The Cartographer is Portal©’s mapping viewer and editor. The cartographer is a comprehensive graphic editor where you can view existing maps and edit them as necessary. Portal©'s cartographer also provides you with a full-functioned automated mapping/maintenance system.
First we’ll run through the basic controls of the cartographer, then we’ll move on to actual usage.
Menu Items
Use this to select an existing
map level to view from the drop-down list in the map box.
Note: Unlike aspects of
player profiles, cartographer map levels are not tied to a specific profile. Any user can open any cartographer map level
residing in the system.
Create a new cartographer map
level. A level can be a complete map, or one
level of a multiple (vertical) area. You will be prompted for the name
you wish to call the map. You will also
be able to add whatever notes you wish.
View the properties of the
current map level. You can change the display
colors of the map via this screen, as well as edit the map’s memo.
Use this function to rename any previously created/imported map level.
Prints the current map
level. If you have a color printer, the printout is in full color.
Use
this to change the DPI (dots per inch resolution) of your printer to get the
best possible printed map.
Use this to save a graphic representation of the map in .bmp format.
Clears all rooms and links from
the current map level – this
is permanent!
Delete the current map level – this
is permanent!
Delete or clear a batch of map levels – this
is permanent too!
Import an existing map (or maps)
file
into the Cartographer. You will be
prompted for the name you wish to call each map you import.
Note: With larger maps,
or large batches of maps, this can take a while.
Export the current map level to a
save file.
Export ALL map
levels to
individual save files in the specified directory.
Map|Close Cartographer
Closes the cartographer screen.
Toggles the enabling of manual
mouse-editing of map levels.
Sets the current map as the
default map level to open when starting Portal©.
Changes the font in which room
labels appear.
Temporarily flashes exit stubbed
rooms for easy location of incomplete corners of map levels.
A very handy feature that automatically completes opposing stubs (turns them into actual links) following the below rules:
Opposing stubs will be completed with a normal, two-way link
Single stubs pointing to rooms with no opposing stub will be completed with a one-way link
Only rooms immediately next to one another (one room away) will be completed
Only cardinal directions (n, e, w, s, ne, se, sw, nw) are completed
Note: With larger maps
this can take a while.
Sets the map level's attic/basement zoom and home position properties to the current map. This comes in handy for viewing multiple level maps.
Undoes the last major editing action you did.
Quickly searches the current
map's rooms for specific text. It will search both labels and room memos.
Moves the view of the map
accordingly.
Zooms
the map view accordingly.
Changes the map view to the assigned attic/basement for the current level (if any).
Moves the map to the specified
home position.
Sets the current view of the map
level as the home position.
Centers the map on the current location on the cartographer (may be on a different map than the current one).
Toggles keeping the
Cartographer screen on top of other screens.
Selection|Deselect Last Room
Clears the selection of the last
room selected.
Selection|Clear Room
Selection(s)
Clears any current room
selections (see the section on Selecting Rooms below)
Selection|Move Selected Rooms Menu Items
Moves the currently selected rooms in the direction indicated, keeping all exit links intact.
Selection|Change Properties of
Selected Room(s)
Assigns common room properties
to all selected rooms. The properties
that appear as default are those of the first selected room. All selected rooms will be assigned with the
common properties (see the section on Selecting Rooms below)
Help|Cartographer Help
Brings up this screen.
Statusbar Elements (top panel)
Question Mark Button
Brings up this help screen.
Map Level Box
Open an existing map level.
(X,Y) Label
Shows the current room coordinates of the mouse pointer. The label turns black when the coordinates indicate a valid placement for a room. If the label appears grayed out, a room cannot be placed at those coordinates.
Toolbar Elements (left-hand side panel)
Use the teal arrow buttons to move the map one click in any direction. The corner buttons will move the map one click in the diagonal directions. If the "x4" button is depressed, each direction click will move the map four clicks. If the "x8" button is depressed, each direction click will move the map eight clicks.
