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tm PPPPP CCCCC BBBBB LL OOOO XX XX PP PP CC BB BB LL OO OO XX XX PPPPP CC ***** BBBBB LL OO OO XXX PP CC BB BB LL OO OO XXX PP CC BB BB LL OO OO XX XX PP CCCCC BBBBB LLLLLL OOOO XX XX EASY 3-D SOLID MODELING SOFTWARE VERSION 1.0 RELEASED SEPTEMBER 1, 1993 COPYRIGHT (C) 1993 by Vic Slade Software PO Box 3918 Wilson NC 27895-3918 (919) 291-8716 CompuServe ID# 70262,1371 PC-BLOX User's Guide i WARRANTY, LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISTIBUTION POLICY The name PC-BLOX (tm) is a trademark of Vic Slade Software. The PC-BLOX program, documentation and screen images are copyright (C) 1993 by Vic Slade Software. - WARRANTY PC-BLOX is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. VIC SLADE SOFTWARE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES. IN NO EVENT SHALL VIC SLADE SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT OR FROM ANY INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT. Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina and shall inure to the benefit of Vic Slade Software and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Wilson County, North Carolina. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. - LICENSE PC-BLOX is the property of Vic Slade Software. You are granted a limited license to use this software for evaluation purposes. If you wish to continue using PC-BLOX after evaluation, you must purchase a registered copy. Unlike most other shareware authors, I do not stipulate any set length of time as an evaluation period. You may take as long as you need to evaluate PC-BLOX. You are free to copy and distribute the UNREGISTERED version of PC-BLOX (in its original form, including documentation). Recipients of copies you make are granted a limited license to use PC-BLOX on a trial and evaluation basis. If the recipient wishes to use PC-BLOX on a continuous basis, they should purchase a registered copy. You may not copy and distribute a REGISTERED copy of PC-BLOX, or any supplemental materials provided with the registered copy. Registered users may make archival copies of the registered product for their own use. PC-BLOX User's Guide Index Part 1 - Introduction.............................. 1 What is PC-BLOX?.................................. 1 Hardware Requirements............................. 2 How to Install PC-BLOX............................ 2 The PC-BLOX Files................................. 2 How to Start PC-BLOX.............................. 3 Using Command Line Options........................ 3 How to Use this User's Guide...................... 4 Quick Start Instructions.......................... 4 Part 2 - The PC-BLOX Screen........................ 6 Figure 1. PC-BLOX Screen Features................. 6 The Building Space................................ 7 The 3D-cursor..................................... 7 The Cursor Coordinates............................ 7 The Cursor Guides................................. 8 The Cursor Block.................................. 9 The Bottom Surface................................ 9 The Current Block................................. 9 The Model......................................... 9 Shadows........................................... 9 The Range Dimensions.............................. 9 Part 3 - How To Use PC-BLOX........................ 10 How To... Get Help................................... 10 Move the 3D-cursor......................... 10 Add Blocks................................. 10 Remove a Block............................. 10 Add Other Kinds of Blocks.................. 11 Change the Colors of a Block............... 11 Turn a Block............................... 11 Clear the Screen........................... 12 Rebuild Your Model......................... 12 Exit PC-BLOX............................... 12 Use the Menus.............................. 12 Ghosted Menu Options.............................. 12 Safety Nets....................................... 12 How to Use a Mouse with PC-BLOX................... 13 Using the... Blocks Menu................................ 14 Color Menu................................. 15 Rotation Menu.............................. 15 Print Menu................................. 15 Files Menu................................. 16 PC-BLOX User's Guide Index Part 4 - The Range Functions....................... 17 What is a Range?.................................. 17 How To Mark a Range............................... 17 Range Menu Options................................ 18 Using the Last Marked Range....................... 21 Making Multiple Copies............................ 21 Making Symmetrical Objects........................ 21 Part 5 - The Building Blocks....................... 22 Types of Blocks................................... 22 Tips For Building Better Models................... 23 Part 6 - Registering PC-BLOX....................... 24 Benefits of Registration.......................... 24 How To Register................................... 24 Special Note About Your Registration Info......... 25 The PC-BLOX Design Contest........................ 25 Appendix PC-BLOX Quick Summary............................. A1 Tables and Figures TABLE 1. Mouse Functions.......................... 13 FIGURE 1. PC-BLOX Screen Features................ 6 FIGURE 2. Dimensions of the Building Space........ 7 FIGURE 3. The Cursor Coordinates.................. 8 FIGURE 4. The Cursor Guides and the Cursor Block.. 8 FIGURE 5. Moving the 3D-cursor.................... 10 FIGURE 6. The Blocks Menu......................... 14 FIGURE 7. Effect of Range Dimensions on ROTATE RANGE......................... 