Bolo Map Editors

Bolo Maps FTP Archive (external link)

All text and images courtesy of Carl R. Osterwald aka wharf rat, author of BMAPedit and Iconz4Maps. Edited as part of the Official Rec.Games.Bolo FAQ by Joseph Lo aka Jolo.

The following table shows all the utilities designed for these purposes. I put BMAPEdit first because it is commonly recognized as the most full-featured and up-to-date map editor, while at the same time being one of the easiest to use. --Jolo

	BMAPEdit by Carl R. Osterwald (carl_osterwald@usa.net), version 3.1, dated 14 April 1997. BMAPEdit is a full-featured map editor that has seen 8 updates since it was first released in 1993. It is PowerPC-native ("fat" binary), and has many built-in utilities. Full Macintosh drag-and-drop of map terrain is supported. It does not open old-style resource format maps. $10 shareware.
	Map >> ASCII by Matt Slot (fprefect@engin.umich.edu), version 1.0, dated 26 May 1993. A small plug-in module for BoloStar that converts a map into an ASCII text representation. Freeware.
	MapGenerator by Markus Julen (julen@inf.ethz.ch) and Ambros Marzetta (marzetta@inf.ethz.ch), version 0.97, dated 27 April 1993. This was one of the first random map generators, and is a tiny application that gives no control over the output. MapGenerator maps are distinguished by their titles--the date and time the program was run, i.e. "5/9/96; 9 46 53 PM". It was released as $10 shareware, but no further development was ever done.
	An example MapGenerator map (1:1):
	Iconz4Maps by Carl R. Osterwald (carl_osterwald@usa.net), version 1.1, dated 3 January 1996. A small drag-and-drop utility that adds or removes custom icons to/from map files. The icons are small images of the map terrain. Freeware.
	An example custom icon (1:1):
	CookMapper by John McLaughlin (borric@cairo.anu.edu.au), no version, dated 1 November 1993. A random map application that generates new maps using fractals, plus lets you watch the progress as it makes the map. There are settings for the roughness, total area, no. of islands, island spacing, % forest, etc. No other development of CookMapper has been done. Not specified, but apparently freeware.
	An example CookMapper map (2:1):
	Bolo RandomMap by Peter N Lewis (peter@mail.peter.com.au), version 1.1.0, dated 1 July 1993. As the title indicates, another random map utility. Bolo RandomMap makes maps by calculating random numbers for each map square that determine if the square will be grass or water. Trees are then added by growing clumps. Controls allow setting the rectangular size, the amount of land and trees as a percentage. Freeware (RandomMap was incorporated into BMAPEdit).
	An example map (2:1):
	Drop BMAP Analyser by William Uther (will@cs.cmu.edu), version 1.2b1, dated 4 January 1996. A drag-and-drop utility that does three things: (1) a text file listing vital statistics for the map (size, terrain, symmetry, etc.), (2) a new version of the map centered in the 256x256 map area, (3) a PICT file containing an image of the map. Free for non-commercial use.
	An example map image (2:1):
	Bolo2GIF by Morten Kjeldgaard (morten@case.kemi.aau.dk), version 0.95, copywrited 1994. A utility that converts a map file to a GIF image intended for display on WWW pages. It also can create text files that list statistics about maps. Not specified, but apparently freeware.
	An example map image (2:1):
	bmap2ppm by Don Thompson (nix@malice.cass.usu.edu), no version, dated 5 April 1994. A unix utility that converts a map file to ppm format. The FORTRAN source code is available at http://bolo.usu.edu/~nix/maps/bmap2ppm.f.txt. Not specified, but apparently freeware.
	An example map image (1:1):
	Bolotomy by Alan Witmer and Jerry Halstead (incomplete e-mail addresses given), no version, dated 29 April 1993. A utility for converting Macintosh PICT images into maps. Released as $8 shareware, but no other versions were ever done.
	BoloStar by Keith Fry and Dan Rudman (old e-mail addresses given in documentation), version 1.5, dated 26 April 1993. BoloStar was the first full-featured map editor. Some of its unique features are support for external plug-in modules (like PhotoShop, for example), and a special menu for holding map pieces as clip art. It also edits old-style resource format maps. $10 shareware (BoloStar is no longer supported).
	BoloScape by Nathan Lamont (bigplan@tiac.net), version 0.06A, dated 25 March 1997 (version 0.06A is PowerPC-only--an older version, 0.04A, runs on 680x0 Macintoshes). Another random mapper. BoloScape has an array of slider controls for setting terrain ratios, and seems to use fractals for map generation. It can also generate B&W PICT files of any map for printing. Not specified, but apparently freeware.
	An example BoloScape map (1:1):
	BoloMapEditor by Tom Barrett (barrett@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu), version 1.0, dated 13 March 1993. BoloMapEditor was the first stand-alone map editing application. Portions of BoloMapEditor were incorporated into BMAPEdit. Freeware (BoloMapEditor is no longer supported).
	bmapmake by Charles J. Brabec (brabec@pysgjb.physics.ncsu.edu), version 1.0, dated 5 August 1994. The most recent random mapper, which was released as source code that uses standard Unix files (it is not a Macintosh application). bmapmake, also known as Birdman's Map Maker, creates maps by randomly selecting 5x5 square map pieces called fragments from an external file. It is unique in that it can generate maps with selectable symmetry, such as horizonal or vertical mirror symmetry. Public domain (bmapmake was incorporated into BMAPEdit).
	An example bmapmake map (2:1):
	BMAPView by Jochen Lippert (darth@zfn.uni-bremen.de), version 0.99.7, dated 20 May 1996. A small application (only 8 kbytes) that displays maps in a 256x256 pixel color window where each pixel represents one map square. Freeware.

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