Otherware/Otherware_1_SB_Development.iso/mac/hypercar/fun/mgcstck.sit/The Magic Stack Manual ASCII

Text File | 1991-09-14 | 16KB | 367 lines

The Magic Stack
Version 1.0
Copyright 1991 Jerry Stratton

The Magic Stack is designed to keep track of all of your extra spells. It
vastly simplifies the task of finding spells that aren't in the Players'
Handbook.¬*

This version of the Magic Stack is written using Hypercard 1.2.5. Future
versions will be written using Hypercard 2.x. Spells will be able to be
imported between the two versions. Hypercard 1.2.5 was chosen because
it, and the stacks it creates, are much smaller than Hypercard 2.0 and it's
stacks. Thus, this version of the Magic Stack will fit along with Hypercard
and the Home Stack on one 800k floppy. Future versions of the Magic Stack
will require dual floppies or a hard drive. It should remain possible to
import spells from future versions to this version, if you need to continue
using this version.

The Magic Stack is shareware. The cost is $5.00. If you want to use the
Magic Stack, but can't afford the $5.00, use it anyway. Send us the money
when you can afford it. Make checks payable to Jerry Stratton.

If today is earlier than February 28, 1992, send correspondence to:

Jerry Stratton
4593 Cleveland Avenue
San Diego, CA 92108
Attn: FireBlade Publications

If today is after February 28, 1992, send correspondence to:

Jerry Stratton
8100 One Mile Road
Hesperia, MI 49421
Attn: FireBlade Publications

Please feel free to use the Magic Stack to distribute free collections of
your own original spells. Be sure to include this documentation along with
the stack. I'd still like to get paid, and I don't want to have to answer
questions that are covered in this manual.

If you do have questions, suggestions, or comments, you can write me,
either at the above U.S. Mail address, or at any of the following Electronic
Mail addresses, listed in order of preference:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
CAPVIDEO (on Delphi)
76506,636 (on Compuserv)

Do not use the Magic Stack to distribute spells owned by someone other
than yourself, unless you have the explicit permission of the spell
owner(s).


Using the Magic Stack

Double-click on the Magic Stack icon to start it up. You will see the
control screen. Five spells should be listed in the lower left hand corner.
If this is somebody else's collection of spells, there will probably be a
different number of spells listed there. Double-click on any of the spell
names.

Now, you should be looking at a spell description. The spell's name is in
the upper left hand corner. If the spell is reversible, this is listed in the
upper right hand corner. The actual spell description is in the lower left
hand corner. On the left side of the screen are the spell's game statistics,
and on the right hand side are the schools and spheres the spell is a part
of, and a list of the areas of the world where this spell is used.

The lower right hand side of the screen is a control panel. You can use the
arrows to view different spells. The icon that looks sort of like a
miniature version of the control screen (it's next to the left arrow)
returns you to the control screen. Click once on that icon now.


The Control Panel on the Control Screen

You're back at the control screen. Notice that in the lower right hand
corner of this screen, there's a new icon: a down arrow. Anytime a down
arrow is visible, you can click on it to return to the last spell you were
looking at. The left and right arrows here work just like the arrows in the
spell description. The left arrow brings you to the last spell in the spell
list, and the right arrow brings you to the first spell in the spell list.

The house icon (between the left arrow and the down arrow) returns you to
your Home stack. The question mark (between the right arrow and the
down arrow) enables the built-in help function. Click on it now. It should
remain highlighted, and a message will appear in the lower left hand part
of the screen. As long as the help icon is highlighted, clicking on a button
or box will only show you the help for that object. You can click on the
help field to make the field disappear. To get out of the help mode, click
again on the help icon (the question mark). Fool around with the help for
awhile, then click on the question mark so that it's no longer highlighted.


Controlling the List of Spells

The left side of the control screen allows you to control which spells are
listed. At the top of that side, there is a button that should say All Spells.
It may say Priest Spells or Wizard Spells. Use the mouse to bring the hand
over this button, and hold the mouse button down. A menu will pop up,
listing the spell-using classes. The final option in the list will always be
All. This informs the Magic Stack that you want to see all of the spells, no
matter which classes use them. Hold the mouse button down over this pop-
up menu, select Priest, and let go of the mouse. The button should now say
Priest Spells. Move the mouse down, just to the left of the list of spells,
and click on the button that says List. The spell list should change. If this
is the original collection of my spells, the list will go blank. This is
because I have not included any Priest spells. Notice that the field just
above the spell list now says All Spheres, and the button to its left says,
simply, Spheres.


