

              SMTC Level Editor v 0.7 Readme/Help Documentation

_______________________________________________________________________________
=========================================================== Table of Contents =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________
 =>Version History
 =>What's New
 =>FAQ
 =>Design Tutorials
 =>Design Tips
 =>Credits
_______________________________________________________________________________
============================================================= Version History =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________
=>SMTCLevEdit v0.7 09/??/04
  Added Features:
     -Water/Acid/Lava Option
     -Viewport Scrollbars (Tell you where you are in the room)
     -Reorganized Tile Sets
     -Tile Sheet
     -Enemies Mode
     -Recoded GUI System
     -Multiple Colour Schemes (Press F5 to change schemes)
     -Many bug fixes
     -SMTCLevEdit v0.5 & up Level Support (No need to convert to edit)

=>SMTCLevEdit v0.6 05/23/04
  Added Features:
     -Copy, Pasting, & Mass Deleting Tiles
     -Fading Tiles (For room transitions)
     -Custom Tiles
     -Tile Eyedropper
     -Breakables Extended
     -GUI Checkboxes

=>SMTCLevEdit v0.5 04/04/04
  Added Features:
     -Breakable Blocks (Crumble & Shootable)
     -Elevators
     -Extended Tile Set
     -Room Mode
     -Water Heights

=>SMTCLevEdit v0.4 03/22/04
  Added Features:
     -Tile Rotation and Flipping
     -Item Selection & Placement
     -Door Destination Minimap

=>SMTCLevEdit v0.3 03/12/04
  Added Features:
     -Clipping Placement
     -Loading
     -Saving
     -Room Dimensions
     -Windowing

=>SMTCLevEdit v0.2 (First Official Release of Current Editor)
  Completed Features:
     -Tile Selection & Placement
     -Clipping Selection
     -Mp3 Player
     -Doors
_______________________________________________________________________________
================================================================== What's New =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________

The most recent and major addition to the Editor is the new enemies mode.  You 
may now place all the enemies available in SMTC.  Beware when placing them
though, because you would not want them to be stuck in walls or able to get 
outside the level.  They have somewhate more mobility than Samus and some of 
them ignore clipping altogether.

The GUI system has been recoded and now as a bonus features a changeable colour
scheme.  Press F5 to cycle through the colour schemes.

Well, the old editors have been scrapped in favour of this new GUI based
one.  As a result, the editor is really behind... sorry.  Anyway, the new 
editor includes buttons and scroll bars, with selectable block sets and clip 
types. Editing is much easier and requires no button memorization.  Also, the 
editor can play music from your \Music folder, anything in Mp3 format, make 
sure to delete the KILL_ME.mp3 file.

New Clipping types added courtesy of Mousse420.

_______________________________________________________________________________
========================================================================= FAQ =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________

What is this editor?

This editor is a tile/enemy/door/etc. editor for Super Metroid Classic, which is
Super Metroid remade with extra features on the computer.  This editor project
was originally started by Salty Justice (who took Crimson's design) but has been
taken on by Crimson Justice because it just eats too much time.  The editor and
SMTC were originally supposed to move at the same rate or production but the
editor kinda fell behind.


Why did the editor fall behind?

Successive generations of design and development showcase improvements, and
unfortunately for you, the old editor interface was too backwards and too
inefficent to be brought up to speed and needed to be scrapped.  This has
actually happened twice so far.


What will the editor be able to do?

EVENTUALLY it will be able to create new blocks from scratch and save them so
SMTC can use them.  You'll be able to edit the overlay map (from the original,
it was the pink coloured map in the subscreen) by hand or have it auto-generate.
Place enemies, doors, breakable blocks, items, special effects, and more.  The
editor will not directly support editing AI or scripting, that's for a different
program or language.

When will it be done?

When it's done.  In order to keep up with SMTC it has to be updated almost
constantly.  It may never be complete.

How can I help?

