A M O S E Y E S (c) Lee Bamber of Digital Ninja Origional Completion Date: 10-APR-1993 V1.0.0 Released: 17-Apr-1993 V1.0.1 Released: 01-Sep-1993 V1.1.0 Released: 01-Jan-1994 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The AMOSEyes Viewer V1.10 is PUBLIC DOMAIN This Viewer may be used freely and no restrictions are enforced. Any Games or Utilities you create that incorporate AMOSEyes requires no arrangements of any kind. You are free to publish AMOSEyes Viewer without permission. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please refer to end of documentation for extra information on this Version! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Utilities of any sort can be real nasty peices of work if not properly explained. And AMOSEYES deserves a good going over before you start asking all those un-anticipated questions. So what is AMOSEyes? AMOSEyes is an advanced Text Reader using the latest in user interface controls, found in leading text-viewers. But what sets this one apart is it`s ability to bring in your own graphics and place them around your docs. Furthermore, it offers a Selector Screen that gives the potential user the chance to skip the instructions altogether and continue with whatever your disk is suppose to do. So what IS your disk suppose to do? Well, the primary use I am advertising this utility for is Game Instruction Manuals. Other uses easily follow but the advantages of a doc reader like AMOSEyes give those Amateur and Pro Game writers an alternative to Just Text! Your game already is full of graphics of a sort, so why not make the whole production professional! What about copyright and stuff? Well, this one is easy. AMOSEyes the View Program is Public Domain and freely distributable. It`s also freely usable and freely advertisable. In fact you could completely fail to mention me as it`s author and still get away with it! Go ahead. My job has paused for the time being. Now it`s up to you to spread the thing as far and wide as possible. The more people see it, the more might want one of there own to head their creations, with the Editor. What Editor? Now, this little peice of digital engineerinng is the centre peice of AMOSEyes. Without it, the viewer may as well retire. The Editors main job is to create AMOSEyes Files (The .DOC file you can find on your disk). The Editor will be available. In what form , I cannot say. I haven't decided. This has not been designed to replace the text viewers in any way! Those are still the most convenient way to convey alot of information in a small space. What this does do is offer the user a booklet on disk. Take for example, you buy a game and you get your instruction book and some cards with little messages and offers on. You flick through it straight to the controls section and swot up on how to fire or punch or whatever. Some even read the story line and get a real feel of the situation. Well AMOSEyes is the perfect vehicle. It doesn`t resemble your Workbench in any way and offers much more than you will ever need to use. But it isn`t just Game Writers who can rub their hands at this point, for this thing can be used for all sorts of stuff. Write a Manual for one of your coverdisk collections. Port over a load of graphics into one big picture and do a spot of index writing and you have a complete tour of your entire disk collection. Make a picture book of your favourite subject like insects or aircrafts, throw in a heap of facts and figures and bang, a minature reference book. Compile a healthy pile of your amateur work and present it using AMOSEyes. Send it to a PD Library and you have you name in lights! Well basically that`s it. You know what AMOSEyes is for and I hope you find it intresting. If you want to see what the creator of this can do, get hold of any Digital Ninja Game created after March 1993. I hope you enjoy the exploits of this potential giant of a utility. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * AMOSEYES VIEWER * The viewer is riddled with things to move you through the instruction book as effortlessly as possible. Primarily on the off chance that the user has not bothered to read the instructions and just experimented his/her way through the controls. Well for those who want the lot, read on. Using `AMOSEyes` on your disk Firstly, there are two ways of using AMOSEyes. The first is to click on it from the Window in the workbench. The second is using the CLI call to the program `AMOSEyes`. If you do not know the basics about preparing your own disk for automatic boot-up, you can skip to the end of this section now for a quick read up on it. Now, assuming you know basically what the startup- sequence is used for, and you've assigned the right path, you can enter: AMOSEyes [RETURN] in the `startup-sequence` file and when you boot your disk, AMOSEyes will then load and you will nicely proceed to the next stage. The Selection When you are in the Selection Screen. That is the one with