Schools and Spheres

Go back up to the top, and change Priest Spells to Wizard Spells. The field
and button that once said Spheres now says Schools. Use the mouse to
move the hand on top of All Schools. Hold the mouse button down. A list of
schools will pop up. Choose Evocation. Then click on the List button. You
should see a list of spells that is different from the list you saw before.
Probably, the only spell you'll see listed is Area Contingency. That's
because Area Contingency is currently the only wizard spell in the Magic
Stack that is also an Evocation spell.

Hold the mouse button down over Evocation and choose Alteration. You are
given the choice to Replace or Add. Choose Replace. Alteration then
replaces Evocation in that field. Now, click on List again. You see the rest
of the spells, minus Area Contingency. These are all the Alteration spells
in the Magic Stack.

You can do the same thing for Spheres, while viewing Priest spells.


Alphabetically or By Level

There are four buttons in the upper left hand side of the screen, above the
list of spells. We've already dealt with the bottom one, Schools and
Spheres. The top button will either say Alphabetically or it will say By
Level. If it doesn't say Alphabetically, click on it once so that it does. This
means that spells are listed alphabetically in the spell list, without
regard for the spell level.

Click on it again, so that it says By Level. Now, spells will be listed in
alphabetical order by level -- all first level spells first, second level
spells second, and so on. Next to the By Level button, there should be a
small box that says All. This tells the Magic Stack that you want to view
all levels of spells. Move the mouse hand over the All that is next to By
Level and hold the mouse button down. A list of numbers should pop up,
from 1 to 9. Choose 8, and then click on the List button. Only the 8th level
spells will be shown in the spell list.

Change the 8 back to All.


Used By/Created By

Directly below By Level there is a button that says either Used By or
Created By. If it says Used By, click on it once, so that it says Created By.
There's a small box next to this button that probably says All. Double click
on the word All, and type Sether. Then, click once on the List button. The
Magic Stack will list all of the spells that were created by the wizard
William Sether. If  my spells still exist in this copy of the Magic Stack,
these spells will be Wraithshape and Ghostshape.

Go look at these spells if you want to, and then return here (the control
screen). Double click on Sether, and change it back to All.

When the Created By button says Used By, the Magic Stack shows you only
those spells that are used by the culture or person you type into the Used
By text box. Look for all the spells that are used by the Underground. When
you're done, set Used By to All, and list all of the spells.


Key Word

Below the Created By/Used By button is the Key Word button. Click on it a
couple of times. All it does is show and hide the text box right next to it.
When you can see the text box next to Key Word, the Magic Stack will only
list the spells for which the text in that box exists in the spell's
description. Type creature into the key word box, and hit the return key (or
click on the List button). Only the spells that mention creature in their
description will be listed.



Adding and Deleting Spells, Schools, Spheres, and Classes

Down the right hand side of the screen are seven buttons. These allow you
to Add Spells, and Add or Delete Schools, Spheres, and Classes. Adding
something is pretty straightforward. Click on the appropriate Add button,
and type in the name of the spell, school, sphere, or class. When you want
to delete a school, sphere, or class, you need to hold the mouse button
down over the appropriate Delete button. A list of schools, spheres, or
classes will pop up under the mouse, and you can choose which you want to
delete.

Adding Classes

When you add a class, you are also given the option of linking the class to
either Schools (like wizards), or Spheres (like priests). All this means is
that when you tell the Magic Stack to restrict it's spell list to spells of
that class, the Schools/Spheres button will change to the appropriate
name.

Deleting Classes

When you delete a class, you need to tell the Magic Stack what to do about
all the potential spells that exist as part of that class. The options are
Delete and Merge. If you choose Delete, the Magic Stack will delete all
spells that were part of the deleted class (if the spell was part of more
than one class, it won't be deleted). If you choose Merge, you will be
presented with a list of the remaining classes. The Magic Stack will give
all of the spells of the deleted class to the class that you select.