You can't.  Well, not directly, but you could try assisting with SMTC instead,
since the editor is strictly a one man project.

Why can't I help?

You suck.  Deal with it.  Sorry, just that there's really nothing you CAN do.

Awww.

That's not a question.

Fine fine.  Where can I get this SMTC?

Glad you asked.  http://www.supermetroidclassic.com is the main page, go to the
downloads section.  Unfortunately, SMTC is not updated regularly, it's only
updated when major breakthroughs or fixes are made.  So, it may not have been
updated for some time.

If I want to help, who do I mail?

Try mailing Salty at saltyjustice@hotmail.com or Crimson at
crimsonjustice@msn.com.  If you want to join a forum which discusses this sort
of meaningless nonsense, then hit http://smtc.proboards3.com and enjoy the
meaningless banter propagated by the tiny community of shut ins, convicts, and
other social paraphenalia.

Anything else?

No.

_______________________________________________________________________________
========================================================== Designing Tutorial =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________

This is a small tutorial about how to design levels.  It assumes you know 
nothing about the editor.
Getting started:

Open up SMTCLevEdit.  The following command line arguments are available to be
implemented in the command prompt or when using program shortcuts:

-levdir %pathname //This is where you want to save/load levels
                    from.  It should either point to your
                    SMTC\Levels directory or to a backup folder.

-mapdir %pathname //This refers to where your overlay map for the
                    subscreen is saved to.  The recommended is
		    directory is the SMTC folder.

-itmdir %pathname //This refers to where your items file will be
		    saved and loaded from.  The recommended
		    directory is the SMTC folder.
		    
-clrdepth %depth  //This changes the colour depth of the program so it is able 
                    to run on some older machines with less colours. The %depth
                    variable can be 15, 16, 24, and 32.

Once you have entered your command lines (if you're going to enter any) and
opened the program, you're presented with some loading boxes.  If you have a
fast computer you'll likely see the loading boxes fly by.  Once they're done,
you're presented with a screen showing some buttons and a big gridded box in 
the upper left.

===============================================================================

Section One:  Global Commands and the Mp3 Player

Before you start the editing, you should know some things about your
environment.  It's pretty straight forward.

Quitting:  The button in the lower right, that says quit on it.  Duh.  You can
press escape instead if you're really lazy.

Window/Fullscreen:  A small button, next to the quit button.  It bears the
restore symbol and switches between full and window screen modes.

Room Sizing:  In the lower right, there's some buttons that look like 1x1. This
is the X by Y size of the room.  Use the arrows to adjust the size of the room
to your liking.  The room is sized in 16x16 intervals.

Clear the room:  The little button by Room Size is the clear command.  It
removes everything in the room, and resets the room to 1x1. It also sets the
water level to its highest.

Mp3 Player:  Miniature Mp3 Player in the lower left corner.  It can load up to
50 Mp3s, which are stored in your /Music folder, in your directory local to
SMTCLevEdit.exe.  Please no names that are really long!  The play buttons are
self explanatory:  Play, Stop, Rewind, Pause, Switch Mp3.

Edit Level/Level:  The Edit Level dialog box lets you select which level you
will be saving/loading to/from.  To load a level, select it from Edit Level and
click Load[F3] or press F3.  Saving is likewise.

Mode Buttons:  These are located above the Edit Level box and let you choose
which editing mode you are in.  They are labelled by images taht display each
mode.  You may also use TAB to switch between the modes.

Checkboxes:  When viewing the tiles, you may notice that they don't show what
particular clipping type is in each tile, or which tiles fade.  Use the check
boxes above the quit box to change viewing of blocks. Clipping zones are purple.
You may also check the options for Fading Tiles, water display and gridlines.

Viewport:  This is the big window that takes up about 1/4 of the screen.  This
is where your level is diplayed and you will spend most of your time with.  
There are scroll bars on the sides that tell you where you are in the room, but
they do not scroll if you drag them with the mouse.  Use the arrow keys to 
scroll around the room.

