********************************** 
 BATTLE ISLE 2 (tm) MAPPER 
 Version 1.00
 29.10.1994
 Copyright 1994 Tuomas Seijavuori
 Internet email: tuoppi@hut.fi
**********************************


    CONTENTS
    --------

    1. Files included in BI2MAP10.ZIP
    2. Introduction
    3. System requirements
    4. Installation
>>  5. HOW TO USE BI2 MAPPER - AN EXAMPLE  (LONG)  <<  
    6. Known problems
    7. Standard disclaimer for those who care
    8. Acknowledgements

    Appenix A: Vehicle codes (by Pasi Ahopelto)



1. FILES INCLUDED IN BI2MAP10.ZIP

    - README.TXT     This document
    - MIS2MAP.EXE    MISSxxx.DAT --> ASCII maps converter V 1.00
    - MAP2MIS.EXE    ASCII maps --> MISSxxx.DAT   -- '' --
    - CONTAIN.EXE    Container editor V 1.00
    - FILE_ID.DIZ    A brief description

When you distribute this program (please do so), make sure all
of these are included and the name of the .ZIP file is not
changed. 


2. INTRODUCTION

The 3 programs in this package make it possible to modify
existing Battle Isle 2 (tm) (later BI2) maps. You also need some
kind of simple full-screen text editor to do the actual editing.
MS-DOS Edit will do just fine.

MIS2MAP reads one of the mission files (MISSxxx.DAT) and
translates it into 3 ASCII maps, each representing different
features of the original map stored in MISSxxx.DAT file. After
you have edited these maps, MAP2MIS then converts them back to
BI2 format. 

What is inside cities and depots cannot be presented on a map
like this. They can be edited separately with the Container
Editor (CONTAIN.EXE). 

The following can be edited:

    - terrain, forest, roads and other "geographical features"
    - locations of all units
    - location, type and properties of cities, depots and
      different factories (or "containers") and what is inside
      them

Not all of the many, many features of the game can be changed.
NOT INCLUDED in this release are (among others):

           - weather changes
           - reinforcements
           - other "external events" such as suddenly exploding 
             bridges, seen in some campaigns

Note: This is not a savegame editor. 

All naming conventions and terms, such as "container" or
"vehicle segment", in this document refer to Pasi Ahopelto's
excellent document, first posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.
strategic in June 1994. It describes accurately most of the
MISSxxx.DAT file structures. Without this document, this program
would not have been possible.


3. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The programs have been developed and tested on one computer
only. I can guarantee they work on my machine, but that's about
it. They do not not use graphics or sound, nor ridiculous
amounts of memory, so I don't expect hardware problems. They
were written and compiled with Borland Turbo Pascal 6.0 without
any special compiler directives, if it matters.


4. INSTALLATION

The MISSxxx.DAT files you wish to modify should be in the same
directory with MIS2MAP.EXE, MAP2MIS.EXE and CONTAIN.EXE. You can
either unzip BI2MAP10.ZIP to your \BI2\MIS\ directory and modify
the mission files directly, OR you can make a separate directory
for editing and then copy mission files to BI2\MIS when it's
time to try them. The latter may be the safer method.

IMPORTANT:  BEFORE YOU RUN THE PROGRAM(S) FOR THE FIRST TIME,
            MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF ALL YOUR MISSxxx.DAT FILES
            FOUND IN \BI2\MIS (MISS000.DAT, MISS001.DAT etc.) !

It is easy to mess things up before you are familiar with the
process. As long as you have the backups, you can experiment
with the files all you want. It'd be a good idea to write a .BAT
-file which automatically restores everything from your backup,
in case you you get unwanted results. Often you will. A backup
saves you from laborious, complete re-install of the game. I
speak from personal experience :-)


5. HOW TO USE BI2 MAPPER - AN EXAMPLE  (LONG)

To familiarize you with the use of BI2 MAPPER, let's do the
following: 

5.1:  make ASCII-character maps out of MISS037.DAT file,

5.2:  take a look at the 3 maps we just created (37.TER etc.),
as well as a fourth file, a "Translation table" (TRANSLAT.TBL),

5.3:  modify the maps with a text editor or word processor,

5.4:  convert the modified maps back to BI2 format MISS037.DAT,

5.5:  edit MISS037.DAT directly with Container Editor,

5.6:  and finally start BI2 to see if something happened to the
map


Before we start: if you skipped last chapter, MAKE THOSE BACKUP
COPIES NOW ! I hate to yell, but I wish someone had yelled to me
when I had to re-install. 

