The Map Editor

   The map editor is the core of the game processor editor. This is where
you will actually design the playing field using images designed in the
terrain hex editor. The map editor is the only area from which the user can
access the pull down menus (including the save function), or exit the
program.

   There's a bug related to the non-standard graphics handler being used,
where the cursor goes away when you change screens. If this happens to you,
just press Left-amiga and the "g" key simultaneously, two times. This takes
you to the workbench, and then back to the Wargame Processor, and brings
the cursor back. I've tried fixing this with a mouse show command at the
end of each screen refresh, but it had no effect.

   At the right of the screen, above the buttons, is the image of the
current active hex image. The number above the image indicates the image
number the program has assigned to it. This image is also attached to the
mouse. To place this image on the map, simply click in the desired hex. If
you make a mistake and wish to return to the original image you pasted
over, simply double-click on the hex and it will return its original image.

   If you hold either shift key down along with the left mouse button, the
selected terrain feature will be pasted over every hex the mouse touches as
you move the mouse.  This allows you to "paint" broad areas of your map
with a particular type of terrain without having to click on each
individual hex.

   To select a new image from the library of images, use the buttons to the
right of the displayed image, +1/+10 or -1/-10. These will page through the
available images. Simply stop on the image you want. If the desired image
is not available from the default editor hexes, you may use the terrain
editor to draw the desired terrain in an unused hex image.

   To scroll the map up down or sideways, use the arrow keys on the
keyboard. To scroll quickly, use the numeric keys, 2-4-6-8. The visible
area relative to the map will be represented by the red box in the upper
right corner of the screen. Clicking in this area will also allow you to
move around the map. Just move the red box to the area you want to view and
click the mouse button.

Button Functions:

   The "Name Hexes" button will allow the user to rename a hex from the
default coordinate name. The default coordinate name is located just below
the overview map, and updates as you move the mouse cursor around the
screen. When the "Name Hexes" function is enabled, a hex may be marked by
clicking on it, and the new name typed in. Pressing Return ends the text
entry. No other functions will be possible while text entry is active.
   You may copy a hex name by clicking on the hex and pressing "Amiga-C." 
To paste this name down, click on another hex and press "Amiga-V."  This is
useful if you have a group of hexes you want to designate the same, like in
an area-type game.
   Sometimes you may wish to clear the coordinates from an area of the map,
such as the edge.  There is an easy way to do this from the "Name Hexes"
mode.  Simply click on any hex you want to instantly clear the name of, and
press F1.  The name is gone, and you're ready to click the next hex.


   The "Place Underlay" button indicates the mode of image placement which
is active.  Pressing it will cause the button to change to "Place Overlay",
and will allow layer 2 images to be placed. The map editor defaults to
placing layer 1 images at startup. Pressing the button a second time will
cause the button to read "Erase Overlay." This will remove whatever image
is in layer 2 from a hex. There are 400 possible hex images available to
create a map. The first 125 of these are reserved for layer 2, and all the
rest are devoted to layer 1. Overlays are used to embellish terrain with
rivers, hex edges, cities, etc. without using up too many image resources.

    The "Make Overview" button will draw a new overview map in the upper
right-hand corner which will reflect any changes made in the map. You
should always save your work before using this, as it hasn't been
thoroughly tested, particularly on very large maps, and may contain some
fatal bugs.

    The "Edit Units" and "Edit Terrain" buttons provide access to other
editor functions.

    The "Force Pools" button allows the user to assign his own names to any
of the 18 Force pools. Force pools are off-map holding areas for units and
can be designated whatever name the user desires. You may notice that there
is no capability to place units on the map. This can only be done from the
WarGame Processor player. All units will be placed on the map in the upper
left corner as an initial default. Designers should include a savegame file
which distributes the units in some fashion to expedite setup.

Menus: 

The Project menu:
   Save allows the user to save his module to disk. The game will be saved
using the name you select. All images will be saved with the module files
in the "Modules" directory, located under the directory that the editor was
launched from. Two files are saved with each module, one *.GPD file which
contains all the graphic images unique to your module, and one *.GPF, which
contains the data for how to put the graphics together.

   "About" contains the copyright notice for the Game Processor.

   "Quit" allows you to exit the program. A verification message is
provided before final shutdown. 

The Images Menu:

   "Make Unit Template" will create an IFF picture of all the unit images
used in the module. This picture can then be edited by a more powerful
paint program than the tools contained in the Game processor. Don't try to
change the palette of the picture, because the WGP program will force it
back to the default palette

   "Make Hex Template" will create an IFF picture of all the hex images
used in the module.  This picture can then be edited by a more powerful
paint program than the tools contained in the Game processor. 

   "Cut Unit Template" will load an IFF picture of a unit template, then
extract the unit images from the template and incorporate them as part of
the present module. This allows you to reload your edited templates.

   "Cut Hex Template" will load an IFF picture of a hex template, then
extract the unit images from the template and incorporate them as part of
the present module. This allows you to reload your edited templates. 

   "Add Units" will allow you to increase the number of units in a module. 
I've found that I always estimate low when I'm figuring out how many I
need.  If you do this, you must immediately saveyour work and exit the WGP
Editor.  This is because the program has already been initialised with the
old number of units, and that cannot be changed without a restart.  An
unfortunate side-effect is that if you have any games in progress with the
module you are modifying, the old savegames will cause a crash if you try
to load them.  It's a good idea to give the new file a different name.

   "Macro Hexes" is a specialized function to address some of the problems
with using the WGP in tactical games such as Squad Leader.  To deal with
the special requirements of these games in beta test, it was decided to
make each "game" hex cover a number of WGP hexes.  Then every WGP hex could
have a different status assigned to it, so units in the same hex could be
distinguished by level, function, or however the player chose to organize
them.  This menu option is intended for use with the ASL_template.tpi hex
library, which can be cut using the hex cutter menu.  With this image
library, this menu option will draw the hexsides for much larger hexes on
the map.  
   With the basic WGP set there is not enough program space to allow more
than two Squad Leader mapboards to fit using this method.  You can download
the "WGP_Monster" program from either GEnie or the DUP aminet site, which
will utilize expanded RAM: if you have more than 2 megs.  This will give
you mapboards up to 250x250 WGP hexes.
 
   "Report Hex Usage" provides a report of which hex images have been used
and how many times they have been used.  Images which are unused are
highlighted in red.  This is a valuable tool for managing very large image
libraries through the development process.

Help menu -- hey, if you're reading this, you probably already have this
one under control.