1,000 Games (Collectors Edition)

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SODEDIT 1.1 - Spear of Destiny (SOD) Map Editor ----------- - ----- -- ------- ----- --- ------ ******************* * QUICK START * ******************* !!! important warning !!! important warning !!! important warning !!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- BE SURE YOU HAVE BACKUP COPIES OF YOUR MAP FILES PRIOR TO USING SODEDIT -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- !!! important warning !!! important warning !!! important warning !!! Read the file EDITTIPS.DOC that is included with SODEDIT. This is a collection of hints and tips that were compiled by Warren Buss after many hours of constructing and editing maps. It is an excellent source of information for both the new and experienced user, and can eliminate a great deal of frustration if read prior to experimentation with SODEDIT. To use SODEDIT, place all SODEDIT associated files (see the MANIFEST file) in your SPEAR OF DESTINY subdirectory. Type SODEDIT to start the editor. A swap directory is required for temporary use during execution of SODEDIT. You will be prompted for a drive letter upon which a temporary subdirectory will be created. See the note below for swap size requirements, optimization suggestions, and potential clean-up problems. ---------------------------------- SPEAR OF DESTINY MAP FILES ---------------------------------- Important note: Be sure you have back-ups of the following files prior to using SODEDIT. Spear of Destiny uses two files to store the gamemaps. These files are named MAPHEAD.SOD and GAMEMAPS.SOD. SODEDIT reads and modifies these two files, so be sure you have a back-up filed away somewhere prior to running SODEDIT. -------------------------- SODEDIT SWAP SPACE -------------------------- SODEDIT requires temporary disk space to be available as a "swap directory" during execution. You will be prompted for a drive letter to use for this swap space. A subdirectory named SODSWAP.DIR will automatically be created on this drive. Assuming the program terminates normally, this directory will be deleted automatically. If, for some reason, SODEDIT aborts, you will have to manually remove all of the temporary files that are created in this directory and then remove the directory from the drive. The amount of swap space required is dependent on the complexity of the maps, and will vary as you make edits. A good rule of thumb is to have at least twice as much space available as the size of the original GAMEMAPS.SOD file. (This will usually be about 600k to 700k bytes.) When SODEDIT is first started, all of the levels are read from the GAMEMAPS file into the swap disk. In addition, as you scroll through the levels using the up and down arrow keys, levels are swapped to and from disk. Due to this inherent I/O time, it is recommended that you use a RAM disk for swap space. This will eliminate disk access except for the initial reading of the GAMEMAPS file and writing the edited version upon exiting SODEDIT. ------------------------ SODEDIT HOT-KEYS ------------------------ F1 - display full-screen help 1 - display only level 1 guards 2 - display only treasure and one-ups 3 - display only level 3 guards 4 - display only level 4 guards 5 - display only super guards 6 - display only ammo, guns, food, first aid, and one-ups # - display only level 1 and level 3 guards $ - display only level 1, level 3, and level 4 guards % - display only guards (all levels) A - display All objects C - Clear level (grey brick around the outside inside filled with selected map value) E - Exchange clipboard map with screen map F - toggle display of Floorcodes on/off M - Memorize present map (into clipboard) N - change the Name of the current level O - toggle display of Objects on/off Q - Quit (you will be prompted to save) R - Read a floor file from disk into clipboard S - toggle between Statistics and help summary display T - Transfer clipboard map to screen W - Write screen map to a floor file Z - 'Zap' all floorcodes within room under cursor to the floorcode currently assigned to the left mouse button <Space>- toggles legend mode between map and object items <Pgup> - scrolls legend display up <Pgdn> - scrolls legend display down <Up Arrow> - go to next level <Down Arrow> - go to previous level <Left Arrow> - display left mouse button selection <Right Arrow> - display right mouse button selection ------------------------------------------- GENERAL DISCUSSION OF MAP DATATYPES ------------------------------------------- In Spear of Destiny there are two different types of data that can be assigned to a given square. One is known as "map" data, and the other is "object" data. Examples of "map" data are: various wall types, doors, and "floor codes". "Object" data is all of the other scenery (treasure, food, ammo, tables, etc.) Guards are also considered to be object data. SODEDIT requires map and object "definition" files to specify the symbol and provide a short bit of text to remind you of what each specific item is. These definition files are described below. At any time, SODEDIT is in either "Map Mode" or "Object Mode" depending on which Legend is currently being displayed on the right of the screen. You toggle the mode by either pressing the space bar or clicking the appropriate box below the Legend window. The left and right mouse buttons can each be assigned a "map" code and an "object" code. Thus, you can have 4 different codes (2 map and 2 object) at your fingertips. You switch between them by toggling the Legend. You can assign values to the mouse buttons in 2 ways: (1) by selecting the