**** ***** ****** ADVENTURE BANK CREATOR * * * * * ====================== ****** **** * For AMOS Written On AMOS * * * * * ====================== * * * ***** * ****** By Chris Beeson It's As Easy As A.B.C. - THE EDITOR MANUAL - Introduction ------------ This program has been written for people who have knowledge of AMOS, but are not quite sure how to get programming an adventure, which is not always a simple task. The Adventure Bank Creator DOES NOT write the main code, you still have to do that. The A.B.C simply creates a databank, which can be used in AMOS. The editor is very 'User friendly', you enter the information in the game environment and is extremely simple to use. Even though it does not write the main code, it makes it 100's of times easier. There are procedures to load all the information and display the bobs etc., all you need do is write the storyline & conditions code, draw the pictures and bobs, and write the music. See the PROGRAM.DOC file for more information on programming. Note ---- With most of the commands in the Editor, a -/+ must be specified at the start of the input. - Means that you cannot.... (I.e. Negative) + Means that you can.... (I.e. Positive) Note : The default setting is + Notes on the layout ------------------- At the end of each description you will find an example. At the top of the menu screen (The black area, at the bottom) there is space for messages to be displayed. E.g. Get Car This is called the "Message Bar" (Surprise, surprise!) And anything in this area will be surrounded by '=' E.g. = Get Car = Examples which start off with '>>' mean that you have to enter them via the keyboard. So... = Get Car = >> -|The car is far too big, you could never pick it up. You have selected 'Get' the mouse from the Menu Screen, and then clicked on the car. A string Requester will then be displayed allowing you to enter the text. The Commands ------------ Get Get (-/+)|(Text) This command will allow the user to 'Get' an object TEXT will be the message that is displayed on the screen. E.g. = Get Fish = >> +|You get the fish. Mind you it stinks! Put Put (-/+)|(Text) This command works in the same was as the 'Get' statement, the only exception is that it is used for 'Droping' objects. E.g. = Drop Penknife = >> -|Don't be silly, it may come in handy one day. Open Open (-/+)|(Text) If this command is selected then it is possible for the object to be opened. E.g. = Open Door = >> -|The door seems to be locked, or jammed Normally is command would be extended in the main program. Give Give (-/+)|(Bob/zone)|(Text) Bob/zone reefers to the name of the bob/zone. Note: There is only one 'Give' option per object. If you cannot give the object to anybody in the current room there is no point in entering the information. (Remember the default is negative!) E.g. = Give Pen To Jack = >> +|Jack|Jack takes the pen and thanks you. ^ | In later versions this maybe chosen with the mouse. Examine Examine (Text) For this command only the message has to be entered. E.g. = Examine Dog = >> The dog seems very happy. Walk to N/A This command is not active at any time during the editing process because there is no character to control. Use Use (-/+)|(Object name)|(With/On)|(Text) OBJECT NAME is the name of the object which is being used ON. WITH/ON - Decide which on is required (For grammar only) E.g. Use Key on door ^^ Or E.g. Use Spoon with bowl ^^^^ Text is the message. E.g. = Use Cat = >> +|Mat|With|You use the cat with the mat ^ | This maybe done with the mouse in later versions. Output would be : Use Cat With Mat -> You use the cat with the mat Speech Speech is disabled during Editing because of Memory. There is NO Editor for the Speech option as Yet, though I hope to get writing one soon. Sorry! Oh, By the Way : It is still possible to have speech in your game. You will have to write the procedures though! Save This command saves any music, graphics, and data which you have entered into one file. This file can then be loaded with the load command and re-designed or it can be used in your finished game. There is a max of 12 pictures(12 rooms) and 1 song file per group. See the technical reference for more details. Load Load will allow you to load any files you have saved and ADD to them or edit the room you were in when you saved. (You CANNOT go back and edit old rooms). Set Zone This command allows you to select an area which can be picked up by the mouse.) Music Music Allows you