5 - GTAC Windows


5.1 - Text Window
5.2 - Action Window
5.3 - Control Window
5.4 - Action Control Window
5.5 - Variables Window
5.6 - Status Window
5.7 - Items Window
5.8 - Inventory Window
5.9 - Find Text Window

Several windows are used to develop and debug GTAC adventures. Every one will be analysed in details.

5.1 - Text Window

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The Text Window contains the text description of each room. Click the Select button on the mouse to position the caret. Then use:
left/right arrow keys to move to the previous/next character;
Shift+left/right arrow keys to move to the previous/next word;
Control+left/right arrow keys to move to the beginning/end of line;
up/down arrow keys to move to the previous/next line;
Control+up/down arrow keys to move to the first/last line;
Return to insert a new line at cursor position, eventually splitting
current line, and to move the others down;
Shift+Return to join current and next lines;
Control+Return to delete current line and to move the following ones up;
Control+U to clear a line,
Copy to delete next character,
Shift+Copy to delete current word.

5.2 - Action Window

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The Action Window displays all the available options in a RISC OS menu manner. It is used during game play to perform actions. Its content can be edited through the Action Control Window, described later.

5.3 - Control Window

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Everything starts in the Control Window. You can edit almost every aspect of your adventure using the tools presented in this window.

Click on the image below to go directly to the corresponding section:

[ Image map ]

Current room
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The first line displays the number of the room that you are currently editing. To select another room you can either use the two arrow icon buttons or click with the mouse the writable icon and type directly the desired room number, then press Return.


Total defined rooms
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The second line displays the total number of rooms that you have already defined.


Pictures
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The third line controls the graphical aspect of your adventure. Every room can have a picture complementing the text description. This icon is used to select which picture goes with the current room. Every picture is numbered from 0 to max_pic, so that different rooms can share the same picture. If "-1" is displayed, it means that the current room has no picture.

Every picture is stored in the form of a Draw file, eventually squashed, in a directory inside the project directory, with a fixed three-digit filename: i.e. "000" is the filename for picture 0, "010" for picture 10, and so on. Pictures 0 - 76 will be in directory "pic0", 77 - 153 in "pic1" and so on.

Draw files have been chosen because of their smaller memory occupation. Note that this choice does not prevent you from displaying sprites as well. In fact a Draw file can also contain a sprite. However you should ensure that the sprite has a palette saved with it, in order to be correctly displayed. For more details about Draw and Sprite files please refer to the Acorn Application Guide, supplied with your computer.

Draw files can of course contain some text. If you are not using the System font, either provide the !Font directory with the font you are using - if you have the rights to do it - or convert it to path from the !Draw application. Please refer to your RISC OS Application Guide.

Please note that due to some issues in the DrawFile module, it is adviced to "ungroup" all groups in your Draw files, i.e. to provide a flat file. On the contrary, in some cases your pictures will be rendered only partially.

Acorn Squash compression module is supported. Files in pictures directories can be stored in squashed form. These will be kept compressed in memory and decompressed on the fly, i.e. one at a time and only when needed, thus reducing memory occupation to the bare minimum. As this operation can introduce some delay, especially on ARM2 machines, files saved in plain Draw format (i.e. not squashed) will be kept in memory unsquashed and no decompression will be carried on, without slowing down the computer. In this way you can choose whether to use Squash or not by saving pictures in Squash or Draw format. For more information about using Acorn !Squash application to squash files, please refer to your Application Guide.


Graphics
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Next to the writable field there is the Graphics icon button. If you press it you will open the Picture Control Window, which has been examined in details in section 3.7.


Add/Copy Room
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The Add/Copy room icon button is used to define a new room. Click with either Select or Adjust on it. The former will give you a new blank room, the latter will ask you the number of a room to be used as a basis. In both cases the number of total defined rooms will increase by one and the new room will be selected as the current one.


Delete room
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The Delete room icon button is used to delete a room which you have previously defined. Note that room number 1 must always be present, so you are not allowed to delete it. Moreover, room 0 does not exist, but it is used as a Restart: when you go to room 0, variables and flags will be reinitialised and the game will continue from room 1. It is equivalent to select Restart from the main menu (see section 6). During the adventure if your adventurer gets killed, you should provide a "Restart" option, with action "r0" and condition "1". User will select Restart from the main menu when he is in a blind alley or has done an irreparable action.


Find text from start
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Clicking on the Find text from start icon button you will be asked for which text to search from room 1. The room containing the desired text will be then displayed.


Find text from current/Next match
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Click Select on the Find text from current/Next match icon to be asked for which text to search from current room onwards. Click Adjust to find the next match of the last searched text.