desired item in the Legend window, or (2) by "memorizing" an item by holding either shift key and clicking the desired mouse button while pointing to the desired item in the Map window. Note that the datatype (map or object) that is memorized depends on the current Legend mode. The map or object datatype that is currently assigned to a mouse button is displayed in the lower left corner of the SODEDIT window. To switch between display of left and right values, use the left and right arrow keys. To switch between datatypes, toggle the legend mode by either pressing the spacebar or clicking on the appropriate box in the legend window. The mouse button annotation consists of two characters to indicate what is currently being displayed (left/right and map/object) followed by the symbol and the descriptive text. ------------------ MAP WINDOW ------------------ Whenever the mouse is in the map window, the map and object data for the selected square will be displayed beneath the window. Clicking either mouse button will change either the map or object data in the map to the item currently assigned to that button. The datatype that is assigned (either map or object) depends on the current Legend mode. Holding down the SHIFT key and selecting a map/object value using the left/right mouse button will memorize that value for that button. (See General Discussion above) Holding down the CONTROL key while pressing either mouse button and pointing to an object (with the legend in object mode) modifies the display to only show objects of that type. This functionality is similar to use of the '1' through '6' and associated shift keys shown above. Holding down the CONTROL key while pressing either mouse button and pointing to any wall code (with the legend in map mode) modifies the display to only show locations with that wall code. Holding down the CONTROL key while pressing either mouse button and pointing to any floor code (with the legend in map mode) modifies the display to only show locations with that floor code (as well as all walls, but no objects). Note that when displaying only specific items (either through the CTRL+Click combination or use of the '1' through '6' and associated shift keys) the map and legend borders change to red and map changes are prohibited until all objects and map codes are re-displayed by using the 'A' command (or scrolling to another level). Holding down the CONTROL and ALT keys while pressing either mouse button will change all map or object types of the kind pointed at to the type that has been assigned to that mouse button. The types that are changed depend on the current mode (map or object). (This can be a dangerous operation. Use with caution.) To use the "Rubberband" feature, click and drag the mouse to form a rectangle. This allows you to rapidly draw boxes of any map data type (walls and floorcodes). --------------------- LEGEND WINDOW --------------------- The window on the right side of the screen displays the map/object legend. Clicking on UP/DOWN or pressing the page up/down keys scrolls through the list. Clicking on MAP/OBJ or pressing the spacebar switches between the map and object lists. Clicking on an item in the list with either mouse button makes it the "current" item for that button. After each guard in the object list, there is a 3 character description which indicates what difficulty level the guard appears on, whether they are moving or stationary, and what direction they are facing/walking. For example, "1/S/E" means a level 1 guard, stationary, facing east. ------------------------------------------------- MEMORIZE, TRANSFER AND EXCHANGE FUNCTIONS ------------------------------------------------- With these operations you can move maps from one floor to another. All of these operations involve the floor that is currently displayed. If you want to copy a floor, move to the floor you want to copy and press the 'M' key. The Memorize line in the help display will turn yellow indicating that you have stored a floor in the clipboard. This will now stay yellow for the rest of the session because there will always be something stored. You can now Transfer (Paste) the clipboard floor wherever you want. Move to the floor where you want the stored floor to be and either press 'T' to Transfer the stored floor from the clipboard to the current floor or press 'E' to exchange the clipboard floor with the current floor. If the Memorize line in the Help display is not yellow (nothing stored) these functions won't work. They will flash red in this case. Transfer causes the clipboard floor to be copied on top of the displayed floor, thus losing it. If you don't wish to lose the current floor, then either use the Exchange function or save the floor by writing it to disk before using Transfer. -------------------------------- READ AND WRITE FUNCTIONS -------------------------------- Use the 'W' command to write (or export) a floor file to disk. You will be prompted for a filename. Enter up to eight characters plus an optional 1 to 3 character extension. To read (or import) a floor file from disk, use the 'R' command. Again, you will be prompted for the filename. The file will be read into the clipboard. In order to place it into the actual map file, use either the 'E' or 'T' command. A major advantage of exporting/importing by file is that you now can share your floors with others without having to give them your gamemap/maphead files. All you have to do is give them the file saved using the write command. They can then import the file and use either the 'E' or 'T' command to place it into their map file. Note that this is basically the only