the two boxes, marked `The Instructions` and `Continue`. Clicking the continue will exit AMOSEyes and return to the workbench or continue with lines from the start up-sequence. However, by selecting `The Instructions`, AMOSEyes will then load the Viewer. The Viewer The viewer is layed out to present icons along the top of the main screen, a page indicator down the right side of the screen and the main display bit that shows your text and graphics. Top Icons > | ABOUT | MORE | BACK | PMORE | PBACK | QUIT ABOUT - By clicking* on this, the author name and credits will be shown for about 15 seconds, then will refresh the viewer. MORE - By holding down** this, the current page will scroll down at medium speed until it reaches the end of the page. At which time, the scroll will stop. BACK - Same as the MORE control, but the screen scrolls back up the current page at medium speed until the top of the page is reached. Holding down**, the mouse button will operate this control. PMORE - This is a Page More Control. It means to turn the page to the next one and position the display at the top of the new current page. This will increment the current page number. When no more pages remain, this option will no longer function. To operate this control, click* it. PBACK - Same as BACK is to MORE, PBACK will turn to the last page number and will cease to work when there are no pages to turn back to. To operate this control, simply click*. QUIT - Click* this to exit the Viewer. * Clicking refers to pressing the Left Mouse Button Once and then releasing it. ** Holding Down refers to holding down the Left Mouse Button and sustaining the hold until it is felt that the command has been carried out to the satisfaction of the user. The Page Indicator is a simple device. It will draw a single dash between the top and the bottom of the space allocated. The top represents the top of the Instruction Book and the bottom refers to the bottom of the Book. By looking at the position of the dash, the user has an idea of where the current page is situated in the book. And there`s more... By moving the mouse arrow pointer inside the display part of the screen and pressing the left mouse button once, the shape of the arrow will change. It will now point up or down. By moving this arrow within the display area, first up then down, you will see the text/graphic display will scroll as it nears the top and bottom. This is especially useful for slow reading like you see in the closinng credits of a series or film. Also... The viewer has keyboard support aswell. The arrow keys on the keyboard. I am so sorry A600 users(maybe in a later version!), will do the following: Arrow Up - Moves the text/graphic display toward the top of the page at a high rate of speed. Useful for a quick re-read of something. The scroll will stop when the top of the page has been reached. Arrow Down - Moves the text/graphic display toward the bottom of the page until it hits the bottom at which time the scroll will stop. This too is high speed for text skimming. Arrow Right - Exactly the same as the | PMORE | control above. It turns the page to the next highest number until there are no more pages to see. Arrow Left - Exactly the same as the | PBACK | control above. It turns to the previous page number until there are no more pages to turn back to. There are plenty of different ways to achieve the same goal. Find the one you like best and stick with it. I hope you find no problems with the selection of controls. If you have your own preference, then please write, and inform us and we will get to work(if it`s really clever!). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Version 1.0.1 Additional Information * The AMOSEyes Viewer now can handle file modules saved under the new Defcon Compactor V1.01 as well as the Standard Module Document Files. The Editor Version 1.0.1 uses the Defcon Compactor as standard. Some extra keys incorporated into the Viewer are: [ALT] and `A` - This will automatically call up the About Screen. [CTRL] and `Q` - This will exit the Viewer. Note: With the addition of these, the whole viewer can be keyboard controlled with no need for the mouse! The About has been updated to include proper creditation and the screen has been modified to reflect the new version changes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Version 1.10 Additional Information * As a mark improvement in AMOSEyes, I'm pleased to announce that thanks to the well-written manuals of AMOSPro, The AMOSEyes Viewer now has parameter passing! And alittle graphics treat! Simply, this means that you can effect how the AMOSEyes file executes by adding your requests at the end of the line. The Full Syntax Is: AMOSEyes [-TIFF Filename$] [-TABK Filename$] [-CLIK x,y,x,y,x,y,x,y] [-PATH Path$] [-MENU On] [-DUAL Filename$] [-FNUM Value] [-FJST On] [-FUPC On] [-FOUT On] THE COMMANDS (Dated: 20-Dec-93) ------------ -TIFF = (T)itle using (IFF) Picture This command will