Ankh: Gives the players more health points. The Big Ankh   
                            gives more than the Little Ankh.
Medicine:     Removes the venom of the snake if the player has been    
                            bitten. It will stop their health from deteriorating.
Bat:                   Bad guy number 1. Least dangerous of the bad guys.
Spider:            Bad guy number 2. Has a bite that hurts more than the bat.        
                            He's ugly too.
Snake:             Bad guy number 3. His bite is poisonous. If the player is 
                            bitten he will eventually die if he doesn't find Medicine.
Sword:             Bad guy number 4. The sword can't move but it REALLY 
                            hurts.
Purple/Yellow/Red/Green/Blue/Magic Crystal: These are the colored  
                            crystals that give you the power to remove blocks.

Rules of Map Creation

To make your maps work you need to follow a few rules. Here they are.

•  The moving block must be triggered by a wall. It can not be triggered by 
     an object.
•  The moving block and bomb will destroy anything except puzzle pieces, 
     transporters, indestructible walls and other bombs and moving blocks.
•  To see the area the bomb will destroy hold down the "B" key. If a 
     moving block will be triggered by the bomb explosion it's path will be    
     shown too.
•  To see the possible paths of the moving blocks hold down the "M" key.
    This will show you ALL possible paths for all blocks. They obviously can  
    only take one of these depending on which wall triggers them.
•  There must be a corresponding switch for each door and vice versa. For 
     example if you used a Switch A you must also have a Door A on the   
     level.
•  You can only have one of each door and switch type. For example you 
     can not have two Door A walls on the same level.
•  You can have up to 10 secret door markers per level.
•  You must place 7 puzzle pieces on each level.
•  You must have two transporters or none. You can not have just one or 
     more than two per level.
•  You can have up to 10 bombs per level.
•  You can have up to 10 moving blocks per level.
•  You can have up to 20 bad guys per level. The number of bad guys is the 
     total of all types. For example you can have 8 Bats, 6 Spiders, 2 Snake and 
     4 Swords on a level.
•  You can have up to 50 objects per level. Objects are any item on the righ  
     side of the palette except the "Me" marker. This includes bad guys. 

Other Thoughts

•  If there is a snake on the level you should make sure there is medicine 
    on that level too. 
•  Try to make the first levels fairly easy. The later levels should become 
    more and more difficult. Don't frustrate players too much by making the 
    first level really hard.

Use your own graphics and text

You can replace the graphics walls, floor, ceiling and objects in the Giza world. You can also change the text that shows up in the Story window or the Newton screen. This will allow you to create your own Map file that has it's own story and graphics.

To see an example of how this is done you can download the Editing Tutorial Map from our web site.

To use your own graphics or text you need to edit the resouirec fork of the Map file. This can easily be done with ResEdit. Create your own Map file as described above or make a copy of the original file. Open ResEdit and select Open from the File menu. Open your Map file.  You will see a dilaog that says "The file "Map" has no resource fork. Opening it will add one. Do you wish to open it?". Click the OK button.

The graphics need to be stored in a 'PICT' resource. Create one by selecting Create New Resource from the Resource menu. Type 'PICT' into the dialog box and hit enter.

The ceiling, floor and wall tiles need to be 128 x 128 pixels. They can be created in any drawing program and copied into the 'PICT' resource. They also need to be rotated counter-clockwise by 90 degrees to be rendered correctly.
The objects need to be 64 x 64 pixels and also need to be rotated counter-clockwise by 90 degrees to be rendered correctly.

The following is a list of the resource ID the walls and objects should have. To reset a ResID select Get Resource Info from the Resource menu. Type in the ResID you want and then close the window.

ResID
Floor

150
Ceiling

151
Walls

200-208
Doors

209-212
Walls

213-218
Switch A

250-251
Switch B

252-253
Switch C

254-255
Switch D

256-257
Crystals

502-507
Puzzle

508
Tunnel Map

509
Object Map

510
Ethereal potion

511
First aid kit 

512
Transporter

513

You can name the Wall resources. If you do the name you give will show up next to that wall type in the Giza Editor program.

The graphics you see when you pick up the puzzle pieces can also be changed. There are 10 unique puzzles each consisting of 4 pieces. These graphics need to be 64 x 64 pixels but do not need to be rotated. They should be located at ResID 600 to 639.

The graphics that appear when the puzzle is completed can be replaced too. There should be one for every level of your map. They start at ResID 701 and continue sequentially from there i.e the level 4 picture should be at ResID 704.

Close the 'PICT' resource.

Giza uses a very brown palette. You should use your own palette or the system palette to make the graphics render correctly. The palette goes in a 'clut' resource (OK, nobody mail me about this, it's really a color lookup table, let's call it a palette for simplicity). To create one select Create New Resource from the Resource menu. Type 'clut' and hit OK. Select Create New Resource from the Resource menu again. Select Load Colors... from the clut menu. Select 8BitStd and click OK. This will load the system palette. If you have your own palette you can paste yours in. The ResID needs to be 1000 to be loaded correctly.

The first time you test you map with a 'clut' Giza will create a lite table with a ResID of 'LIT2'. This will take a little while to create. If you change the 'clut' resource you should delete the 'LIT2' resource so Giza can create a new one.

Close the 'clut' resource.

To replace the text in Giza you need to create a 'TEXT' resource. Create this the same as the 'clut' but type 'TEXT' instead of 'clut'. The Story should be have a ResID of 600. The end of the story should have an ID of 601.

The text that shows up on the Newton when the puzzle is completed can be altered. The text start at ResID 701 and continue sequentially from there i.e the level 4 text should be at ResID 704.

When the Map is run for the first time Giza will create a resource called 'INIT' this is to tell the program wether to show the initial story screen or not. If the 'INIT' resource does not exist Giza knows that this is the first time the map is being run. It will then show the story screen. If the Map is played the next time the 'INIT' resource exists and Giza will not show the story screen. When you are done testing your level and are ready to upload it or give it to someone else you should delete the 'INIT' resource.

Playing Your Maps

To play your maps they must be named "Map" and be in the same folder as the Giza game. That's it. Just double click on the Giza application and it will start your map. 

Upload your maps to your favorite online service, internet site or BBS! Also make sure to send it to us so we can post it to our WebSite. See the website page for more information.