/* Cut Paste and Delete */ <-- Pay Attention

These little beauties are all managed with the shift button, and they affect
tiles ONLY, not doors or anything else.  First off, press LEFT SHIFT, click on
the spot you want, drag across the map, and then release.  You can still scroll
the map while you do this.  Also, if you release the mouse without releasing
shift, the original spot you clicked does not change, and you can alter the
selection box.  When you have everything selected you want to mess with, you can
use the three buttons next to the room number selector.  In order from left to
right, they are copy, paste, and delete.

To copy, select the stuff you want, press copy, then release shift.  Press the
paste button (it's the clipboard) then click on the upper left of where you want
to paste.

To view the clipboard (and see what you last copied) press copy without having
anything shift-selected.  To return to normal viewing, press copy again.

To delete a selection, select it and hit the delete button.  That's all.

================================================================================

Section Two:  Tile Mode

The tiles you can choose are on the right side of the screen, in the set of 20
boxes.  To select a tile, click on it.  To see the next/last 20 tiles, click the
arrows next to Set on the top.  This cycles you through the tiles, 20 at a time.
Clipping type is selected in the same way, except it's on the far right side in
a really tall box.

To place a tile, select the tile you want and the appropriate clip type.  You
can use any clip type for any tile, but good design dictates you should use
tiles that look like the clipping (square tiles for square clipping, triangles
for sloped).  Once you have both of those selected, click somewhere on the big
black box on the left.  That places a tile in the level.  See the design section
for mandatory and optional rules.  To remove a block, right click on it.  To see
the clipping overlayed on the tile, hit the "show clipping" check box in the
lower right.

If you hold down the left Control Key (CTRL) and left click on the viewport, the
currently selected tile changes to the one you clicked on.

Custom clip types are in red.  These can be altered manually from the Custom
folder in your SMTCLevEdit folder.  Purple types cannot be altered.

There are a lot of special properties for tiles you can play with.  Breakables
are the first.  Use the scroll arrows under Block Type to choose which type of
breakable you want.  The following types actually work, the rest don't:

Crumble:  Block breaks if Samus steps on it.
Shootable:  Block break if Samus hits it with a beam/missile.

The rest don't work.  Note that the editor will not allow you to place more than
128 breakables in a room.

There is one last special feature.  No Fade is a check box under the block type.
This is unique, and involves doors.  When you go through a door, the room fades
out except for the door itself.  This is what No Fade does.  Blocks which have
No Fade checked for them will not disappear during transition.  This should be
the door blocks you place.

Finally, there is rotation.  Rotation does NOT affect clipping, just display.
You can flip the block horizontally, vertically, or both.  You can also rotate
the block by right angles.  Rotating and Flipping are cumulative, too, so you
can combine them.

================================================================================

Section Three:  Doors mode

Doors are a little more... iffy.  Select a door direction from the menu in the
upper right, then select the values for the door you're placing.  Watch out
though, the editor currently works with vertical doors, but SMTC itself doesn't.
The door values are:

Room:  This tells the door which room you're dropping to.  To make a door drop
to Brin09, just select 9.

Area:  This is the other half of room dropping.  Select which area the door is
going to drop to.  To select Brin09, select 9 from the Room and Brinstar from
the Area.

Door Drop:  The last part, this tells you which door you'll be dropping to.
Select the Area and Room before you change Door Drop:  You need to cycle through
the doors on the minimap that is displayed until you select the right one, it
will flash bright green when you select it.  Other doors are dark green, and
tiles are blue.

To see the minimap, press "View Destination".  This assumes the destination
exists.

Elevators are also handled from Doors mode.  Select the elevator button, then
select whether the elevator EXITS the room up or down.  It uses the same Room
Area values that the regular doors do.

