* Version 1.3 *

  Hey there, you've just taken the first few important steps toward
designing your own fantastic worlds for Lord 2.

  Lord2 as you probably know is a program written and designed by Seth
Able Robinson. The game has been around for a couple of years now and I
played it when it was first released. After a while my studies grew
more and more needy of my attention so I stopped playing.

More recently (the past 6 months i guess) I began to play once more.
The desire was again sparked in me to create my own world; however, in
my opinion the editor by Seth himself, sucked and all the others I checked
were pretty crappy too... so I embarked upon creating a better editor.
This program represents my accomplishments in this area. There may be some
itty bitty minor bugs but I've been pretty thorough with the testing of
this version.

The software package is shareware; however, I have not disabled any of
the features. I would ask that if you enjoy and are inclined to use the
editor that you send me $5 measly bucks (canadian bucks will do).

There are 3 files included in the package. The files are as follows:

MEDITOR.EXE - the Lord 2 world editor.
MITEMED.EXE - the item editor for Lord 2 items.
MANSFER.EXE - utility for importing and exporting screens.

These executables can be independantly run; however, note that the world
editor will spawn them from within itself and so it would be rather
foolish to rename them.

Please note that these files may not be distributed individually nor
may you attempt to engineer them to produce a different behaviour
than intended by myself.

Within the world editor is the ability to edit .ref files. This is
performed by spawning the DOS program EDIT.COM so you must make sure
that this program is either copied into the directory with the editor
files, or that it has been included in the system path.

To install the program just unzip the files into your Lord 2 directory.
Then go ahead and run MEDITOR.EXE

Should you need to contact me (maybe to send me my 5 bucks), I can
be reached at rcumming@aurora.carleton.ca or at my snail mail
address:
                Robert Cummings
                52 Maclaren Street
                Apt. #4
                Ottawa, Ontario
                CANADA
                K2P 0K4

Following is a list of features with their description and use.

MEDITOR.EXE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Map Editor
--------------

    The map editor is a fairly sparse portion of the editor. There
  are just a few things you may do. As you move the mouse around, or
  mouse cursor, the screen description will automatically update at
  the bottom of the screen. Note that you can give parameters to
  the meditor program. If you pass just one parameter then it will
  replace the standard MAP.DAT filename. If you pass two parameters
  then the first will replace the standard MAP.DAT filename and the
  second will replace the standard WORLD.DAT filename.

    Blue blocks are yet to be used screens, green blocks are used and
  map visible screens, cyan blocks are used and map invisible screens.
  Any block which has a white dot on it represents a block which can
  be accessed by the Lord 2 unregistered engine. Thus you can create
  unregistered friendly worlds and just have a larger world for those
  who were smart enough to register Lord 2.

    If you do not set any of the features then when you click on a
  map block you will enter the screen editor at that location.

  * Set Entry

      If you select this option (by clicking on it) then if you proceed
    to click on any map block then you will be able to set the physical
    data file entry that this block uses. Most people won't use this
    option but it has it's uses. All options can be unselected by
    clicking on them a second time.

  * Visibility

      Once this is set if you click on a map block then it's map
    visibility will be toggled.

  * Export

      Set this and then click on a map block to export it to another
    map file of your choice (a file browser will pop up).

  * Import

      Set this and then click on a map block to import a screen from
    another file to this location.

  * Exit

      Heh, I doubt this needs a description.

  * Block Number

      This indicates the location of the screen with respect to how
    it links to the rest of the world.

  * Physical Entry

      This indicates the physical entry that the screen block accesses
    from the data file.

  * Description

      The description of the screen... usually indicates where you
    are in the world. This can be chenged within the screen editor.

  * World name

      The name of your world. This doesn't really affect anything with
    respect to your world; however, it is stored in the world.dat file
    and can be used to indicate the author of the world.

  * Clear World

      Do not click this button by accident. Clicking this button will
    truncate the map.dat file to size zero (as in all areas will be
    deleted) and it will reset the MAP.DAT file. This literally clears
    the entire world.


The Screen Editor
-----------------

    The screen editor opens up when you select a map block from the
  map screen. This is the part of the editor you will most likely
  use most often. There are a quite a number of features here and
  some of them interrelate so you may wish to read further (though
  you could probable figure them out).