19 FIGURE 8. Effects of Range Dimensions on EXTRUDE RANGE........................ 20 PC-BLOX User's Guide 1 Part 1 - Introduction WHAT IS PC-BLOX? PC-BLOX is a new concept in 3-D CAD (Computer Assisted Design) programs. PC-BLOX lets you build three dimensional models out of solid building blocks. Build cars, trucks, animals, castles, spaceships or anything else you can imagine, the possibilities are unlimited! PC-BLOX is a virtual reality program that simulates building with solid blocks. PC-BLOX is easier to learn and use than any other 3-D CAD program because it uses skills you already have: building with blocks. Your creations develop in PC-BLOX as you intuitively add and remove shapes in space. Other 3-D CAD programs can be very difficult to use. First you must use the program to build a "wire frame" version of your model. Then the program must "render" your wire frame model into a solid model by removing hidden lines and covering the frame with "patches". PC-BLOX offers an alternative to the wire frame and surface patch metaphor. PC-BLOX is an entertaining and educational product that stimulates creativity, coordination and spatial thinking skills. It is appropriate for users age 8 to adult. Everybody finds PC-BLOX easy building fun! PC-BLOX is distributed through shareware, a try-before-you-buy method of software marketing. If you enjoy PC-BLOX you'll want to buy a registered copy. As a registered user you will get: * The very latest version of PC-BLOX. * Your own Personalized copy of PC-BLOX that proudly displays your name on the opening screen and the Main Menu. * The FULLY ILLUSTRATED PC-BLOX Registered User's Guide. * The PC-BLOX Model Gallery - A disk full of great models including the latest PC-BLOX Design Contest winners. * Unlimited telephone support. * Access to the (soon to be available) PC-BLOX BBS. * Low cost Upgrades to future versions of PC-BLOX. All this for just $27 plus $3 shipping and handling. PC-BLOX User's Guide 2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS PC-BLOX requires an IBM PC/XT/AT or close compatible running MS DOS 2.0 or higher, 512K of memory and a color graphics display adapter (CGA, EGA or VGA) and any monitor. Optional - PC-BLOX will use a Microsoft compatible mouse (most are) and a printer that supports the IBM-Epson standard (most do). HOW TO INSTALL PC-BLOX You can install PC-BLOX directly to your hard disk. 1. Start your computer and get to the C> prompt. 2. Place the PC-BLOX diskette in the A: drive. 3. Log onto the A: drive. 4. Type INSTALL and press Enter. 5. Follow the instructions in the INSTALL program. The INSTALL program will create a new directory on the hard disk called C:\PC-BLOX and will copy all of the PC-BLOX files to this new directory. If you prefer to install PC-BLOX to a diskette instead, or if you prefer to install to a different directory, you may do so by copying all the files with the standard DOS copy commands. THE PC-BLOX FILES The following files come on the PC-BLOX shareware evaluation disk. PC-BLOX.EXE The PC-BLOX program. PC-BLOX.DT1 Graphics data file. PC-BLOX.DT2 Graphics data file. PC-BLOX.HLP Help Screen data file. CONTEST.DOC Contest Entry Blank. PC-BLOX.DOC This User's Guide. *.BLX Sample model files. INSTALL.BAT Installation program. ASK.COM A utility used by the Installation program. DEMO.BAT A batch file that demonstrates PC-BLOX. VENDOR.DOC Distribution information. FILE_ID.DIZ A description file for BBS's. README.DOC Introductory material. PC-BLOX User's Guide 3 HOW TO START PC-BLOX If you used the INSTALL program as described above, then this is how to start PC-BLOX: 1. Start your computer and get to the C> prompt. 2. Type CD \PC-BLOX and press Enter. 3. Type PC-BLOX and press Enter. If you DID NOT use the INSTALL program, but instead did your own custom installation, then you need to know that the actual program file is PC-BLOX.EXE . A title page and a shareware registration screen will appear while the program loads. USING COMMAND LINE OPTIONS You can set some features of PC-BLOX by using command line options at start-up. The command line options include a way to configure the mouse, select a printer type, and load a model file. Tpye command line options after typing PC-BLOX and before pressing Enter. Case is not important. You can separate the options with spaces but it is not necessary. M=number: Controls mouse sensitivity. The default is 10. If the mouse moves the cursor too fast for you, increase this number. For a more "lively" mouse, reduce this number. If you experience a problem with the mouse and you want to completely disable it, set this to zero. P=printer: Selects printer type, either IBM, Epson or None (no printer). The default is IBM. You can also select this from the Print menu. F=filename.BLX: Tells PC-BLOX to load a model file on start-up. The file must be present in the same directory as PC-BLOX (paths are not allowed). The .BLX extension must be present. Some Examples: PC-BLOX M=30 F=FOO.BLX start up with mouse sensitivity set to 30 and load FOO.BLX. PC-BLOX P=EPSON start up with printer set to Epson. PC-BLOX M=0 P=NONE F=FOO.BLX start up with mouse disabled, no printer, and load FOO.BLX. PC-BLOX User's Guide 4 To save these start up options you can create a batch file that includes them. You can make a batch file with any text editor program or you can do it this way: At the DOS prompt type: COPY CON MYBLOX.BAT and press Enter. The cursor will simple drop down a line. Then type: PC-BLOX M=30 P=NONE or whatever options you want. Then press the F6 key followed by the Enter key. When you press F6 you will see a ^Z appear, and