Sphere V2.01 ============ A program to convert a rectangular world map into a sphere. Introduction ------------ Sphere allows you to load in any IFF picture (presumably a map), and will convert the map into one of a number of different shapes or views. It is possibile to view the map from the side, from the north or south poles, and create other unusual views. Requirements ------------ Although not tested, this program should hopefully work on all Amigas. It was written on an Amiga 1200 with 2MB RAM and 60MB HD. The program requires "mathtrans.library" to be in the LIBS: directory. Menus ----- The program is controlled with standard pull-down menus. o Project Menu Load Map - Will load an IFF picture. Pictures must be at least 320 x 200 and may have a maximum size of 640 x 512. Any number of colours (up to 256) is allowed. There is a 320 x 200 world map (with 4 colours) included in the Sphere drawer called "Sphere.WorldMap". It was drawn freehand by myself and therefore is not totally accurate. Show Map/Show Creation - Will toggle between the IFF map, and the view that has been created in the Create menu. Save Creation - Will save the current creation as an IFF ILBM file. o Create Menu The options in this menu will create a new view of the world. The options available are: "Sphere" - Creates the usual view of the world - a globe. "Stretched" - This will produce a stretched sphere enabling the whole surface to be visible at once. "Diamond" - This produces a diamond shaped map and has no practical use. "North Pole" & "South Pole" - Create spheres as viewed from above and below. The creating and drawing process can be stopped by pressing the "Esc" key. o Point Menu Points are marked by clicking with the left mouse button on the map. A small square marker will appear. "Set Centre" - This will set the centre of the map to be at the currently marked point. When you next create a sphere, it will be centred at this point. "Set Point A" (and B) - These two options allow you define two points. "Distance AB" will then calculate the distance between points A and B, using the quickest route along the curved surface of the sphere. "Set Diameter" allows you to define the sphere's (planet's) diameter. The default Diameter is set to that of the Earth. Game Info --------- Sphere V2.01 was written in Blitz Basic 2 by Steve Pugh (c) 1993-94. This program may be freely distributed but not changed in any way. If you like it and find it useful, please send me a £5 "shareware" donation. Steven Pugh 10 Wellington Close Sundorne Shrewsbury Shropshire England SY1 4SP