Note: You can also use the arrow keys
on the keyboard to move around on the map.
Hold down the Ctrl key and press the desired arrow key to move
one click in that direction. Hold down
both the Ctrl+Shift keys and press the desired arrow key to move four
clicks in that direction.
Use this button to define a room you wish to sprint to from the current location. Once selected, Portal© will then calculate the shortest path to the new room and proceed to send commands to the MUD that will get you there. Now, this is quite a simple explanation of the second main feature of the cartographer and arguably the ultimate end product. Sprinting can be summed up in this small text, but it is one very powerful and cool as hell feature.
Note: For sprinting to work, there must be a path that exists between the current room and the target room. A path basically consists of a chain of exits that lead from the originating room to the destination room. If no path exists to the destination room, you wil be notified.
This button turns “charting
mode” on or off. This will be explained
more below.
This button turns “following
mode” on or off. This will be explained
more below.
Note: You can have either charting
mode on, following mode on, or neither on.
The Exit Stub Display reflects
a small graphical representation of any exit stubs that will be placed on the
newly charted room. Don’t worry about
exit stubs right now, but when you’re ready, more information on them can be
found in the mapping help file on charting setup.
Failure Countdown Timer (black square)
This field displays how many
seconds are left in the charting “countdown to failure.” This aspect of charting is described below.
Returns the map level to the
home position.
Sets the current position of the map level as the home position.
Zooms in one click on the map.
Zoom
Out Button (- magnifying glass icon)
Zooms out one click on the map.
View
Attic Button (red up-arrow icon)
Views the attic of the current map level (if any).
View
Basement Button (green down-arrow icon)
Views the basement of the current map level (if any).
Edit
Map Button (map with pencil icon)
If this button is depressed (down) the map can be edited with mouse clicks. When depressed, the map canvas displays small dots on each viable "room-position" coordinate.
Room Style Buttons
Selects the icon to draw on
newly-created/replaced rooms as blank, up, down, up & down or special..
Selects the color in which to draw newly created/replaced rooms and links. Left click to select the FG (foreground) color and right click to select the BG (background) color. Rooms are outlined in the FG color and filled with the BG color. Links are colored in the FG color.
This small area displays what newly placed/replaced rooms will look like based on the above settings.
Use these keys (or the keyboard arrow keys) to move selected rooms around the map. This keeps any connected exit links intact.
Pressing this button brings up the group room properties screen. Anything saved here will be applied to all currently selected rooms.
Clears all room selections and hides the room selection buttons.
Cartographer Basics
The best way to start describing the whole concept of the Cartographer is with the following two rules.
This sounds obvious, because when you look at a brand new map, you see a
straight-line grid. The grid is
incremented by ½ increments though, so the actual room coordinates are every
other square. The reason for this is to
leave room to show the links between rooms.
To help you see which squares are valid “room squares,” the mouse
pointer will change to a straight up arrow when it’s over a valid square. Also, the Room Label (located on the toolbar
panel in the upper right corner of the screen) will appear in black (instead of
gray) and the slider cursors on the rulers will turn bright green (instead of
dark green).
This is related to the room rule above.
Links will visibly appear in the space between the two rooms, but the
endpoints of a link can only exist on integer coordinates.
Before editing with the mouse, make sure the Edit button (on the toolbar) is pressed down.
Simply left click
with the mouse on a valid room square.
The room will then appear in the style and colors you have selected
(using the Room Style buttons and the Color Grid).
Left click with the
mouse on a valid room square, then drag the cursor to another room square. You will see a thick blue line appear
between the two squares, indicating where the link will be created. When you are satisfied as to where you want
the other end of the link to be, unclick the mouse. You will then be confronted by the Create Map Link screen. Keep reading…
This screen comes
up whenever you have speed editing turned off.
What it does is allow you the opportunity to change the default
conditions of the link you are about to create.
