                    @1                   
                    @1  ~fM ~bE G ~3A Z ~bE U ~fX  
                    @1                   

:072:                     ~eTable of Contents

>#FAQ.HLP:1st:FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.
>#CONFGINI.HLP:1st:The Config File
>#HELPONHE.HLP:000:Help on Help (Press F1 Within Help to Read This)
>#MOUSESUP.HLP:1st:Mouse Support in MegaZeux
>#1ST_TIME.HLP:071:Overview of MegaZeux - First Time Users Read This!
>#ZZT.HLP:zzt:A ZZTer's Guide to MegaZeux
>#DIABOX.HLP:098:Dialog Boxes
>#CONTROLS.HLP:ctr:Controls
>#NONDESCR.HLP:091:Nondescript Play Tips
>#BUILTINS.HLP:1st:The Mirth of Built-ins
>#CONFGINI.HLP:1st:MegaZeux Options
>#THEWORLD.HLP:1st:The World Editor
>#GENERALE.HLP:1st:General Editing Tips
>#EDITINGK.HLP:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference
>#CHAREDIT.HLP:079:The Character Editor
>#PALEEDIT.HLP:093:The Palette Editor
>#SMZXMODE.HLP:095:Super MegaZeux Modes
>#GLOBALIN.HLP:086:Global Info Options
>#BOARDINF.HLP:085:Board Info Options
>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:MegaZeux's Sound System
>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay
>#SCROLLSS.HLP:1st:Signs and Scrolls in the Editor
>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTSWH.HLP:1st:Robots - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTICT.HLP:1st:Robotic Tutorial
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#ERRORMES.HLP:1st:Error Messages
>#MEGAZEUX.HLP:1st:MegaZeux Limitations
>#IFYOUFIN.HLP:1st:If You Find a Bug...
>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!

$** Credits and Acknowledgments **

$MegaZeux SDL Thanks & Beta Testers:
$Exophase
$ZoMbIeGuY
$Wervyn
$Quasar84
$Lancer-X
$KenOhki2112
$Terryn
$Inuchance (Macintosh testing)
$Everyone who submitted a bug report

$Programming and Overall Design by Gilead Kutnick (Exophase)
$Based off of original program and source code by Gregory Janson
$Music/Sound code by modplug with patch by Alistair Strachan
$GDM conversion by Alistair Strachan (ajs) and MadBrain
$Help file by Terryn
$Pack-in SMZX utility and default SMZX palette by LogiCow
$Other past contributors: Spider124, Koji, MadBrain, JZig,
$Akwende, MenTaLguY, CapnKev.

>072:Table of Contents
#HELPONHE.HLP
:000:Help on Help

Using MegaZeux's help system is very simple. Press F1 at
almost any time to bring up help relating to the current
situation. Within help, use the arrow keys to Scroll the
current section. Press PageUp and PageDown to Scroll faster.
Many sections of help contain selections, like this:

>sl:Selection
:sl
Scroll the section until the selection is aligned with the
arrows on the edges of the help box, and press Enter. You will
jump to a help section indicated by the selection. Example:
If a selection says "Controls", scroll until the word is
aligned with the arrows on the left and right, and press Enter.
You should now be reading help on Controls.

Press F1 within help to jump to this section. Press Alt+F1
within help to jump to the Table of Contents. (Table of Major
Help Topics) Press ESC to exit help. Press Alt+P to print out
the current help section.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#1ST_TIME.HLP
:071:Overview of MegaZeux

$~EWelcome to MegaZeux! Use the arrow keys to scroll
$~Ethis text, and ESC when you are done reading.

$~BPress END to learn about the NEW FEATURES in
$~BMegaZeux!

As you may already know, MegaZeux is a game system which
allows you to play almost limitless worlds in dated yet
charming graphics and with excellent digitized music and sound.
Not only are there several MZX worlds out there already, but
new worlds are being uploaded to large websites like
DigitalMZX. However, the most excellent feature of MegaZeux is
the World Editor.

Using the World Editor, ANYONE can create the world of their
dreams. Make it as simple or complex (well, almost), as easy
or difficult, as long or short as you please. We aren't just
talking about worlds made up of petty, pre-programmed enemies
and objects; MegaZeux has its own, easy-to-use PROGRAMMING
LANGUAGE called Robotic that allows you to create objects,
engines and worlds that do almost anything you desire.

For the newest user, it's recommended that you play Caverns,
the first ever MegaZeux game, to get the feel of simple yet
well-designed games in MegaZeux. You may wish to read the help
section entitled "Controls" to learn how to play MegaZeux.

If you're more adventurous, start with a more complex game like
Demon Earth or a prettier game like Kaboink! to see what kind
of graphics, functions, bells and whistles MZX can offer.

Once you have the feel for the game, feel free to dive into the
World Editor and get messy! You should probably read the help
section entitled "The World Editor" first.

To go to one of these sections now, hit Enter after aligning
the arrows with one of these choices. Press ESC now to exit to
the game.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
>#CONTROLS.HLP:ctr:Controls
>#THEWORLD.HLP:1st:The World Editor

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
#ZZT.HLP
:zzt:A ZZTer's Guide to MegaZeux

ZZT and MegaZeux are worlds apart, although one can convert
from making ZZT games to making basic MegaZeux games with
(mostly) minimal effort. This section is to help seasoned
ZZTers adjust to MegaZeux.

Firstly, some mechanistic differences exist.

-MegaZeux uses counters instead of flags; however, counters
can easily be used as flags if set only to 1 and 0.
-There is no default mechanism for torches.
-No equivalent of centipedes exists as a default enemy.
-Multiple keys of the same color can be picked up at once.
-Cloning the player has no use in MZX; uses of player clones
need emulated in Robotic.
-Shift-? (often used for inventory engines) does not exist in
MegaZeux but can be emulated with Robotic.
-Bomb explosions are not instantaneous but instead radiate out
from the center. They are also diamond-shaped as opposed to
a flattened oval shape.
-MegaZeux uses cycle 1 as default (opposed to ZZT's cycle 3).
-No equivalent of duplicators exists.
-Player clones in MegaZeux are useless. All ZZT player clone
uses have to be emulated in Robotic.
-Seekers do not destroy Breakaway territories in MegaZeux.
-Scrolls can not execute Robotic code. Use a Robot ending with
the "die" command instead. 
-Terrains that give out a distinctive message on first touch
(fakes, forests) give out no such message in MZX.
-Putting in fake commands for comedic effect (e.g. putting in
#GOSUCKANEGG to make ZZT beep and go "ERR: Bad command
GOSUCKANEGG") does not work in MegaZeux and has to be emulated.
-Special exploits (e.g. black holes, monitors) have no direct
MZX equivalent.

Secondly, here is how the ZZT-OOP commands convert to Robotic.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Key:

[*] = There's no direct (i.e. one-line) way to make Robots do
commands on IF statements. A label pointing to the command will
have to do.

[#] = You need to manually add a label at the top of the Robot
for this in MZX.

---------------------------------------------------------------

~A@@object_name = . "@@Robot_name"

~A/direction/direction = / "directions" (works only for cardinal
~Adirections and idle: n s e w i)

~A?direction = GO direction #

~A`comment = . "comment"

~Aone line of text = * "text"

~Amultiple lines of text = % "text"

~A!label;text = ? "label" "text"

~A$ text = % "~~ftext" (by default palette)

~A#BECOME thing = BECOME color thing param

~A#BIND object_name = COPYROBOT "Robot"

~A#CHANGE thing newthing = CHANGE color thing param newcolor
~Anewthing newparam

~A#CHAR # = CHAR #

~A#CLEAR flag = SET "counter" 0

~A#CYCLE # = CYCLE #

~A#DIE = DIE

~A#END = END

~A#ENDGAME = ENDGAME

~A#GIVE item # = GIVE # item

~A#GO direction = GO direction #

~A#IDLE = WAIT #

~A#IF flag label;text = ? "counter" "label" "text"

~A#IF flag THEN command = IF "counter" = 1 THEN "label" 
~F[*]

~A#IF ANY object THEN command = IF ANY color thing param "label"
~F[*]

~A#IF NOT flag THEN command = IF "counter" = 0 THEN "label" 
~F[*]

~A#IF condition THEN command = IF condition THEN "label" 
~F[*]

~A#IF NOT condition THEN command = IF NOT condition THEN "label"
~F[*]

~A#LOCK = LOCKSELF

~A#PLAY notes = PLAY "notes"

~A#PUT direction thing = PUT color thing param direction

~A#RESTART 
~F[#]

~A#RESTORE label = RESTORE "label" #

~A#SEND label = GOTO "label"

~A#SEND Objectname:"label" = SEND "Robotname" "label"

~A#SEND ALL:command  = SEND "All" "label" 
~F[*]

~A#SET flag = SET "counter" 1

~A#SHOOT direction = SHOOT direction

~A#TAKE item # failure_label = TAKE # item "failure_label"
~A(failure label optional)

~A#THROWSTAR direction = SHOOTSEEKER direction

~A#TRY direction label = TRY direction "label"

~A#UNLOCK = UNLOCKSELF

~A#WALK direction = WALK direction

~A#ZAP label = ZAP "label" #

---------------------------------------------------------------

As for conditions, a few are changed:

ALLIGNED is now ALIGNED

CONTACT is now TOUCHING ANYDIR

ENERGIZED is no longer a condition but the "invinco" label.

---------------------------------------------------------------

This should be all one needs to make most ZZT-style games for
MegaZeux, except for a little Robotic knowledge to replicate
things like torches and duplicators. Of course, much more
powerful games can be made with MegaZeux; see corresponding
help for details.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#DIABOX.HLP
:098:Dialog Boxes

Much of MegaZeux's interface is made of dialog boxes. They
are simple and intuitive to use, but instructions for the
uninformed are included here.