load in the filename specified instead of the default screen displaying the choice of INSTRUCTIONS or LEAVE. With this feature, you may create a screen to properly illustrate your game, topic or whatever you wish. The boxes you are given to click will still be in the same place as the default screen, so when you are drawing your title page for, lets say, your game. You must create two boxes to the size and content of the origional default. The left box will take you into the AMOSEyes Viewer, the right box will exit the viewer. For reference, the co-ordinates of these default boxes are: 010,115 -------------------- 328,115 ---------------------- | | | | | Box 1 - Instructions | | Box 2 - Continue | | | | | -------------------- 308,171 ---------------------- 628,171 (Not recommended - See -CLIK) -TABK = (T)itle using (ABK) Picture Exactly the same operation as "-TIFF", however the picture file is an (A)mos picture (B)an(K) or ABK. This file is useful for protecting your graphics from being seen by prying eyes! See the AMOS Manual on how to create .ABK Picture Files. -CLIK = (CLI)c(K)er Panels As an essential complement to the first two commands, "-CLIK" has been created. Wouldn't it be much more customised if you could place the boxes you click anywhere on screen. Any size. In any style. Yes, you can draw your screen complete with customised layout. Use your own fonts, boxes, etc. Then simply tell AMOSEyes where you have put your boxes and hey-presto. A Title Page for your disk that has no resemblance to the cold, starchy AMOSEyes default screen. Adding that professional touch to any disk. The "-CLIK" command uses eight parameters to find the two panels on your custom screen. The syntax is: -CLIK Panel1X1,Panel1Y1,Panel1X2,Panel1Y2, Panel2X1,Panel2Y1,Panel2X2,Panel2Y2 Key: Panel = One of two panels required by the selector 1 : Instructions / 2 : No Instructions X1 Y1 = Vectors of Top/Left corner of panel X2 Y2 = Vectors of Bottom/Right corner of panel With the 2 pair of vectors, both boxes can be located and assigned but how do you get the vectors? What are the numbers? Well, it would have taken too long to implement into the editor, so I've written an independent program to find these vectors and allow you to write the numbers down or print them (if you're the lucky owner of a printer). The program is called "AMOSEyes-FrontMaker". FrontMaker ---------- The file is found in the root directory of the Editor Disk(V1.10 +) It will first ask you for a file. Find and select your .IFF Picture file and if it loads, you will be presented with it. You are now required to make four clicks with the mouse pointer onto the top/left, bottom/right of both boxes. Do the INSTRUCTION Box first and then the CONTINUE(No Instruction) Box second. When you have done this, you will be shown the numbers. Write them or print them, your choice. Use these numbers in the exact order with the "-CLIK" command syntax shown above. -PATH = Path leading to AMOSEyes.DOC & AMOSEyes.PIC As described, this will allow you to enter a path toward the two essential AMOSEyes Files. This is rather useful as it enables you to have as many Instruction Manuals as you have directories on a disk. Now that's progress! The path must start at a device and must be exact, otherwise your instruction manual will just not work. -MENU = Default Menu Icons Often, when you select your colour palette, it sometimes interferes with the presentation of the icons. Sometimes making them very hard to make out. The Menu option simply replaces the menu icons(the choices) with a default colour that's readable. -DUAL = Dual Playfield Backdrop An exciting addition to AMOSEyes. Almost revolutionising it's presentation capabilities. A simple routine which boosts your instruction books beyond simple pen and paper. Something your commercial manuals can't beat! A backdrop is a picture that is placed in the background instead of the transparent colour(black). Some might call it Paralax Scrolling. Others, a form of gen-lock, but however you see it, you'll find your own use for it. The filename$ refers to the IFF Picture file that stores your back- drop to be displayed. When you are creating your IFF Picture, as expected with memory careful utilities(as it was designed for the bog standard to the super-deluxe), there are restrictions. The file must be an 8 colour,low resolution screen, 320 pixels wide and no more than 1000 pixels high. Even though this is an 8 colour screen, you can only use four of the colours. With paralax scroll methods, the disadvantage is that all colours are shared! So the first four colours(0-3) are used by the AMOSEyes Viewer Screen, so you are left to use the second four colours(4-7) for your backdrop. (In version V1.11, this has been improved to use all eight but due to a compiler problem, it will be released as soon as Europress has released the Fixes for the AMOSPro Compiler). One last point. When run on a bog-standard A500, the playfield's