DJ-MAP-EDITOR V2.22 (C) Sept 1991 by 'DE JANEIRO'
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'THE AVENGERS'
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* Historic ....
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Firstly , i'd like to thank people who will use this program, and
i hope they 'll be satisfied with its functions .
This program 's already existed in several versions before being
released , from v 1.00 up to v 2.22 . More than one year and a half
have passed since the first version was finished . It's up to you to
guess how nasty this one was .
Map Editor was to be used in order to create maps , for games like
Shoot'em up or any prg games that need some complex graphix areas.
At the beggining , Map Editor could only fill the maps with some
blocks that had to be cut with another program called 'Make Fnt'.
Now , both programs have been linked and all functions for sprites are
also available in Map Editor . The oldest versions only worked with low
resolution . Actually , you can run the prog either in low or med res
without getting it confused with the file selector . The trick i use is
to toggle to the original resolution while using the selector .
Further on , seeing the slowness of the gem mouse handling , i de-
-cided not to use it anymore and to include mine . Additionally , the
overscan rout needs most interruptions to be set off .
As you have probably already understood , apart from creating some
maps , Map Editor can cut graphics blocks , in all standard types ,
being one plane up to four planes . Almost all sizes are allowed .
This should be extremely useful for coders , who often need such
files , only including some pieces of pixel art , and not always in
four planes .
We don't know any programs apart from ours to make all that right.
One of the main disavantages of the .FNT files is that all blocks
must have the same size . If you do wish to get other sizes , you have
to create other files . This ain't that bad , because you can easily
have separate files for some 16 x 16 sprites and some 32 x 32 sprites.
Any other size being into [ 1 x 1 , .... , 320 x 200 ] is allowed.
Although we don't like Degas Elite very much , all graphics have to
be cut in some * . P?1 files . There should be a block editor in the
updated versions of this program , but it isn't ready yet .
Finally , this program 's been debugged many times . Though , there
are still some . In any case , none of them should make the prog fail .
You ought to read what's written at the end of this file to prevent
some problems .
* Format of the files ......
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*.MAP ( files of arrangements ).
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The length of these files depends on the x-size and y-size you've
chosen .
To each byte of the file goes a number indicating which block is to
be displayed . The maximum amount of blocks is 256 .
A .MAP file may be useless if you don't use it together with the
.FNT file it has been made with . This to say that the MAP does not
contain any of the graphics .
Here follows the header of the .MAP files :
offset: + 0.L: identification message "MAP!" .
+ 4.L: width of the map .
+ 8.L: height of the map .
+12.B ...: the bytes for the map itself .
*.FNT ( files of graphics ).
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These file contain all blocks cut with the program .
offset: + 0.W : width X of the blocks ( in pixels )
+ 2.W : height Y of the blocks ( in scanlines )
+ 4.W : number of planes (1,2,3 or 4).
+ 6.W : number of blocks in the file .
+ 8.L : "FNT2" identification message
+12.W(3) : 3 words not used yet .
+18.w(16): 16 words , the sixteen colours
+50 ... : the graphics , one block after the other
line after line , per set of planes
( 16 pixels each time )
until the end of one block an so on .
Well if you didn't understand , it's the same
way as the screen memory is organised, unless
you're not using the four plane mode .
i hope everyone got it right !
Now , here is a way to find the address of the block number N
in a file :
adr_block_N=adr_file+50+Y*2*Number_planes*N*X_block
and X_block = int ((X-1)/16)+1
X_block is the number of 16-pixels-wide areas needed to stock
any of the blocks .
Therefore , each block which width can not be divided by 16 is
filled up to a 16-multiple with some pixels from colour 0 .
There are very few opportunities that some of you want to use
a map at any position of the screen . Usually , everyone will try
to be at a 16-pixels-multiple .
FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE IN MAP EDITOR v 2.22
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They're of three kind . Some functions for the sprites , some
for the map and some for the buffer .
All messages used in the program are in english , but should
not cause any problem , for they are extensively used out elsewhere .
Anyway , the program will never write a speech on the screen .