A dialog box is a form of inputting various information. An
example of a dialog box is the Save Game box or the Settings
box, both in-game. To use a box is simple - Use TAB and
SHIFT+TAB to highlight an element, and type or use the cursor
keys to change the value. Press ENTER on a button (Rectangle
with a label) to exit the dialog or produce an effect.

If you have a mouse, you can click on a dialog box element to
select it, or click on a selected element to change it. Click
on a selected button to activate it.

You can usually use Home to jump to the first section of the
dialog box, and End to jump to the OK or NEXT button. TAB jumps
forward a section, while SHIFT+TAB goes backwards a section.

The different dialog box elements and special related keys
are explained in detail for the remainder of this section.

INPUT - This is where you type in a series of characters,
usually letters and numbers. You can move the cursor around
within the line, type to insert characters, move to the start
with Home, and move to the end with End. Alt + Backspace
deletes the entire line, while Ctrl + Backspace deletes the
last typed word.

NUMBER - This is where you have a number and you change it
with the arrow keys or mouse clicks on buttons. Up and Down
will change it by 1, Alt+Up and Alt+Down will change it by
10, and PageUp and PageDown will change it by 100. You can
also hold the mouse button down on one of the arrows to
change the number or press 0-9 to set the last digit.
Pressing 0-9 on the keypad changes the current digit to that
value. Finally, Backspace deletes the last digit.

NUMBER LINE - This is a line of numbers, with one highlighted.
Similar to the above, but in a limited range.

CHARACTER - This is where you can select a single character.
Press a character to use that character, click on it or press
Enter to get a large menu of characters to select from.

COLOR - This is where you can select a single color. Press
Enter or click on it to get a large menu of colors to choose
from.

CHECK BOXES - These are On/Off switches. Use Up/Down to move
within the list of choices, and use Space, Enter, or mouse
clicks to toggle choices on and off. An [X] means the option
is currently on.

RADIO BUTTONS - These are similar to Check Boxes, but are
mutually exclusive. The mouse or arrow keys will select the
current and ONLY option that is on. The ( ) shows the current
option.

BUTTON - These are rectangles with labels. When selected,
press Enter or click to activate. OK or Done will verify the
contents of the dialog box. Cancel will cancel any changes
you've made. (ESC will usually do this as well.) Next and
Previous move between multiple dialog boxes. Other buttons
do what their label signifies and are explained in the
appropriate help section.

LISTS - These show a selection from a list of choices. The
current selection is shown. Press Enter or click on it to
bring up a list of choices from which you can select a new
choice.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#CONTROLS.HLP
:ctr:Controls

Universal controls are as follows:

-Tab goes forward one section; Shift+Tab goes backward one
section.

-Esc cancels.

-Enter selects.

-Alt+Backspace deletes the entire line.

-Ctrl+Backspace deletes the last typed word.

-Ctrl+Left jumps to the previous word; Ctrl+Right jumps to the
next word.

-0 thru 9 sets the last digit in a number box (such as setting
amounts of items in a chest); backspace deletes the last digit.

File access controls are as follows:

-(0-9 and A-Z) will jump to the first file/directory starting
with that character. More specific seeking can be done by
typing characters in quick succession (for instance, s+e+c
would jump to the first file starting with sec).

-Del will delete the highlighted file/directory. You will be
asked for confirmation.

-Alt+R will rename the highlighted file/directory.

-Alt+N will create a new directory.

In-game controls are as follows:

F1 - Help
Use this at any time to bring up help relating to the current
situation. Within the game, you will go to the Controls
section. Some games may have this menu disabled or replaced
with their own help menus.

Enter - Menu/Status
Use this to bring up a menu of options and a list of your
current stats, such as Score, Gems, etc. Some games may have
this key do nothing, or even something different entirely.

ESC - Exit to Title
This will quit the current game and return to its title
screen. In yes/no dialog boxes, this selects the "no" option.

F2 - Settings
:092:This will bring up a dialog box where you can change the
current game settings: Game Speed (if allowed), Music toggle,
Sound toggle, and Audio Volumes (Overall Volume, SoundFX
volume, and PC Speaker SFX). Speed 1 is the fastest; speed 9 is
the slowest. A speed of 1 will cause flicker in fullscreen
mode, so it is not recommended unless it is your only option.
Please note that some games may have the speed change by
itself; the next load will change to the default speed unless
otherwise prompted. Some games may block access to the F2 menu
entirely.

F3 - Save Game
This will prompt you for a filename, then save the exact
state of your current game. Some games may not allow saving
on some or all of its screens, or will only allow saving in
certain spots. Saving lets you quit your game in the middle or
take precautions against unknown dangers.

F4 - Restore Game
This will let you select a saved game from a list of filenames.
The game will then be reloaded from the same point you left
off.

NOTE: A few games may save or load automatically, and
high-caliber games may have completely different methods of
saving and loading games.

F5 or Ins - Toggle Bomb Type
This will switch your current bomb type between High Strength
and Low Strength.

F6 - Debug Mode
This will bring up a small box in the lower left corner of the
screen, detailing your position, board number, the currently
playing module and the amount of memory used by Robots. It is
generally only necessary when testing and fixing your own
games. Press F6 again to turn the box off. This will only work
during playtesting in the editor.

F7 - Items Cheat

This will give the player all keys, full ammo, full coins, full
gems,  full bombs, full health (set to maxhealth) and full
lives (set to maxlives). This is a cheating function, so do not
use unless fully necessary; a few games punish the player for
using this function. This will only work during playtesting in
the editor.

F8 - Zap Cheat

This will destroy everything all in eight directions directly
around the player, replacing all eight squares with spaces.
This is a cheating function, so do not use unless fully
necessary; a few games punish the player for using this
function. This will only work during playtesting in
the editor.

F9 - Quicksave
This will save the game, like F3, but to the last filename you
used without prompting you for a filename. The old file will
be overwritten. If no game has been saved since MegaZeux was
started, the save will have the default filename listed in the
config.txt file.

F10 - Quickload
This will reload the last game saved using F3 or F9. If no
game has been saved since MegaZeux was started, the default
save filename will be used.

F11 - Counter Debug Mode
This will load a screen listing which counters are set (except
for SCORE). Highlight any counter and press Enter to change its
value. The Export button allows exporting Robotic code, which
sets all of the shown counters at their shown values to a text
file. This will only work during playtesting in the editor.

Arrows - Move
The arrow keys will move your character and allow him/her/it to
interact with most objects in most games.

Space - Shoot
By default, one uses this key in conjunction with an arrow
key to fire a weapon in the selected direction. Weapons and
spacebar uses vary from world to world.

Del - Bomb
By default, this will drop a bomb of the current type BENEATH
the player. Move out of the way to see it, then run before it
explodes! Uses of the del key vary from game to game.

Tab / Left Arrow / Right Arrow - Select Option
In yes/no dialog boxes, these keys toggle between yes and no.

Other games may have other controls, such as 'S' to cast a
spell or 'A' to jump, but they should be detailed within the
game.

The following keys are active at the title screen:

F1 - Help (see above)

Enter - Menu
This is similar to default Enter within the game. However,
there is no status screen.

ESC - Exit to DOS
Pressing ESC will exit MegaZeux.

F2 or S - Settings (see above)

F3 or L - Load World
This will allow you to load up the title screen of any MegaZeux
world. A list of choices will be presented to you to select
from. After the world is loaded, you may watch the title
screen, then press 'P' to play.

F4 or R - Restore Game (see above)

F5 or P - Play Game
This will stop the title screen and actually begin game play.

F8 or E - World Editor
This will quit the gaming portion of MegaZeux and enter the
integrated World Editor. For detailed info on using the World
Editor, view the appropriate help sections.
>#THEWORLD.HLP:1st:The World Editor

F10 - Quickload (see above)

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#NONDESCR.HLP
:091:Nondescript Play Tips

Some basic play tips:

First, let me warn you that many worlds you get from archives
or (especially) from personal webpages may not be of acceptable
quality. They may be unfair, boring, have bugs, and/or not give
proper instructions. My advice is to email the author(s) and
politely tell him/her/them what you think of poor quality
MegaZeux games. There is no problem in MAKING them, but PLEASE
don't upload them, even in these days where games are fewer and
farther between. Don't let a few dull games ruin the fun.

~A*~F RTFM (Read the Flipping Manual). Whatever information
. the game has to give is probably important. Some authors
. include info files in their distributions; make sure these
. are read. It saves everybody time and effort. To authors, it
. saves time and effort to include such files in your
. submissions.

~A*~F Make sure you visit every screen possible.

~A*~F Touch everything! Even things of seemingly little value
. may prove worthy of your attention. If it kills you, then...
. well... hope you saved. Yell at the programmer who thought an
. instant kill was worth using regardless!

~A*~F Save your game! It is rather simple - in most games,
. Press F3 to save your game to disk at the EXACT point you are
. [if allowed]. Press F4 to reload a game off of disk. You can
. use F9 and F10 to quick-save and quick-load, which work on the
. last game you saved. Remember to save often - If something
. ends your game, you'll want a game to go back to.

~A*~F Collect supplies! Make sure you grab every coin, gem,
. ammo dump, bomb, chest, pouch, and foobar you see! You will
. often be in want of supplies, so don't push things.

~A*~F Remember how things work. Most things in MegaZeux have
. patterns, even Robots, and the same object will usually do the
. same thing all the time. (However, two objects may look alike
. and not really be the same thing.)

~A*~F Don't take anything for granted. If it looks like a spike,
. it probably is. _probably_. Although it is rare that these
. types of puzzles must be solved to complete a game, there
. are often bonuses, hidden rooms, etc. behind illusions.