If you unzipped to another directory than BI2\MIS, copy
MISS037.DAT there. That's all we need. We use this mission
(named 'Discoveries') because that's currently the built-in
default name for MIS2MAP program. Saves us some typing. (My
favourite map too by the way.)

Usually you would specify all three names in the command line, 
MISSxxx.DAT and translation table name with the extensions and 
the output filename without extensions. Like this:
"mis2map miss001.dat mytable.bi2 01", and with map2mis:
"map2mis 01 mytable.bi2 miss001.dat". 


5.1  Mis2map

At the dos prompt, type 

         MIS2MAP

A header bar and something like "Note: no filenames were
specified, using defaults..." should appear on you screen. If
you have a FAST machine, you won't have much time to look at
them, before the ASCII-character maps start to scroll. You can
try to hit your 'Pause' key if you want to take a closer look. 

Three new files will be created first: 37.TER, 37.OBJ and
37.VEH. These are the ASCII-maps.

5.2  Translation table

After the maps, it creates (or "updates") a TRANSLATION TABLE
file (TRANSLAT.TBL) which includes 3 tables: "Terrain",
"Objects" and "Vehicle" translation tables, one after another.
It is an ordinary text file just like the maps, and you can (and
will) edit it. The table links the characters of the ASCII-maps
and the numbers in BI2 mission file. The vehicle table could
look like this:

! START OF VEHICLE TRANSLATION TABLE

#  ASCII-code (optional) 
#         Value in MISS037.DAT
#            Character representing that value in 37.VEH
#              Comments (optional)
#     
  .        .
  .        .
 058      264 : Blue Technotrax
 059      257 ; Blue Regio
 060     2052 < Green Buggy
 061     2068 = Green Rune
 062     2072 > Green Supervirus
  .         .  
  .         .
 etc.      etc.

To put it another way: if you want "t" (lower case) to stand for
your Technotrax tank (if you play blue) in your ASCII-map, just
find this line 

 058      264 : Blue Technotrax

... and replace ":" with "t", like this: 

 058      264 t Blue Technotrax

Make sure the character is ALWAYS in the 15th column. If "t" was
already used by another unit, you'd need replace that with a
"free" character. (This time lower case "t" should be free
though. Upper case "T" would not.) 

Before we edit TRANSLAT.TBL, let's take a look at the ASCII-
maps. Start your text editor or word processor and load 37.OBJ.
This is the objects map. "Objects" are roads, buildings, towns
(their pictures, to be accurate) and forest too. Objects come on
top of "Terrain" (grassland, hills, rocky, different depths of
water etc.). 

When you look at 37.OBJ for the first time you don't see much.
All those "@" are damaging our sight. Before we get rid of them,
look at line 21 about in the middle of the map: there should be
several g's in a row. That's a railroad. You can see more g's
where the two ATC-factories are, one in the north-west corner,
the other in the south-west.

And yes, you guessed it right:  UU
                                  UU
                                    UU    is the road to Buggy
Factory.                              UU

5.3  Edit table and maps

Now load the translation table TRANSLAT.TBL. Find line 74 and
change "@" to " " (hit space bar and overwrite it). Note: The
first number is NOT a line number but the ASCII-code of the
character. On line 74 it should read "064". Now " " (space)
represents a hexagon which hasn't got any object in it. A
hexagon like this has value -1 in any MISSxxx.DAT file. Same
applies to vehicles, but not to terrain. There are no holes in
the maps.

While you are at it, find "g" in OBJECT table and change it to
"=", which may look more like rails. At least it's unused. Make
sure that the table is right (i.e. not the Terrain table).

Save TRANSLAT.TBL and re-run MIS2MAP. Load 37.OBJ again into
your editor; the "@":s should be gone and the "g":s turned to
"=":s. Now PUT YOUR EDITOR TO OVERWRITE mode if it's not. Draw
some more rails where your units can see them (most of your
units are near the north-western corner of the map. If you go
straight to the south from the railroad in line 21, you'll make
a bridge accross the bay in the middle of the map. If you see
"i" on the edge of a forest near the center of the map, that's
one of the "secret factories" - a good endpoint for the rails.