when you press Enter you should see a message saying "1 File(s) copied." Now any time you type MYBLOX (Enter) at the DOS prompt, PC-BLOX will start up with your options. HOW TO USE THIS USER'S GUIDE It's not necessary to read this entire manual before using PC-BLOX. Work through the Quick Start Instructions in the next section. This will teach you what you need to know to get started building models. Next, skim through "Part 2 - The PC-BLOX Screen". You will probably have already figured out most of this from working through the Quick Start. When you have specific questions about how to proceed, refer to "Part 3 - How To Use PC-BLOX". This is written in a "how to", results oriented format. When you become comfortable with the basic commands, learn the powerful Range commands in "Part 4 - The Range Functions". Appendix page A1 is a "Quick Guide" to the commands. You may want to keep this beside you as you learn. QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS To give PC-BLOX a test drive before reading through this User's Guide, here are some things to try. First, press F3 to erase the screen and remove all the blocks from the building area. |/ Notice the cursor that looks like this: --*-- /| PC-BLOX User's Guide 5 This is the "3D-cursor". Try moving the cursor around. You can move the cursor left, right, up and down with the arrow keys. You can move it IN and OUT with the Page-Up and Page-Down keys. Press Enter. A block appears where the cursor is. Move the cursor around and add some more blocks. Try building some columns and arches out of blocks. See what happens when you put blocks behind, above, below or beside other blocks. You're building a "model". Press F6 and select Rotate Left. See how the entire model turns by a quarter turn. If you do this 3 more times all the blocks will be back where they started. So far you have been using only the solid cube block. It's time to add some other shapes to your model. - Press F2 to get the Blocks Menu. - Move the cursor to the right until it rests on the wedge block. The wedge is the third block from the right on the top row of blocks. - Press Enter. Notice how the bottom row of blocks now shows all wedges in different positions. - Move the cursor to one of the wedges in the bottom row and press Enter. You have just selected a new type of block to build with. Notice the box in the lower right corner of the screen. The block in it has changed from a cube to the wedge. This is the "Current Block" and it always shows what kind of block you are building with. Add some wedges to your model. Pick some different blocks from the Blocks Menu (F2) and add them to your model. Remove some blocks from your model. Place the cursor on the block and press the DEL key or Shift F3 (hold down the shift key and press F3). After removing a few blocks, press F4 to see PC-BLOX rebuild your model. Go to the Files Menu (F9) and load some of the example models included with PC-BLOX. These will give you some good ideas for your own models. That's it for our quick tour of PC-BLOX. The rest of the User's Guide explains things in more detail. PC-BLOX User's Guide 6 PART 2 - THE PC-BLOX SCREEN PC-BLOX has many unique features to help you to see, think and work in 3 dimensions. Please refer to Figure 1 below as you read the descriptions of the screen features. If you are at your computer, start PC-BLOX now. FIGURE 1. PC-BLOX Screen Features +-------+-----+-----+------------------------------------+ |CURSOR | *** | *** | | |GUIDES | *** | *** | BUILDING SPACE | |------>|-----+--+--+ | CURRENT | | | *** |<>| | BLOCK | | | *** |--+ <-> <-> <-> <-> v | | |CURSOR +-----+ ^ <-> <-> <-> <->-> THE MODEL | | |BLOCK | <-> <-> <-> <->-> <----------- | | | ------------+ /// <-> <-> <-> <->->// /// /// /// | | |BOTTOM /// /<-> <-> <-> <->/// /// /// /// v | |SURFACE-----> /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// +---+| | /// /// >>> >>> >>> >>> /// /// /// |<=>|| | _|_ /// /// >>> >>> >>> >>> /// /// ///+--+---|| |------> /| /// /// /// /// ^// /// /// /// /// |X:n nn|| |3D- /// /// /// /// /|/ /// /// /// /// |Y:n nn|| |CURSOR >>> /// /// /// //| /// /// /// /// |Z:n nn|| | | | ^ ^ | | +-----SHADOWS ---+ CURSOR | | | | COORDINATES -----+ | | | RANGE DIMENSIONS ----+ | +--------------------------------------------------------+ PC-BLOX User's Guide 7 THE BUILDING SPACE The building space fills the center of the screen. It occupies a volume 18 units wide, 18 units deep and 11 units high. The total volume of the building space (18 times 18 times 11) equals 3564 unit cubes. Each unit cube can hold one building block. The 3 dimensions of the building space are called X, Y and Z, where: X goes left-right, Y goes up-down, and Z goes forward-back (toward or away from the viewer). FIGURE 2. Dimensions of the Building Space +----------------+ / /| Y / / | | Z / / | | / +-------------^--+ | | / | | | | |/ | | | | X <-----+-----> X | 11 | / / /| | | | / / / | | | |/ 18 / | +-------------v--+ / Z | / Y <------18--------> THE 3D-CURSOR The 3D-cursor is the star-shaped object that starts in the lower left front corner of the building space. You can move the 3D-cursor around the building space with the arrow keys and the page-up and page-down keys. You use the 3D-cursor to point to where you want to add blocks to your model. THE CURSOR COORDINATES The cursor coordinates show the position of the 3D-cursor as numbers. The lower left front corner location of the Building space has the coordinates X=0 Y=0 Z=0. This location is called the "home" position. The X coordinate increases toward the right, Y increases toward the top and Z increases toward the rear. The