Category : A Collection of Games for DOS and Windows
Archive   : MM3EDIT.ZIP
Filename : MM3EDIT.DOC

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| The Might and Magic ]I[ Character Editor |
| |
| Version 1.1 |
| |
| Authors: Mark Betz and Chris Lampton |
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| |
| This program is declared free and in the Public Domain. It |
| may be freely distributed provided that all documentation |
| is included. |
| |
| "Might and Magic ]I[" is a copyrighted product of New World |
| Computing. |
| |
| This product is not intended, nor can it be used for, by- |
| passing MM3 copy protection. Stop Software Piracy. |
| |
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| Program Instructions |
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Thanks for downloading the Might and Magic ]I[ Character Editor. We
put a lot of effort into it, and we hope it enhances your enjoyment
of this great CRPG. This document explains briefly how to use the
program, but first, a quiet word of warning...

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING THIS PROGRAM WITHOUT MAKING
A BACKUP SAVE COPY OF YOUR MM3 SAVE FILE(S)!!!

EXAMPLE: COPY SAVExx.MM3 SAVExx.BAK

Why? Well, so you won't feel compelled to send us nasty messages
when your game blows up on you. We have been able to verify that
the editor puts the right data in the right place, but since MM3 is
a very complex program, only time and use will tell us what actual-
ly happens when you change certain values.

1. Overview

The character editor is a full featured program for making changes
to the SAVExx.MM3 files which which MM3 uses to store interim game
data. It allows you to make changes to the following character
values:

Name Race Birthdate Alignment Profession
Gender Level Hitpoints Spellpoints Might
Intelligence Personality Endurance Speed Accuracy
Luck Inventory Skills Spells Resistances

In addition it allows you to view, but not edit, Awards.

The editor operates in 80 x 25 character text mode, and assumes the
presence of an EGA or better capable of 16 color mode. The inter-
face to the program is an event driven windowing system written
expressly for this application. The windowing system relies heavily
on standard library text i/o functions, so it is not to be confused
with a high performance i/o system. It is fast enough for the purp-
ose, however.

The event management system is under development for a commercial
game application, and the editor serves as a testbed program for
the system. As such, in return for providing this program at no
cost we ask only that you report any program errors or unusual
events to:

Mark Betz CIS I.D. # 76605,2346

This program will be supported through the GAMERS forum on Comp-
userve. Please leave messages addressed to the above ID in the
Game Design section (section 11). Or you may send mail to:

Betz Associates
2105 Mariners Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Sorry, but I can't support the program by telephone.

1.1 Window types.

There are several types of windows used in the program. All win-
dows respond to the escape key by closing with no further action.
In addition all windows have keyboard equivalents highlighted in
Red for text, and Yellow for buttons.

String input dialog:
Accepts string input (upper and lower case, numbers,
and space). Pressing enter replaces the string you
are editing with the one you typed in the dialog.

Numeric input dialog:
Accepts a number to replace the current entry. The number
can be adjusted by using the arrow keys, or clicking on
the scrollbar arrows with the mouse. A left click, or
keyboard arrow raises or lowers the value by one. A right
clisk, or control-keyboard arrow raises or lowers the
value by ten.

List Window:
There are three types of list windows; View, Pick, and
Fill-in. View windows are for display only. An example
is the Awards window. Pick windows display a list of
choices. Highlight the entry you want by clicking on it
or using the arrow keys, then press enter, or click
again to select it. An Example of a Pick window is the
Profession window. Fill-in windows present a list of
choices where the character can posess more than one of
the items on the list. In Fill-in windows items or
attributes the character already posesses are shown in
yellow. Unposessed items or attributes are shown in
blue. Select an item or attribute with the mouse or
arrow keys, then click again or press enter to toggle
it. An example of a Fill-in window is the Skills
window.

Yes/No Box:
Simply answer yes or no to the displayed message by
clicking on your choice or pressing the equivalent hot
key.

