ds1edit Loader Installation and More

Installation:

Installing the Loader

Put "ds1edit Loader.exe", "maplist.txt" and the accompanying .dlls in any directory.

Setting up the Loader

Start the loader. It should tell you that it is unconfigured and take you to the configuration dialog. If not, select the menu item "Settings⇒ Configure Loader". Click on the "Browse..." button. Navigate to the directory where you installed the editor and double-click on the executable. Click on OK. Now click on "Options⇒Register Extension". A confirmation message should pop up, click OK.

Setting up the Editor

If you have only just installed the editor and have not configured it yet, select the menu item "Settings⇒Configure Editor". In the following window change the paths to the different .mpq archives by using the "..." buttons. Modify any other settings as you please, but beware of the two fields with the "Revert" button next to them, they are meant for advanced modders who have changed the .dlls.

Use:

Launching

The best way to launch the editor is by running it directly (double-clicking on the executable or creating a shortcut to do the equivalent). After using the "Options⇒Register Extension" menu item you can also just double click on a map file.

Adding and Removing Files

If you have used the "File⇒Make Batch" command to save a .bat and/or a .ini file previously, you can use the "File⇒Load Batch" menu item to reload those files. To add additional maps to the list, use the "File⇒Add" menu item and selected the file(s) (you can select multiple ones at one go) or double-click the map files in explorer. If multiple maps have the same name, a window pops up where you can choose which one you want to use. Use the menu item "File⇒Remove" to remove all selected files from the list.

Editor Parameters

If you select the "View⇒Parameters" menu item, you can select additional startup parameters for the editor. Most of These options are only available if you have one single map in the list.

Configuring the Loader

To add new maps to the loader's .ini or change the location of the editor, select "Settings⇒Configure Loader". In the dialog that appears, use the "Browse" button to select the different location of the editor. Use the Add/Modify/Duplicate/Remove buttons to modify the map list in the loader's .ini. Note that if you have multiple files selected and click Modify/Duplicate, you only need to enter what changes you would like to make; Leave the other fields blank. Clicking OK will write all the updates to disk and close the window, Cancel discards all changes and closes the window.

Configuring the Editor

By selecting "Settings⇒Configure Editor" in the main window, you bring up a dialog with all options that can be set in the editor's ini. At the top you will have the options "Remove comments", "Use Paul's comments" and, if the editor's ini was found and loaded successfully, "Leave current comments". These options determine what comments should be written back to the ini. The other options in the window are described in the ini itself. I must warn (again) that changing the "Size of object table in .dll" is a bad idea unless you have modified the dlls. Using the Cancel button closes the window, leaving the editor's ini unmodified. The OK button also closes the window and updates the editor's ini. The default button sets all options except the paths to the way they are in a completely unmodified .ini.

Using Batch Files

Selecting the "File⇒Make Batch" menu item lets you enter a name for the .bat file (the name for the .ini is automatically the same). A batch file is then created in the specified folder with the specified name. This batch can be used to run the editor without having to start the loader, or it can be used to load the same map configuration into the loader later.

Running the Editor directly

If you use the "File⇒Run" command the loader window closes and the editor is started. When you quit from the editor, the window for the loader is re-opened. You can then view the output of the editor by selecting "View⇒Output". At the end of the output, the stderr.txt file and return code of the editor are displayed. The output box and parameter fields can be hidden and shown by selecting their respective menu commands.

Exiting the loader

To close the loader, use the "File⇒Exit" menu item or click the cross in the upper-right corner.

The Parameters:

Example:

To load one of the act4/expansion/lavaXX.ds1 files, you must use the Force Palette option with Act set to 4 and the Don't Check Act option.

Changing the maplist.txt manually:

The maplist.txt is formatted similar to the text files in data\global\excel in the game, the difference being the column header line is missing (hmm... could add that). As such, you can modify them with any program that can deal with those kinds of files (e.g. D2Excel, OpenOffice, etc.). The columns are:

  1. .ds1 name with extension
  2. Name (e.g. from LvlPrest name column)
  3. Path
  4. LvlType ID
  5. LvlPrest Def
  6. comment (optional)

Other Stuff:

Feedback

For feedback, comments and updates go here.

Credits:

Thanks to Paul Siramy for helping me debug this program and for making his editor in the first place, and thanks to RaeVan Morlock for making the great DD logo, and thanks to many members of the Phrozen Keep for their help.

License:

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA

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