~A*~F Try things twice, even thrice. Sometimes objects respond
. differently at other times. If you get a new treasure, go
. talk to all the citizens - maybe one of them will say
. something new.  If some place seems inaccessible, come back
. later!

~A*~F If doing the same thing over and over keeps failing, try
. something else. It helps to look at new methods and to put
. distance between yourself and the problem.

~A*~F If all else fails, look in the game with the editor. This
. depends on the clarity of the code of the author(s), but
. looking in the editor can help if all other solutions have
. been exhausted.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#MOUSESUP.HLP
:1st:Mouse Support in MegaZeux

Use of the mouse is very simple. Move the mouse to move the
mouse cursor. Press the Left mouse button to select something,
activate something, etc. Press the Right mouse button to grab
whatever's under the cursor in the World Editor. Certain games
may make use of the mouse buttons; the scroll wheel, while
unused in games, emulates up/down presses in dialog boxes and
the list menu.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#BUILTINS.HLP
:1st:The Mirth of Built-ins

The following help section contains a list of the different
objects, enemies, items, and terrains you will find within
the different MegaZeux worlds. Outside of a select few, such as
certain terrains, Robots and items, use of these built-ins is
suited for beginners and savants only.

$@0~8 ~FTerrains~8 @8

~BSpace

This is the simplest terrain; it does absolutely nothing!

~BNormal         ~A@0
~BSolid          ~E
~BTree           ~A
~BLine           ~F
~BCustom Block   ~7?

These are all basic walls; they just get in the way. Sometimes
trees can be burned down.

~BBreakaway      ~C@0
~BCustom Break   ~7?

These block movement as well, but they can be destroyed with
most weapons (such as bullets or bombs). Certain other things
can destroy them as well.

~BFake           ~A
~BCarpet         ~4@0
~BFloor          ~9@0
~BTiles          ~0@F
~BCustom Floor   ~7?

These are all treated as flooring, or "background". Anything,
including yourself, can move onto and over these. They are
primarily for decoration.

~BWeb            ~7
~BThick Web      ~7

These are another type of flooring. However, webs are often
the home for spiders, so watch your step!

~BForest         ~2@0

This terrain will block the path of almost any built-in. You,
however, can move through it with ease, clearing a pathway.
Enemies can move along a cleared path.

~BInvis. Wall

This LOOKS like just an empty space... until you bump into it.
Then it becomes a normal wall, blocking your path.

$@0~8 ~FItems~8 @8

~BGem            
~BMagic Gem      

Your total number of gems is shown on the status screen, and
each gem gives you one point. Many older games also use them as
a type of currency, where you can trade gems for stuff like
food, ammo, weapons, or hints. Magic Gems also give you one
health point apiece when taken.

~BHealth         ~C

This will improve your outlook dramatically. Your health is
increased by a certain amount. The amount varies for different
hearts.

~BEnergizer      ~1

After grabbing an energizer, you will flash colors for a
limited time. During this period, you are invincible against
enemies, bullets, fire, and most other built-in forms of pain.
Be careful not to get into a dangerous situation as your energy
runs out!

~BAmmo           ~3 

When you grab ammunition, it will add a certain amount of
ammo to your supplies. The amount may be different for
different piles.

~BBomb           ~0

Each bomb you grab adds another to your supply. The sound made
when you grab the bomb will be high-pitched for a high strength
bomb and low-pitched for the rare low strength bomb.

~BKey            ~A

Collect keys to open locks, doors, and gates later on. The key
and the lock/etc. must match colors, and a key will only work
once. You can carry up to sixteen keys at once. The default
status screen, if on, will show your current supply of keys.

If you've played ZZT games, you'll be interested to know that
you can carry multiple keys of the same color.

~BLock           ~A

A lock will only open if you have a key of the same color to
unlock it. The key can only be used once and will disappear
along with the lock.

~BCoin           ~E
Collecting coins is a good idea- they not only increase your
score, but can usually be used to purchase valuable items or
services from vendors.

~BLife           ~Do

A life orb will give you yet another chance for survival in
MegaZeux.

~BPouch          ~7

A pouch is usually filled with coins and gems. The amount
varies, but often you will find yourself pleasantly rich....

~BChest          ~6

A chest can contain numerous things. The contents will be one
of the following: Empty, a Key, Coins, Lives, Ammo, Health,
a Potion or Ring, Bombs, or Gems. Once you grab the contents,
the chest itself will remain, but be empty.

~BRing           ~Eo
~BPotion         

These mystical items will bestow a magical effect on you when
you wear or drink them. The effect, however, is unknown to
you until you try it... and some effects aren't so nice.

$@0~8 ~FPotion and Ring Effects~8 @8

Effects are limited to the current room only, except for
healing, hurting, and invinco.

~BDud

This effect does absolutely nothing.

~BInvinco

Just like an energizer, you will become invulnerable to most
forms of pain until you stop flashing.

~BBlast

Scatters plentiful, random explosions around the screen.

~BHealth x10
~BHealth x50

Gives the player 10 or 50 additional health points.

~BPoison

Reduces the player's health by 10.

~BBlind

Temporarily blinds the player. The viewport will appear in
dark gray. You can still move and interact, but you won't be
able to see anything but yourself.

~BKill Enemies

Kills all enemies in the room, including "Invincible" enemies.

~BLava Walker

Allows the player to temporarily walk on lava and fire.

~BDetonate

Explodes all bombs and lit bombs in the room.

~BBanish (Dragons)

Turns all dragons into ghosts.

~BSummon (Dragons)

Turns all enemies into dragons.

~BAvalanche

Scatters boulders randomly around the screen.

~BFreeze Time

Freezes ALL on-screen objects (including Robots) except for
the player, for a short time.

~BWind

The player retains normal control but will also move around
a bit randomly for a while; the wind will blow the player in
all directions.

~BSlow Time

Slows ALL on-screen objects (including Robots) except for the
player, for a short time. The resulting speed is approximately
half normal speed.


$@0~8 ~FCreatures~8 @8

~BSnake          ~2

~BRunner         ~C

A snake moves in a straight line until it hits an obstruction,
then aims itself in another direction and continues. Hitting a
snake (like all enemies hereafter unless noted) will cause you
to lose 10 health, then kill the snake. Runners act like snakes
and will take up to four hits, but will only go the opposite
direction when obstructed.

~BEye            ~F

An eye chases you down like any ordinary enemy, but when it
catches you or dies, it explodes! The size of the explosion
varies with each eye.

~BGhost          ~7
~BThief          ~C

A ghost is the simplest enemy, simply chasing you. While some
of them are invincible, most can be killed. Thieves chase but
don't do damage. They steal your gems instead.

.                ~A*
~BSlime Blob     ~A**
.                ~A*

A slime blob usually doesn't hurt you (although you can often
still kill it by touching or shooting it) but it can quickly
become annoying because of its habit of dividing into more
slime blobs, then hardening into "solid slime", (breakables)
quickly filling rooms....

~BDragon         ~4 ~C ~E*~C

Some dragons move around slowly, but their main advantage is
their offense - they can shoot barrages of scorching flame.
Dragons also have a strong defense, taking up to 8 hits to
kill. Touching them will take 10 health, but will NOT hurt the
dragon.

~BFish           ~E
~BShark          ~7
~BSpitting Tiger ~B  ~F   

Fish have to stay in the water and often won't hurt you. Some
take two hits to kill. Sharks, however, swim in the lava, and
will attempt to shoot you with fire, bullets or seekers.
Spitting Tigers are landborne versions of sharks.

.                ~0ſ
~BSpider         ~0~7~0
.                ~0

Spiders, although eager to catch you, are usually restricted to
movement on webs. Certain spiders, however, can actually stray
off the webs. Some spiders take 2 hits to kill.

~BGoblin         ~2

Goblins chase but periodically stop, making them an easy
built-in villain.

~BBear           ~6

Bears only move if you get too close, then they lumber over for
the attack. Many require 2 hits to kill.

~BBear Cub       ~6

Bear cubs are very lively, rushing all over the place. Since
they move so fast in a seemingly random manner, they are often
hard to kill.

~BBullet Gun     ~F  
~BSpinning Gun   ~C~E* ~F

Bullet and spinning guns, indestructible, both fire any type of
normal projectile (bullets, fire or seekers); the bullet gun,
however, is fixed while the spinning gun can fire from all
cardinal directions.

~BLazer Gun      ~0~1~9~3~B~F~7

The indestructible lazer guns fire off lazer walls at regular
intervals, and sustain these walls for a specific length of
time. Unlike in ZZT, getting hit by a laser does not push the
player into objects, though it will push the player if a space
is open. The beam can be obstructed by anything, even including
a bullet.

~BMissile Gun    ~0

Missile guns fire missiles in one direction. Some fire just
once while others can fire missiles indefinitely. The gun
itself is indestructible.

$@0~8 ~FPuzzle Pieces~8 @8

The following objects are often used to create mind-twisting
puzzles requiring you to push objects all over the place to
reach a goal. Be warned.

~BBoulder        ~7
~BCrate          ~6
~BCustom Push    ~7?

Boulders and crates can be pushed in any direction, with any
number of pushable things in a row. They can be blown up.

~BBox            ~F
~BCustom Box     ~7?

Boxes can also be pushed in any direction, but cannot be blown
up.

~BPusher         ~0 ~7

Pushers cannot hurt you, but they constantly move in one given
direction, pushing almost anything in their path - Boxes,
crates, and even you!

~BSlider NS      ~E
~BSlider EW      ~E

Sliders can be pushed also, but ONLY in the pointed direction,
Slider NS can only be pushed north/south, while slider EW can
only be pushed east/west.

