The Magic Seal Editor
Documentation
This is the documentation for The Magic
Seal Editor. This file contains important information that will help make
the editor easier to use, and make you more productive. Refer to this file,
whenever you are having difficulties using the editor.
Starting the editor
Click on "Build a Room" in the start Menu, the editor will open
When the editor starts, it opens a new empty room for you to start. The
interface is really simple.
Here is a quick overview of the important
options..
File
New: Creates a new empty room (you can work on more than one
room at the same time)
Save: Saves the current room to a file
Load: Loads a room from file and opens in the editor
The File menu also has the last 4 rooms you opened. This comes in handy if
you want to reopen a room you are currently working on...
Edit
Copy: Copies the currently selected cell into the editor
memory
Cut: Cuts the currently selected cell into the editor memory
Paste: Puts the cell in the editor memory into the currently
selected cell
Undo: Undo the last operation you did. Useful if you just made
a mistake!
These are the usual operations you find in all windows programs... If you
know how to use Windows, you will find the editor really easy.
Now comes the 2 most important operations when you are using the editor...
1. The Try button in the toolbar is used to try the room you
have done in the game. To try a room you do the following
a. Left click on the spot where
you want the prince to start the room in.
b. Click try. Notice that the locations of the current cell are
copied into the edit boxes. Click Ok to try the room
This is important. You don't PUT the
prince in the room, just like you put everything else. This is logical,
because this room can be in the middle of a huge castle. It is pointless to
PUT a prince in the room. Instead, you try putting him in different places.
you click on the spot where you want the prince to start, and click try.
To actually determine the place where the prince will start in the whole
castle is a step that we will cover later, when we build a whole castle.
Note: the Try feature is disabled in the
shareware version
2. Right clicking!
This is the single most important feature you are going to use when dealing with the editor.
Right clicking on the map is equivalent to pasting. So, after copying a
cell, you right click and hold the right mouse button down, and move around.
This is like using a brush to draw on the room. Be sure to try this feature
now, because it is the most important feature in the editor, and it makes
life really so much easier.
The Cell Properties Dialog
Having had a look at the editor itself,
we now turn our attention into the cell definition dialog. This is the
dialog in which you define how the cell looks like. At first sight, it looks
complex. But this is just an illusion, here we explain how it goes step by
step...
As you can see, the cell definition
dialog is decomposed into 4 independent parts. Each part sets a certain
property for this cell... The 4 parts are the color, the surface,
the door, and the objects in the cell. Don't panic, it is much
easier than it looks like...
1.
Color: This is the easiest thing. Here you
choose the color of the cell. This has no effect on the puzzles themselves.
Simply choose the ground you want from the 14 available ones. Your current
selection will be shown in the small box to the right.
2. Surface: This is where
you choose the type of the surface. Does it have a conveyor belt? a sliding
gate? a switch? and so on... Simply, click on the surface you want,
depending on the surface, more options may become active...
a. If it is a
switch: The "Select from the map" button becomes active. Click it to
choose the target
of the switch. When you click it, you return to the map, click once on the
target for the button.
b. Again, if it is a switch, the state becomes "Open
Target", or "Close Target". Choose the behavior you want for the switch.
c. If it is a sliding gate, you get the options of making it
open or close. Choose the state you prefer.
d. If it is a blue conveyor belt, or an orange conveyor belt,
you choose the ID of the conveyor belt. What this means is that blue
conveyor belts of ID 0 control all the orange belts of ID 0. Blue conveyor
belts of ID 1 control all the orange CBs of ID 1, and so on... You have 5
different IDs to work with (i.e. you can create 5 groups of independent
blue CBs/Orange CBs pairs. Don't worry if this is not very clear right
now, it will become clearer after you start using the editor).
3.
Door: This is easy. Select the color of the
door you want. Remember that the colored doors, open using a gem of the same
color, whilst silver doors open using a switch. So, if this is a colored
door, remember to put a gem of the same color somewhere, or if it is a
silver one, remember to put the switch to open it. (or close it). You can
also choose whether the door is open of close.
4.