First, select the command you will use to move back
and forth between the ORIGINATING and DESTINATION rooms. Usually
the commands are something like "n" to move to one room and
"s" to move back. Defaults
will appear to help you out with this, but they can be changed to anything you
desire.
The default values that appear
are based on the ”reversed” values you have selected through the Program
Options screen.
Note: If you clear
either field to be blank, then no exit will be created for that particular direction
(or both directions).
At this point you
can also define Pre/Post Actions to be executed before (Pre) and after (Post)
the individual exit commands are executed.
These commands can be virtually anything. Something handy would be to use a Pre-Action to open a door, then
the exit command would move you through the door, and then the Post-Action
would close the door.
Next, select the
command you will use to move from the DESTINATION room back to the ORIGINATING
room. Follow the same rules as in the previous
step.
Then select the
Link Color. This will be the color in
which the link will appear. The default
color that appears on this screen is driven from the FG color you have
currently selected in the Cartographer, but you can change this one as you
wish.
Once you’ve setup
the links, you then are asked what to do with the rooms at the endpoints. You are given the opportunity to
automatically add rooms here (if they don’t exist already) or alter the ones
that are currently there.
This is where you
work with the originating room’s properties.
If there is no room at the originating endpoint, leave this box checked
and one will be created (in the style/color selected). The default values that appear are the
values of the existing room. For
example, when you dragged the link, you dragged it from a blue/white room. That’s what appears here. If you wanted to change it to green/white,
go ahead and it will be overwritten with the new values. You are even able to choose a new map or
even new coordinates where you would like the room placed.
Leaving the box
unchecked will not alter the current room, or, if no room exists yet, will not
create one at those coordinates.
This is exactly the
same as the above description for the originating room, but this area defines
the properties for the destination room.
Once you are
satisfied with the link and endpoint rooms, press the Accept Button to close
off the Create Map Link Screen and boom!
The link is created, with or without endpoint rooms as you chose. If you created commands for moving both ways
across the link, the line will appear solid.
If you deleted one of them, then you effectively created a one-way link
between the two squares. This will be visibly
indicated as such on the map with an arrowhead appearing in the middle of the
link pointing in the direction of the one-way.
Note: Again, the Create
Map Link screen will only appear if you have your speed editing turned
off. Once you have gained experience
using the editing capabilities of the Cartographer, you will rarely use the
Create Map Link screen any more.
There are a couple
ways to do it. One way is to right
click on the room, then select the Delete Room option from the popup menu. The other way is to hold the mouse cursor
over the offending room, then press the Delete key on the keyboard.
There is a second
option when deleting a room. You can
delete both the room as well as all the exits leading to/from it. Simply choose the appropriate popup menu
item or hold down the Ctrl key when pressing the Delete key.
Simply left click on one
endpoint of the link, then drag to the other endpoint. The link will then appear as a thick red
line. This indicates that you are ready
to delete the link. To confirm the
deletion, simply let go of the mouse and the link will be removed.
Huh? Relax, all you need to know right now is that you can do it one
of two ways in the cartographer. Either
right click on the room and select the corresponding item on the popup menu, or
hold the mouse over the room and press the F3 key. The room that is designated as the “Current Location on the
Cartographer”
will appear with a green X over it on
the map. This will be explained
more below.
Once again, just know that you
can do it one of two ways from the Cartographer. Either right click on a room and select this option from the
popup menu or hold the mouse cursor over the room and press the F4 key.
This will be explained more below.
Right click on a room and select Room Properties from the popup menu. You can also hold the mouse cursor over the room and press the F2 key. This will bring up the Room Properties Screen, where you can do a whole slew of things with a room.
When developing multiple level maps, it becomes important to keep track of which map is which level. While naming the maps as different levels usually suffices, it's very handy, especially when viewing/editing maps to view multiple levels at the same time. When you link maps together, this is possible (and very cool).
Think of the concept as a one-story house. Think of the map level you are currently viewing as the main floor. The level just below you is the basement, while the level just above you is the attic. Each level you are viewing at any given time is the main floor, while the level below it is the basement, and the level above it is the attic. It's really aesthetic overall, but it sure can make things easier when editing complex maps.
