VGAP4_Mapper v0.8ß ------------------ Written by Klaus Breuer I can be reached on the HotMail.com server: username is KlausBreuer (Sorry for thus encoding my email address, but I don't like automatic spammers) http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/ 18th of March, 2003 Any feedback is much appreciated! What is this? ------------- This is a small and simple program to display, annotate, save and print map files from the game "VGA Planets v4" (http://www.vga-planets.com). I'm very interested in feedback, especially about RAM usage and execution speed. Caution: this is a beta version, with some bugs. As soon as these bugs are killed, and a few more options added (printing?), the version will jump to v1.0. From v0.8ß onwards, this program is under the GPL, with the source freely available. How to use this --------------- First, open a new map. These are *only* .MAP files for VGAP4. (You can also simply drag-and-drop a map file onto the EXE in the explorer). The following tabs are available: * Info Displays general information on the map itself. * Map/Display Here you see the map itself (scroll about using the scrollbars). Zoom in and out using 'Map Scale'. In 'Planet Display' you can select the kind of planet labels displayed, as well as their colors. In 'Grid' you can toggle a grid on and off, as well as choose its size. 'Map Info' will show the map location pointed at by the mouse, as well as the name of the closest planet to that point. * Map/Markings 'Planet Search' does just that. With the radio buttons, you can also select if the found planet should be marked (circled) or unmarked (removing the circle). If you enter a cooordinate pair (for example, simply 2048,1067), the coordinates will be marked instead. 'Markings' will allow you to add annotations to the map. Currently, circles are allowed (by marking planets), while you can add text by typing some in behind the text button (with the 'A' on it), clicking on the map where you want the text to begin, and then clicking on the text button. You can add circles also by entering the circle size (in map units), clicking on the circle center on the map, and clicking on the 'circle' button. * Map/Lists Here you can view and change the markings. Once you've changed the data (beware: no reality checking is done yet), you have to click on the [Save Changes] button to actually cause these changes to be accepted. * Source This just shows you the map data, as read from the file. * Config Here you can set the colors to be used. The 'Printer Colors' are currently only usable in conjunction with the 'Use Print Colors' checkbox in the 'Display' tab. If you select 'Use Temperature Colors', the planets will be colored according to their temperature, even if you use printer colors. Click on the [Default] button to set thecolors to their default values (as defined by me). Just in case you mess up. * Menu/Save This will save your map in either JPEG (can be slow) or BMP (will be huge) format. I plan to add PNG support (great, small files in perfect quality) as soon as I can. Note that the image size depends on your scale setting. * Menu/Save As This will write all annotations into a file with the same name as your map file, but with the extension '.TXT'. Of course, this map can be edited to your hearts content. Mark comments with a ';' at the beginning of the line. You can also right-click on the map to add annotations. Lines can *only* be added this way. Trouble with this version ------------------------- * You can't print yet. But you *can* save the file and print that using PaintShop Pro or whatever. In this case, it's smart to use the 'Use Printer Colors' option - which will give you a white background. You might also need 'Show as squares', to make sure the planets are not printed as tiny dots. The size of the saved map (and thus your printer resolution) depends on how far you've zoomed in. * Several options are not implemented yet - especially the 'Print' option. Known Bugs ---------- The following bugs are currently known: * The Zoom does not stay centered while zooming. Features to implement --------------------- Here's a list of features I plan to implement (in addition to the ones still greyed out). I'm very interested in feedback to this - which features would *you* like to see in here? * Select rectangle to display planet names in * Dual grid or main grid lines * Optionally show grid coords at map edge * Box zooming * Search in map source * Save map as PNG * Create small JPEG/PNG for website * Optional background image * Distance measurement with planet snap * Set icon markers * Possibly background color areas (for marking territories) * Tim told me that he'll make the current game data available - meaning we'll be able to auto-annotate the map. And possibly add some statistics (population growth, etc). Version History --------------- v0.1ß 2003-01-31 First release, many features missing. Massive RAM usage. v0.2ß 2003-02-05 Added coords searching, configuring of colors, and save/load configuration. v0.3ß 2003-02-06 Max setting for bitmap size, and better error-trapping. First parameter: map file. Second parameter: INI file. Thus you can drag a map onto the program icon, and use different INI files if necessary. Planet temperature display and colors added. v0.4ß 2003-02-07 Can load some corrupted maps. Doesn't always ask if you want to exit. Changedelay in zooming, should aid slower PCs. Text annotations added. Annotations (so far only circles and text) are saved in the .TXT file. Annotations can also be modified now, and their display be toggled on and off. v0.5ß 2003-02-12 Menu now contains a list of the last 8 maps loaded for quick access. Optionally auto-loads the last active map. Open Dialog only displays *.MAP files. Users can draw circles on the map (any size, but no label) 0.6ß 2003-02-21 Warning message now has english Yes/No buttons. Much smaller RAM usage. Faster zooming while grid is drawn. Bug: Zoom doesn't stay properly centered 0.7ß 2003-02-27 Fixed bug: only the displayed map was saved (argh) Fixed appearance (zoomed map window in) System now shows MB required to save under the zoom slider, complete with warning message as needed 0.8ß 2003-03-18 Added the option to display the last spot clicked on the map as a cross. Added range circles. Default marker text and settings are now saved in the INI, too. Added an RClick pop-up menu to the map. Added line markers. Program is now under the GPL - go ahead and laugh at the terrible source code ;) EOF