Yet, there are many tests to prevent the prg from crashing.
You won't always be given some precise message , such as for
disk operations .
If something happens during the saving or loading sequence ,
you will only get an FILE Error message , and it's your responsability
to find out what's wrong with your disk ( wrt protected , lack of room
, no disk in drive , ... )
Another detail : As there is no matter of using some of the map
options when there are no graphics in memory , the map options won't be
available as long as you haven't loaded a set of blocks ( or created
from a picture ).
Any modification over the sprites will destroy the current map.
SPRITES FUNCTIONS:
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They're displayed on the right side of the pannel , you only have
to move the mouse pointer on to them and click . Some may act diffe-
-rently if you use the left or the right mouse button .
* LOAD : load a file into memory if there is enough room left
* SAVE : save the set of sprites in a .FNT file
* SEE : see the set of sprites if it exists .
( read MAP FUNCTIONS / OPTION LOOK for further infos ).
* LOAD PICT. : Load a Degas file ( packed or unpacked ) into the
buffer and display it . click on the mouse to come back to the menu .
* SET : allows to see the buffer and to fix the parameters
for the cutter ( OX , OY , TX , TY )
When the picture is displayed , you can also see
the whole palet at the top of the screen .
In order to set the OX and OY ( origin X and Y ) , all you have
to do is click at the position ( there are some position indicators
at the top of the screen ) . Then , go on helding the mouse button
pressed and draw the figure of the block . Here you are setting the TX
and TY parameters ( size X and size Y ) .
* PLANE 0123 : by clicking on the different numbers , you should
control the amount of planes used for the sprites . Numbers displayed
in black are not used .
By modifying the number of planes and then looking at the picture,
you may see which planes are really used .
WARNING : during the cut-sprites session , only the chosen planes
will be cut .
* OPT : this is an extremely useful possibilitie , since if you
use it , the picture will be optimised . The structure of the planes
may be modified if there is a chance to use only a part of the colours.
the colours needed are moved at the beginning of the palet . There may
be a 5-seconds delay before the end of this function .
* parameters OX , OY , TX , TY , DX , DY
These parameters are used in the AUTOMATIC cut of the sprites.
It's useless to fix them for the CUT 1 option , you only need
to draw a square in which lie the sprite .
You can fix the DX and DY values with the arrows at the sides
left button : +1, -1 right button : +10 , -10
OX , OY : position where the cut-session shall start
TX , TY : size of the blocks
DX , DY : offset to add before cutting another sprite
* THE INFO PANNEL :
Lying in the right side of the screen , it contains the main
infos about the current sprite file . here are some explanations
about them :
NP : number of planes used by the sprites
NOBJ : amount of sprites in the file
TX : width ( in pixels ) of each sprite
TY : height ( in scanlines ) of each sprite
* CUT 1 : allows to get an unique sprite by cutting it into
a square with the mouse . This may be very useful for big sprites.
* AUTOCUT : switch on the automatic cutter , which will cut as
many sprites as you wish . The only thing to be done is to click on the
last sprite you want to include in the .FNT file .
FUNCTIONS FOR THE MAP :
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They're only available when having a set of sprites in memory.
Yet , you can modify the LX and LY parameters in the same way
as for sprites size ( click on the arrows with either left or right
button ).
LOAD : load a map from disk
SAVE : save a map from memory onto the disk
LOOK : look at the map if possible . This can also be done by
pressing the SPACE BAR .
While looking at the map , it may spread on the whole screen .
However , if the prog can not display an entire block in width
( at the right side ) , there is a blank instead of it .
For example , if you're using some 48*48 sprites , you will see 6
sprites in width , and 32 pixels will remain blank ( cos the screen is
only 320 pixels wide ) .
In the LOOK mode , you will be given some parameters like :
IX , IY : position in map of the top left block .
X , Y : position of the block on which stands the mouse cursor
This ough to be useful for position tests .
Using the left mousebutton , you will set the selected block at the
position of the mouse . The block will be immediately displayed on the
screen and its code will be written in the map . If you wish to fill an
area with a block , you needn't release the mousebutton , but just move
the mouse.