You can toggle the display of a map level's attic/basement under the options menu and you can control the color the rooms and links appear in via the map properties screen (File|Map Level Properties).
Attic rooms and links overlap the main level and appear as dotted lines/outlines, slightly offset to the upper-right. Basement rooms and links are drawn "beneath" the main level and appear solid, slightly offset to the lower-left. Neither attic nor basement rooms display exit stubs or labels.
Note: The designation of
attics and basements do not affect sprinting in any way. That
functionality is governed strictly by the exit links developed across maps and
map levels.
You are able to select
rooms in the cartographer by holding down the Ctrl button and left-clicking on
a room. The first room you select will
appear with a thick TEAL border, while
all other rooms you select after it will appear with a thick GREEN border.
Ctrl+clicking on a selected room will deselect it from the list (you can
also use the Backspace key to deselect the last selected room). If you deselect the TEAL room, the next room in the order you
selected the rooms will become the TEAL
room. The importance of the TEAL room over the GREEN
rooms will be explained in a moment.
For now, ignore the different colors.
Note: You can also select a room by holding the mouse cursor
over the room and pressing F12 or by right-clicking on the room and choosing
the “Select/Deselect Room” item.
Whenever a room is
selected, the selection tools appear and the Selection menu becomes
active. There are two reasons you would
want to select rooms.
Note: If you delete a room, any room selections will be
cleared.
This handy feature
allows you to move all the selected rooms anywhere you wish using the green
direction keys (which appear on the selection toolbar). You can also move the room using the arrow
keys on the keyboard. Any exits attached
to each room remains attached to the appropriate room. This comes in very handy on MUDs that
overlap rooms, as maps sometimes need some editing to prevent overlapping in
the Cartographer. Without being able to
move rooms, you would have to delete each room, along with all exits associated
with it, then redo each room and reattach any exits.
There are two
rules regarding moving a selected room or block of rooms:
·
You
cannot move any selected room onto a square that already has a room on it
·
You
cannot move any selected room onto a square that already has exits leading into
or out of it
The great thing
about moving rooms is that all exits associated to the room(s) remain attached
(this looks pretty cool when moving them around). The new exit coordinates of the moved rooms change, but the
actual exit commands do not. Imagine
two rooms, one above the other, with north leading from the bottom one to the
top one, and south going the other way.
If you selected the top room and maneuvered it below the other room, the
exits would remain the same, but now to move from the (now) top room to the
(now) bottom room would be north, and south would move you up.
In the above
example we basically reversed the normal direction of north and south between
the two rooms, which is not really good form.
Best advice I can give when moving rooms is to pay attention. Things can get really whacked with the exit
directions if you move rooms all over the map without care for where you’re putting
them. If you ever want to know what the
current exits are from/to any room, simply check that room’s properties.
There’s another way to move a room using just the mouse. Select a room using the Ctrl+left-click. Then, left-click (without holding Ctrl down) on the selected room again, but this time hold the mouse button down. Now drag the mouse cursor to a new room position clear of an existing room or any existing exits. You will see a thick teal line appear, linking the selected room with the new square. When you’re satisfied as to the new room placement, simply let go of the mouse button and the room, along with any associated exits, will be moved.
Note: You can move any one selected room using this
method. If only one room is selected at
the time, after it is moved, the selection of that room will be cleared.
Ok, why the TEAL and GREEN
rooms? The other reason you would
select rooms is to assign common properties to multiple rooms. Simply select a bunch of rooms, then select
the menu item Selection|Change Properties of Selected Room(s). The Room Properties screen then appears,
populated with the properties of the TEAL
room. When you save any changes, the
properties selected will be assigned to ALL selected rooms. It’s basically an easy way to assign common
properties to a bunch of rooms in one fell swoop.
