

           Help for making IGM's that install with IGM.EXE V1.00



What is IGM.EXE?



It is a utility that install uninstall IGM's into LORD2 - without it, it

would be very hard because the Sysop would have to manually do it, or you

would have to include the whole MAP.DAT file and ruin any other things

the sysop had installed.



Things it does for you:



 * Provides a standard.

 * installs an IGM by typing "igm igmname.igm".

 * Can replace maps *AND* will automatically add the map if the destination

   block is empty.

 * Creates it's own uninstall data!

 * Uninstalls by trying to install it twice. (typing the same thing again)

 * When uninstalling an IGM, it restores whatever was there.  (note, if the

   map didn't exist before, it leaves the IGM's screen.. this is fine, even

   though it will never be used)

 * Updates the 3rdparty.dat file - this is just a text file used by the

   LORD2 help screen which shows which IGM's are installed.  If no IGM's

   are installed, it shouldn't exist.  (IGM will delete it if you uninstall

   the last IGM)



   A player can view IGM's installed in the game by hitting ?, then

   choosing 'Current Game Settings'.



 * When replacing/adding screens, you can specify if they 'show up on the

   map or not'





  ******* STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON MAKING AN IGM **********



  Ok, lets say you just made 'Bill's tavern' somewhere with the World editor

  in LORD2, and made it warp to a new screen that has the inside, and this

  has some hotspots that call stuff from bill.ref.



  And now you want to share it with the rest of the world.  Is it hard?  No!



  * Step 1



  Download CRAZY100.ZIP, this is an example IGM I made to use as a template.



  Edit CRAZY.IGM and rename it to BILL.IGM.  This is your IGM control file.



  This is where we tell IGM.EXE what screens to replace, the name of the IGM

  and any additional information you want the sysop to know.



  Look for the string



  igmname: `0Crazy Man's House `2by `0Seth A. Robinson



  and replace it with "igmname: Bill's Tavern by Joe Smoe" or whatever.



  * Step 2



  Go into the World editor.  Write down the BLOCK #'s of the two screens

  you use.  Next, while on top of one of the screens, hit E to extract the

  map.  When it asks for a filename choose BILL.DAT.  (it MUST be called

  this to match BILL.IGM)



  Do the same thing with the other screen - notice it says 'Saved as record 1'

  and 'saved as record 2'.  This is important!



  Now you have created your BILL.DAT file, which will be used to replaced

  the screen when the IGM is installed.



  * Step 3



  Now edit the place where you see



  replacescreen: 1439 1 show



  and change the 1439 to the BLOCK # to replace, and the 1 to the record

  # of the map to replace it with.  (it will read that from BILL.DAT)



  If you leave the 'show' this means it WILL show up on the players map.  If

  you put 'noshow' this means it will NOT show up on the players map.  (do

  this for inside houses, hidden things, etc)



  Make *SURE* you have a carriage return ABOVE and BELOW each replacescreen

  command.  Can't remember why that is important, or even if it is but..



  Optionally, you can add an



  installmessage:



  Anything under this will be shown to the user when he installs the

  IGM.  Always put this at the END.



  * Step 4



  Ok!  Time to test it out.  Copy bill.igm, bill.dat and bill.ref into a

  dir with a FRESH copy of LORD2 installed.



  Type "IGM bill" or "IGM bill.igm" (it will add the .IGM)



  It should say it installed ok.



  Next check the World Editor - is the map there?  Does it look right?



  It should have made a bill.sav file.



  Now type "igm bill" again - it should UNINSTALL.  Go check - did it really

  change the screens it replaced back to normal?  (remember, if there was

  no screen there originally, its ok that it is still the screen from your

  IGM.. it only changes REPLACEMENTS back.)



  If everything looked good, put bill.igm, bill.ref, bill.dat and a

  file_id.diz into a dir and zip it!  You've created your first IGM!!!



  *** Suggestions ****



  * Don't use any player or global vars.. save and load your own using the

    @writefile and @readfile commands.

  * Don't include any .REFs that overwrite .refs written by me

  * Don't add new items and include the items.dat file



  If you break any of those rules, be SURE to note it in text in

  bill.igm - so the sysop knows.  He can compare it to his other IGM's and

  see if there is a conflict or not.



  Note from Seth:



  I wrote this real quick.. I realize that people may want to keep track of

  'have you been here yet today' etc vars and are wondering if this is

  possible with @writefile and @readfile.



  It is - (your IGM basically would run its own maint by comparing the

  &time var) although it would be kinda slow... (you would have to have

  a file made for each guy that went in, could add up)



  I may add an easier way of data keeping for IGM's later, like a command

  to keep track of this for you...  But you can actually do a lot what

  you have, for instance, check out CASTLE?.REF, how I have ownable places,

  these do it completely with it's own little .txt file it makes to save

  info.. 





  Thanks, and if you have questions/problems, feel free to email me at

  sethable@rtsoft.com.  I'm slow sometimes, but I ALWAYS reply.



  -Seth