Specialty windows:
Special windows are one-off windows used in special
areas. An example is the character box or inventory
display. Their use is explained below.

2. Main menu bar.

The main menu bar is located across the top of the screen. From
left to right the choices are:

F2-Load * F3-Save * F4-Restore * F1-Help * ESC-exit

To select a function click on it with the mouse, or press the
equivalent key.

Load -
The Load function pops up a file dialog box. The dialog
lists all directories and any files matching the wild-
card SAVExx.MM3. Directories are displayed with enclos-
ing braces, like this: .

Either use the mouse to select a file or directory, or
use the arrow keys to position the highlight bar over
the desired entry. Once the entry is highlighted a sec-
ond click, or pressing the enter key, will either change
directories or load a file depending on what was selected.

Clicking on Ok, or pressing 'O' is equivalent to select-
ing the highlighted entry. Clicking on Cancel, or press-
ing 'C' closes the dialog box with no action.

Once a file is loaded it's path, time and date are disp-
layed at the bottom of the screen.

SAVE -
The Save function saves the changes you have made to the
currently open file. You will be prompted to confirm
that you want the changes saved. Clicking on Yes or
pressing 'Y' saves the file. Clicking on No or pressing
'N' cancels the action. If you have not made changes to
the file you will be asked whether you want to save the
file anyway. If you try to exit without saving changes
you will also be prompted.

Restore -
The Restore function will restore character data to the
values at the time of the last save (editor, not game).
Each character keeps a backup of it's data which is only
update when the file is loaded or saved. You may choose
to restore the current character, or all characters.

Help -
The Help function pops up a help screen for quick refer-
ence. We hope to expand this feature eventually. There
are two screens of help. Press any key or click to view
them both.

ESC -
Pressing Esc, or clicking on it's location in the menu
bar, exits the program. If you have unsaved changes to
the current file you will be prompted.

3. Character data display.

Once a file is loaded the basic character data is displayed in
the character box in the top-left region of the screen. The
top half of the box shows the character's Name, Race, Birthdate,
Alignment, Profession, and Gender. The bottom half contains 8
buttons; six for selecting Stats, Awards, Inventory, Skills,
Spells, and Resistances, and 2 arrow buttons for paging through
the characters in the file. In addition, there is a CHAR button.
Pressing this button brings up a pick list of all available
characters. All functions in the character box may be selected
by clicking on them with the mouse, or pressing the equivalent
hot key. Hot keys are highlighted in Red in the top half of the
box, and in yellow on the buttons.

In addition, a star will appear in the border at the top left
corner of the character box when a character has unsaved
changes.

3.1 Editing basic data.

The data in the top half of the character box may be changed
by clicking on the entry, or pressing the equivalent hot key:

Name - Type the new character name in the dialog box.
Race - Pick from the list of available race types.
Birth - Two dialog boxes pop up in succession for the
character's birth day and year.
Alignment - Pick from a list of possible Alignments.
Profession - Pick from a list of possible Professions.
Gender - Pick either Male or Female.

Char num - enter a character number to position to.

3.2 Editing extended character data.

The six buttons in two rows at the bottom of the character
box give access to specific areas of character data. Either
click on the button or press the equivalent hot key. A desc-
ription of each area follows:

Stats-
The Stats button pops up a dialog containging the char-
acter's Level, Hitpoints, Spellpoints, Might, Intell-
igence, Personality, Endurance, Speed, Accuracy, and
Luck. Clicking on a value, or pressing the equivalent
hotkey brings up a numeric input box where the value
can be adjusted up or down.

Awards-
The Awards button pops up a view-only box showing the
current awards this character has.