Save it, and then compare the lengths of the three files
(37.TER, 37.OBJ and 37.VEH). They should all be 2400 bytes long,
or at least of the same length. I think some editors end the
lines differently. The "right size" is of course 48 x 48 = 2304
hexagons, but if there's one "end of line" mark in every line,
that would make 2352. If there are two (cr+lf) it makes 48 x 50
= 2400. Don't be alarmed now - just check that if you load and
save them ALL with the same editor, they all have the same size.
If not, you propably inserted the rails instead of overwriting. 

If think I programmed a "fill in the missing spaces at the end
of a line" -routine, though. But EXTRA spaces will always make
the map look really weird.

Load 37.VEH, where the the units are. Empty hexagons are already
spaces in this map. Put your editor to overwrite mode again and
throw in a few new units, preferably near your new railroad so
you can see where it goes.

If you wish, make similar, cautious experiments with the terrain
in 37.TER.

Check the file sizes once more and then...

5.4  Map2mis

Type

         MAP2MIS

A header bar, blue this time, shows up. The translation should
be quicker than from MISSxxx.DAT to maps with MIS2MAP.

5.5  Container editor

Containers (cities etc.) can be edited either before or after
the maps are translated back to MISSxxx.DAT. There is no link
between cities and what can be seen on the maps. If you use
Container Editor and move a city, the picture of the city stays,
but an invisible city will hide on the new coordinates. If you
move, say, a Demon unit into that hexagon, the capture-window
will pop up. But if you move into the old place, where the
picture (propably red now that the owner information has moved
away) still is, nothing happens. Note: This has nothing to do
with 'fake containers'.

Container editor has the same default MISSxxx.DAT filename,
MISS037.DAT. Just type

         CONTAIN

The blue info box will guide you through the fields. To jump to
the next container, press "+" key, "-" to go back. Arrow keys
work between fields. Try for example to turn the first
container, the Blue Headquarters, into a factory. Go to the 4
light gray fields on the right and enter values between 33 and
37 to enable production of some deadly aircraft there (he he...
time to wax those bums.. B-) )  See Appendix A for a more
complete list of units.

When you're done, press Q and then Y to save directly to
MISS037.DAT and quit. 

5.6  And finally...

If the modified MISS037.DAT isn't already in BI2\MIS directory,
copy it there. (You did make backup copies, didn't you?)

One more thing before we start BI2. We have edited the mission
file, not the savegames. The saved games are safely in \BI2\SAV
directory. However, usually when you start BI2, it loads your
latest savegame automatically. Now, I don't know why, but for
some reason, if this saved game is a campaign other than the one
whose MISSxxx.DAT you edited, the game may look like garbage on
your screen. If You find out why, please use my email address in
the beginning of this text. Also, if that never happens to You,
let me know that too.

Garbage or not, hit F1, choose NEW CAMPAIGN, type password
ZAFLUGE (set all players to Human if you wish), hold your breath
and hit START...

If you see garbage now, go back to check the file sizes again,
restore MISS037.DAT from backup, delete TRANSLAT.TBL, and run
MIS2MAP again. 37.TER etc. will always be overwritten
automatically, TRANSLAT.TBL will never. 


6.  KNOWN PROBLEMS

6.1  Only 256 ASCII characters

You can use the same table for several maps, but if there are
more than 250 of any of the three types, there will be trouble.
We have only about 250 printable ASCII-characters on our
disposal. MIS2MAP's automatic translation table update-routine
will try to avoid "bad characters", but you can still try to
insert them to the translation table and they won't be
overwritten. 

Basicly, nothing you put into the table will ever disappear -
unless MIS2MAP really runs out of space. The vehicles are in
danger first. There are only 54 different, BUT there are 6
different nationalities (plus occasional Neutral Aldiniums). 6 x
54 = 324 which is more than we have characters to display them.
But what kind of campaign would need all 54 units for all 6
players, deployed all over the map in the beginning of the game?
You only create the starting situation of the game; why not give
each player some extra energy instead, which would allow them to
build the needed units during the first turn.