Note: Only certain room properties can be changed in this
way, such as the room label, tag, color and style. Other fields such as the room warning, notes, exits, etc. remain
as whatever each room originally had.
Cartographer Quick Reference
Add Room
Left click on a square
Add Link
Click and drag between squares
Delete Room
Hold mouse cursor over room, press Delete
or
Right click on a room
Delete Room
& Exits Hold mouse cursor over room, hold down
Ctrl
and
press Delete or Right click on a room
Delete Link
Click and drag over existing link
Room
Properties
Hold mouse cursor over room,
press F2
or
Right click on a room
Set as Current
Room
Hold mouse cursor over room, press F3
or
Right click on a room
Sprint to Room
Hold mouse cursor over room, press F4
or
Right click on a room
Copy Sprint to
Alias/Macro
Right click on a room
Select/Deselect
Room Hold mouse cursor over room, press F12
or
Right click on a room
Cartographer Hotkeys (“Arrow Key” refers to the keyboard arrow keys)
Ctrl+Arrow Key Move the map one click in the
given direction
Shift+Ctrl+Arrow
Key Move the map four clicks in the
given direction
Ctrl+Alt+Up Zoom in one step on the map
Ctrl+Alt+Down Zoom out one step on the map
Ctrl+Left-Click Select/deselect a room
Esc Clear all room selections
Arrow Key Move the selected room one
click in the given direction
Backspace Deselects the last selected
room
Charting (Automated Mapping) Defined
Portal©’s cartographer serves
two purposes. The first is editing maps, as described above. The
second function is to serve as a powerful tool that allows you
to automatically create maps on any MUD.
This is what’s known as its “charting” function.
Note: It is highly suggested that
you spend some quality time with the cartographer's editing features before diving into
automated mapping. Once you gain
a basic understanding of how the cartographer editor works, the charting
function will become
much easier to use. Also, check out the Mapping101
help
file for more tips and tricks.
So first, let’s discuss the
basics of charting (automapping) a map.
Charting, as defined in Portal©,
is the act of moving around on the MUD, while at the same time, recording
information about the paths you are taking, then plotting that information into
a map format that can be used later for movement reference.
In a nutshell, charting means
to automatically make a map, that you can use later to easily move around
with. This is what you can do with the
cartographer. Now, here’s a little tutorial
to get you familiar with charting. One
thing though, before we begin, is to remember to take it SLOW with charting
until you get more familiar with it.
After you get used to it, you’ll start using the Esc and Enter keys to
help speed things along (you’ll see).
You’ll be making maps in your sleep!
Now, let’s move on with the
tutorial…
Open the cartographer window. If you have room on
your monitor screen, try and view it and the Main Screen together to
get the optimal effect. Then, on your MUD, go to a
(quiet!) room somewhere that has at least a north exit
and have that second room (the one the north exit leads to) have no east
direction. You’re going to move north
(successfully) and then fail when you try to move east after that.
Create a blank map called TEST
on the cartographer. Future charting
can be done with any map, existing or new, but for now just create a new
one. Once you do this, create a room at
position (0,0) by left clicking once on that square. A room should
appear. After this,
right click on room (0,0) on the map and select the “Set (0,0) as Current
Location” item. You will then
see the green X appear at (0,0) right on
top of the room.
Press the Charting Button (the button with the sextant). This begins the charting process. You will then see a system text message of “Start charting map [TEST] from room (0,0)” appear in the display.
Now that you’re in charting
mode, enter a move in one of the 8 cardinal directions (n, e, s, w, ne, se, sw,
nw) into the command line (on the Main Screen). For example, typing “n” or “e” into the command line would be
considered a charting move. For your
tutorial, type “n” and the press Enter.
You will then be faced with the Create Map Link Screen.
The Create Map Link Screen
comes up when you’re not in speed charting mode.
While you’re learning how to chart, keep the speed chart off. Once you get the hang of things you’ll want
to turn it on to make things go faster.
In any event, on the screen
you’ll see the “n” in the first box.