One of the greatest possibilities is to cancel all modifications
in the map since you last pressed the left button. This can be achieved
by pressing the UNDO key on the keyboard . UNDO may set those blocks
again if pressed twice .
The right mouse button isn't used to set blocks . If you click
on it , the screen will swap to the BLOCK SELECT mode . you'll then be
able to choose which block shall be displayed when pressing the left
button on the map.
If all sprites do not fit in one screen , pressing the right button
again will show other sprites .
To leave this mode , you must choose a block , even you came in
this mode by mistake .
Another of the best ever functions of MAP EDITOR is to display a
whole set of blocks at any position . In order to choose the set of
blocks , you may use the mouse , by pressing the right button and hold
it pressed , and then move the mouse over the whole set. You don't have
to stop the selection at an end of block , for it seems to be extremely
hard . Any half block will be accepted in the set .
The prog will then enter BLOCK mode and when using the left button
in the map you won't insert an unique block but the whole set.
To move in the map, if it takes more than one screen to display it,
you can move the mouse cursor to the sides so that the map will scroll.
However , if your map is very big , and you do not wish to move
with the mouse cos it's too slow , you may use the four arrow keys .
The map will then move by a screen-width at a time .
When you are looking at map , the sprites or the picture , it's
sometimes very boring to see the mouse cursor owing to the palet .
If you wish to get rid of this problem , you can press ALTERNATE .
An internal palet will then be set as long as you hold the key
pressed . As it is a very flashing palet , you may see what you are
doing very well .
SET DIM : allow to create a new map . its size is fixed by the
LX and LY parameters .
If you load a map from disk , the LX, LY will be set to the right
values .
If you want to create a new map , just set yourself the LX and LY
and then use the SET DIM option .
The CLX and CLY parameters contain the size of the current map.
They are modified when LOADing or SETting a new map.
LENGTH : Size of the current map in bytes . You should always
remind that twice as much is reserved , in order to have a backup of
the map in memory.
It is used for the UNDO option.
If you want to quit MAP EDITOR , you can click on the top screen
pannel , over all options , or you can press the ESC key .
I hope I haven't forget anything .
PROBLEMS
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Here i write a few words about some problems you may have to
face.
* Firstly , as i use my own mouse routine and the prog uses overscan ,
most interruptions have to be switched off . As a consequence , there
are no Beep for keyboard , system VBL , disk swapping tests .
Though , all interruptions are switched on again while using the
file selector and then set off once more . So please swap disk only
when being in the selector .
* The memory handling works rather well , even if the prog will
forbid any cutting-session for sprites if there is less than 32
kilobytes free .
It is done in order not to crash some datas , for the program can't
evaluate the size of the sprites file that's gonna be created .
Although , the 32 Ko would not be enough if you are cutting very
small sprites ( like 1 x 1 in four planes ) , to cut the whole screen,
MAP ED would need 50 + 64000 * 8 bytes . This can't be done if you own
a 520 ST .
Yet , we think it's easy not to get confused . If you've run the
Auto cutter and then see you confused yourself, you can stop the cutter
with the ESC key .
This bug should be fixed in the next version , which should also
be able to insert and skip some of the sprites. Some memory tests will
then be compulsory .
PROJECTS
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* Improvements for the memory handling , with auto modifications in
the map if using the INSERT/SKIP sprites options , so that the sprite
codes in the map will still be the right ones .
* Possibilities to cut a set of blocks from the map , in order to
reproduce it elsewhere .
* MAP EDitor would be able to insert the memory map into another map
from the disk , at any position . This could be used to create complex
libraries.
* Possibilities to code the map on words instead of bytes , so that
we could use 65536 blocks instead of 256 . However , it seems that 256
is enough for most applications .
* A sprite editor with zoom may be coded , but all other improvements
have to be done before .
In a friendly manner , 'De Janeiro'
Article written in french by 'De Janeiro' from The Avengers
and then translated by Antares also from The Avengers.
All letters / bugs report can be sent at the following address :
The Avengers
1 impasse Degas
57210 Feves
France