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                                  ^2@1 TOME.@

                           ^6[3 (TOtal Map Editor)[0

                             ^6{2by SHADOWSOFT.{

                         ^4[5 Reviewed by Len Tucker.[0

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^4[2 TOME[0 is by far the best extension brought out for[2 AMOS.[0 For those of
^4you who have not heard of [2TOME,[0 this article aims to make you see
^4what your missing out on! 
 
^1[2 TOME[0 stands for[1 TOTAL MAP EDITOR,[0 and that describes it completely.
^1It was created by^2 Aaron Fothergill^1 and is only available from him .
^1(for address, see credits section.) It costs £24.99p or £19.99p for
^1[2AMOS CLUB[0 members.

^2 So far I have used [2TOME[0 to write three programs, and have very many
^2more planned. The variety of game styles possible is almost endless,
^2and the more you think, the more become available.

^6 Shoot'em ups     ----    ^1 like Xenon II

^6 Arcades          ----    ^1 like Rick Dangerous, Seven Gates of Jambala

^6 Role Players     ----    ^1 like Alternate Reality, Dngeon Master

^6 Trader Games     ----    ^1 like Elite

^6 War Games        ----    ^1 like SSI range

^6 Simulator Stratagies ----^1 like Populous, Sim City
 
^6 etc...etc...etc......

^2 By the way, I'm not telling you to write copies of these games, just
^2think of the types of games they are!!!!!!
  
^1 To create your world, use the program called TOME.AMOS, which is the
^1map editor. In my view, the Amiga has yet to see a better or easier
^1to use map editor written in[2 ANY[0 language.

^4 It is bursting with tools and gadgets to help you create your world.
^4With the new version you can view the whole of your map at the press
^4of a key. This would have been invaluable to me if it had been in the
^4original version, and will be made full use of in future games!

 ^7 You start by drawing tiles in an art package, these can be 16x16
^732x32 32x16 or 16x32 pixels (width x height)

^6 These can be in up to 32 colours but I have found that games play
^6faster if 16 colours or less are used.
 
^2 Creating a world in [2TOME[0 is child's play (tested by our 11 year old
^2son!) it's just a matter of clicking on the tile you want and placing
^2it where you want it to be, jigsaw fashion.
 
^1 You can assign values to tiles, to illustrate this, imagine that
^1there is a treasure chest to be picked up in your game. Let's say
^1that it is on tile no 26, the tile value for that tile on your first
^1list corresponds to tile 18 which shows`5000 points' as a score for
^1getting the chest, then the tile value for the original list is tile
^10, a floor tile. In English - the player finds a treasure chest and
^1picks it up - chest disappears revealing `5000 points' which stays
^1for a given time then vanishes to leave a bare piece of floor. All
^1this can be done with the minimum of coding. This is just one of the
^1uses of tileval, perhaps you'll come up with more examples.

^7 [2TOME[0 also gives you the ability to change palettes which with a bit
^7of forward planning could let you move from day to night time, using
^7the same graphics.
 
^7 Once your world has been created, it is saved to disk and is then
^7Bloaded into memory. The map is Bloaded into Bank 6, and the tile val
^7files are saved out at the same time as the map and are Bloaded into
^7Bank 8.
 
^6[4 But what do I do with it now??[0
  
^4 It could have been very difficult to manipulate a world the size of
^4a [2TOME[0 map, but Aaron has come to the rescue again by including
^4sample scrolling routines for you to use - vertical, horizontal and
^48-way are supplied.
 
^5 There is also an [1AUTOMAP[0 feature which creates maze type maps for
^5you, or at least goes as far as doing 75% of the work for you. After
^5choosing the size of the map etc from the options given, TOME will
^5draw a map for you. All that's left for you to do is tidy up the
^5result to suit your needs. Be warned though that a large map will
^5take a long time to create, so go make a coffee or catch up on
^5Coronation Street while it's working! Just think how much longer it
^5would take to create it manually!
       
^2 This extension is the closest thing to a construction kit that [2AMOS[0
^2has, it leaves your time free to check on tile values, and put in the
^2options and conditions necessary to complete the game.

^7 There is help available on screen if needed, and the full manual is
^7on disk.

^1 Also on the disk are several demos. The[2 TOME[0 goodies disk shows
^1precisely what[2 TOME[0 can do. There is a 3-D Dungeon Game, a scrolling
^1isometric game and Magic Forest II. This disk will only be available
^1to registered[2 TOME[0 users.

^4 To show you how quickly a game can be created with [2TOME,[0 one of mine
^4took only a week to produce, and I didn't stay up at night either!
^4So it shows that you can get impressive results with the minimum of
^4work.

^2 If you are serious about[2 AMOS[0 programming, a learner, or just
^2thinking of a one off mega game,[2 TOME[0 is an essential purchase.

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