Woodward World Editor User's Guide

Shape tab:

The most basic thing is a frame. This is currently a "raw" photoshop image although I am thinking of also using converted gifs and jpegs, basically whatever java can read. So in the "shape" tab of the editor you assemble frames into "shapes". (A shape is a collection of frames.) On the left, is the list of shapes you have so far. You can double-click one (or hit edit) and the editor will display all the frames in this shape on the right. If you double click a frame (or select it and press edit frame) you get the frame properties dialog. This is where you tell the editor the how wide, tall,etc. your image is. Imagine that a frame is a 3d cube looked at from a 45 degree angle (called an isometric view, b/c all angles are the same.) So as you move your mouse around, you'll see that the editor highlights the base of the frames with a different color. To add a new frame, first create a graphic in photoshop, change the color mode to indexed color, select a custom palette (data/day.act) and save as raw. Remember the height and width of the image. Then go to the editor, create a new shape, hit "add frame" and enter the frame properties. Simple ;-)

Chunk tab:

You assemble shapes (well frames) into chunks on the chunk tab. Again, on the left you have all your created chunks. Double click on one (or click edit) and the chunk will display on the grid in the center. To add a shape select a height where you want to add to with the slider (where 0 is a ground tile and a height of 1 or more is a 3d shape.), select a shape on the right and left click in the grid. You can move the selected shape (not drag) to where you want it. Right-clicking will cycle through the frames within the selected shape (while you're moving it around.) An additional left click will freeze the location of the shape. To delete it, right click again.

Map tab:

In the map tab, you assemble chunks into regions. So every cell in the right-hand little grid represents a region. Double-click the top-left cell of the right-hand little grid and larger grid should now be populated with scaled down preview images of chunks. You can select a chunk in the bottom chunk-strip and place it in the selected region (the large center grid) with a left-click. Be sure to hit "save region" before switching to another region!

Preview tab:

The preview tab has multiple functions. First, it shows you an "in-game" view of the map you've made and second, it lets you place dynamic objects, npc-s (creatures), etc. in the map. When creating a chunk (previous section) you add static objects, that is shapes that will always be the same in every instance of the chunk being edited. In the preview pane you can shapes to a chunk that appear only in that chunk instance. To do this, scroll around the map using the direction buttons on the bottom (you only need to click and let go, there's a scrolling thread that will be activated) to a location of your heart's desire. Then select the type of dynamic item you wish to add. Currently only shapes and objects (more on this later) are supported, but npc-s, etc. are coming. Select an item from the list, move over the map and left click. Moving your mouse around will move (you don't need to drag) the selected item about the map. You'll notice that in this mode, you're restricted to the chunk you clicked in - this may go away in future versions. Much like the chunk editor, right-clicking will cycle through the selected item's frames, left clicking again will place the item at cursor's location. You can later delete the object by right clicking it. (Deleting can be tricky, currently you have to right click in the object's hotspot which can be difficoult to find as it changes with the object's elevation.) You'll also notice that in the preview pane, the object's elevation changes as you move the mouse on top of already existing objects. A good example of static vs. dynamic objects is a chunk of a house, where the doors and windows are dynamic so that the player at game-time can open and close them. (Or any object the player can pick up (interact with) should be dynamic.)

Items tab:

You can create game objects in the items tab.
** more info needed here **