No Fragments Archive 10: Diskmags/nf_archive_10.iso/MAGS/POWERMAG/POWER16.MSA/POWER_16/MAPEDIT.PWR

Text File | 1985-11-20 | 7KB | 129 lines

               MISSING LINK MAP EDITOR.......(EDDY PROGRAM)

                          ARTICLE BY DEANO


   The  EDDY program is used to set up the scrolling maps that  commands
   like WORLD and LANSCAPE uses.  It works similar to the MAP  accessory
   that comes with STOS only we have a larger area.

   So what does this map look like then?   Well load one of the  example
   files on the missing link disk and have a look. Try LANDSCAPE.BAS and
   run  it.  As you can see, pushing the joystick the screen scrolls  up
   and down.  This screen is made up of a set of blocks called landscape
   blocks which were made from sprites using the MAKE program.

   Lets use EDDY to create our own simple map. Load EDDY and run it. You
   will  be presented with the editor screen,  this is where our  blocks
   are  to be placed to build up a scrolling map as in the landscape.bas
   file.  Press  SPACE  to go to the editor.  From here we  see  various
   options which we'll look at soon.  But first things first. We need to
   create  some blocks to make the zone.  So exit from EDDY and load  up
   the MAKE program, ie: load "make.bas". Run it and enter the STOS disk
   and select the load sprites option.  Load the file MAP.MBK, this is a
   sprite bank containing sprites that could be used to make a game like
   gaunlet.  Following  intructions from either the MAKE document or  my
   article on the subject which is in one of the STOSSERS.  Convert  the
   sprites to world blocks making four images of each sprite.  Once  its
   done, save the file as world blocks under the name of WBLOCK.MBK.

   Reload  EDDY,  run it and go to the editor.  Click on the load  world
   blocks  option and load the newly converted file  (WBLOCK.MBK).  Once
   this  is  done the blocks will line up along the top of  the  screen.
   Click on one to select it, then press SPACE to continue.

   Note  it  is a good idea to insert a blank space in the  sprite  bank
   before converting it.  You can now click on this with the right mouse
   button  to  assign it to that button.  So now if you put a  block  on
   screen  then you can erase it by placing the mouse pointer over  that
   block and pressing the right mouse button.

   Once  you've clicked on a block to use and pressed SPACE you will  be
   in the editor window. Place the mouse pointer somewhere and press the
   left mouse key.  The block appears at that postion.  Click on it with
   the right mouse button if you've assigned a blank block to it and the
   block will vanish. Useful if you make a mistake.

   Note  that pressing UNDO will exit the program and pressing * on  the
   number keypad will give you online help. I think this option works on
   the compiled version only though.

   Making  a scrolling map is like making a map with the  map  designer.
   Just  click  on the left mouse button to place the  block  and  right
   mouse button to erase it.  Note  that the first block in  your sprite
   bank must be a blank space as EDDY uses this block  to  erase  blocks
    from  screen,  otherwise the map area is  filled  with  these blocks.
   At  the  bottom  of  the screen are the  co-ordinates  of  the  mouse
   pointer.  Try moving the pointer about and you'll notice that they go
   further  than normal screen co-ordinates..X 319 Y 199 So as  you  can
   see.....the map area is larger than the actual screen.

   When  making a landscape map then make sure the blocks at the end  of
   the screen start at X co-ordinate 304, if you go beyond this then the
   blocks  on  the  right hand side will be cut  off  in  the  landscape
   routine.  Note  that  due  to a bug in this program  you  can't  load
   landscape blocks into EDDY so in order to create a landscape map  you
   must first make your sprites into world blocks,  make the  map,  make
   the sprites into landscape blocks and use them in your routine.

   Note you can actually build up a series of blocks on screen then make
   a copy of them to paste elsewhere. Lets say you made a small maze and
   you wanted to place that elsewhere on the map then postion the  mouse
   at  the top left hand corner of the maze and press F1.  Then  postion
   the mouse at the bottom right hand corner of the maze and press F2.

   You  have  just captured this maze.  Note it works like the  cut  and
   paste feature on art packages.  If you press F3 then that block  will
   be erased from memory.  If you wish to paste the maze block somewhere
   else on the map then postion the mouse pointer where you want it  and
   press F4. Note that when you cut the block a stream of colour covered
   it telling you how much of the area was captured.

   This  captured  block is known as an area,  and it can be  saved  for
   future use by pressing F9 to save it to disk.  It can be loaded  back
   later by pressing F10.  Pressing F5 will fill the screen with  copies
   of that area.

   Pressing  BACKSPACE will fill the whole map with copies of the  first
   block, useful for clearing the screen if the block is a blank space.

   Once  you  have defined your map then you can see it  by  moving  the
   mouse around.  Once you are happy then press space to go back to  the
   main menu and you can save it.  There are two save options,  one will
   save the map as world data and the other as landscape data.

   Note that you now have two files.

   WBLOCKS.MBK...........the converted sprites we did before.

   WDATA.MBK..............the data you saved as world data.

   You can now put this map into a routine.

   10 key off : hide :curs off : mode 0
   20 load "WBLOCKS.MBK",5 : load "WDATA.MBK",6
   30 a=palt(start(5))
   40 X=0 : Y=0
   50 repeat
   60 if jleft then X=X-4
   70 if jright then X=X+4
   80 if jup then Y=Y-4
   90 if jdown then Y=Y+4
   100 world logic,start(5),start(6),X,Y,0
   110 until X>1200 or X<16

   Note  there  is  a resize option which allows  you  to  place  bigger
   sprites on screen but you're best off keeping them 16x16 as they  fit
   perfectly on screen.

   Well thats it for this article. The best way to learn more about EDDY
   is to play around with it.  Before I go I'll just say that the  above
   scrolls a world map.  Try converting your sprites to landscape blocks
   and  loading  them  into  the routine instead  of  the  world blocks.
   Remember that these maps only scroll up and down.

   This is Deano going........going.......gone.