$@0~8 ~FTransport~8 @8

~BStairs         ~F
~BCave (or door) ~0
~BWhirlpool      ~9@1

When you enter any one of these, you are transported to another
location within the current world. These are not always
two-way connections.

~BCW             ~A/
~BCCW            ~A\

These rotate in the given direction (ClockWise or
CounterClockWise) rotating everything around them at the same
time. Walls and other solid objects will not be affected.

.                ~Fv
~BTransport      ~F} {
.                ~F~~

Most transporters face a single direction. Entering these on
the "open" side, or pushing other things into them, will
transport to another location. Some transporters rotate 360
degrees and can be entered from any side.

The destination of your transport is somewhat complex, but the
search pattern is as follows:

1. If the other side of the entered transport is empty, move
.  there. If there is something there that can be pushed out
.  of the way, move there and push it out of the way.
2. If the other side is blocked, continue in that direction
.  looking for the first non-blocked transporter facing the
.  OPPOSITE direction, or an "any-direction" transport.
3. If none can be found, no transport takes place.

$@0~8 ~FElements~8 @8

~BStill Water    ~9@1
~BN Water        ~9@1
~BS Water        ~9@1
~BE Water        ~9@1
~BW Water        ~9@1

Water is a type of floor that can be moved onto by you, some
enemies, and certain other objects. Often water has a current,
moving you constantly in a certain direction.

~BIce            @3\

Ice is another type of floor. However, you slip on it,
constantly moving out of control in the last direction you
moved.

~BLava           @4~C

Lava is another floor. However, it is (almost always) very
deadly. Only a few things can survive over it.

~BFire           @0~C~E~C

Fire is yet another type of floor. It often will spread across
the floor, enveloping trees and chests. It is painful to stand
near (or worse, on), but it does not mean instantaneous death.
Most fires will eventually burn out.

~BLit Bomb       ~0
~BMine           ~4

A lit bomb is an explosion on a fuse. You DON'T want to be
nearby when the fuse runs out... mines, on the other hand, only
blow up when touched or exploded.

.                 ~F@E
.                ~F@E~C~F
~BExplosion      ~F@E~C@4@E~F
.                ~F@E~C~F
.                 ~F@E

An explosion starts at a certain point, quickly spreading
outward, wreaking havoc in its wake. Some explosions are
smaller than others. Explosions will also cause explosives
such as bombs to explode, leading to some very cool chain
reactions.

~BGoop           ~8@1

Goop is pretty much untraversable terrain to anything, although
sharks may occasionally inhabit it. Bullets, lazers, and other
projectiles will traverse it freely. Goop may also be treated
as water or other terrains in certain worlds.

$@0~8 ~FMiscellaneous~8 @8

~BDoor           ~2~A~2۲
~BGate           ~7۲

A door is what you would expect - When you touch it, it will
open itself, closing after a brief pause. Certain doors are
locked and require you to use a key to open them. They then
remain unlocked. Gates, however, do not move; they can be
crossed directly when opened.

~BRicochet Panel ~0/
~BRicochet       ~A*

When a bullet hits a ricochet panel it is reflected to travel
in a new direction, depending upon the way the panel is facing.
When a bullet hits a ricochet, it is reflected back in the
original direction.

~BSpike          ~7
~BCustom Hurt    ~7?

Spikes and other painful devices will simply hurt you if you
touch them. Often used in conjunction with ice or with
sidescroller engines.

~BText           ~7?

Another type of wall. Gets in the way, but often provides
hints or other enlightening messages.

~BMoving Wall N  ~7?
~BMoving Wall S  ~7?
~BMoving Wall E  ~7?
~BMoving Wall W  ~7?

Moving walls are like Runners - They just sit there and move
back and forth, to and fro... they can't hurt you by touch, but
can get in the way very easily.

$@0~8 ~FObjects~8 @8

~BPlayer         @1~B

This is you. Really. Well, sometimes; the player is often
locked and a Robot or sprite represents the player character,
but the player object is always present.

~BScroll         ~F
~BSign           ~6

Touch this to read a message. A Scroll will disappear after
you finish reading it; signs will not.

Unlike in ZZT, scrolls and signs are text-only: they cannot
execute any commands.

~BMissile        ~0

Missiles fly around the room, turning at obstructions. They
will explode if they hit you or a dead end.

~BBullet         ~F

Bullets will fly in a straight line until they hit something
(and disappear) or do damage to someone or something. Ricochets
can change the direction a bullet is traveling in. There are
three types of bullets: Player (the player shoots these by
default), Neutral (Robots shoot these in a default shoot
command), and Enemy (built-in enemies shoot these by default).
Player bullets cannot harm the player; neutral and enemy
bullets can.

~BSeeker         ~A|

A seeker, thrown by a Tiger, Shark, or other enemy, will chase
you all over the screen until they collide and do 10 damage.
They have a limited life, however, and will expire after a
certain amount of time. They are still, however, one of the
deadliest weapons you will face, enough so that more than only
a few at once can easily ruin a game.

~BShooting Fire  ~C ~E*~C

Shooting fire will continue in a straight line until it hits
you, resulting in pain, or a wall, resulting in a small fire.
The fire may quickly spread out of control in some areas, or
just burn out in others. Bullets can sometimes destroy shooting
fire, but sometimes the shooting fire simply absorbs the
bullet.

~BSensor         ~7?

Sensors are a form of floor that only you can move onto. They
will usually then produce some form of effect, by interacting
with a Robot; other times they act as "save points".

~BRobot          ~7?
~BPushable Robot ~7?

Robots are the workhorses, the artisans, the... nearly
everythings of MegaZeux. They are highly flexible objects
which can do almost anything. They utilize their own full-scale
programming language, dubbed Robotic. If another object can
do something, a Robot can do it better. They can show
messages, fight the player, play music or sound, set the entire
gameplay structure, and do countless other things. See the
appropriate help sections for more information.

>#ROBOTSWH.HLP:1st:Robots - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#CONFGINI.HLP
:1st:MegaZeux Options

Now you should be familiar with MegaZeux enough to where you
might want to change some of its options. Go open config.txt in
any text editor.  There is ample commentary to let the user
know how to change the options.  Make sure to remove the # sign
from any option you want set!

Editing the options can result in better sound, better / more
customisable graphics, more fitting defaults, a more
personalized Robotic editor, joystick support, Robotic macros
and much more.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#IFYOUFIN.HLP
:1st:If You Find a Bug...

...we want to know! We're very interested in any problems or
bugs you find in MegaZeux. We also welcome any comments,
criticism, or suggestions. We especially appreciate QUALITY
MegaZeux worlds. Here's the contact information as of this
writing:

Check the reports on DigitalMZX (http://digitalmzx.net/forums/)
to see if your problem has already been addressed. Problems are
listed in a thread called "MZX 2.80+ bug reports" in the
General forum as of this writing.

To make things sane for all parties, do this before submitting:
  1) Make sure you have the most current version.
  2) Make sure that the Bug Report thread doesn't address your
     bug.
  3) Try to write down what specifically happens.
  4) Try to pinpoint the problem to a specific Robotic line or
     MZX function; at the very least, try to narrow it down. 
     Pinpointing which version introduced the bug is very
     helpful, if possible.
  5) If you're unsure if the bug's been addressed, try to build
     a version from SourceForge's SVN repository and see if it
     hasn't been fixed in the test build.
  6) Optimally, upload a world made in 2.70 that works in 2.70
     but does not in the current version to best isolate the
     problem.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#FAQ.HLP
:1st:Frequently Asked Questions

The following is a list of questions that have been received
through mail, E-mail, or message board posts about MegaZeux
innumerable times..

Q: I hate that MegaZeux is always windowed! Could you change
.  this?

A: There's already a way to switch between fullscreen and
.  windowed modes - press ctrl+Alt+ENTER.

Q: How can I get option foobar in the config file to work?

A: Make sure the pound / hash sign in front of the command is
   deleted. Otherwise, it is treated as a comment and ignored.

Q: Why doesn't my music play?

A: Likely it's because the music file's filename is over 12
.  characters long in total. Shorten the name if so. If you
.  still have problems, see if the file will load at all in an
.  appropriate player. If all else fails, inform the coder(s).

Q: Can I distribute a world I made with MegaZeux? Is it
.  legal? Must I/can I include MegaZeux with it? Can they
.  be shareware worlds?

A: Of course you can distribute your worlds! That is what
.  MegaZeux is for! Please refrain from uploading worlds
.  that you made as a novice user if they contain only
.  built-in enemies, items, no plot, etc. and ESPECIALLY if
.  only you (and/or a best friend) have tested it. People will
.  only yell at you. You should also refrain from using other
.  people's engines, char sets, modules and other files without
.  the authors' permissions. Get creative and make your game
.  worth playing! Please include any WAV, module, OGG, CHR, MZM,
.  PAL and all other files with the games, as well as a cohesive
.  and helpful TXT description file. Make sure that you include
.  MegaZeux on your website if you're posting it there, or make
.  sure to post to a large MegaZeux archive. Typically MegaZeux
.  worlds are freeware, but if you've made an assuredly epic and
.  ground-breaking game, then you can attempt to ask for
.  registration money in a shareware demo version.

Q: I WANT FUNCTION FOOBAR ADDED OR I LEAVE THE COMMUNITY
.  FOREVER :<

A: Before you go bugging the maintainer(s) of MegaZeux to add
.  new functions, consider these things:
.
.  1) Some things require massive work to implement. These
.     things require changing the world format, and world
.     format changes are explicitly reserved for large version
.     number changes (in this case, for MegaZeux 3.00).
.  2) Some things have been purposely ignored because the
.     maintainer(s) deems these things not worth including. In
.     this case, it's probably best to pick up the source and
.     figure out how to add this function yourself.
.  3) You may not be the first to ask for any certain feature.
.     If you are not, then you'll often find out why a feature
.     is not implemented or, better, that it is going to be
.     implemented after all.  Either way, you learn more about
.     the feature and what would need to be done to include it.
.  4) It's technically possible to add new commands, but
.     currently the method of storing Robotic severely limits
.     the amount of new commands. Until this system is retooled,
.     there will be no new commands.

