
 Zépir's War3 Map Editor 1.0 - ReadMe file
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Version: 1.0
Release date: 03/10/2004


Installation:
-------------
Just create a directory where you put all the stuff coming with this program.
You may need MS.NET framework available here:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/.netframesdk/Redist/1.0/W98NT42KMeXP/EN-US/dotnetredist.exe


What's new (since beta 9.2):
----------------------------
Nothing! :-) Just some "9.2 beta" turned into "1.0" and that's it.


Quick notes (FAQ):
------------------
-What is it?
 It's the only "100% third party" map editor for Warcraft 3.

-What can you do with it?
 This editor is not designed to replace the original World Editor. Basically,
 you can open any Warcraft 3 map and use it to add and modify stuff you can't
 do with the World Editor. Here is a quick list:
 * path editing
 * high ground level difference
 * water level full control
 * map protection
 * 256x256 maps full support
 * maps convertion (war3 beta, pud,...)
 * use more tilesets than allowed by the WE
 * and more...

-How does it work?
 Please, visit http://www.wc3campaigns.com/ and go to the appropriate forum.
 It should be: http://www.wc3campaigns.com/showthread.php?t=3091

-What's the point?
 Well, it has not been designed to completely replace the World Editor. Use
 both! Each editor has its own qualities and defaults. Notice my editor is
 FREE.


Some Statistics:
----------------
.cpp and .h files count         : 158 files
Total number of code lines      : 47 432 lines
Uncommented and non-blank lines : 29 112 lines
Sources size                    : 1 539 419 bytes


Plugins:
--------
How do they work?
Plugins are just any program that can take a file name in command line parameter.
They can be added in W3ZMapEdit.ini in the following sections:
[LoadPlugins], [SavePlugins] and [MenuPlugins].
Plugins are run on any file in the map file that matches the given file mask.
They can also be run on the map W3M file.
"LoadPlugins" are plugins that are run right after a file has been extracted from
the W3M map file but before that file got read by W3ZME. An example of use of
this kind of plugin could be when a new format can't be read by W3ZME: a plugin
could "downgrade" the file to a "readable" format before it got read by W3ZME.
"SavePlugins" are plugins called right after a file has been updated by W3ZME and
just before it got put inside the map W3M file. A example of use can be map
protection.
"MenuPlugins" are plugin that can get run by the "Plugin..." menu in W3ZME.
The user can run them at anytime. Right now, these plugins will have no
impact on files generated by W3ZME (see "Files support"). However, it can be
usefull on the other files (like War3map.jass or War3Map.tga for example).
Files given to plugins are temporary files (~W3Zxxxx.TMP) with a ".TMP" extension.
Plugins can read, write and delete these files.
When a plugin is running, W3ZME wait until the plugin program ends. If the plugin
program can't be closed for various reasons, you can still use the
"Plugin running..." dialog to ends the plugin or just ignore it.
So far, map files are not given to plugins in a specific order. Let's say it's
in random order. However, load and save plugins are run in the order they are
provided in the INI file.
Even if files given to plugins in command line are ".TMP" files (at the moment),
only files with a real name that matches the plugin file mask are provided.
The user can specify additionnal command line arguments in the INI file.
The filename is always the last argument given in command line.
Plugin definition follows the syntaxe:
plugin_name=<file_mask>,<"program_path">,[additional_parameters]
Example:
JASS Edit (notepad)=*.j,"c:\winnt\notepad.exe"
"additional_parameters" are optionnal.

WARNING: remember one important thing! if the plugin does NOT close the file it
was given, then it will rise errors when saving the map! This may happen if the
plugin is still running while W3ZME is trying to save the map and also if the
plugin crashed and was not closed correctly.



Files support:
--------------
It supports W3M, W3X, W3E, PUD, SCM and SCX files.
Recognised formats:
PUD: Warcraft II PUDs (it includes BNE)
SCM: Starcraft maps (requiers a clean ISOM section)
SCX: Stracraft-Broodwar maps (requiers a clean ISOM section)
W3M: retail format
W3X: TFT retail format
W3E: read (v11)/write (v11)/edit (v11)
DOO: read (v6, v7)/write (v7)
W3I: read (v8, v11, v15, v16, v18)/write (v18)/edit (v18)
WTS: read/write/partially edit
Path.TGA: read/write
WPM: read (v0)/write
SHD: read/write
JASS: read(detects units, gold mines and start locations only)


Miscelaneous:
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This program uses SFMPQ API to browse map files (.w3m and .w3x) so it needs
"sfmpq.dll" and it may also need some other DLLs.
W3Z Map Edit uses temporary files. These files are stored in your "TEMP" folder
in a subdirectory called "W3Z". DON'T PUT ANY ".TMP" FILE IN THAT DIRECTORY!
It'll be deleted next time W3Z starts!


Contact:
--------
I don't like to leave my e-mail address to unknown people but it is not really
hard to find if you're smart enought.
Anyway, if you'd like to contact me, you can try there:
irc.wc3campaigns.com#wc3campaigns
And ask some admins if they know me and how to contact me (ICQ and such).
If you need support about the editor or report some bug, go there:
http://www.wc3campaigns.com/showthread.php?t=3091


Known bugs:
-----------
-when you zoom out, the map colours look weird
-zoom in/out repositionning
-when zoomed in on some computers, editing may bug
-Alt+tab while using a rectangle or ellipse tool mess up the display
-map file size can change a lot because of the compression level changed for
 some files.
-W3ZME can take time to close after path editing
-undo after a "reset pathing" can take a lot of time (doesn't crash)


History:
--------
03/10/2004: 1.0 final
27/04/2004: beta 9.2
25/04/2004: beta 9.1
17/04/2004: beta 9.0a
19/07/2003: beta 8.52
11/07/2003: beta 8.51
29/06/2003: beta 8.5
16/09/2002: Beta 8
09/08/2002: beta 7a
12/06/2002: Beta 5
10/06/2002: Beta 4
28/05/2002: Beta 3
20/05/2002: Beta 2
11/05/2002: Beta 1
30/04/2002: Alpha 5
29/04/2002: Alpha 4
18/04/2002: Project start


Copyrights:
-----------
W3ZMapEditor is Copyright (c) Zépir
Warcraft III is copyright Blizzard Entertainment
sfmpq.dll is copyright ShadowFlare


Credits:
--------
W3M files: Ziutek, StonedStoopid, DigimonKiller, BlackDick,...
MPQ: Big thanks to ShadowFlare for her awesome SFMPQAPI!
 Thanks to Justin Olbrantz (Quantam)(Inside MoPaQ), Andrey Lelikov (LMPQ API).
PUD: Daniel Lemberg, Scorpions, Alexander Cech, Mark Kinkead.
SCM/SCX: TheEpigoni, Quantam (again).
Thanks for various reasons: Skull, ShadowFrench, Samsuffy, NX-306, FyreDaug,
Draco, DJBnJack, Darky27, Cookie and a few others.
Thanks to Yog Sothoth for the "multi-view " source code and codeguru for other
good sources.
Blizzard Entertainment, War3Pub Staff and of course WC3Campaign Staff!


   -=Zépir oo