6.2  "What are all these Terrain and Object types?"

I leave it up to you to comment your translation tables. I'd
appreciate if some kind person would uuencode and mail a
complete table with (if posssible) all terrain and object types
as soon as someone completes his/her research. It will be
interesting to see whether there are more than 256 of them. Most
scenarios have less than 100 of each type.

6.3  "It's impossible to draw these maps without seeing the
     graphics!"

This is an ultimate test for any game: if it's really worth the
trouble, someone, some day will program an editor which
outclasses Blue Byte Inc.'s own. Not me, rest assured.

Luckily, the roads for example, can be drawn with a single
character. You don't have to choose from 8 different directions
(plus all possible junctions).


7.  STANDARD DISCLAIMER

BATTLE ISLE 2 is a registered trademark of Blue Byte Inc.

This software is provided without any guarantee for its
usefulness for any purpose. I will not take responsibility for
any damage that its use, invalid or not, may cause. No liability
for consequential damages. In no event shall I be liable for
consequential, incidental or indirect damages of any kind
arising out of the delivery, performance or use of the software,
even if I have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
IF YOU CAN NOT ACCEPT THESE CONDITIONS, DELETE THIS SOFTWARE
IMMEDIATELY.

BI2 MAPPER V 1.00 is NOT shareware - it's freeware. Please 
distribute like crazy. 


8.  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    Many thanks to 

 o  Tuomas Kivel who programmed the key parts of MIS2MAP and 
    helped me in the very beginning when I was stuck. Without
    his help, I'd still be there.

 o  Paolo Baiardi who provided me with most useful information
    about the unknown parts of the container segment data. He
    first discovered the production menus.

 o  Everyone, who stated their interest in this program and
    thus gave me inspiration to go on.

 o  The people in Blue Byte Inc., for making an enjoyable game.
    I hope the chance to create one's own maps will increase 
    people's interest in this product. Those guys have earned 
    every Deutch mark they get from this and, who knows, maybe 
    even more.

    SPECIAL THANKS 

    to Pasi Ahopelto. Without his documents, BI2 MAPPER would
    not have been possible.




APPENDIX A:   Vehicle codes (by Pasi Ahopelto)

Code     Description
-------- -----------
00 nn    Planum construction vehicle (road/rail)
01 nn    Regio constr. vehicle (forts)
02 nn    Sinus repair vehicle
03 nn    Ranger recce vehicle
04 nn    Buggy recce vehicle
05 nn    Orion radar vehicle
06 nn    Demon light robot
07 nn    Imperator 
08 nn    Technotrax light tank
09 nn    Snake armored transport
10 nn    Sting rocket tank
11 nn    Samurai 2 main battle tank
12 nn    Pulsar artillery
13 nn    Nashorn assault tank
14 nn    Spring transport tank
15 nn    Elixir 
16 nn    Troll battle robot
17 nn    Archimedes rocket launcher
18 nn    Algol tanker vehicle
19 nn    Alcor ammunition transporter vehicle
20 nn    Rune radar emplacement
21 nn    Medusa AA-gun
22 nn    Skull gun tower
23 nn    Ionstar gun tower
24 nn    Supervirus mine
25 nn    Atlas transport vehicle
26 nn    Dolmen transport train
27 nn    Anaconda rail gun
28 nn    Excalibur rail gun
29 nn    Menhir fast train
30 nn    Monolith repair train
31 nn    Uhu recce plane
32 nn    Ghost stealth fighter
33 nn    Thunder 
34 nn    Stormbringer bomber
35 nn    Dragon battle helicopter
36 nn    Genom fighter
37 nn    Exterminator fighter/bomber
38 nn    Sperber torpedo bomber
39 nn    Spectrum tanker plane
40 nn    Crux transport plane
41 nn    Guppi transport helicopter
42 nn    Rex repair ship
43 nn    Moeve speedboat
44 nn    Patrix patrol boat
45 nn    Titan aircraft carrier
46 nn    Nautilus transport sub (Shell in manual?)
47 nn    Orca hunter submarine
48 nn    Polar cruiser
49 nn    Zenit battleship
50 nn    Hydra torpedo boat
51 nn    Vader amphibian
52 nn    Comet AA-tank
53 nn    Aldinium crystal