This is the direction you just moved.
You’ll also see a “s” in the box below it. Portal© populates this box with the logical opposite (if any) to
what’s in the first box. Since this is
a simple link we’re doing, leave both the “n” and “s” alone. You’re also going to leave everything else
alone on this screen and accept the defaults.
Meaning that you want a room created at each endpoint of the link. You’ll notice the coordinates of these rooms
are (0,0) (the room you’re coming from) and (0,1). You are moving up on the Y-axis, which accounts for Y changing
from 0 to 1. Press the Accept button to
complete the link. Portal© will then
send off the original “n” command to the MUD, effectively moving you north.
Now you wait. Wait for what? You see the little timer in the Clock Field countdown from 5 to 1, but what were you waiting for? You were waiting for the MUD to confirm to Portal© that you successfully moved. Since there’s no accurately standard way for the MUD to confirm you moved, you instruct the cartographer to instead look for failure of you to move. For example, “You can’t go that way” or “There is no exit north” would be examples of failures. These are the kind of messages you program into the chartign setup parameters to tell you when you can’t move in a direction.
Ok, take a breath and then look
at the cartographer and you’ll see that a magical thing happened. A room now exists at both (0,0) and
(0,1). There’s also a link between the
two. Also, the green X is no longer at (0,0) but now at (0,1),
because that’s where you now are. Cool
huh? Check out the room properties of
the room at (0,0) (right click and select Room Properties) and you’ll see that
it’s got an exit (“n”) to room (0,1).
If you look at the properties of Room (0,1) you’ll see it has an exit
(“s”) to room (0,0). You just charted
your first move!
But, that was for a move that
ended up existing on the MUD (in this case “n”). Now you’re going to do something about an exit that doesn’t exist
(“e” in this case). Here’s when we step
back a moment and introduce Step #3.
You need to define your
“Charting Parameters.” What this
means, is that you’re going to enter text you expect to see if you move in a
direction that doesn’t exist.
[In this case, I’ll use an
example of a MUD that gives the message “You can’t go east” if you tried to go
“e” without there being an exit in that direction. In this case, I’ll have the cartographer look for the text “You can’t
go” as a failure. Your MUD may be
different, so figure out the standard failure text and grab a unique part of it
to search for. I didn’t choose “You
can’t go east” as the text simply because then I would have to define one for
“You can’t go west” and so on. “You
can’t go” takes care of all those in my case.]
So now press the Setup
button
on the cartographer. You will then see the
Charting Parameters screen.
Here you can enter up to 5 conditions for failure. Enter the failure condition of “You can’t
go” (without the quotes) into the Failure String 1 Field (enter your own
failure if it’s different). Then press
the Accept button. You have now told
the cartographer that if you see the text “You can’t go” come across, while you’re
waiting for an exit to fail, it will abort the charting for that
direction. So, now we go through steps
#5 and #6 again.
Note: Ignore the Exit Stub Conditions
area for now. Later, when you’re
feeling more confident with basic charting, read the Charting
Parameters help file
under the Mapping header.
Ok, you're still in charting
mode from before, so now try moving "e" via the command line. Once again, you'll be faced with the Create
Map Link Screen. Accept the defaults
and Portal© will then send off the “e” command to the MUD, trying to move you
east.
Now you wait. Wait again for what? We're waiting for the failure to
appear. Now before the countdown
reaches 0, the failure should come across.
When it does, Portal© will recognize it (just like it does any event)
and highlight it in the colors chosen for Sprint Commands text (program
options). The cartographer then aborts the
move.
Check out the cartographer now and
you'll see that no new room was created for the "e" move. Also, the current location of the X remains where it was (at 0,1). Try moving "e" again and you'll
see it abort again.
Step #7
Now, all you need to do is
continue repeating steps #5 and #6 until you're finished.
Step #8
Press the Charting Button again
to exit charting mode and you're done.
That's all there is to it!
Following Mode
We also mentioned
"following mode" above.