  * Navigation

      This isn't a clickable feature but it's important. There are
    two modes to keyboard navigation. The first mode (default)
    will move the mouse cursor (with screen wrap) if you press the
    arrow keys. In this mode you can type text and it will be entered
    into the screen. Text entered this way will inherit the
    colours and blink attribute of the left mouse block. Pressing
    ENTER over a screen block will change it to the block shown
    at the bottom right corner as Left:. Pressing ENTER in this mode
    while over a feature button will allow you to select that feature.
    Using CTRL + ENTER will affect the right mouse block in the same
    way as ENTER affects the left mouse block.

      The second mode (toggled by the TAB key) will allow you to
    navigate through the different screens as they are related by
    block number on the map screen. You will see one of the best
    features if you do this. The editor allows split screen viewing
    and editting. This is great for those screens that relate
    to each other but which need obstacles at certain areas, now you
    can see half of each screen in or if you go in the other
    the corners of four different screens. Note that navigation can
    also be performed by holding down a mouse button while over the
    compass.

      That's pretty much all for navigation. You can return to the
    map screen by hitting ESC, 'Q', or by clicking the red square in
    the middle of the compass. I will now describe what each feature
    does.

    * Drawing

        You draw by holding down either the left or right mouse
      buttons. If you use the left then the colours and character
      displayed to the right of the Left: label will be drawn.
      Using the right will draw the colours and character
      displayed to the right of the Right: label.

    * Free

        Click this if you wish to draw freehand on the map screen.
      This is the default for the screen editor.

    * Rect

        Select this to draw rectangles on the screen. If the Fill
      option is selected then the rectangle will be filled with the
      same colour.

    * Fill

        Determines wether a rectangle is drawn filled or unfilled.

    * Spray

        This will spray the selected block onto the screen. Quite
      usefull for drawing textures or bushy areas. If rectangle is
      selected then it will make 1 spray into the area you select
      for the rectangle.

    * Select

        If you have the select button highlighted then instead of
      drawing on the map you will select portions of it. You will
      notice that selections need not be contiguous but rather can be
      from any portion of the map. The editor will automatically piece
      the selection together if it is derived from across a split
      screen. Note that selection works exactly like drawing. In other
      words... you can select blocks as a spray of the current screen.

    * Cut

        If you have blocks selected on the screen then if you click
      on the  cut button you will save them to the copy buffer
      associated with the mouse button you clicked. Note that the cut
      option will fill each selected block with the current block
      defined for the clicked mouse button.

    * Copy

        Copy works just like cut except the selected blocks will not
      be filled with the defined mouse block.

    * Paste

        Finally all this works. Whichever mouse button you use to
      select the paste button is the buffer which will be pasted. To
      choose the other copy buffer just unselect paste and then select
      it again with the other mouse button. As you drag your stamp
      across the screen you will see exactly how it will be pasted if
      you should press a mouse button. Note that the mouse button need
      only be held down and thus you can draw with your copied blocks as
      though it were a freehand pen.

    * Ascii

        Selecting this will pop up a table of ascii characters
      so you may easily select what you want without having to know
      icky ascii codes. Whichever mouse button you click will
      determine to which block the character is assigned.

    * Hot

        Use this to place a new hotspot, or edit an existing hot
      spot. I assume you know what you're doing if you do this and
      so I'll avoid a redundant explanation of what you can do.
      Just be advised that if you then select Edit Ref, you must
      have EDIT.COM in the directory or path. note that you can see
      where all the hotspots are by selecting the Special button.

    * Picker

        Use this to quickly set a block from the screen into the left
      or right mouse button active blocks. You know how it is, you're
      in a screen you've editted before, you see the block you want
      to use... why have to set each part of it when you can just
      pick it.

    * Terrains

        Selecting one of these makes this terrain the active terrain
      type for whichever mouse button you use. Also note that as the
      mouse wanders over the screen any one of these will be
      highlighted to indicate the terrain type underneath the mouse
      cursor. Please note that that the only terrain type that does
      not result in a hard block is Grass. I have absolutely
      no idea why Seth included other terrains when he included
      no functionality for them. Hell they should all be soft
      except Impassable and should just subtract relevant movement
      points from a user depending on type. And water should
      require a boat. Pity he didn't do that. Will forever bug the
      heck out of me.

    * Foreground
    * Background

        These speak for themselves with respect to function. They
      have the exact same behaviours as Terrain.

    * Description

        Click on this to change the description of the area.

    * Compass

        Allows you to navigate through the screens that are connected
      to this one. The red square at the middle of the compass will
      return you to the map screen.