Q: Will MegaZeux games ever be playable without MegaZeux
.  itself?

A: Likely not. It's a consensus among most developers that the
.  possible hassle saved for newbies is not worth implementing
.  this feature.

Q: Why is my MegaZeux world starting on the title screen?

A: The first board has to be set. Press 'G' in the editor, then
.  click the 'More' button and the option appears on the top of
.  the box.

Q: Why doesn't [ work for taking screenshots?

A: It has been changed to F12 and now works in any area in MZX,
.  including any part of the editor. It currently outputs MS
.  BMP format files.

Q: My Robot can't change its/the player's characters! I
.  use CHAR "A" but it turns invisible! What am I doing wrong?

A: Use CHAR 'A' instead. You MUST use single quotes
.  (apostrophes) or it will use the value of the COUNTER
.  A which is probably 0.

Q: How can I input a number over 32767 or under -32768 in
.  Robotic?

A: You must use an expression. Encase the number in
.  parentheses, as shown here:
.  ~Eset "largesse" to "(2000000000)"

Q: I heard only certain graphics cards can properly show Super
.  MZX mode games. Is this true?

A: Not anymore. Any computer which can display normal games in
.  MegaZeux can now display Super MZX mode games.

Q: How can I get "mod *" to work?

A: Alt+8 and Alt+*, the old "mod *" keys, have a new function
.  now. To "mod *" in the port, use either Shift+8 or the
.  asterisk (*) on the numpad.

Q: Whenever I place a string on the overlay, the spaces aren't
.  acting like overlay at all! Is this a bug?

A: No, it's not. Char 32 (the natural space) is never part of
.  the overlay. You have to reserve an extra character or use
.  the solid character for spaces, or otherwise convert spaces
.  to useable replacements during run-time.

Q: Can I use the music from Caverns in my games? How about
.  the music from the registered games? How about the SAM
.  files?

A: It'd be preferred if you did not use Caverns music in any
.  games you distribute, because Caverns music was ancient aeons
.  ago. The music from the registered games was illegal to
.  distribute; it's now under the GPL, but should be avoided for
.  the same reasons Caverns music should. The SAM files are
.  public domain and may be used as you please.

Q: Where can I get module files?

A: If you can't make them, search webpages for good ones.
.  http://www.modarchive.com has a large tracked music library,
.  as do many older CD-ROM collections. Another popular option
.  is to employ a friend to do it for you. If your game shows
.  exceptional promise, then an established tracker in the
.  community might make music for you. You will actually have
.  to... show real evidence that your game is as good as its
.  hype in most cases, however. In any case, remember to give
.  credit where it is due (yes, even to yourself). Be careful
.  inserting OGG files into your game. Not only may you be
.  chided for putting in a popular song if you do so, but you
.  could be violating copyright law. Chances are if you can make
.  a coherent argument on "fair use" of copyrighted songs, you
.  will be far less likely to be in this position to begin with.
.  <3

Q: What is some good software to create module files?

A: It's a matter of personal preference. Most people prefer
.  ModPlug Tracker because it works well with Windows. Others
.  prefer to work with Impulse Tracker. Finally, a few are
.  still fond of Fast Tracker II, and therefore use the similar
.  Mad Tracker. Be advised that the DOS-based trackers like IT
.  and FT2 might not work well with an NT-based Windows system.
.
.  You Linuxites may want to try CheeseTracker or Sk@@le.
.
.  If you don't mind pumping up your game's filesize, you could
.  use any normal composition software (like FL Studio) and
.  convert your wave to ogg format.

Q: How do I make WAV files?

A: There are three easy ways to create WAV files. First,
.  you get recording software, a sound card, and a mike.
.  Hook 'em all up (read the instructions) and go for it.
.  Second, you can download them or get them from outside
.  sources. Third, you can take existing files and change
.  them with effects like echo.
.  Converting .wav files intended for sound effects into OGG
.  format is a worthwhile idea; the drop in file size compared
.  to the drop in quality is huge.

Q: Why do I get garbage when I try reading a file?

A: You likely have it open for writing. To close a file, use
.  the command SET "" to "FWRITE_OPEN".

Q: I need more than 256 characters! Could you help with this?

A: Then you'll need to carefully utilize the Robot command
.  LOAD CHAR SET and ration your characters carefully. The
.  256-char limit is set within the world format and will
.  currently be left alone. Also, you might not REALLY
.  need 256 characters at once. If you're wanting more
.  characters because of heavy character use in animation,
.  partial character set loading will probably be the best
.  solution. Otherwise, find out which characters will never be
.  shown when other characters are and replace them with
.  characters you WILL use (such as the alphanumeric
.  characters).

>#PARTIAL.HLP:par:Partial Character Sets

Q: Why does MegaZeux slow to a crawl when I set the "commands"
.  counter to a high value?

A: You're likely using an idle loop without a WAIT 1 command
.  inserted. Add one; if you're wary about possible delay
.  effects, rest assured that adding a WAIT 1 will not
.  unnecessarily add delays. It simply ends a cycle.

Q: What's with these "~~roboclp.tmp" files packed with so many
.  games?

A: Those held clipboard information in DOS versions of MegaZeux.
.  They are useless and should be freely deleted.

Q: Is adding network capabilities to MegaZeux planned?

A: Short answer: No. This has been discussed at-length;
.  the biggest problems with adding these are thorny 
.  implementation issues (how the MZX programmer would insert
.  network capabilities into a MegaZeux world, as well as the
.  structure in general). It's definitely possible, and possible
.  to do soundly, but developers aren't interested in it.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#MEGAZEUX.HLP
:1st:MegaZeux Limitations

MegaZeux has to impose a number of limitations to insure
worldfile compatibility with MZX 2.x worldfiles.

$Memory Limitations

No single Robot, sign, or Scroll can exceed 64k in size
(including the global).

$Quantity Limitations

Item:           Largest number allowed:

Robots          255 per board plus Global Robot
Scrolls/signs   255 per board
Sensors         255 per board
Boards          250 per world
Local Counters   32 per Robot plus specialised local counters
                (loopcount, lava_walk, bullettype)

The amount one can put on a single editor line is 241 chars.

$Theoretical Limitations

Board size maximum is roughly 16.7 million characters (2^24).
Vlayer size maximum is roughly 16.7 million characters (2^24).
Board length or width maximum is 32767.
The maximum number of counters and strings depends on
the platform (e.g. between 32 or 64-bit) but is sufficiently
large. You should be fine putting this into the hundreds of
thousands if not millions.

The first two can take up 128MB of RAM; the last can take up
gigabytes of RAM. These limitations are theoretical because
of the utter improbability of meeting these limits and the
amount of RAM they consume.

$Other Limitations

Numbers less than -32768 or more than 32767 cannot be directly
used in Robotic. This problem is a worldfile issue and can be
circumvented by using a constant expression.

Music filenames should not be larger than 12 characters. Board
music can't be larger than this and while you can load these
from a robot they won't get saved in a save file. If you must
do this add a justloaded label to persistently reload the
module/OGG.

No board can have a width of a multiple of 256 chars because
this corrupts the board if it lacks an overlay. This problem is
a worldfile issue and widths set to a multiple of 256 will
increased by one more horizontal character regardless of the
status of the board's overlay.

>#EXPRESS.HLP:exp:Expressions
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#THEWORLD.HLP
:1st:The World Editor

Ready to start creating your own worlds? Then let's get
started! This section is a short editor tutorial, it will
teach you the basics of creating your own worlds.

To get into the editor, press E from the title screen. You
will be presented with a blank board with a small menu at the
bottom. You can use PageUp and PageDown to change the
currently shown menu, and you will be presented with various
keys and options. The mouse also works here. Feel free to
fool around with these various options. Press Alt+R to restart
and clear everything.

For your first world, you should start simple. The screen you
begin on is your title screen, so pick a simple name for your
game, such as "Redolent Obsequience". Press I for board info.
This screen will display a bunch of options; the important
option is the "Board name" option. Type in the name of your
game and then click on "OK" or press Tab until OK is
highlighted and press Enter. Now that the title screen is
named, its design begins... or is put aside for later (or even
the end).

Now you need to create the first playable board, or location,
of your game. Press A to add a board, then type in a short
description of the board, such as "Starting Board". Press Enter
to go to this new board.

Now you are free to doodle around. Use C to change the active
color. Use F3 through F9 to bring up menus of items, terrains,
and creatures. Selecting one with the arrows and Enter will
allow you to place it using arrow keys and space.

For example, press F3 for terrains, and select Line. (This is
a form of wall.) Now move around, placing walls. To ease
this, you can press Tab to toggle draw mode. When draw mode is
active, every move of the cursor will place the current
item/color. The current item and color is shown on the top
line of the menu.

Try to create a pleasing-looking screen, regardless of its
planned function. Some items will require that you set settings
to determine their behavior. To place the player's starting
position, move the cursor to the destination, press F10, and
select Player. Alternatively, press Enter while highlighting
the Player and press Space on the desired destination.

When you are done, press G to go to the Global Info screen.
TAB to the Next button and press Enter. You will now be
highlighting the option "Starting Board". Press Enter, and
select the starting board (NOT the title screen in 99.9% of
cases) from the list and press Enter. Then TAB to OK and press
Enter. This tells MegaZeux which board you want the game to
start on.