to play a piece of music in the current room. The Music HAS to be already converted into the AMOS bank format(See the AMOS manual for more information). Note: There is a max of 1 music bank per group. (See Tech. ref.) Next Moves you on to the next room. (Once you have moved on, you cannot go back) Bobs This command allows you to place a bob in the current room. Note: There is a max of 10 bobs and 20 zones per room 1. Select an AMOS SPRITE BANK and click on OK. 2. Enter the mask to set the number of colours (See the AMOS manual Pg. 151) 2. Enter the bob number you want to display 3. Move the mouse, and click the mouse button when done. See the 'Graphics.Doc' BEFORE you draw the bobs. Note: This command doesn't support animation, therefore this would have to be incorporate in to the main code. Directions This command allows you to 'link' the rooms together. When you execute this command, the menu screen will roll up and you will be able to set the exits. To create an exit: As soon as you click on any of the ">" buttons you will be asked to define a exit, Simply click on Ok and select the area. It is then possable to decide what room the game will jump to when/if you use that exit (Using the "<" and ">" buttons). The maximum number of exits per room is 4. If 0 is enter then the game will not allow you to go that way. It is possible to link rooms from other groups, though you would need to write the source code (which would be simple). Remember : You could lay your rooms out like this: Group 1 : Rooms 1-14 Group 2 : Rooms 15(1)-29(14) Group 3 : Rooms 30(1)-44(14) The numbers in ( ) are the numbers the editor would give to the rooms. If this has really confused you don't worry it confused me to! Just forget about it! Backdrop This allows you to load an IFF picture file, which is then compressed, to be the main background picture. Remember to use the template on the disk("GraphicsTemplate.Iff") Only draw in the BLACK AREA. See the text file "Graphics.Doc" for more information on drawing the graphics. Note: As the file format is IFF you can create the images on Dpaint. (They cannot the be changed once compressed by the editor.) Technical Reference ------------------- The Adventure creator will use all of the 16 AMOS banks. Bank Information ---- ----------- 1 Bobs/Sprites 2 Adventure Data 3 Music Data 4-16 Compressed Pictures It is possible to change this, and you may need to if you need more music, or sounds. How? With alot of difficulty! As there is only one AMOS music bank, only one song can be stored in each group. Adventure bank format --------------------- These banks are called "Adv.dat", DO NOT CHANGE THEM. The format of the banks are protected from being easily changed. The data can be converted back by simply taking a value of 8 off each ascii character, except '%'! '%' are the characters which separate the information. See the PROGRAM.DOC file for more info. Remember: You do not need to convert the information yourself, there is an AMOS procedure to do all the work. Groups and Banks ---------------- Banks hold all different types Of data. One bank may hold only music data, another sprite/bob data etc.. All these different banks are the saved as one Group. As AMOS has a max of 16 banks it means that one group can only have 1 music bank, 1 bob/sprite bank, and 14 picture banks (14 rooms (1 picture for each room)). To get over this problem it is possible to 'link' all the groups together. The editor can only handle one group at a time though, once it has finished one group, it will quit. You will then need to re-load the editor and create a new group under a different name. All this should be saved in a directory called "Rooms/". So, the directory could look like : Grp1.Dat Grp2.Dat Grp3.Dat Grp4.Dat There are 56 rooms so far. There is no need to have any thing else in this directory, any picture can be deleted as they are stored in the data files. As AMOS compresses the pictures it saves a large amount of disk space. Note: There is no restriction on the number of groups you have. ------------- This program was written on AMOS for AMOS. AMOS - © Mandarin/Jawx 1990 Thanks to : - François Lionet for making a wonderful programming package. - Pat, Roger and Gary for support and use of the laser! - Roy For testing the program over and over again! Cheers! If you have any complants, comments or Ideas please send them to me : Chris Beeson 20 Crossway, Plympton, Plymouth, PL7 4HX CHRIS BEESON