================================================================================

Section Five:  Items Mode

Items mode is really straightforward.  Select the item from the box, then place
it.  Be aware that most items do not have support yet, but you can still place
them to your heart's content.

================================================================================

Section Five:  Room Mode

Actually a room properties sort of mode.  Anyway, there are several little items
for you to play with here.  This mode allows you to change the height of the
water in the room.  Left click to set the highest point for the water.  Right
click to set the low point. If you don't want the water to rise up and down,
make them both the same height.  If you don't want water in the room, hit the
clear button.  Also choose the type of water with the small scrollbox on the 
right side of the window.

Background buttons don't work yet.  It's a place holder for now.

Ambient music (read:  Background music) is set by pressing the "Use current MP3
File" button.  This button will select whatever MP3 is currently playing, so use
the mp3 player in the bottom left to get the one you want.  If the MP3 runs in
the editor, it should run in SMTC.
================================================================================

Section Six:  Enemy Mode

Currently, the Enemies mode is just starting out.  Use the scrollbox to scroll
through the list of different enemies.  In the large area where the enemy's 
image is displayed you may alter teh clipping values of the enemy.  This is not
currently supported by SMTC, so don't even bother with it now.  In later 
versions you will be able to edit the enemy properties and behaviours.

_______________________________________________________________________________
================================================================= Design Tips =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________

Here are some rules.  Most of em are optional, based on your design, but some
are mandatory.

/* Note:  Some of these features don't exist yet, but will some time later */

1:  MANDATORY! YOU *MUST* COMPLETELY ENCIRCLE THE LEVEL.  If you leave a hole in
the level, Samus can fall out of it, and get stuck.  Worse, Samus' movements may
cause random crashing when outside of a level.  Coincidentally, the clipping out
there is total random and it may seem as though you're standing just below the
screen's edge.  Trust me, it's not necessarily solid, and even possible that
shooting an enemy could cause the clipping to disappear.  So don't leave any
holes!

2:  Use block types that match the clipping type.  It's really unusual to see
Samus' feet inside a block that's normally solid clipped.  You can change this
if your design demands it (for making, say, shafts that seems solid but aren't)
but as a general rule, don't.

3:  Don't make inescapable areas.  Specifically, using breakable blocks that can
only be activated from the top to seal off a passage beneath, or using a limited
quantity item (like a missile block) without nearby respawning enemies to
resupply Samus.  Likewise, don't force the player to use wall jumps to advance:
You can use it for optional items, but wall jumping should not be required to
beat the game, ever.

4:  Don't place ungettable items.  It's really irritating to see an item that
cannot be picked up, ever.  It may even cause people to waste time trying to get
it, which is a major no no.

5:  Use blocks of the same or similar type.  Seriously, you wouldn't want to see
Tourian blocks in the middle of Norfair.

6:  Make sure Samus is visible at least some of the time.  It's impossible to
see Samus if you cover the level in no-clipped blocks, and it might not be
possible to get back out without seeing what you're doing.

7:  Don't overuse acid, and don't overuse lava.  You'd expect lava to be in
places like Norfair, and acid can really be anywhere, but don't put tons of the
stuff around.  Don't force your player to wade through it without the various
suits either, though optional items can be covered by acid if you want.

8:  Don't put enemies in spots where they don't belong.  I mean, don't place
bony fish anywhere except in the water, and don't place lava creatures in water,
because it doesn't make sense.

9:  Make sure the doors go somewhere, and check them extensively.  Also, don't
place blocks directly in front of a door.


_______________________________________________________________________________
===================================================================== Credits =
____________________________________________
                                            \__________________________________

Salty Justice          -Tutorial Original, SMTC
Crimson Justice        -Tutorial Editing, SMTCLevEdit, interface design, images,
                        other stuff.
Fritze and Senna(dogs) -Support
Mousse420              -Pestering us, added custom clip types.
Lisanoid               -Tile and enemy ripping