Actions
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Clicking on the Actions icon opens the Action Control Window.


Variables
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Clicking Select on the Variables icon will open the Variables Window. Clicking Adjust will open the Status Window.


Items
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Clicking Select on the Items icon will open the Items Window. Clicking Adjust will open the Inventory Window.


Update
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Clicking on the Update room icon, GTAC will store every change that has been carried out to the current room. Before updating, anyway, GTAC performs a syntax check of actions and conditions. If any error is present, the caret will be positioned within the offending icon, near the error. Moreover, the standard RISC OS error dialogue box will inform about error type.

Note that a room update is carried out every time you select a new room from the Control Window, both by clicking on the arrow icons and by typing a room number directly, and every time you add a room. Room update is not performed when selecting an action in the Action Window, i.e. while playtesting the game.

A room update to every defined room is also carried out before saving to disc.


Samples
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Clicking the Samples icon button will open the Samples Window, which has been examined in details in section 3.8.


Disc
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Click the Disc icon button to save your adventure to disc. An adventure saved in this way can be edited again in GTAC at any time by dragging its filer icon onto the !GTAC icon bar icon. If you double-click onto your adventure filer icon, it will run and display a message saying it is not a closed adventure.

In fact, an adventure can be permanently closed by selecting the Close current option from the Project submenu. Once closed, the adventure cannot be edited anymore in GTAC and cannot be examined for solution as well!

5.4 - Action Control Window

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This window is divided into 10 sections, each one corresponding to one option: see section 3.

Each option has three writable fields: text, action and condition.

An interactive syntax checking is always carried out as soon as you press Return. The caret will move to the following field if syntax is right. If an action or a condition has a wrong number of parameters or a separator is missing, an error will be reported in a standard RISC OS message dialogue box.

If an option has an empty text field, its action and condition fields will be deleted when updating current room. Thus, if you want to delete a whole option and make the following ones move up, just delete its text field and click on the Update room icon in the Control Window.

If you want to insert an option among others, position the caret in any field of the first option which should be moved down and press Insert on the keyboard. A blank option will be inserted.

Use cursor keys to move up or down by one field, control+cursor keys to move to the text field of the first or the last defined option, page up or down to move to the corresponding field of the previous or next option.

5.5 - Variables Window

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This window has been specifically designed for playtest and debugging of your adventures. It is made of two main sections: flags and variables.

The former contains fifty radio buttons, each one being associated to a flag, whose status on/off is represented by the button being pressed/depressed. Changing its value is a matter of just clicking on the relative button with the mouse. Consequent changes will be carriet out immediately, i.e. an item will be dropped or taken, a door shut or opened, etcetera. Clicking on the arrow icons will cycle through all the flags available.

The latter, the variables area, contains ten writable fields, each one being associated to a variable. Its value can be read and edited in the usual way: click in the desired field to position the caret, type in a new value and press Return. The variable will be updated and consequent changes will be carriet out immediately. Clicking on the arrow icons will cycle through all the available variables.

5.6 - Status Window

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The first ten variables (var 0 - var 9) can be displayed during game play in a special window together with a text description.

For example you could want the user to know how many gold pieces he has collected so far, or which level is his stamina. If the number of gold pieces is stored in variable 3, open the Status Window and write "Gold pieces" in field number 3. Its value can be read on the right. To change this value you have to use the Variables Window.

If you need to display less than ten variables, let's say 5, leave fields 5 to 9 blank. During game play, outside !GTAC, these fields will not be displayed. If on the contrary you display variables 0, 2, 3, 4 and 9, the whole window will be displayed, even though variables 1 and 5 - 8 are not used.

5.7 - Items Window

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Every flag can be linked to a text description. This can be made appear in the Inventory Window, by setting the Appear in Inventory flag. In this case it is considered to be an item, which can be collected and carried around. On the contrary, if it is not allowed to appear in the Inventory Window, if you type a description anyway, it will be for your record only.

5.8 - Inventory Window

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This window will display the text description of every item being carried, i.e. whose flag is True.

When this value changes to False (i.e. it is not being carried anymore), its name will be removed from the list. "Nothing" will be displayed if no item is being carried.

5.9 - Find Text Window

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Open this window by clicking either the Find text from start or Find text from current icon button.

Type in the string to be searched for and then either press Return or click the Search icon. You will see rooms being examined for the required string. The one containing your text will be displayed or, if text cannot be found, you will be returned to the last room being edited.

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(C) 1994-2000 Andrea Gallo
http://web.tiscalinet.it/agallo
andrea.gallo@tiscalinet.it