Following mode is similar to charting, but no rooms or links are created
as you move around. It’s designed to be
turned on as you walk around the MUD, and will try to keep you in the correct
room each time. Basically, if you type
“n” into the command line, the cartographer will check the current room for a “n”
exit. If none exist, the current room
remains the same. If a “n” exit does
exist, however, the cartographer will reposition the current room at the new
location (the endpoint of the exit).
This works for all commands you enter, comparing each against the exit
commands in the current room. If no
exits match, or if no room exists at the end of the exit, you will remain in the current room.
Following mode is almost
identical to Charting mode, except that in Charting mode, you will actually
plot new links and rooms. Following
mode will only follow you around the map.
Free Charting
We mentioned "free"
charting above and here's the promised
explanation. The steps described above
explain how to do normal charting, waiting for delays and all that. When you do free charting, there's no
failure countdown, no delay, and you're free to move however you like. There is no restriction whatsoever where the
map will move. This mode is designed
for advanced users or when you already know exactly what the map looks
like. It's also great for offline
charting.
Charting Hotkeys
There are two hotkeys that come
in very handy when charting. They are
used only in normal charting mode. They
have no special function in free mode.
Enter Key
Entering a blank line into the
command line (basically pressing Enter) while waiting for a link to confirm will
"force" the link to be confirmed.
This is useful when you know the link has been confirmed and don't want
to have to wait for the final seconds to countdown.
Escape Key
Pressing this key will abort the current charting
countdown. Use this if you know that
the exit failed and you don't want to have to wait for the final seconds to
countdown.
Other Tips
Most MUDs have what is known as
"brief" mode. This means that
as you move around, you don't see the entire room description, but just a short
blurb and the exits from that room. If
your MUD does this, use it for charting, as it's usually a lot easier. If your MUD doesn't show the exits though,
you'll have to use verbose (non-brief) mode.
Search in the help files for your MUD to see if it offers you such a
thing.
When charting, if you quickly
move in another cardinal direction while awaiting failure, it will force the
chart, as well as move you in the new direction. It's just as if you pressed the return key (to force the chart)
and then moved again, only in one move.
Also when charting, if you ever
need to move in a cardinal direction on the MUD, but don't want to chart in
that direction, just use the activator character before the direction (i.e.
;east, ;w, ;sw etc.). This can come in
handy when you get ahead of yourself and overshoot a room in the charting
process and want to do-over.
Command
Line Charting Commands
Most of the charting commands
can be invoked from the command line using the Activator Character. The below commands assume the
semicolon (;) as the Activator Character.
;chart (or ;c)
Toggles charting mode
on/off. When charting begins, you are
asked to confirm the starting position on the map. The default is the current location on the cartographer. Once you select one, that will become the
new current location on the cartographer. If
speed-edit is on, the confirmation won’t be asked, and charting will start from
the current position.
;follow (or ;f)
Toggles following mode on/off.
;chart <x>,<y>
Changes the "current
location" coordinates to (<x>,<y>) (on the current map on the
cartographer)
Example: ;chart 4,-5
Result: Sets the current room to (4,-5) on the current map on the cartographer
;chart
<x>,<y>,<map>
Changes the "current
location" coordinates to (<x>,<y>) on map: <map>
Example: ;chart 4,-5,test
Result: Sets the current room to (4,-5) on map:
TEST
;chart <exit>
Attempts to move the “current
room” to a new room, along the <exit> from the current room. If the exit exists, regardless of what mode
you are in, the room at the endpoint of the exit will become the new current
room. If you are in Following mode, the
<exit> command is sent to the MUD as well.
If the exit does not exist in
the current room, and you are not in charting mode, nothing is changed.
If the exit does not exist in
the current room and you are currently in charting mode, the cartographer will
attempt to create a new link from the current room, along the <exit>
direction. Examples of an <exit>
to use this for would be “u” or “d” (to change levels in a dungeon maybe) or
"jump" or "climb" etc.