corner opposite to the home position has the coordinates X=17 Y=10 Z=17. The cursor coordinates help you to position the 3D-cursor. PC-BLOX User's Guide 8 FIGURE 3. The Cursor Coordinates +----------+ <----- X=17 / /| Y=10 / / | Z=17 +----------+ | | Building | | X=0 | | / Y=0 | Space |/ Z=0 -----> +----------+ THE CURSOR GUIDES The cursor guides are the 3 small framed "windows" in the upper left corner of the screen. Each window is a small picture of the building space. The corner window shows the building space straight-on from the front. The right window shows the building space straight-on from the right hand side. The lower window shows the building space straight down from the top. The purpose of the cursor guides is to help you see exactly where the 3D-cursor is. As you move the 3D-cursor around the building space you will also see it move inside the cursor guides. FIGURE 4. The Cursor Guides and the Cursor Block +----+----+ | | | +-------->| | |<-+ | +----+--+-+ | The Cursor | | |<>| <----------- Block | | |--+ | |Front +--^-+ |Right |View | |Side | Top | View |View | | | | | | | +-----|----+ | | / v /| | | / / | | | +----------+ <-----+ | | Building | | +--------> | / | Space |/ +----------+ PC-BLOX User's Guide 9 THE CURSOR BLOCK The cursor block shows what type of block the 3D-cursor is on. If the 3D-cursor is on an empty space, the cursor block shows a shadow. As you move the 3D-cursor through different types of blocks the cursor block is updated. Just like the cursor guides explained above, the cursor block is there to help you position the 3D-cursor. THE BOTTOM SURFACE The bottom surface is the flat "checker board" on the bottom of the building space. This provides a flat table to build your models on. THE CURRENT BLOCK The current block is the type of block you "have in your hand" and are adding to your model. When PC-BLOX first starts up, the current block is the solid cube block. When you want to add a different type of block to your model, you must change the current block. There are two ways to pick a new current block: You can press F2 and use the Blocks Menu, or you can use a block you already have in your model. The section "How to Add Other Kinds of Blocks" explains how to do this. THE MODEL The model is PC-BLOX's name for the object you are building. More than just a flat picture, the model is an image of a 3 dimensional figure that you can turn, move and operate on in many ways. SHADOWS Shadows appear on the bottom surface. A block casts a shadow straight down as if the light source was directly above the building space. The 3D-cursor also casts a shadow. Shadows improve the sense of depth in the picture and make the model look more realistic. Shadows also help you position the 3D-cursor. THE RANGE DIMENSIONS The range dimensions are displayed when you are marking a range with the Mark Range command (F7). Certain range functions only work on the proper size range. PC-BLOX User's Guide 10 PART 3 - HOW TO USE PC-BLOX HOW TO GET HELP Call up context-sensitive help at any time in PC-BLOX by pressing F1. There are 26 help pages labeled A-Z. Page A is the index. Inside of Help, press letter keys A-Z to go directly to a page or use Page Up and Page Down to scroll through the pages. Press Escape to return to PC-BLOX. If you have problems that you cannot resolve with the on-line help and this User's Guide, I will be happy to assist you over the telephone. My technical support line is (919) 291-8716. If you have not yet registered, I can provide limited help to get you up and running, however, in-depth phone support is reserved for registered users. HOW TO MOVE THE 3D-CURSOR The 3D-cursor is your "hand" in PC-BLOX. You can move it anywhere in the building space with the arrow keys and the Page Up and Page Down keys. You can also move the 3D-cursor with the mouse - See the section, "How to Use the Mouse". Up Arrow | Page Up FIGURE 5. | / Moving the Left |/ Right 3D-cursor Arrow <----+----> Arrow /| Page Down / | | Down Arrow HOW TO ADD BLOCKS To add a block to your model, just move the 3D-cursor to where you want the block and press Enter. You have an endless supply of blocks. If you place a block in a spot that already has one, the old block disappears. HOW TO REMOVE A BLOCK Place the 3D-cursor on the block you want to remove and press the Delete or DEL key, or press SHIFT F3 (hold down the SHIFT key and press F3). Sometimes removing a block will cause a "hole" in the image that lets the background color show through. You can fix this with the "Rebuild Model" command, F4. To remove ALL the blocks from the building space, press F3. PC-BLOX User's Guide 11 If you want to remove all the blocks from ONE PART of the building space, you can mark that part as a RANGE and delete the blocks in it. Read about ranges in Part 4 - The Range Functions. HOW TO ADD OTHER KINDS OF BLOCKS To add a different shape block to your model, you must change the current block. Remember, the current block is the kind of block you "have in your hand" and are adding to the model. There are two ways to pick a new current block. Most of the time you will use the Blocks Menu (F2) to select a new current block. The Blocks Menu has many different features and options - See the section "Using the Blocks Menu" for more information. If the type of block you want is already in the model, you can tell PC-BLOX to make it the new current block. Place the 3D-cursor on the block and press SHIFT F2 (hold down the Shift key and press F2). Remember, this is a shortcut for selecting a new current block. If the block you want is not already in the model, you must use the Blocks Menu (F2). HOW TO CHANGE THE COLORS OF A BLOCK You can re-arrange the colors of any block in the building space. Place the 3D-cursor on the block and press SHIFT F5 (hold down the Shift key and press F5). You may need to do this several times to get the color combination you want. You can also re-arrange the colors of the current block by pressing ALT F5 (hold down the ALT key and press F5). To change the screen colors, use the Color Menu, F5. The Color Menu is described in the section, "Using the Color Menu". HOW TO TURN A BLOCK Place the 3D-cursor on the block and press SHIFT F6 (hold down the Shift key and press F6). You may need to do this several times to get the block pointed the way you want. Sometimes turning a block will cause a "hole" in the image that lets the background color show through. You can fix this with the "Rebuild Model" command, F4. You can turn the current block, too. Press ALT F6 to do this. (Hold down the ALT key and press F6). If you want to turn the entire model, use the Rotation Menu, F6. See the section "Using the Rotation Menu". PC-BLOX User's Guide 12 HOW TO CLEAR THE SCREEN Press F3 to completely erase your model and start over with the building space empty. HOW TO REBUILD YOUR MODEL Press F4 to rebuild your model. PC-BLOX will rebuild the entire model block by block, right before your very eyes!. It's good to do this ocasionally as you build your models. Certain operations, such as removing or turning a block, may cause "holes" in the picture or distort the perspective. Rebuild Model will repair these problems. HOW TO EXIT PC-BLOX Press F10 to exit PC-BLOX. Be sure to save your work before quitting. See the section "Using the Files Menu" for more information about saving your work. HOW TO USE THE MENUS Menus and commands can be called up by their Function Keys or can be selected from the Main Menu. The Main Menu is called up by the Escape key. Press Escape to exit any menu. Notice how the Escape key "toggles" the Main Menu on and off. Once inside a menu, use the arrow keys to highlight the desired menu option and press Enter. "GHOSTED" MENU OPTIONS Sometimes a menu option will have a garbled or "ghosted out" appearance. This means the menu option is not available (at that moment) and cannot be selected. SAFETY NETS You must confirm certain choices with Y or y for "Yes"; or with N or n for "No, cancel". This happens in three circumstances: a) When you Quit to DOS (F10) b) When you Erase Model (F3) c) When you overwrite a file in the File Menu (F9) PC-BLOX User's Guide 13 HOW TO USE A MOUSE WITH PC-BLOX If you wish to use a mouse with PC-BLOX, then the mouse driver program must be started before the PC-BLOX program is ran. Consult your mouse user's guide for instructions on loading the mouse driver. You can use a mouse to move the 3D-cursor, select menu options, and do just about anything else in PC-BLOX. PC-BLOX can use either a two button or a three button mouse. The mouse can substitute for for the most important keys. To adjust the sensitivity of the mouse see the section "Using Command Line Options." TABLE 1. Mouse Functions KEYBOARD MOUSE ------------------------------------------------------- Arrow Keys: Simply move the mouse left, Left, Right, right, forward, back. Up, Down ------------------------------------------------------- Page Up, HOLD DOWN the RIGHT button and Page Down move the mouse forward, back. ------------------------------------------------------- Enter or CLICK the LEFT button. Return ------------------------------------------------------- Two button mouse: HOLD DOWN Escape or the RIGHT button and CLICK ESC the LEFT button. Three button mouse: CLICK the MIDDLE button. -------------------------------------------------------- PC-BLOX User's Guide 14 USING THE BLOCKS MENU PC-BLOX has dozens of different type blocks. Use the Blocks Menu to pick the kind of block you want to work with. Press F2 to get the Blocks Menu. This is what the menu looks like: FIGURE 6. The Blocks Menu +-- the cursor | | +-- the top row of blocks | | +------------|-----------|----------------------------+ | +-+ | | |menu O |O| O O O O O O O O more| | +-+ | | < > O O O O O O O O O O | | | | | +--|-----------------|--------------------------------+ | | | +-- the bottom row of blocks | +-- the Color Swapping symbol The top row of blocks shows all the different CLASSES of blocks available. There are forty (40) classes. Only ten classes can be shown at one time. Use the cursor to select the word MORE and you will see ten more classes. The classes that contain only a single cube block are placeholders that will be filled up with new types of blocks in future versions of PC-BLOX. Once you pick a class from the top row, the bottom row will show all of the blocks in that class. Usually, the bottom row displays all the different positions a block can be placed in. For example, if you select the Wedge shape from the top row, the bottom row will show the twelve (12) ways the wedge can be positioned. The Color Swapping symbol lets you re-arrange the colors of the blocks on the bottom row. You may need to select this more than once to get the color combination you want. The Blocks Menu cursor has a 3-D cube shape so you can see how each block fits in the unit cubes of the building space. When you pick a block from the bottom row it becomes the new curent block. If you decide you don't really want to change the current block, just press Escape to exit the Blocks Menu. You can also select the word MENU to jump to the Main Menu. PC-BLOX User's Guide 15 USING THE COLOR MENU You can change the screen colors with the Color Menu, F5. If your system has only CGA