    * Special

        There are 7 features here which didn't fit on buttons in the
      screen editor. They are as follows:

        - Show Hard Blocks

            This will display all the hard and soft blocks on the
          screen as two distinctly different colours. Red blocks are
          hard blocks. Green blocks are soft (passable) blocks.

        - Show Hot Spots

            Select this and the screen will turn red and any hotspots
          in the area will blink in light green.

        - Edit Screen Info

            Choose this to edit the configuration of the screen. I
          will once again assume you know what you are doing here.
          It's kinda simplistic.

        - Edit Items

            This will invoke my item editor for Lord 2 items. For
          this reason it is important you do not rename any files. The
          item editor will be explained later although it's use is
          quite obvious.

        - Display Credits

            This tells you who I am (Robert Cummings) and a little info
          on the current version of the program.

        - Help Me I'm a Gimp

            Picking this option will spawn the EDIT.COM program on this
          info file. Maybe you should read it all now :)

    * Quick Edit Keys

        The following list of keys have been implemented to aid in the
      quicker design of areas for those who either don't have a mouse,
      or just like to do things faster than can be done by always
      pointing and clicking.

      CTRL+F:

          Enters you into freehand draw mode. Exits you from rectangle
        draw mode.

      CTRL+R:

          Enters you into rectangle draw mode. Exits you from freehand
        draw mode.

      CTRL+I:

          Sets the drawing fill flag to true and exits you from spray
        draw mode.

      CTRL+S:

          Sets the drawing style mode to spray and sets the fill flag
        to false.

      CTRL+L:

          Toggles selection mode. If you are in select mode then all
        currently selected blocks will be unselected and you will no
        longer be in select mode. If you are now in select mode then
        if you will exit paste mode.

      CTRL+T and ALT+T:

          Cuts the current selection (if any) to the corresponding
        copy buffer. If CTRL_T is used then copy buffer is the copy
        buffer associated with the left mouse button. Otherwise if
        ALT_T is used then the copy buffer associated with the right
        mouse button is used.

      CTRL+C and ALT+C:

          Copies the current selection (if any) to the corresponding
        copy buffer. If CTRL_C is used then copy buffer is the copy
        buffer associated with the left mouse button. Otherwise if
        ALT_C is used then the copy buffer associated with the right
        mouse button is used.

      CTRL+P and ALT+P:

          Enter you into paste mode. If CTRL_P is used then the left
        mouse button's copy buffer will be used for pasting. Otherwise
        if ALT_P is used then the right mouse button's copy buffer
        will be used.

      CTRL+A:

          Pops up the table of ascii characters so you can pick one
        of the special characters easily.

      CTRL+H:

          Sets the hotspot button so that the next time you click in
        the drawing area you will edit a hotspot at the cursor's
        location.

      CTRL+K:

          Sets the picker flag. The next time you click a mouse
        button in the drawing area then that block will be copied to
        the appropriate mouse button's block.

      ALT+R:

          Pops up the special menu and highlights the first entry in
        the menu.

      F1 and SHIFT+F1:

          Cycles through the terrain types for the mouse blocks. If
        F1 is pressed then the left mouse block is affected. If SHIFT+F1
        is used then the right mouse block is affected.

      F2 and SHIFT+F2:

          Cycles through the foreground colours for the mouse blocks. If
        F2 is pressed then the left mouse block is affected. If SHIFT+F2
        is used then the right mouse block is affected.

      F3 and SHIFT+F3:

          Cycles through the background colours for the mouse blocks. If
        F3 is pressed then the left mouse block is affected. If SHIFT+F3
        is used then the right mouse block is affected.


MITEMED.EXE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This is the item editor file. The item editor is simple to use
  and informative. Following is a description of it's use:

  * Navigation

      By using the mouse you may click on the LAST and NEXT buttons
    to move between the previous and next items in the item data file
    respectively. Navigation of the items wraps. The keyboard arrow
    key will navigate the mouse cursor. And to navigate through
    the items quickly you may press the '[' and ']' keys to move
    to the previous and next items respectively.

  * Item Number

      This is the physical entry in the data file for the current
    item. This is also the number you will use in your .ref files for
    the item.

  * Name

      This is the name of the item. The text that will appear in
    the player's inventory.

  * Description

      This is the description of the item as it will appear in the
    player's inventory.

  * To Use

      This text will be displayed when someone attempts to use the
    item.