The Tiny Little Button

Right next to the spell list, and below the List button, is a tiny little
button with no name.  This button gives you access to some lesser-used
functions of the Magic Stack. Click on it now, and I'll describe them for
you.

Import Spell

The Import Spell button (the one with the eye icon) allows you to import
spells from another Magic Stack. It will present you with a list of all the
spells in that stack, and you can choose the ones you wish to import.

Import Stack

The Import Stack button (the one with the stack icon) imports all of the
spells in a Magic Stack. This will be useful when you download someone
else's Magic Stack with all-new spells. You'll be able to import them into
your personal Magic Stack without losing any of your spells. This allows
you to keep all of your spells in a single stack.

Delete All

The Delete All button (the one with a blank page icon) deletes all of the
spells in the Magic Stack. It gives you the option of saving a copy of the
Magic Stack before deleting.

Copy Stack

The Copy Stack button (the left one with a disk icon) saves a copy of the
Magic Stack.

Save List

The Save List button (the right one with a disk icon) writes the current
list of spells viewable to a file. You can then open and edit this file using
a word processor. It saves the Spell Name, the classes that use the spell,
and the spell's level, all separated by tabs.

Re-Sort

The Re-Sort button (the one with the sort icon) resets the Magic Stack's
internal spell list. Hopefully, you'll never have to use this, but if the Magic
Stack's internal spell list gets corrupted for some reason, and you haven't
got a backup, this will restore the internal spell list. Be patient, though. It
takes a long time.




The Spells

Click on one of the spell names, and let's go over what you can do with
each spell.


The Name

The spell name is in the upper left hand corner. If you need to change a
spell's name, you can click on the old name. The Magic Stack will ask you
for the new name.

The Class

You can add or delete classes to the list of classes that can use the spell.
Hold the mouse button down over the list of classes, and choose the class
you wish to add or delete. If the spell is already in the list, it asks you if
you wish to delete it. If the spell isn't already in the list, it asks if you
wish to Add it or Replace it. If you choose Add, the spell is simply
appended on to the end of the list. If you choose Replace, the new spell
replaces all of the old ones.

The Level

If you need to change a spell's level, you can click on the current level. The
Magic Stack will ask you for the new level, and replace it.

Range, Components, Duration, Casting Time, Area of Effect, and
Saving Throw

All of these parts of the spell description can be edited directly.

Created By and Used By

These are the boxes that the corresponding buttons on the control screen
use to determine who created and who uses each spell. If you want to list
a different creator for each culture that uses the spell, try to put the
creator and culture on the same line in each box. Then, clicking on Created
By will align the Created By box with the Used By box. Clicking on Used By
will align the Used By box with the Created By box.

Schools and Spheres

These are the boxes that the corresponding buttons on the control screen
use to know whether or not a spell is part of a particular school or sphere.
To add a school or sphere, hold the mouse button down over the
appropriate box. A list of all the schools/spheres will pop up underneath
the mouse, and you can choose the one you wish to add. If you want to
delete a school or sphere, do the same, and select the school or sphere you
wish to delete.

The Spell Description

At the bottom left hand side of the screen is the spell's description. You
can edit the text in this box directly.

The Copyright Notice

The copyright notice is to the right of the spell description, above the
Controls and Viewer buttons, and below the Used By box. If you wish to
place a copyright notice on your spells, you can put it here. Simply click in
the area and edit it.

The Controls

Click on the Controls button, and a dialog box comes up with buttons
similar to those on the control screen. These allow you to create a new
spell, copy the current spell, delete the current spell, create a new school
or sphere, or make the current spell reversible. Reversible simply means
that the word Reversible appears in the upper right hand corner of the
spell.

The Viewer

The Viewer allows you to move to any other spell in the current spell list.
When using the Viewer to navigate the Magic Stack, you can always return
to the last spell with the down arrow in the spell's control panel, in the
lower right hand side of the screen.

The Help Button

The help button here works the same as the help button on the control
screen.




The End

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll be adding more to the Magic Stack. And,
I hope this facilitates easy distribution of new spells, at least among
Macintosh users. Every give a hand to Thor for his work on the graphics.
And $5.00, too, don't forget that -- he gets half of it.


Jerry Stratton
FireBlade Publications¬
* The Players' Handbook¬ and other AD&D¬ trademarks mentioned are owned by TSR, Inc.