Area Editor v1.34

- a graphical area editor for SMAUG and ROM areas

- now supports SMAUG 1.4a and ROM 2.4

- now distributed as FreeWare

What is Area Editor?

This program is designed to facilitate editing of the "area" files used by the SMAUG and ROM MUD programs.

Area Editor provides a Windows GUI (graphical) interface so you can:

1. Set attributes for rooms, mobiles etc. using checkboxes, rather than having to add up large numbers.
2. Add, delete or duplicate things in the area.
   • Deleting an item (eg. a room) optionally deletes references to that item (eg. exits leading to the room).
   • Duplicating an item (eg. an object) also duplicates sub-items (eg. programs, affects etc.)
3. Syntax-check MUD programs against your current commands/skills/socials files
4. Do an "area check" to check for missing, or unused, items
5. Renumber the vnums in an area, including references to vnums in MUD programs
6. Cross-reference most things against each other (eg. which mobs are loaded into a particular room)
7. Find things by summary, detail, program contents, or vnum. Finding can be optionally across all open areas.
8. View, edit, add, remove commands/skills/socials in a easy-to-view windows.
9. Print your whole area so you can browse through it and check descriptions etc.
10. Specify your own flag names in a configuration file, so you can customise the editor to correspond to changes to the codebase.
11. Managing "resets" is greatly simplified
    • Each mob/room/object shows (by scanning reset lists) where it is loaded
    • You can add mob/objects resets to a room by clicking on an "add mob" or "add object" button - you then choose the appropriate item from a list box
    • You can equip or give to mobs by highlighting them in the room view and clicking on the "equip" or "give" buttons - you then choose the appropriate object from a list box
    • Deleting a reset for a mob automatically deletes related "equip" and "give" resets
12. Adding exits is simplified - you can also add a "reverse exit" at the same time
13. An "area walkthrough" allows you to simulate visiting each room in the area, to see how your room descriptions will look, and see what mobiles and objects are loaded into that room.
14. Export an area as MUSH code.
15. Convert ROM areas to SMAUG, and SMAUG areas to ROM. Spell check descriptions "on the fly" or in batch mode during an area check. Load multiple areas quickly by processing your "area.lst" file. Choose mobs/rooms/objects from any open area. Go to a mob/room/object in any open are by vnum.
16. Run under Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) under Linux. See screenshot of running under Wine for an example. (Press the Back button on your browser to return to this page).

A few small examples below show the general idea, however follow the links below for more detailed example screens ...

Values are entered in easy-to-use dialog boxes
Mutually-exclusive attributes (such as race) are entered in drop-down boxes
Flags are entered as check boxes
Mobs/programs/objects are cross-referenced to where they are used, including being loaded in MUD programs
A tree view shows each mob and its programs so they can easily be viewed
Rooms show extra descriptions, exits leading from the room, and MUD programs
Each room also shows what room lead to this room, and what mobs and objects are placed there, as well as any references in MUD programs
The "area check" function evaluates the area, including showing which objects/rooms/mobs are never used or referred to in MUD programs

Release version - 1.34

The current version is 1.34. It has been tested with all of the areas distributed with the SMAUG and ROM source code, and loads them all OK.

Click here for the Area Editor version history.

Recent changes

Recent changes are shown below. All changes since version 0.50 are listed in the version history .

Changed from ShareWare to FreeWare.

More changes are listed in the version history.

Area Editor details and example screens ...

• Overview and example screens from Area Editor
• Area header
• Spell check
• Helps
• Mobiles (mobs)
• Objects
• Resets
• Rooms
• Shops
• Repairs
• Area check
• Skills/spells
• Commands
• Socials
• Finding things
• Renumbering an area
• Exporting an area as MUSH code
• Walking through an area
• Printing an area
• Software requirements
• FreeWare licence

Can I use Area Editor with Unix area files?

Although the Area Editor runs under Windows 95/98/NT/2000 the files it reads/writes are completely compatible with the Unix versions of the SMAUG and ROM servers. Area files are simply text files which can be edited with any text editor.

If you are planning to edit Unix area files the only slight difference between Windows and Unix is the "line endings" (Unix files end each line with a linefeed, Windows files end each line with a carriage-return/linefeed combination). To convert text files to/from Unix/Windows you can use the freely available programs Unix2Dos and Dos2Unix, available from the utilities download area.

Extra information ...

• Download Area Editor
• Area Editor known bugs
• Bug Report Submission Page
• View the release notes for every version

Software requirements

You can run Area Editor on:

• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows NT 4 or higher (Intel)
• Windows 2000

Downloading Area Editor

Area Editor download

Click on downloads to download Area Editor.

Sample area files

For some sample "area" files, download the SMAUG server from the downloads area - this includes about 25 example area files.

Alternatively, download the ROM server from the downloads area - this includes over 50 example area files.

FreeWare Licence

Area Editor is distributed by the FreeWare method. There is no fee for using it.

Disclaimer

This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty, and with no claim as to its suitability for any purpose.

Copyright notice and credits

The world of MUDs is a co-operative effort by many people. For a very interesting history of MUDs (and the Internet in general) see the paper "Cultural Formations in Text-Based Virtual Realities" by Elizabeth M. Reid at:

http://www.ludd.luth.se/mud/aber/articles/cult-form.thesis.html

The sequence of programs that preceded the creation of Area Editor was:

1. Diku Mud
2. Merc
3. ROM
4. SMAUG
5. Area Editor

Credits for these programs are given below ...

• Diku Mud is copyright (C) 1990, 1991 by Sebastian Hammer, Michael Seifert, Hans Henrik St{rfeldt, Tom Madsen, and Katja Nyboe.
• Merc Diku Mud is a derivative of the original Diku Mud. Merc Diku Mud contains substantial enhancements to Diku Mud. These enhancements are copyright 1992, 1993 by Michael Chastain, Michael Quan, and Mitchell Tse.
• ROM 2.4 is copyright 1993-1998 Russ Taylor. ROM has been brought to you by the ROM consortium. Russ Taylor (rtaylor@hypercube.org), Gabrielle Taylor (gtaylor@hypercube.org) Brian Moore (zump@rom.org).
• SMAUG is a derivative of the version 2.1 distribution of Merc Diku Mud. SMAUG contains substantial enhancements to Merc Diku Mud, including some features of the original Diku Mud that were removed by the Merc team.
• Area Editor does not use code from any of the above programs, however it is designed to edit area files used by the current version of the SMAUG server (1.4) and ROM server (2.4). Area Editor is copyright (C) 1998 by Nick Gammon of Gammon Software Solutions.

Software download sites...

Area Editor's PAD file is here with Area Editor's program information.

Comments to Gammon Software support