graphics, you can select between two foreground palettes and sixteen background colors. If your system has EGA or VGA graphics, you can assign any of the sixteen colors to the background and the three foreground colors. USING THE ROTATION MENU You can see the real 3D power of PC-BLOX with the features on the Rotation Menu, F6. You can turn the building space left, right or completely around; or flip it into a mirror image or even upside-down. To see how the Rotation Menu works, load one of the sample models and try it out. USING THE PRINT MENU You can print your models on most dot-matrix printers with the Print Menu, F8. Three of the options on the Print Menu are "toggles" you can change with the Enter key. After setting these options to your preferences, select *BEGIN PRINTING*. PRINTER = option: Set this to IBM if your printer is (or is set up to work like) the IBM Graphics Printer, Proprinter or Proprinter II. Set this to Epson if your printer is (or is set up to work like) an Epson LX, FX or EX. If you are not sure about which printer option to use, just try one, then the other. Set this to NONE to see the final product without printing, or to capture with a screen capture utility for some other graphics program, or to print the picture with the DOS GRAPHICS.COM program. Note: you still must select *BEGIN PRINTING* to remove the menu. Once you know which printer type to use, you can tell PC-BLOX to start up with that printer selected. See the section "Using Command Line Options." BOTTOM = option: Set this to ABSENT if you want the bottom surface and shadows to disappear. Set it to PRESENT to keep them in the picture. ORIENT = option: Set this to LANDSCAPE for a full page printout, PORTRAIT for a half page printout. COLOR = option: Set this to NORMAL for black and gray printing on a white background. Set this to INVERTED for white and gray printing on a black background. PC-BLOX User's Guide 16 USING THE FILES MENU You can save your creations and load them back in at any time with the Files Menu, F9. SAVE MODEL will prompt you to enter a file name. Enter a name up to 8 characters long. (Normal editing commands like backspace and delete will work when you are entering file and directory names.) The default file name is the name of the last model loaded. If the file name already exists on the disk, PC-BLOX will ask you if you really want to replace it. PC-BLOX appends the extension ".BLX" to your file name. LOAD MODEL gives you a pick screen of file names. Use the arrow keys or mouse to highlight your choice and then press Enter. You can also tell PC-BLOX to load a file upon start up by giving the file name as a command line option. See the section "Using Command Line Options". CHANGE PATH lets you change the drive and directory model files are saved to and loaded from. Put in any legal path name. PC-BLOX defaults to the path it was started from. PC-BLOX User's Guide 17 PART 4 - THE RANGE FUNCTIONS The Range features extend the 3D power of PC-BLOX even further. With the Range functions you can manipulate multi- block "pieces" of your models. WHAT IS A RANGE? A range is box-shaped (rectangular solid) part of the building space. A range can have any size from a single unit cube (1 x 1 x 1) to the entire building space (18 x 11 x 18). Usually a range is between these two size extremes. You select a range by "marking" it with the Range Cursor. HOW TO MARK A RANGE 1. Select Mark a Range from the Main Menu, or press F7. The 3D-Cursor will be replaced with the Range Cursor. The Range Cursor looks like a transparent cube. 2. Next you must tell PC-BLOX where the range starts. Move the Range Cursor to a corner - any corner - of the range you want to mark. (Move the Range Cursor with the same commands you use to move the 3D-cursor.) 3. When the Range Cursor is on the corner, press Enter. This "sets" one corner of the range. 4. Now as you use the movement commands, the Range Cursor will grow and shrink, actually getting bigger and smaller but always keeping one corner on the spot you picked in step 3. You can even see the Range Cursor changing size inside of the cursor guides. You can also see the Range Dimensions in the bottom right corner of the screen. 5. When the Range Cursor exactly covers the range you want, press Enter. Now you have finished marking the range, and the Range Menu appears. NOTE: Press ESC to "back your way out" one step at a time in the above instructions. PC-BLOX User's Guide 18 RANGE MENU OPTIONS COPY RANGE lets you put a copy of the range somewhere else in the building space. Move the range with the regular movement commands. Press Enter to place a copy in the new position. You can cancel this command with ESC. MOVE RANGE works just like COPY RANGE but also removes the blocks in the original range. ERASE RANGE simply removes all blocks from the marked range. BLOCK FILL fills the marked range with the current block. Make sure you select the type of block you want to fill with BEFORE marking the range. ROTATE RANGE "turns" the whole range in place. Whether or not you can turn the range in a certain direction depends on the size of the marked range. The range can only be rotated if 2 or 3 of its dimensions are the same size. See Figure 7 for a picture explanation of this concept. FLIP RANGE flips the range into a mirror image of itself. The range can be reflected from left to right, from top to bottom or from front to back. EXTRUDE RANGE lets you "pull" a flat surface out in a third dimension. A range is "flat" if it is only one block thick. In other words, the X, Y or Z dimension must equal one. Extrude is good for building large pieces out of