colours are slightly out. They keep their desity, however they are tinted with a weird colour effect. The same program on an A1200 has no such effect. I suggest this feature either be used via several attempts until successful or wait until V1.11 where it should be corrected. Not all good news, but I believe honesty proves more good than harm in the long term. Sounds disappointing, but I've achieved some stunning effects with it. The propotionate scroll tecnique makes all the difference to the overall feel of your manuals, gliding a graphic landscape in the distance while the user readers clear, crisp text with visible depth. A fine feature, but a disk space eater. It is wise not to let your manuals get bigger than your main disk content. But there is no reason why they shouldn't. -FNUM = Font Number If you are fortunate enough to understand the uses of fonts from a regular fonts draw to program, this feature simply selects a font from your current FONTS: Draw and that font is used for all text! The font selected is the Value parameter. So the first font in the draw would be selected by Value = 1, the second Value = 2, and so on... There are limits to this feature as without changing the editor, thr viewer can only work with 8x8 characters. The default font is always used when not specifying a font, but when one is, the font will be positioned as an 8x8 character. So if you selected a font twice the size, you would get only a peice of the font being shown. I suggest for now, you select all 8x8 fonts and deposit them onto the AMOSEyes Disk. I have included a few, but my font library is not impressive. I might revise the editor to handle multiple, sizable, changable fonts but do people really want their final document consuming half the disk with fancy frills? Who knows. -FJST = Font Justify Should you have a font where the width of the fonts are different, the effect in AMOSEyes would be quite unattractive. Spaces where they really shouldn't be, etc. The Font Justify will correct this by removing the auto-fixing control which spaces each letter eight pixels apart from each other. Try the font PERICOT without this feature, then with it. You'll understand what I mean! -FUPC = Font UpperCase Simply converts ALL text to uppercase before displaying. Used for fonts that have no lowercase graphics. DPAINT(Point 5) is an ideal example. Lowercase means the little letters of the alphabet like 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'. Uppercase are all the capital letter forms, like 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'. -FOUT = Font Outline It is common for text to become unreadable in patches where a graphic from the backdrop or images are present. The outline will border your text with an outline that will bring out the clarity of your text and make the manual readable and still maintain the high graphical content. AMOSEYES RESERVED COMMANDS (Dated: 25-12-93) -------------------------- These do exist so there is no need to suggest or complain to the lack of them however, the features they employ can only be used in AMOSPro and the compiler at the moment(25/12/93-23:05), just won't compile my stand-alone programs. These will be instantly available as soon as I can compile them with a pro compiler that does stand-alone code(on an A1200)! -FONT = Select Font Directory This will assign the FONTS: Draw anywhere on the disk you like and then instantly take the font from the draw and use it. Even though the -FNUM command might seem better for the task, I've found that transfering a new font into a draw is quicker and much easier than altering a startup sequence and entering a new value. -DTWO = Dual Playfield Version 1.2 Exactly the same as -DUAL command but all eight colours can be used for the backdrop without worrying about colour sharing by the view screen. NOTE: When refering to any file orientated parameters (that's filenames and paths, etc), DO NOT use speech marks " ". The program would think they are a part of your filename$, so don't use them. Examples for Beginners ---------------------- For those still worried about this feature, I'll explain further. This is quite difficult to grasp. But the rewards of understanding is worth a few more lines... Example One Say you require an .IFF picture, but with the old clicking boxes as found on the default screen. Lets say the file is called "Beef.IFF" and is found in the "Demos" directory. The AMOSEyes.DOC file is in the main directory. AMOSEyes -TIFF Demos/Beef.IFF Example Two Now you require the same picture but using your own boxes for clicking, you have put them near the top of the screen and the FrontMaker has given you the numbers( 1,1,159,10,161,1,319,10 ): AMOSEyes -TIFF Demos/Beef.IFF -CLIK 1,1,159,10,161,1,319,10 or AMOSEyes -CLIK 1,1,159,10,161,1,319,10 -TIFF Demos/Beef.IFF Example Three Now you want an .ABK Picture file with the same box positions. The picture file is called "Murder101.ABK" and is found in the main