You could now press Alt+N to select a module (music) file for
the board, if you wish. Then press S to save the world, and
type in a filename. (The extension of .MZX will automatically
be added.) Press Enter twice to save. Press ESC to exit the
editor, and now you can play your game! You can use L to reload
your world in the editor to make changes, if necessary. See
General Editing Tips for more advanced editing info.

New in the 2.8+ line of MegaZeux is the protection of colors
and characters the editor uses. The editor uses sets outside of
the currently used sets. The character set for the editor is
mzx_edit.chr; edit if you want to change the editor's
appearance. Colors revert to the current colors in SMZX modes,
however.

>#GENERALE.HLP:1st:General Editing Tips
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#GENERALE.HLP
:1st:General Editing Tips

The following is a list of important editing tips. They assume
you are familiar with MegaZeux's dialog box system, and that
you can navigate the editor's menus.

$Linking Boards

One-board games can get boring REALLY fast. There are three
ways to connect multiple boards.

A simple method of connecting boards is with X, the Board Exits
dialog. Here, you can select boards that you will reach if you
walk off of the screen in a given direction. The destination
board shouldn't have anything in the way, and will not
automatically lead back- you must set the exit on that board
too.

Another way is to use a Robot to teleport a player with the
'teleport player "board" x y' command.  This assumes that you
are familiar with using Robots, but is the only way to go to
another board without having the player walk off-screen, into
a teleport or reloading the current world.

The third way is to add stairs, doors, and whirlpools using the
Transport (F7) menu. Then you select a destination board. The
destination board should contain a similar transport, leading
back. The two entrances will now lead to each other.

The last way, the most kludge-like, is to load the current
world in a 'swap world' command. This will send the player to
the starting board of the current world, but will restore the
world to its original state. Counters and strings will be
preserved. This method is used for its restorative properties.

To switch to other boards, use B. To add boards, press A, or
press B and select (new board) from the board list.

$Board Sizes
:sizepos
You can change the maximum size, and the view position, of a
board with Alt+P. Here you can move and re-size the view, or
center it on-screen.

You can also change the actual size of the board. The highest
possible size is 16.7 million tiles, though a board that size
would require unreasonably high RAM requirements (128MB). Note
that reducing the size of a board will permanently destroy
anything outside the new limits.

$Other Important Editing Keys

You can use Ins to "grab" the object beneath the cursor, or
Enter to edit it and then grab it as well. Use P to modify the
current object's settings. Use Alt+N to select music for the
current board, or turn the music off if it is already selected.
Use Alt+Z to clear the current board entirely. You can edit
important Board Options with I, and important Global (world)
Options with G.

$The Mouse in the Editor
The left mouse button acts like space; it places a copy of the
current item over the mouse cursor. The right mouse button acts
like insert; it grabs the current thing over the mouse cursor.

>#EDITINGK.HLP:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#EDITINGK.HLP
:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference

The following is an alphabetical listing of keys within the
Robot editor. This is followed by a detailed description of
what each one does.

>_A:A                   - Add (board)
>_B:B                   - Select Board
>_C:C                   - Color
>_D:D                   - Delete (board)
>_F:F                   - Fill
>_G:G                   - Global Info
>_I:I                   - Info (board)
>_L:L                   - Load
>_P:P                   - Parameter
>076:S                   - Save
>_V:V                   - View
>083:X                   - Exits
>075:Alt+A               - Select Char Set
>073:Alt+B               - Block
>AltC:Alt+C               - Char Edit
>AltD:Alt+D               - Default Colors
>AltE:Alt+E               - Palette
>097:Alt+F               - Sound Effects
>AltH:Alt+H               - Hotkey Toggle
>078:Alt+I               - Import
>AltL:Alt+L               - Test WAV
>AltM:Alt+M               - Modify
>AltN:Alt+N               - Music
>AltO:Alt+O               - Edit Overlay
>084:Alt+P               - Size/Pos
>AltR:Alt+R               - Restart
>082:Alt+S               - Status Info
>AltS2:Alt+S               - Show Level
>AltT:Alt+T               - Test
>077:Alt+X               - Export
>AltY:Alt+Y               - Debug Mode
>AltZ:Alt+Z               - Clear (board)
>AltNu:Alt+Number          - Load Editor Position
>CtrN:Ctrl+N              - Test Music
>CtrNu:Ctrl+Number         - Save Editor Position
>Sft8:Shift+8 OR Numpad * - Mod Wildcard

>F1:F1  - Help
>F2:F2  - Text
>F3:F3  - Terrain
>F4:F4  - Item
>F5:F5  - Creature
>F6:F6  - Puzzle
>F7:F7  - Transport
>F8:F8  - Element
>F9:F9  - Misc. (thing)
>F10:F10 - Objects
>F11:F11 - Toggle Super MZX Mode

>ShF1:Sh+F1 - Show InvisWalls
>ShF2:Sh+F2 - Show Robots
>ShF3:Sh+F3 - Show Fakes
>ShF4:Sh+F4 - Show Spaces

>Ar:Arrow     - Move
>AltAr:Alt+Arrow - Move 10
>BkSp:BackSpace - Delete
>Del:Del       - Delete
>End:End       - L/R Corner
>En:Enter     - Modify+Grab
>Enter2:Enter     - Character
>ESC:ESC       - Exit/Cancel Mode
>Home:Home      - U/L Corner
>Ins:Ins       - Grab
>Sp:Space     - Place
>Tab:Tab       - Draw
>PgDn:PageDown  - Next Menu
>PgUp:PageUp    - Previous Menu

:_A:~EA - Add (board)

Press A to add another board to the current world. You will be
asked for the name of the new board, and then a new board will
be created. The settings for the new board will be copied from
the current board: music, size, view, and the board info menu.
If you used A, you will now be spirited to the new board. There
is a limit of 250 unique boards per world.

:075:~EAlt+A - Select Char Set

Press Alt+A and select one of the four different character
sets. This will change the character set to one of the four
defaults. ASCII is the default EGA ASCII character set.
MegaZeux default is the default MegaZeux character set. Blank
is the MegaZeux default, but with most graphical characters
blank instead. Text, lines, arrows, blocks, and certain other
symbols are not affected. SMZX set is the default character set
for SMZX modes.

:_B:~EB - Select Board

Press B to change the current board by selecting from a list.
Selecting (new board) will create a new board and then select
it. Unlike A, the current board will stay the same once a new
board is created.

:073:~EAlt+B - Block

Press Alt+B to start block mode. Then move the cursor to the
opposite corner of a rectangular block, and press Alt+B again.
You can then select an action to perform upon the block. Copy
will allow you to duplicate the block by moving the cursor to
a destination and pressing Enter. The cursor marks the new
UPPER LEFT corner. Copy (repeated) will allow same as Copy,
but will allow copying the same block several times. Move will
allow you to move the block to a new location. Clear will
erase the contents of the block. Flip will flip the block
upside down. Mirror will flip the block left to right. Paint
will change the entire block to the current color. Copy
to/from overlay will copy the block to or from the overlay,
depending on where it currently is. Destinations for Move and
Copy can overlap the original block safely. Save as MZM will
save the block as a "board" type MZM.

You can block copy to other boards now by going to the desired
board when prompted to pick the destination of the block. Just
press B and pick the desired board.

:_C:~EC - Color

Press C to select a new current color from a menu. The thing
under the cursor is not affected.

:AltC:~EAlt+C - Char Edit

Press Alt+C to edit the character set. The character editor is
a separate section of the world editor and is discussed in
another section.

>#CHAREDIT.HLP:079:The Character Editor

:_D:~ED - Delete (board)

Press D to select a board from a list to be deleted. You
cannot delete the first board (title screen). A deleted board
will be pruned out, with the next actual board taking its
place. A deleted board cannot be recovered.

:AltD:~EAlt+D - Default Colors

Press Alt+D to revert to the default colors. The palette prior
to the switch will be destroyed, so save the palette if keeping
it is necessary.

:AltE:~EAlt+E - Palette

Press Alt+E to edit the palette (colors). The palette editor
is a separate section of the world editor and is discussed in
another section.

>#PALEEDIT.HLP:093:The Palette Editor

:_F:~EF - Fill

Press F to fill in an enclosed area with the current thing and
color. The area must be completely surrounded by things other
than the thing beneath the cursor. For example, you can fill
over a solid square of Fakes with something else. The current
fill command may not work right for very large and complex
areas- in this case, you must move to the unfilled areas and
press F to continue filling. This happens very rarely,
however.  Also, beware of trying to fill an area with an item
with limited placements, such as a Robot.

:097:~EAlt+F - Sound Effects

Press Alt+F to enter the sound effects editor; this editor
affects all sounds from built-in actions, such as getting hit
and shooting. First you must decide whether to use the default
set of sound effects, or edit your own. You can't edit the
default set. If you edit your own, you will be in a series of
three editing screens. Use the Next and Previous buttons to
move between screens. Sound effects, and the format used to
represent them, are described in detail in another section. The
format is the same as used for the Robotic command PLAY.
(Digitized sounds are allowed here.)

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:MegaZeux's Sound System

:_G:~EG - Global Info

Press G to enter the global info dialog boxes. The global info
options are covered in another section.

>#GLOBALIN.HLP:086:Global Info Options

:AltH:~EAlt+H - Hotkey Toggle

Press Alt+H to toggle display of the hotkeys and horizontal
border. The default state of the hotkeys can be changed in the
config file.

>#CONFGINI.HLP:1st:The Config File

:_I:~EI - Info (board)

Press I to enter the board info dialog box. The board info
options are covered in another section.