Regardless if speed-edit is enabled or not, the Create Map Link Screen
will always appear when charting a special direction. Once you accept the link, the <exit> command is sent to the
MUD, and the standard “failure” checking is done. If no failures occur, the newly charted link is finalized.
Note: In a nutshell, when charting,
the cardinal directions (n, s, e, w, ne, se, sw, nw) automatically activate the
cartographer. To use any other direction,
you need to use the “;chart <exit>” command.
Example: ;chart jump
Result: Brings up the Create Map Link screen for
a link from the current room to the room you specify
;tag <char>
Sets the current room tag to
<char>
<char> can only be one
character
Example: ;tag F
Result: Sets the current room's tag to F
;label <label>
Sets the current room label to
<label>
Example: ;label Town
Result: Sets the current room's label to Town
;stubs <stub string>
Manually sets the current room's exit stubs
Each
stub is represented by a number on the keypad. I.e. 8 = north, 9 =
northeast, 6 = east, etc. Also, 5 = the "special" stub.
The string is basically a string of the numbers to create stubs for. This
overwrites the current exit stubs for the room with the new values.
Example: ;stubs 2469
Result: Sets the current room's exit stubs to south, west, east and northeast
;sprint <x>,<y>
Sprints from the current
position to position (<x>,<y>) (on the current map on the
cartographer)
Example: ;sprint -3,7
Result: Sprints from the current room to room
-3,7
;sprint
<x>,<y>,<map>
Sprints from the current
position to position (<x>,<y>) on map: <map>
Note: <map> does not need to
be capitalized
Example: ;sprint -3,7,test
Result: Sprints from the current room to room
-3,7 on map: TEST
;room
Displays the properties of the
current room.
;room add (or ;room a)
Adds a room at the current
position (or overwrites an existing one) with the current charting parameters defaults.
;room delete (or ;room d)
Deletes the room at the current
position (if one exists).
;room delete all (or ;room da)
Deletes the room at the current
position (if one exists) and all exits leading to/from it.
;room refresh (or ;room r)
Used to refresh the stubs of
the current room. What this will do is
reset the failure timer to the preset time, and then send a “look” command to the
MUD. While you’re not actually waiting
for a failure to occur, you just looking for the exits to be listed so that the
stubs will be refreshed (hence the “look” command). While some MUDs (for whatever reason) may not have the “look”
command, or you wish to use another command instead, simply use it after the
“refresh” command. I.e. “;room refresh
gaze” or “;room r peer” etc. Once the
timer counts to zero, the stubs for that room will be refreshed.
Note: The command “look” is defined
in the Charting Parameters screen and can be changed to any other default you desire.
You can also use the Enter key
to force the timer down, and the Esc key to abort the current check, just like
in charting.
;mapundo
Manually undoes the last map
edit
Charting Quick Reference
;chart
Toggles charting mode on/off
;follow
Toggles following mode on/off
;chart
<x>,<y>
Changes the "current
room" coordinates to <x>,<y> on the current map
;chart <x>,<y>,<map> Changes the "current
room" coordinates to (<x>,<y>) on map: <map>
;chart
<cardinal direction> Moves the “current room”
coordinates one click in <cardinal direction>
;chart
<special direction> Creates a link from the current
room to another room with the exit <special direction>
;tag
<char> Sets the current room tag to
<char>
;label
<label> Sets the current room label to
<label>
;stubs
<stub string>
Manually sets the current room's
exit stubs
;sprint
<x>,<y> Sprints from the current
position to position (<x>,<y>) on the current map
;sprint
<x>,<y>,<map> Sprints from the current
position to position (<x>,<y>) on map: <map>
;room Displays the properties of the
current room.
;room add Adds a room at the current
position
;room delete Deletes the room at the current
position
;room delete all
Deletes the room at the current
position & all exits attached to the room
;room refresh Refreshes the exit stubs for the current room
;mapundo Manually undoes the last map edit