use for the floor files. They are in a binary format and may not be printed or viewed without SODEDIT. ------------------- CLEAR LEVEL ------------------- Pressing the 'C' key will Clear the current floor placing grey brick on the outside edge and filling the inside with the left mouse button map value. Prior to pressing the 'C' command, be sure to select the desired "fill" value with the left mouse button. ------------------- ZAP COMMAND ------------------- To instantly set all floorcodes within a selected room to a given code, first set the left mouse button to the desired code. Then make sure that the floorcodes are displayed (F toggle). Position the cursor over the room to be altered, and press the Z key. All floorcodes except those previously set to 6A (deaf guard code) within the room (bounded by walls and doors) will be set to the selected code. (To set ALL floorcodes in a room to the selected value - including deaf guards - press ALT+Z.) -------------------- NAME COMMAND -------------------- To modify the level name (shown in the lower left corner of the edit window), use the N command. The name may be up to 16 characters, and may consist of any numeric or alphabetic characters as well as spaces, '.', '_', and '-'. Note that this name will not be preserved in a floor file written with the W command, but will be saved in the GAMEMAPS.SOD file. ------------ HELP ------------ The major hot-keys are listed in the help display below the legend window. (Press the 'S' key to toggle between the help summary and the statistics display.) Hit F1 to get a full-screen display of all of the hot-keys. -------------------------- STATISTICS DISPLAY -------------------------- The statistics display keeps track of the following information: Number of Static Objects Total number of Guards Total number of Doors Number of Level 1 Guards Number of Level 3 Guards Number of Level 4 Guards Number of Boss Guards Number of Secret Doors Number of Treasure and Extra Lives This information can be very useful in designing levels. There are some program limits that must not be exceeded. These limits are: 400 Static Objects 150 Guards 64 Doors (Unlocked + Locked + Elevator Doors) When these limits are exceeded, the text changes to red as a visual warning. You can control what object information is displayed in the map using the '1' ... '6' and '#', '$', and '%' keys (see hot-key list above). This allows you to easily balance the number of guards, etc, as you are designing your maps. --------------------------------------- MAP AND OBJECT DEFINITION FILES --------------------------------------- MAPDATA.SOD and OBJDATA.SOD If you figure out a new object or want to change the description, you can add/change it's description to the object/map list by editing the MAPDATA.SOD or OBJDATA.SOD file. Each line in the file contains 3 items: 0000 0000 Objectname The first four digits are HEX for the object number. The second four digits define how the object will look in the map. The first two digits are the primary/secondary colors. The third digit is the graphic type, and the fourth digit is the character string to use if the graphic type is "text". Colors: 0 - black 1 - blue 2 - green 3 - cyan 4 - red 5 - magenta 6 - brown 7 - light grey 8 - dark grey 9 - light blue a - light green b - light cyan c - light red d - light magenta e - yellow f - white Graphic types: 0 - text (uses fourth character of graphic definition) 1 - solid box 2 - checkered 3 - solid box (primary) with decoration (secondary) 4 - checkered box (primary) with decoration (secondary) 5 - large filled circle (primary) with smaller circle (secondary) 6 - horizontal bar 7 - vertical bar 8 - two color box (used for landscape view) 9 - single pixel centered a - 3x3 pixel block b - 3x5 pixel block c - d - X (primary) e - rectangle f - arrow (secondary color indicates direction: 0=n,1=ne,2=e,3=se, 4=s,5=sw,6=w,7=nw) --------------------- VERSION NOTES --------------------- Ver 1.0 - Bryan Baker (Removed support of Wolfenstein 3-D from MapEdit version 7.1; implemented rubberband-drawing feature written by Wayne Skala; added "ctl+click" functionality to display single object types) --------------------- (The following notes detail the evolution of MapEdit.) Ver 7.1 - Bryan Baker (Eliminated output of shareware levels, added room "ZAP" feature, added full-screen help, added level name input) Ver 7.0 - Bryan Baker & Dave Huntoon (Expanded statistics features, Read/Write filename may now be specified, Improved program error reporting & logic during startup) Ver 6.1 - Matt Gruson (Spacebar toggles between Map and Object modes, PAGEUP/PAGEDWN scroll legend display, add right mouse button to have own value, Shift + left mouse button memorizes value from map) Ver 6.0 - Dave Huntoon Modification (Help, Copy, Paste, Exchange, Write and Read) Ver 5.0 - Bryan Baker Modification (Display of critical statistics) Ver 4.1a - Dave Huntoon Modification (Spear of Destiny compatibility) Ver 4.1 - (c) 1992 Bill Kirby --------------- SUPPORT --------------- SODEDIT is freeware and is entirely user-supported. It is intended to be used only by registered owners of Spear of Destiny. Levels created with this software may not be sold for profit, nor may they carry any endorsement of Id Software or FormGen Corporation. Any such endorsement may constitute a copyright violation to which the map level creator and distributor must be held solely liable. I assume no responsibility for levels created and distributed with this software. If you have any questions or problems associated with SODEDIT ver 1.0, you may contact me via e-mail on CompuServe. Bryan Baker 71121,3376