>#BOARDINF.HLP:085:Board Info Options

:078:~EAlt+I - Import

Alt+I allows you to import a number of different file types
into the current board or world. You can import a board file
(MZB) unique to MegaZeux. You can import a character set file
(CHR). You can import another world (MZX) which is appended
to the list of boards. Unlike old versions of MegaZeux, all
exits will work. You can import a palette (PAL) file or a
sound effects (SFX) file, both unique to MegaZeux. Finally,
you can import an MZM file at a given position.

:_L:~EL - Load

L brings up a list of worlds in the current directory and allows
you to select one to load. You will be warned if the current
world as-is has not been saved yet.

:AltL:~EAlt+L - Test WAV

Alt+L brings up a list of WAV/SAM/OGG files in the current
directory. Selecting one will play it at its natural frequency.
This has no effect on the actual board or world.

:AltM:~EAlt+M - Modify

Alt+M allows you to modify the settings of the thing UNDER the
cursor. The current thing is not affected in any way.

:AltN:~EAlt+N - Music

Alt+N brings up a list of module files in the current directory.
Selecting one will select it as the default music for the
current board. If music is already playing, Alt+N will turn it
off. The music will still be selected as current even if it
doesn't fit in memory.

:CtrN:~ECtrl+N - Test Music

Ctrl+N does the same as Alt+N, except it only plays the
selected module. It does not set the board module to the
selected module. It also remembers the last-used directory to
maintain a current listening directory. If a GDM is tested, it
will be auto-converted to S3M format.

:AltO:~EAlt+O - Edit Overlay

Alt+O enters overlay editing mode. The overlay is on by
default. The overlay editing mode is similar to the normal
editing except only certain keys are active, and the Enter and
Alt+S keys have new purposes. The overlay is explained in
further detail in another section.

>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:_P:~EP - Parameter

P allows you to change the settings of the current thing. The
thing under the cursor is not affected.

:084:~EAlt+P - Size/Pos

Alt+P allows you to change the size of the current board, the
viewport size, and location. See another section for details.

>#GENERALE.HLP:sizepos:Board Sizes

:AltR:~EAlt+R - Restart

Alt+R will clear the entire world. You will be asked for
confirmation.

:076:~ES - Save

S will prompt you for a filename, then save the current world
as a MZX file. The save option will be highlighted if the
world has changed since the last save or load.

:082:~EAlt+S - Status Info

Alt+S will allow you to type in six different counters that
can be shown on the default status screen within the game. This
allows you to have your own items that the player can collect,
and see how many are currently held. Counters are discussed in
further detail with Robots.

:AltS2:~EAlt+S - Show Level

Alt+S while editing the overlay will toggle whether the level
beneath the overlay is shown when editing the overlay.

>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:AltT:~EAlt+T - Test

Alt+T will allow you to test the current world, starting on the
current board. Games CAN be loaded and saved in this mode,
making it especially helpful for debugging. Quitting will
return to the editor.

:_V:~EV - View

V will allow you to see the current board as it would appear in
the game. Use the arrows to Scroll the view, and ESC to return
to the editor.

:083:~EX - Exits

X will bring up a menu where you can select exits for each
board direction. For example, selecting a destination board of
"City" for north will cause the player to go to that board when
pressing against the north edge of the current board. Boards
are not automatically back-linked - to make "City" lead back
here, you must go to that board and make a south exit back.
Make sure the linked boards don't obstruct each other's exits,
and that they are of the same size.

:077:~EAlt+X - Export

Alt+X will allow you to export a number of different file types.
You can export a board file (MZB) unique to MegaZeux, good for
giving single boards to others. (The character set, palette,
and global info isn't included!) You can export the character
set (CHR) for transportation or to edit in Fontutil or another
third party app. Finally, you can export palettes (PAL) [full,
partial, and SMZX] and sound effect collections (SFX) for
transportation. Both are file formats unique to MegaZeux.

Files like MZMs and SAVs can be exported with Robotic code. See
their respective areas for details. Other file types such as
character sets can be exported generically through file writing
facilities and charset counters.

:AltY:~EAlt+Y - Debug Mode

Alt+Y will toggle a red box in the lower corner of the screen.
This box shows, on labeled lines, the current position of the
cursor the current memory situation, and the presently playing
module. This information is quite helpful when programming
Robots. This is the same as F6 in-game.

:AltZ:~EAlt+Z - Clear (board)

Alt+Z will clear the current board entirely. You are asked for
confirmation.

:CtrNu:~ECtrl+Number - Save Editor Position
:AltNu:~EAlt+Number  - Load Editor Position

These save and load up to 10 cursor positions in the editor
(0 thru 9). These positions save boards, so one can save
position on one board and load position from another board.
These positions are not saved with the MZX file.

:Sft8:~EShift+8 OR Numpad * - Mod Wildcard

This sets the board's current mod to whatever played in the
last-visited board.

:F1:~EF1 - Help

F1 will bring up help on the current action. You can press F1
at almost any time.

:F2:~EF2 - Text

F2 will toggle text mode on and off. When text mode is on,
Enter will go to the next line, and Backspace will delete going
backwards. All printable characters will type in as text.

:F3:~EF3  - Terrain
:F4:~EF4  - Item
:F5:~EF5  - Creature
:F6:~EF6  - Puzzle
:F7:~EF7  - Transport
:F8:~EF8  - Element
:F9:~EF9  - Misc. (thing)
:F10:~EF10 - Objects

The above eight keys will bring up a menu of things to select
from. Selecting one will ask you to enter settings (if
appropriate) or choose a character for that thing. Then a copy
of that thing will be placed at the cursor, and will also
become the current thing. Scrolls, Signs, Sensors, Robots, and
Pushable Robots (all in the Objects menu) will be discussed in
another section. The current thing, color, and settings
parameter (p##) is shown in the upper left corner of the menu.
The settings parameter isn't important except for certain
Robotic programming situations.

>#SCROLLSS.HLP:1st:Signs and Scrolls in the Editor
>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTSWH.HLP:1st:Robots - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTICT.HLP:1st:Robotic Tutorial
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual

:F11:~EF11 - Toggle Super MZX Mode

Pressing F11 will change the currently set SMZX mode, in this
order: From OFF to Mode 1; From Mode 1 to Mode 2; From Mode 2
to Mode 3; From Mode 3 to OFF. This setting only holds for the
editor; it will not carry onto games by itself.

:ShF1:~ESh+F1 - Show InvisWalls
:ShF2:~ESh+F2 - Show Robots
:ShF3:~ESh+F3 - Show Fakes
:ShF4:~ESh+F4 - Show Spaces

These four keys will flash on-screen the location of the noted
thing (as the exclamation point character, char #33). They are
good for locating "hidden" or camouflaged Robots, passages, and
the like.

:Ar:~EArrow - Move

The arrow keys will move the cursor. The edit window will
scroll when necessary.

:AltAr:~EAlt+Arrow - Move 10

Alt with the arrow keys will move the cursor ten spaces at a
time, or up to the board's edge if under ten spaces away. These
also jump numbers by 10 in dialog boxes.

:BkSp:~EBackspace - Delete
:Del:~EDel - Delete

These two keys will delete everything under the cursor. The
current thing is not affected.

:End:~EEnd - L/R Corner

End will jump the cursor to the lower left corner of the entire
board.

:En:~EEnter - Modify+Grab

Enter will modify the settings of the thing under the cursor,
if applicable, then select that thing as the current thing. It
is just like pressing Alt+M and then Ins.

:Enter2:~EEnter - Character

Enter during Overlay editing mode will change the current
character. Select it from a menu and then press Enter to
confirm your choice.

:ESC:~EESC - Exit/Cancel Mode

ESC will exit the editor, asking for confirmation if your world
has not been saved. If you are in block, overlay, text, or
draw mode, ESC will instead cancel the current mode and return
to normal editing.

:Home:~EHome - U/L Corner

Home will jump the cursor to the upper right corner of the
entire board.

:Ins:~EIns - Grab

Ins will select the thing under the cursor as the current
thing. The actual thing is not affected.

:Sp:~ESpace - Place

Space will copy the current thing to the location under the
cursor. Trying to place something over a similar thing will
instead replace the object under the cursor by default. (Robots
and Pushable Robots are the exception; they will never be
replaced.) Placing something over a floor type will actually
place it OVER the floor, not deleting the floor. Other things
will be deleted if they are in the way.
Space can also replace similar objects under the cursor with a
space; this can be set in the configuration file.

>#CONFGINI.HLP:1st:The Config File

:Tab:~ETab - Draw

Tab will toggle the current draw mode. When drawing is on, you
will place a copy of the current thing every time you move the
cursor.

:PgDn:~EPageDown - Next Menu
:PgUp:~EPageUp - Previous Menu

These two keys will cycle through the different menus. The
menu bar can wrap around. You do not have to be viewing the
menu with an option before you can use that option - the menus
are purely for reference. These also jump numbers by 100 in
dialog boxes.

>#THEWORLD.HLP:1st:The World Editor
>#GENERALE.HLP:1st:General Editing Tips
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#CHAREDIT.HLP
:079:The Character Editor

The character editor is an important part of MegaZeux. With
it, you can change the appearance of the character set. For
example, one can make bricks, rockets, stones, and demons;
using multiple characters, one can make much grander things.
The default pixel resolution is fair - 8x14 per character for a
total of 640x350 for the entire screen. Other modes increase
colors at a cost of halving horizontal resolution, but the
difficulties of character editing in those modes is best
covered elsewhere.

To use the character editor, press Alt+C in the editor. You
will be shown a zoomed version of the current character, a menu
of options, a list of numbers, and a row of characters. The
numbers are only important for certain Robotic programming
situations.

To edit the character, move the cursor with the keys and use
Space to toggle pixels on and off (or left-click and
right-click, respectively). Use + and - to move one character
(or character block) up or down through the character set. Use
Enter to select the current character (or block) from the
entire set. The current character(s) are highlighted on the row
in the upper right corner.