  * On Attack

      This is what is displayed if the item is a weapon and the
    player lands a successful hit on a mob. If the weapon flag is
    not set then this text will be darkened out.

  * Use Once

      Toggle this flag to have the item dissappear once it has been
    used.

  * Weapon

      If the item can be used as a weapon then set this flag. If this
    flag is not set then the On Attack text will be darkened out as
    will the Weapon Power label.

  * Quest Item

      Set this flag to make an item non discardable. The player will
    then always have this item. Good for things that are required for
    quests that the player is going to need.

  * Armour

      If the item can be worn as armour then set this flag. If an
    item does not have this flag set then the Armour Defense will be
    darkened out.

  * Sellable

      This determines if an item can be sold at the stores. If this
    option is not set then the Gold Value is darkened out.

  * Gold Value

      The selling value of an item. This option is darkened out if
    the item is not sellable.

  * Breaks

      One in how many uses will cause this item to break? If the
    item is unbreakable then this value is set to 0 and then option
    will be darkened out. Note I have never seen this option used.
    Seth did not make anything breakable in his Lord 2 world.

  * Weapon Power

      The higher this value is the more damage a weapon will do.
    I'm sure you can figure out for yourself the way it works.

  * Armour Defense

      The higher this value the less damage a player's opponent's
    weapon will do. I'm sure you can figure out for yourself the
    way this works also.

  * REF Label

      The label to be invoked in the ITEMS.REF file when this item
    is used.

  * Edit REF

      Invoke DOS EDIT program to edit the ITEMS.REF file.

  * Finished

      Exit the item editor and return to where it was invoked.


MANSFER.EXE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This is a transfer utility for the Lord 2 map file. This
  program can be run independantly from DOS or it will be invoked
  from within MEditor. For this reason you should not change the
  name of the file.

    All or none of the following options may be invoked depending
  on what arguments are passed from DOS, or wether the program was
  invoked from within MEDITOR.

  * Source File Name

      If you invoke this program from DOS you will first be prompted
    with a file browser to select the source file for a screen transfer.
    This means the file you select is the file you wish to copy a screen
    from. Use TAB key and arrow keys to navigate.

  * Select Source Entry

      Once you have selected a file you will be prompted with a list of
    the entries in that file by their description. Select the entry
    you wish to transfer. You can use the 'o' and 'c' keys to OK your
    selection and cancel the transfer respectively.

  * Destination File Name

      The next stage will prompt you with another file browser. This
    time you must select the file in which the copied screen will go.

  * Select Destination Entry

      This is the last dialog. here you must select the entry over
    which to copy. If you do not wish to replace a screen in the
    destination file, then choose append and the copied screen will
    be appended to the end of the destination file. You can use the
    'o', 'c' and 'a' keys to OK your selection, cancel the transfer,
    or append the entry to this file respectively.
 

Nik Nax
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Since you are reading this and I can say anything I want, I just
thought I'd mention an IGM I made a long time ago. The IGM is called
Old Man Mortal's and it was created when Lord 2 first came out. I have
recently seen my IGM on some website and it received a lousy rating of
3 out of 5. So to exonerate myself a little I thought I'd explain why
they think it sucks so bad and why i made it.

  If yer old then you'll know that when Seth first released Lord 2
the play areas were extremely limited. You could only get to the Tree
Elf Highway and not beyond to GreenTree. So I thought well this game is
cool, but as a shareware version the limitations bite ass. I mean
heck, you couldn't even level or improve yer stats once you had done
the few measly quests. With this in mind you can probably already
guess if you've seen my IGM as to why I made it.

  My IGM was pretty basic, it let you jump in to see Old Man Mortal
once per day and check out his urns. Each urn had a different kind
of surprise (if you were lucky). These surprises included a bank,
which was in GreenTree at the time, unregistered users couldn't get
to it. It also allowed you to randomly improve your stats, which
helped to lift the monotony. At any rate it was fun for the whole week
before Seth released the new unregistered version which opened up
another 50 screens or so. So anyways I never bothered making another
IGM though it woulda been a doozey if i hadn't been so busy. I think
the rating of 3 I got shoulda been a 5 for the context in which
I made my IGM *peer* heh anyways I ramble. Enjoy the editor. Report
any bugs you find to the address mentioned at the top of this document.

  You can sometimes find me logged in as Mortal on the Carnage MUD

             telnet carnagemud.labs.emich.edu 4000