Invent-
The Invent button pops up the Inventory editing window.
The inventory window is divided into two areas, a slot
select area on the left, and an object description area
on the right. When the window comes up the cursor is in
the slot area, on pack slot number 1. Pressing Tab, or
clicking either area with the mouse, moves the cursor
to that part of the window. When the slot select area is
active the arrow keys move the cursor from slot to slot.
To use the mouse click on the desired slot. As the
cursor is moved the object description window is updated
with a description of the object in that slot. Moving the
cursor to the object description area allows the object
in the current slot to be edited. MM3 objects consist
of 7 fields, which can be variably combined to yield
millions of possible object. In the object desc. are these
fields are listed from top to bottom:

Adjective 1
Adjective 2
Adjective 3
Object Name
Prepostional Phrase
Magic Charges
Equipped Status (not editable)

Pressing the arrow keys or clicking on a line with the
mouse moves the cursor to that line. Once the line is
highlighted pressing enter or clicking again brings up
a Pick window with the possible entries for that line.
The exception is the Magic Charges area, which brings
up a numeric input box. Equipped status is displayed,
but cannot be edited.

Once you have selected the new entry and closed the pick
window you will note that the object description has
been updated. If you create an object description longer
than 44 characters a warning window will pop up. Select
yes to discard the last change, or no to retain it. The
game handles all possible object descriptions, but those
longer than 44 characters will wrap to the next line of
the MM3 inventory screens.

Skills -
The Skills button brings up a Fill-in window showing
all Skills the character currently possesses. See the
description of Fill-in windows above.

Spells -
The Spells button brings up a Fill-in window showing
all spells the character currently possesses. See the
description of Fill-in windows above.

Resist -
The Resist button brings up a dialog box showing the
values of the character's resistance to Fire, Magic,
Electricity, Energy, Cold, and Poison. Clicking on
an entry, or pressing the equivalent hotkey pops up a
numeric input window where the value can be adjusted.


4. General-

The character data in the save files is organized sequentially,
with space for 30 characters. The program will only recognize
and display characters with valid names (though it reserves
room for all 30). We debated allowing you to create new char-
acters in the editor, but the fact is that we don't know
enough about the file structure. For instance, the character
must have a portrait, and an initial location. The best method
is to enter an Inn and roll a new character, then use the editor
to produce the type of character you want.

This program was written in Borland C++ using object oriented
techniques. Some areas were optimized in assembler.

5. Disclaimer-

While we've verfied as best we can that all data is read and
written properly only an extended period of use will smoke
out all problems. Please tell us about any problems you enc-
ounter. Specifically look for editing which doesn't produce the
expected result, and mouse or keyboard glitches.

6. Technical notes-

Certain values in the game are editable, but may not give you
the results you expect. Specifically values that are calculated
from other values, such as Hit Points and Spell Points, can
be edited, but will be seen by the game as artificially en-
hanced, and will reset at the next rest.

Magic charges are editable, but be careful! Any value over
63 will curse the item. In one unreproduceable error all
magic charges for the entire inventory were set to 66, causing
all items to be cursed. If this happens, or if you inadvert-
ently curse an item. Either reset the magic charges in the
editor, or visit a temple to get uncursed.

Item names: the potential exists to create millions of item
names, and some of them make very little sense. For example,
the editor will let you create a Seething Leather Might
Black Terror Key of Revitalization. You should avoid doing
so because there is no guarantee of how the game code will
react. Stick to items that have a use.

Resetting permenently aged characters: If you have perma-
nently aged characters by touching the Crystals in the
Beta Engine Sector they can be "cured" in the editor by
moving the character's birthyear back the number of years
it was aged.

In the next version (whenever that is) we will attempt to
support modifying the game day, year, and party gold/gems.
They just didn't make it into this cut. For those of you
with hex editors and guts the values are reported to be
stored at:

Game Day - sector 23 byte 110
Game Year - sector 23 bytes 111-112
Party Gems - sector 23 bytes 144-146
Party Gold - sector 23 bytes 140-142

This program is declared free and in the Public Domain. It
may be freely distributed provided that all documentation
is included.

"Might and Magic ]I[" is a copyrighted product of New World
Computing.

This product is not intended, nor can it be used for, by-
passing MM3 copy protection. Stop Software Piracy.

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