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albert
Newbie


Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 4
Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 9:55 pm   

guide for supporting new games?
 
Is there a guide somewhere which will tell me how to support a new game using zExplorer? I want to add support for http://www.atitd.com/ and wanted to see if there was a guide before I reverse-engineer what the fields in the tables in the MDB do.
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Albert
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Zugg
MASTER


Joined: 25 Sep 2000
Posts: 23379
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2003 5:13 am   
 
Not yet. I'm working on exactly that right now, so it might be easier to just wait a few weeks. I'll be releasing some sample PHP scripts that work with MySQL servers to host map servers. Then I'll be updating zMapper to work with these scripts to make it easy to create and upload your own game maps for people to use with zExplorer.

It probably wouldn't be very useful to reverse engineer the database files at this point since they will likely change as I add these features myself.

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albert
Newbie


Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 4
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 12:58 am   
 
Now that 4.1 and the server scripts are out, how about that guide?
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mr_kent
Enchanter


Joined: 10 Oct 2000
Posts: 698

PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 12:32 pm   
 
quote:
Originally posted by albert

Now that 4.1 and the server scripts are out, how about that guide?


Zugg is only one god..er man. We zMud users convinced him into taking WAY longer spiffing up zMud than he intended. Anyway, I know that zMapper and AC Explorer stuff are the next projects he's going to tackle. Hang in there, it's always worth the wait.

Also, Zugg has a sinus infection but, still working through it. While I doubt zMud will benefit much from this illness, I'm willing to bet he's thinking up some unique, powerful additions for zMapper and Explorer while he's laid up in bed. Zugg with a cold is a mixed blessing, while we hate for him to feel bad, some of his best ideas have come to him while he's been sick.
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Zugg
MASTER


Joined: 25 Sep 2000
Posts: 23379
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 6:58 pm   
 
Also, download the server scripts and read the DOC help file that comes with them. It gives basic instructions for setting up a new game using those scripts.
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albert
Newbie


Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 4
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 6:07 am   
 
Zugg, You have my apologies if I seemed impatient or rude in my last reply. I just wanted to remind you that this was on your To-Do list.

I've installed the scripts and added my game, but now I need more complex help, to help configure it for a game rather unlike AC/AC2.
For Example:
  • How to I define the coordinate boundaries of the world? ATITD is a 16,384 by 8,192 coordinate world (-3072, -8192 to 5120, 8192), and most things that you'd want to map are dealt with on even integer coordinates.
    (Guess: Something to do with the x/y/z-related columns in ZoneTbl and the rows in DirTbl and the ShowNS and FlipY settings in the usergame.txt file)

  • Can backgrounds be anything but GIFs? The map I have for the game is currently a very large high color PNG (14Mb), but due to the resolution of the file, loading the current image causes a very large memory footprint. I want to know what I can convert it to that zExplorer will like.

  • How do I define my own location types? ATITD doesn't have dungeons or portals or towns or lifestones or a lot of the things in AC1/2. Is there a limit to the number of "kind"s that zExplorer will display in the "Show" menu?
    (Guess: the rows in KindTbl define the kindIDs which are then used in ObjectTbl)

  • Does zExplorer support multiple zones, via additional rows in the ZoneTbl table? Or can I only define zoom levels like the full/nearby/detailed/town in the individual game .ini file?

If you'd rather I post all my questions here, rather than waiting for a complete guide to supporting new games, let me know in a reply to this thread.
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Zugg
MASTER


Joined: 25 Sep 2000
Posts: 23379
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 6:52 am   
 
Ahh, you need to take a look at zMapper. You must create the initial *.MDB database file for a new game using zMapper. zMapper has functions in the Zone menu for setting up the coordinate system, matching the coordinates with existing background images, etc. It also has the tools for creating the different "room types" and the icons for those location types. It also sets up the zones and the hierarchical arrangement of the zones.

Remember that zExplorer is just the *viewer* of the map. zMapper is the map creation and editing tool. The only editing tools in zExplorer are the simple tools to let users add new locations and add comments about locations. I've always intended that the person making the initial maps will need to use zMapper, and then all of the users who just play the game just need zExplorer to view the map and share information about locations.

As far as background images, you can only use GIF or BMP images. BMPs load the fastest, but take up the most disk space. If you have a PNG map you'll need to convert it to GIF for now. I might add support for other formats in the future, but for now it's just GIF. For something that large (14MB), you might want to look at breaking it into zones. Not only will that be a huge file for users to intially download, but it will probably take a while to load when you start the program.
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