directory. You also want to use an instruction manual from the "MGame" directory: AMOSEyes -TABK Murder101.ABK -CLIK 1,1,159,10,161,1,319,10 -PATH MGame or AMOSEyes -PATH MGame -TABK Murder101.ABK -CLIK 1,1,159,10,161,1,319,10 and so the combinations unfold... If you have further problems, please don't hesitate to write and inform me. I try to avoid such situations by making the documentation extensive. But if something is driving you backward, please write with SSAE. Additional Commands ------------------- I've kept the list as small as possible so as not to waste precious disk space on specific code. The potential is great, so whatever you feel the package could seriously need, write in and I'll consider it's viability. Ultimately, this package is for you, so why shouldn't you have a say in how it develops. Thanks to everyone who's helped. Cheers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * UTILITY SPECIFICATIONS * Information on all aspects of AMOSEYES Versions and updates to appear in this section as updates become available. Program Requirements: V1.0.0 - 512k Minimum(no fast required) Single Internal Floppy Drive V1.0.1 - No changes V1.10 - No changes Program Compatability: V1.0.0 - 17/04/93 - Test successful on the A500 & A1200 V1.0.1 - Testing successful as above V1.10 - Testing successful as above 01/12/93 - Test successful with A1200 2.5 IDE Hard Drive Program Spec and Size: V1.0.0 - "AMOSEyes" = Main program for Instruction Book 82k "AMOSEyes.DOC" = Text and graphic vectors (any) "AMOSEyes.PIC" = IFF picture(4 Colour,Lowres) (any) V1.0.1 - "AMOSEyes" = Viewer Program reduced in size to 65.5k V1.10 - "AMOSEyes" = Viewer Programs new features increased final size of main program to 73k Notes: *1.1 - The AMOSEyes.DOC and AMOSEyes.PIC must remain with the AMOSEyes Main Program at all times otherwise the AMOSEyes Program will not execute the Viewer. *1.2 - With the addition of a "-PATH" Feature(V1.10), the viewer can make use of AMOSEyes Files from any directory on the disk! *2 - When copying the AMOSEyes for a friend or enemy, could you please throw over a copy of the docs as well(AMOSEyes_docs). GREAT! *3 - The Updates `improvement quality` depends on solid response from you so even if it`s a mere whim, write! *4.1 - The three files for AMOSEyes (AMOSEyes, AMOSEyes.DOC, AMOSEyes.PIC), must always be in the root of the device being presented. As V1.0.0 only allows one doc per device, make sure you don`t erase over your last! *4.2 - The AMOSEyes Viewer program can now be anywhere on the disk (V1.10), but make sure, if the "-PATH" feature is not used, that the AMOSEyes Files are in the same directory. *5 - Game Writers should only need one Instruction Book File. The space allowed is plenty enough for the grossest of Docs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Creating a Startup-Sequence The startup-sequence is found in the s directory of any standard bootable disk. You can easily create your own by doing the following: Assuming you are starting with a brand new disk, inserted into df0, and you have gone into the CLI Window(Shell): CLI> Format df0: Formatting... CLI> Install df0: CLI> cd df0: CLI> makedir s CLI> cd s CLI> ed startup-sequence @@@ At this point, you can return to the initial pages for instructions on how to boot AMOSEyes Player from your new startup-sequence. NOTE: This is not the complete procedure. You must also copy all AMOSEyes related files to the Root Directory. If this requires explanation, you had better avoid auto-booting for the time being and read fully your manuals. HINT: Making your own Commercial Quality Loader When your disk is absolutely finished and booting AMOSEyes Fine,and if so, ready for submission. If it's a game or something that does not require CLI or Workbench, you can make your presentation alot more professional. Insert your disk and break out of it as it runs through your startup-sequence. Now find and run a preferences tool. (usually on your workbench disk,i.e Workbench1.3:Prefs/Preferences) Switch colour 2,3 and 4 to black, leaving colour 1 visable. Enter Change Pointer Menu and Click CLEAR. Now return to the main screen and place your finger over the SAVE icon by touching the screen. Now set colour 1 to black. Your screen should drain the last of it's colour. As your pointer is still visible, move it to where you had put your finger and click. When it has saved(the disk has stopped!), reset the computer. What you have done is disguised the CLI by switching all the colour off, even the pointer has gone. But because your startup-sequence will automatically load AMOSEyes and then your game/utility,it will appear that your creation is to a professional standard. And auto- booting disk that looks commercial from the very start! It's only left up to you to write the best software you can. Create the best manuals you can. Get the best out of your AMIGA, you possibly can. I know I'm getting there! But no-where near the end!