Object: The last property you have to set, is
the object in this cell. If the cell does not have a hole, this becomes
simple, just click on the object you want to appear in the cell. Some
properties will appear on the right side, set them for this object. The
three options, are Direction, State and Frame
a. Direction: Some
objects have a direction. Like monsters, and laser turrets. Set a
direction for them using this combo box. Some objects don't have a
direction (like boxes). This combo box will be disabled in this case.
b. State: Some objects also have a state. Like laser
turrets. They can be on or off. Or Elevators, they can be Going Up, or
Down, or not working. Choose the state for the object you choose
c. Frame: Ignore these for now. They are not
essential. Once you really grasp how the editor works, have a look at the
advanced section below for a description of this one.
If you want to add a hole, click on the "Cell
has a hole" radio button. Notice that a list box, and an edit box will
appear. Enter the depth of the hole you want, and click
generate.
In most cases this is enough. If you are interested in adding contents to
the hole (like a hole with a spike in it), click on the appropriate position
in the list box at the far left, then click on the object you want to add.
This may become clearer after using the editor for a while.
Summing Up
So, to sum up all what we have learned,
here is a quick summary..
To build a room, the steps are...
1. Start a new empty room...
2. Double click on a cell, and use the cell definition dialog, to
define the shape of the cell.
3. Copy it (using Ctrl+C, or from the menu)
4. Press and hold the right mouse button, to draw this cell, in all
the places you want. (Using the mouse as a brush).
5. Double click on another cell to define it, and so on...
6. Click once on the square you want the prince to start at, and
click try in the toolbar.
If any of the steps above are not very
clear, try to use the editor for a while, and then read the above again. It
is easier than it looks!!
Advanced Topics
The reader is recommended to go ahead and
try the editor now. The topics below are advanced, and it is recommended
that you skip them on first reading. Return to this part only when you are
really good at using the editor, and you want to know how to do any of the
following techniques...
1. Sliding Gates
These are the gates that automatically
open and close at specified intervals. You will find them under the "surfaces"
part in the cell dialog. There are two types of them. One type is the manual
type. This is triggered by a switch. There is nothing tricky about those.
The trick comes to the automatic type. They open and close automatically at
specified intervals, but how do you specify the interval. It is easy. You
put the interval in the SurfaceY edit box (the
one to the right) below the surface images directly. A value of 50 means
approximately one second. It is best to experiment with different values,
and see which one works best with the room you are developing.
2. Frames
What does the frame field do for the
objects? This field is at the bottom right of the cell dialog. The purpose
of this field is just aesthetic. Remember in the game where there were many
apples next to each other? They didn't all float at the same time. They
danced together in some sort of a wave! (try the sample file "Never
Released.room", watch the row of apples to see this in action). To
create the same effect, give each apple a different frame value. For example
the first is 0, the next is 5, the next is 10, and so on... This will create
the effect you saw in the game. If all of them are set to 0. They will all
move up and down together, which is not as beautiful!
3. blue square
You may have come across the hollow blue
square in the object images (Image number 40 in the list, just after the
elevator). This is some sort of invisible wall. It is not drawn in the game,
but it just blocks the way. Remember the dark room in the shareware version?
it was created using this invisible wall
4. elevator
Adding an elevator to your room is a
little tricky. There are certain rules you have to follow for the elevator
to work...
the rules are...
1. The elevator must be in a cell which
has a depth of 4. If you put an elevator in a cell whose depth is
not 4, it will not work (the prince will just walk over it and nothing
will happen).
2. The elevator has to be in the first hole position (click Hole:1 and
choose the elevator)
3. The 3 spaces below the elevator have to be filled by that invisible
wall we just described above (see number 3 above). In each of the 3 slots,
put the invisible wall (index number 40), for the elevator to work
If you want to see this in action, check
sample room "Shareware - row 4 column 1.room" (double click on the elevator
cell to see how it works).
Specifying the destination of the
elevator is another story! This step takes place, when we are joining the
rooms together. It will be discussed when we talk about the joiner later...
Still having problems?
If you are having any troubles with the
editor, please feel free to ask. You can ask in the forums, where everyone
will have a look at your question, and give you the answer, along with
several hints and tips. Or contact us directly, and we will be more than
glad to help (editor@themagicseal.com)
So far, we have covered the basics of using the editor itself. There is a
totally different topic. Namely, how to get a good idea for a room? How to
create a room that is really tricky? or really easy? and so on... This is a
totally different topic. In fact, We are currently preparing an article
about this topic. I hope it will be released really soon (keep checking the
site). If you really can't wait for it to be released, please contact us (editor@themagicseal.com),
and we will be glad to give you some tips to get you started.