one-block thick cross sections. Extrude works by taking the one-block thick "slice" you have marked and stacking copies of it together to make a larger object. See Figure 8 for a picture explanation of EXTRUDE RANGE. After you select the direction to extrude in, use the movement commands to "grow" and "shrink" the range cursor. Press Enter to extrude the original range into the new range. You can press ESC at any time to cancel EXTRUDE RANGE. PC-BLOX User's Guide 19 FIGURE 7. Effect of Range Dimensions on ROTATE RANGE | | X=Z ___|_____ \ Z / | /| To rotate LEFT or RIGHT \ / / | the X and Z dimensions ----\ /___X____/ / must be the same. ----/ | | / / Y|_______|/ / | | | / X=Y / _________ Z / /| / /___X____/ | / To rotate CLOCKWISE or | | | /---- COUNTER-CLOCKWISE the | | | \---- X and Y dimensions must | / Y | \ be the same. | / | / \ |_/______|/ ____ / /| Z / | / / | Y=Z / / | /___/ | \ | | | To rotate FORWARD or \ | | | BACKWARD the Y and Z ----\ -----| | ----------- dimensions must be ----/ | | | equal. / | Y / / | | / | | / | | / |__|/ | X=Y=Z ___|_______ X / | /| Z | / | / / | /_____X____/ | / --| | ----- / If the range is a perfect | | | /---- cube, i.e. all three | | / \---- dimensions are equal, | / Y / \ then it can be rotated in | / | / \ any direction. |__/_______|/ / | | PC-BLOX User's Guide 20 FIGURE 8. Effects of Range Dimensions on EXTRUDE RANGE In these diagrams a,b,c and d represent individual blocks in the starting range that become extruded into the final range. __ _________________ / /| / /| Z / | / / | If the X dimension /_/ | /________________/ | of a range = 1 then <---|a| -----> |aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa| | the range can be |b| / |bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb| / extruded LEFT or Y|c| / |cccccccccccccccc| / RIGHT. |d|/ |dddddddddddddddd|/ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ X=1 _________ / /| / / | ^ /________/ | | |a b c d| | If the Y dimension __|______ |a b c d| | of a range = 1 then / | /| |a b c d| | the range can be Z / | |a b c d| | extruded UP or DOWN. /________/ / |a b c d| | |a b c d| / |a b c d| | Y=1 |_______|/ |a b c d| | X | |a b c d| | | |a b c d| / v |a b c d| / |_______|/ ___ /| _________ / | /a b c d /| / /a b c d / | _________ /a b c d / | If the Z dimension Z=1 /a b c d /| /a b c d / | of a range = 1 then |~~~~~~~~|| /a b c d / | the range can be | || /a b c d / / extruded FORWARD or Y| / | /a b c d / / BACKWARD. | / || /a b c d / / |_/______|/ |~~~~~~~~| / / | | / | / X | | / |/ | | / ~~~ |________|/ PC-BLOX User's Guide 21 USING THE LAST MARKED RANGE Sometimes you will want to use the same range twice. There are two good reasons to do this: 1. To make more than one copy of the range; and 2. To make symmetrical objects. To use the last range, press SHIFT F7 (hold down the shift key and press F7) or select USE LAST RANGE from the Main Menu. MAKING MULTIPLE COPIES To make 2 or more copies of an object, follow this procedure: 1. Make the first copy by using RANGE and COPY in the usual way. 2. Now select USE LAST RANGE from the Main Menu or with Shift F7. The Range Cursor will become positioned around the new copy and the Range Menu will pop up. 3. Select COPY RANGE from the Range Menu. Now use the movement commands to move the range to where you want another copy and press Enter. 4. If even more copies are desired, keep using USE LAST RANGE and COPY. MAKING SYMMETRICAL OBJECTS Many real-world objects you may wish to model with PC-BLOX have left-right symmetry. For example, the left half of an automobile resembles a mirror image of the right half. You may find this procedure helpful when making symmetrical objects: 1. Build one side of the object, up to the mid-line. Leave enough room for the other half. 2. Use COPY to put a duplicate right next to and touching the original half. 3. Re-mark the new piece with USE LAST RANGE (SHIFT F7) . Use FLIP RANGE to flip the new piece into the right shape. PC-BLOX User's Guide 22 PART 5 - THE BUILDING BLOCKS The building blocks in PC-BLOX come in about 300 different sizes, shapes, and positions. There are three categories of blocks: BASIC, ARCHITECTURAL and ALPHA blocks. The three kinds can be mixed freely in any model, but there are important difference between them. BASIC blocks are the simple geometric shapes; the cubes, half cubes, spheres, hemispheres, wedges etc. The basic blocks are general purpose and can be used to represent anything you like. The basic blocks can be correctly rotated in any direction. ARCHITECTURAL blocks are those special pieces like roofs, flags, bricks etc. Architectural pieces are meant to represent specific real life objects. PC-BLOX can only render these objects in their usual, everyday positions. Because of this, there are certain limitations on the way these pieces can be acted on in the Range Menu and the Rotation Menu. These pieces can only be correctly rotated LEFT, RIGHT and 180 Degrees. They can be flipped FRONT to BACK and LEFT to RIGHT but they cannot be correctly flipped TOP to BOTTOM. If these pieces are rotated or flipped improperly, they will move into the correct position in the building space but will still be pointed in their original direction. ALPHA blocks are solid-cube blocks "stamped" with a letter, number or some other symbol. You can make signs and messages with alpha blocks. To make alpha blocks, select the solid cube block as the current block and press character keys instead of Enter. Every type-able character on the keyboard can be produced this way. Press Control A-Z to get special characters like hearts, stars etc. Look at the Alpha Blocks Help screen