		  XvtED Beta test version 9
		  =========================
			May 15, 1998


Filename                : XvtEDb9.zip (Size 299KB)
Author                  : Troy Dangerfield
E-mail                  : troyd@picknowl.com.au
File Description        : XvT/BoP Mission Editor.
Web Page                : Go to http://www.empireone.net/~datamaster/xvt.html, 
                          check it out, then select "Get XvtED"
                          


This is a BETA VERSION so use it at your own risk.

Installation:
=============
Just unzip the exe file to where you want it and run it. Its only required
support file is 'XvtED.ini' for preferences, so if it doesn't find it (i.e. 
the first time you run the program) it will prompt you for details and create
that file in your Windows directory. 




Version 9
=========
It seems a lot of people didn't read the 'Readme' file so maybe they'll read 
something named after the version number...


Map
===
The Map has been totally rewritten. It now doesn't flash and uses the same 
calculations as the Briefing Map and therefore the same Zoom values.

* You can Right click on the Map to centre it at the point you click on. 
This will save a lot of time using the scroll bars.

Waypoints are now shown linked by lines as follows:
There is a solid line in IFF color from the FG's Start 1 position to its 
WP 1. This will indicate the direction a ship will be facing at the start of 
the mission. 
From WP 1 to RNDV point is a dotted line in IFF color, then to its HYP point 
in a dashed white line.


The buttons across the top are:

X-Y, X-Z, Y-Z - Set map views
---  ---  ---
WPs Off  - no waypoints displayed
-------
All WPs  - waypoints for all FGs displayed
-------
Curr WPs - waypoint shown for only the Current FG
--------

Names on - (Toggle) Show FG names next to their icons. (Helps to turn names 
--------   off to get less clutter while working with WPs.)

Curr FG only - (Toggle) Show only the Current FG.
------------
Lock Start 1 - (Toggle) this will lock a FG's start point 1 waypoint (the 
------------    position of it's icon.)
		This is useful when working only with waypoints. e.g. if you
		chose to show WPs for only Curr FG, you can just click on the
		ship's icon to change the current FG (and if it's locked it 
		won't accidently be dragged) and therefore see it's waypoints
		and change waypoints one FG at a time.

Picture Buttons:
----------------
Briefing Mode on/off
Centre Map
Centre on Curr FG
Edit WPs Grid

FG List - brings up a list of all the FGs. You can multiselect this list to 
-------   display any combination of the ships in the mission. (Selections 
	  here will override the IFF buttons.)

Options - displays a panel of options:
-------
  * Snap: moving waypoints by dragging them with the mouse will move them by 
	  the selected increment.

  * Link WPs 2-8: whether to join WPs 2 to 8 with a dotted line when WPs are 
                  on.

  * Link Hyperspace point - whether to include the white dashed line to 
                            Hyperspace point when WPs are on.


IFF buttons - pressing them in will add that IFF to the display, releasing 
-----------   them will remove them from the display. 

All - Selects All FGs to be displayed.
---

Zoom
----
You can now either use the scrollbar to adjust zoom, or the '+' and '-' 
buttons to zoom in/out by steps (including the Zoom 'presets' from the 
Briefing page).
The '400' and '16' buttons instantly set the zoom to that value.


In Briefing Mode there is now a 'frame' to show how much will fit in at the 
current Zoom value.

Map Keys
--------
Since you never need to type text in the Map Form I've added some keyboard 
shortcuts: 

Enter - Centre Map
Space - Show All FGs
1 - X-Y View
2 - X-Z View
3 - Y-Z View
Z - Zoom in
X - Zoom out
A - Zoom to 400
S - Zoom to 16
C - Show Current FG only
F - Centre on Curr FG
H - include Hyperspace points when WPs linked
L - Lock Start Point 1
N - Toggle FG Names On/Off
W - Toggle WPs On/Off
+ - Zoom in by steps
- - Zoom out by steps




Main Form
=========

Keyboard shortcuts
------------------
I've added some standard keyboard shortcuts:

Ctrl-S - Save File
Ctrl-O - Open File
Ctrl-A - Save As File
Ctrl-N - New Mission
Ctrl-C - Copy
Ctrl-V - Paste
Ins    - New FG/Message
Del    - Delete

Flight Group List
-----------------
Will now give an indication of which Difficulty Levels the FG will appear at.
If they have the 'Only arrive if Player Craft' flag set, then a '?' symbol
will appear next to the Player number.

The Ship page will also give a count of non-flying objects in the game.

Description Boxes
-----------------
You will not need to worry about using '$' symbols as carriage returns 
anymore, XvtED will do the conversion automatically.


Campaign/Battle Manager
-----------------------
Now has a Browse button for adding missions that aren't in the default 
directory for their mission type. This will only work for directories which 
are within the default directory. 



Briefing Editor
===============
It now has a few more buttons, and some people seem to have problems 
understanding how it works so here is a detailed description of the 
functions:

The main tool bar includes a row of buttons along the right side to insert 
instructions into the current briefing. (All instructions except 'Title Text'
because it's not used in the game, and 'End Marker' because they should be 
added automatically. You can still add either of these if you must by adding
a different instruction and then changing their 'instruction' type.)


Instructions can be added from the Instruction List page OR the WYSIWYG page.
Hold the mouse pointer over each button for a description of what they do. 
Just click on them to insert the instruction. 

If they are added from the Instruction List Page, they will be inserted at 
the currently highlighted position in the list. If they are added from the 
WYSIWYG page, they will be inserted at the current Time in the Playback. You 
can either pause the playback at the point you want to insert the instruction
then choose the button from the toolbar, or just hit a button on the toolbar 
and, if necessary, the playback will pause automatically.


Some instructions require no further parameters to be set i.e. 

  Stop Point
  Clear Boxes
  Clear Tags

The rest will require you to give more information. If inserted from the 
Instruction List page, the boxes for the required parameters will become 
visible for you to manually set the parameters. (Note: X and Y Coordinates 
are in 'Raw' format, not kms.)

If you insert them from the WYSIWYG page, visual controls will become 
available, as well as a 'Done' button.

  Move Map - X and Y scrollbars will appear to move the map to where you want
  --------   it to go.

  Zoom - a Zoom scrollbar will appear to adjust the zoom to the level you 
  ----   want.

  Briefing Text - a dropbox will appear to select which string you want to 
  -------------   use. 

  FG Box - a dropbox will appear to select which FG you want to box.
  ------
  Map Tag - boxes will appear to select the Tag and the color you want to 
  -------   add. To position it just click on the Map where you want it. You 
            can keep clicking (but not drag) to reposition it until you've 
            got it where you want it.

When finished adding the instruction, press 'Done' to continue.

* I'd recommend always putting a 'Move Map' and 'Zoom Map' instruction at 
  Time 0 in every briefing.

* Briefing End Markers must have Time value 9999 so I have disabled editing 
  of it.


From the Instruction List page you can alter any parameters of any 
instruction, regardless of how you inserted them.  


Briefing Playback
-----------------

The playback controls are, in order:

  Play from Start - returns to start and begins playing
  ---------------
  Stop - stops playback and returns to start.
  ----
  Pause - Pauses playback at current position.
  -----
  Play -  continues playback from current position
  ----
  Step - will advance the current time by .05 seconds and pause
  ----
  Next instruction - advances to next instruction (while Paused or Playing)
  ----------------
  Next Stop Point - Fast forward to next Stop point (while Paused or Playing)
  ---------------


There is also a flag to chose whether the briefing will pause when it reaches
a Stop point, and Auto-Brief will now add Stop points after each Briefing 
Text instruction.