ROM OLC compatibility

Recently, I was on a forum devoted to creating an area exchange for the ROM community. I was struck by how many times people who used OLC asked if there was an off-line editor they could use. Apparently, there isn't.

Further, as the discussion about policing minimum standards for submissions progressed, I realised Area Editor provides a level of quality control unavailable in OLC (or likely any other editor). Coders to who know nothing about exits or apostrophes can get a screen showing mob imbalance, unused objects, and spelling errors. Oh, wait....

Guess I'm preaching to the choir. Anyway, I just think you might find a surprising number of people who have OLC would use a dedicated editor, as well.


Sandi

I agree an offline editor compatible with ROM 2.4 OLC would be useful. We use an OLC by Surreality that puts all our area files in a slightly different format (beginning with #AREADATA instead of #AREA for starters). When I tried opening them in Area Editor, it wouldn't recognize the format. Which is a shame really, cause our mud was down for over a day and I was in a rare mood to do some building. :D Also I travel a lot, so it's good to have an editor for long trips when I can't always connect.

-Aloysius
Implementor, Dark Tower
68.5.137.60:4550

The problem is that the current area editor expects the exact format used in stock SMAUG or ROM. Unless you can convert it in a pre-step (eg. change #AREADATA to #AREA) then it won't be easy to fix.

I was thinking of writing a more general area editor, where the entire format of the area file could be specified in configuration, but haven't done it yet.

I'm back! And I'm on a ROM with OLC.

HELP!!!

You don't miss the water 'til the well....
It turns out I'm not a very good Builder without AE. :)

The header I can change, the extra sections I can remove, but the stickler is a set of zeros after the act/aff/align line in the Mobs. Area Editor won't read them. I can take them out, edit the file (everything else in the Rooms and Objects sections is fine), then I'm stuck as to how to put them back. I'm told they have something to do with Clans.

If there was simply a way to tell AE to ignore those lines, it would be a big help.


Thanks again, Nick, for one of the best MUD-related programs out there,

Sandi

I'll take a look, Sandi.