to see these special characters; unfortunately they cannot be reproduced in this text-only User's Guide. Notice that when you use an alpha block the 3D-Cursor MOVES TO THE RIGHT just like an ordinary text cursor in a word processor. PC-BLOX User's Guide 23 TIPS FOR BUILDING BETTER MODELS Although it's lots of fun to build PC-BLOX models right from your imagination, you may also enjoy working from a picture or from a real object. Try catalogs, magazines, model cars and other toys. A certain manufacturer of plastic blocks publishes "idea" books for its products. These are very good for examples, and so are the instruction sheets that come with plastic blocks. When you start a model, don't worry about getting the details just right. Instead, think about the overall proportions of the object first. Make a rough model out of boxes of solid cubes. Use the Range BLOCK FILL function to make these boxes. Once you have the model "boxed out" this way, go back and add the curves, angles and other details you want. Use the Range functions to duplicate similar pieces. If you were building, say, a dinosaur, once you have the built the right leg, use Copy and Flip to make the left leg, etc. Send your best models in to the PC-BLOX Design Contest! PC-BLOX User's Guide 24 PART 6 - REGISTERING PC-BLOX PC-BLOX is distributed through shareware, a try-before-you-buy way of marketing software. I hope you've enjoyed PC-BLOX enough to want your own registered copy. As a registered user you will get: * The very latest version of PC-BLOX. * Your own Personalized copy of PC-BLOX that proudly displays your name on the opening screen and the Main Menu. * The FULLY ILLUSTRATED PC-BLOX Registered User's Guide. * The PC-BLOX Model Gallery - A disk full of great models including the latest PC-BLOX Design Contest winners. * Unlimited telephone support. * Access to the (soon to be available) PC-BLOX BBS. * Low cost upgrades to future versions of PC-BLOX. All this for just $27 plus $3 shipping and handling. HOW TO REGISTER PC-BLOX gives you a chance to print out an order form before exiting to DOS. Send the form and registration payment to: Vic Slade Software PO box 3918 Wilson, North Carolina 27895-3918 Cash, check or money order in US funds only, please. I will RUSH your copy back to you by first-class mail. North Carolina residents please include 6% sales tax ($1.80). PC-BLOX User's Guide 25 SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT YOUR REGISTRATION INFO Your personalized copy is "engraved" (so to speak) with the information you provide on the order form. You can have two lines each up to 21 characters long. These are displayed on the opening screen and on the Main Menu like this: THIS COPY REGISTERED TO: Your first line here Your second line here You may choose to have just your name and city & state, or you might want something more creative, such as: THIS COPY REGISTERED TO: THIS COPY REGISTERED TO: BILLY AND JIMMY SMITH MRS. ROBINSON'S FOR CHRISTMAS 1993 THIRD GRADE CLASS THE PC-BLOX DESIGN CONTEST Enter your best models in the PC-BLOX Design Contest! The rules are easy: All entries received before January 1, 1994 will go into the first contest. All entries received after this will be entered into an on-going contest judged every quarter in April, July, October and January. A prize will be given for the best model in each of these categories: * Best Building * Best Castle * Best Vehicle * Best Sci-Fi * Best Animal * Best Scale Model * Most Original * Youngest Designer Your PRIZE is a beautiful COLOR POSTER of YOUR MODEL! Enter as often as you like with as many designs as you want. You DO NOT have to be a registered user to enter. How to enter: Copy the .BLX files onto a blank, formatted 360K 5 1/4" or 720K 3 1/2" double density diskette. Print out the CONTEST.DOC file by entering TYPE CONTEST.DOC >PRN at the DOS prompt. Put the diskette and the filled out entry blank in an envelope and mail them to: Vic Slade Software Attn: Design Contest PO Box 3918 Wilson, NC 27895-3918 All entries become the property of Vic Slade Software. PC-BLOX User's Guide A1 PC-BLOX QUICK SUMMARY +------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | ESC or Escape - Main Menu / Cancel | | | | F1 - Help F6 - Rotation Menu | | | | F2 - Blocks Menu SF6- Rotate 3D-Cursor Block | | | | SF2- Use 3D-Cursor Block AF6- Rotate Current Block | | | | F3 - Erase Screen F7 - Mark a Range | | | | SF3- DELete 3D-cursor Block SF7- Use Last Range | | | | F4 - Rebuild Model F8 - Print Menu | | | | F5 - Color Menu F9 - Files Menu | | | | SF5- Recolor 3D-cursor Block F10- Exit PC-BLOX | | | | AF5- Recolor Current Block S=SHIFT A=ALT | +----------------------------+-------------------------------+ | | | | Commands that change | Commands that change | | the 3D-cursor Block | the Current Block | | | | | Enter - Add Block | SF2 - Use 3D-cursor Block | | | | | SF3 or DEL -Delete | F2 - Access Blocks Menu | | | | | SF5 - Recolor Block | AF5 - Recolor Current Block | | | | | SF6 - Rotate Block | AF6 - Rotate Current Block | +----------------------------+-------------------------------+ | | | | Moving the 3D-cursor | Using the Mouse | | | | | Up Pg Up | Up, Down, Left, Right - | | | / | just move mouse. | | | / | | | |/ | Pg Up, Pg Down - Hold | | Left ----+---- Right | down right button, move | | /| | mouse up, down. | | / | | | | Pg / | | Enter - Click left button. | | Down Down | | | | ESC (2 button mouse) Hold | +----------------------------+ down right and click left. | | | | | PC-BLOX | ESC (3 button mouse) | | (c) 1993 | Click middle. | | Vic Slade | | +----------------------------+-------------------------------+