Use Del to clear the character. Use N to "negative", or
inverse, the character, turning all on pixels off and all off
pixels on. Use Alt with the arrow keys to shift the entire
character to one direction. Pixels shifted off of one edge
wraparound to the other edge.

Use M to mirror the character, flipping it left to right. Use
F to flip the character top to bottom. F2 will copy the current
character to an internal buffer, while F3 will copy the buffer
to the current character. The buffer is retained between uses
of the character editor.

Hold Shift to select multiple pixels at a time. The selection
box will vanish once Shift is released. Alt+B will also create
a similar selection box, but will not vanish until the Escape
key is pressed.

Alt+U will undo any one mistake done in the editor.

Alt+F will flood fill any highlighted area.

Tab will toggle mode (set) on and off. (set) mode will turn all
pixels crossed to ON.

Shift+Tab will turn toggle (clear) mode. (clear) mode will turn
all pixels crossed OFF.

Multiple characters can be edited at one time. To select a
group of characters, press and hold Enter in the character
editor while highlighting the desired group of characters. If
more than one viable block can be made from the selected
characters, the user can choose the desired block (e.g. six
characters can be 3x2, 2x3 or 6x1). The largest block one can
edit is 6x3.

Alt+I will import character sets while in the character editor;
Alt+X will export. This can be done with one full set or series
of partials. For a full set, simply select the desired set and
click OK. For saving a series of partials, insert a hash sign
in the set name then choose the Offset (starting character).
Then choose the First number of the series (e.g. char#.chr with
a First value of 5 would start from char5.chr). Then choose the
Count value to indicate how many sets will be saved. Loading is
simpler; simply choose the starting character set, the Offset
value and the Count value. Importing and exporting partials
will, however, only work with a block one character in height.

The character editor is a key element in creating decent games
with MegaZeux. If you can't seem to draw well with it, that's
okay, since it has some limitations. You can keep practising
at it, or you can get an MZXer friend to draw characters for
you.

The character editor changes somewhat in Super MZX modes - go
to the Super MZX Modes section for more information on this.

>#SMZXMODE.HLP:095:Super MZX Modes
>#EDITINGK.HLP:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#PALEEDIT.HLP
:093:The Palette Editor

The built-in palette editor can certainly spruce up a game. It
allows you to change the appearance of the 16 different
available colors. It is the only way to get a decent orange
color, for example.

To use it, press Alt+E in the editor. The palette editing screen
will appear. The current palette will be shown along the top,
with the current color marked. The RGB values of the current
color are shown along the right side of the screen, and the menu
is shown on the lower half.

Some color theory is in order here. Computer monitors display
colors by projecting various amounts of Red, Green, and Blue
light. Combined, these three colors can produce almost any shade
and hue of color. This is how colors are represented in MegaZeux
as well. Each color has a Red, Green, and Blue value, each
ranging from 0 to 63. 0 is off, 63 is full brightness, and the
other values range in shade.

To make colors other than red, green, and blue, you must mix
them. Purple is red plus blue, cyan is green plus blue, and
yellow is red plus green. (really.) Whites and grays are made
from equal amounts of all three. For example, red 42 blue 42
green 0 would be a deep purple, and all as 20 would be a dark
gray. To brighten a color, raise all the numbers, or lower them
to darken it. Orange is made with full red and 31 green.

Anyway, back to the editor. Use the arrow keys to select the
current color. R, G, B, and A will increase Red, Green, Blue,
and All, respectively. Alt+RGBA will decrease the same values.
Alt+D will reset the palette to it's default colors. 0 will
blacken the current color. Finally, F2 will store the current
color to an internal buffer, while F3 will restore the buffer
to the current color.

Note that in EGA mode, RGB values can only be 0, 21, 42, or 63.
Other colors will be shown as the nearest shade possible.

The default MZX palette editor will be unhelpful for Super MZX
modes; see the Super MZX section for details on working with
SMZX modes.

>#EDITINGK.HLP:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference
>#SMZXMODE.HLP:095:Super MZX Modes
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#GLOBALIN.HLP
:086:Global Info Options

To edit Global options, press G within the editor. This will
bring up various dialogs where you can edit options that affect
the entire world. The first dialog you see has the following
options:

$Death Board/X/Y/Mode

This tells MegaZeux what happens when the player dies. If mode
is Same position, then the player will simply lose a life. If it
is Restart board, then the player will also teleport to the
location on the board where the player entered. If it is
Teleport, the player will instead teleport to the board and x/y
location stated in the above three settings.

$Endgame Board/X/Y/Mode

This tells MegaZeux what happens when the player runs out of
lives. If mode is Game over, then the game will simply end. If
it is Teleport, the player will be given one last life and then
will be teleported to the board and x/y location stated in the
above three settings. The next time the player dies, the game
will end.

$Play Game Over SFX

If this option is on, the game over sound effect will be looped
when the game has ended and the Game Over message will flash
along the bottom of the screen.

$More

This button leads to another screen of settings.

$Edit Chars

:089:This button leads to a series of dialogs where you can edit the
characters and colors used to represent various internal things.

$Edit Dmg

:090:This button leads to a dialog where you can edit the amount of
damage done by various internal things.

$Edit Global Robot

This button allows you to edit the global Robot, which is a very
special Robot that is present at all times, although it is not
physically on every board. It is a very important part of
MegaZeux. See the Robotic manual for more information.

>#THEGLOBL.HLP:gbl:The Global
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual

:088:The second dialog of settings for global info has the
following options:

$First Board

Here is where you select which board will be the starting board
for the game. The player will start on this board. This defaults
to the title screen.

$Edging Color

This is the color of the border around the entire screen, where
the viewport does not extend. It defaults to dark gray.

$Starting/Maximum Lives

This is where you set the number of lives the player starts
with, and how many lives the player can accumulate at any one
time.

$Starting/Maximum Health

Same as above, but for health points.

$Enemies' Bullets Hurt Other Enemies

If this is on, then bullets shot by enemies, such as tigers,
will destroy other enemies that they hit. It basically turns
all Enemy bullets into Neutral bullets.

$Clear Messages and Projectiles on Exit

If this is on, the current message and all bullets and shooting
fire are cleared whenever the player leaves the screen.

$Can Only Play World from a 'SWAP WORLD'

If this is on, then the current world is unplayable in a normal
fashion. The only way to play it is to swap to it from another
world, using the Robotic command SWAP WORLD.

$Previous

This will go to the previous global settings dialog.

The character editing dialogs (there are eight of them) are
screens of characters and colors used to represent internal
things. Select one to change the color or character used. Use
Next and Previous to move between the screens, and Done when
you are finished. Lit Bomb Anim 1 is special, setting it will
set the other 6 frames of Lit Bomb Animation to the succeeding
characters.

The damage editing dialog allows you to change the amount of
damage dealt by various things within the game. Select one and
use the usual dialog keys to change the values, which can range
from 0 to 255. 0 will leave the player invincible versus that
thing.

Editing the global Robot is covered in the Robot tutorials, as
it is exactly the same as editing any other Robot. The actual
use of a global Robot is covered in the Robotic Reference
Manual.

>#THEGLOBL.HLP:gbl:The Global
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#EDITINGK.HLP:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#BOARDINF.HLP
:085:Board Info Options

To edit Board options, press I within the editor. This will
bring up a dialog where you can edit options pertaining to the
current board. The options are as follows:

$Board Name

This is the name of the board. It is mainly for internal
reference; however, the name of the first board (the title
screen) is also used to represent the entire world on a file
listing.

$Can Shoot/Bomb

These options determine whether or not the player can utilize
shooting or bombs. If off, then the player cannot perform the
noted action.

$Fire Burns Space/Fakes/Trees/Brown

These options determine what fire will and will not burn
through. Space is empty space, NOT floors. Fakes includes fakes,
floors, carpets, and tiles. Trees are self-explanatory. Brown
is anything other than the player or a Robot/sign/Scroll that
is colored brown (that is, anything with a color of cX6).

$Forest to Floor

If on, when the player moves through forest, it will become
floor. If off, the forest will simply disappear.

$Collect Bombs

If on, the player will collect bombs normally. If off, bombs
will be instantly lit when touched.

$Fire Burns Forever

If on, fire will never burn out. If off, fire will eventually
turn into ash, which is actually a dark gray floor.  Of course,
if fire is set to burn fakes, the ash will probably relight
immediately.

$Restart if Hurt

When on, any time the player loses health, the player will be
teleported to the place on the current board that it originally
entered.

$Player Locked N/S

When on, the player cannot move north or south until unlocked
with the UNLOCKPLAYER command.

$Player Locked E/W

When on, the player cannot move east or west until unlocked
with the UNLOCKPLAYER command.

$Player Attack Locked

When on, the player cannot shoot bullets or bomb until unlocked
with the UNLOCKPLAYER command.

$Time Limit

If greater than zero, the player has the noted amount of time to
complete the board. The current time is shown in the lower left
corner during gameplay. If time runs out, the player loses ten
health and the time limit is reset. This option is most useful
with the Restart if hurt option. The time is in units
considerably faster than seconds; test the board to get a feel
for the amount of time needed. The current time is reset if the
player exits and re-enters the board.

$Explosions to Space/Ash/Fire

This determines what explosions will leave in their wake: Empty
space, ash (dark gray floors), or burning fire.

$Can Save/Can't Save/Can Save on Sensors

This determines when the player can save his game. The first two
options are self-explanatory. Can save on Sensors allows the
player to only save if it is standing directly over a Sensor.
Sensors are explained in another section.

>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors - What They Are and How to Use Them

$No/Normal/Static/Transparent Overlay

This sets the type of overlay for the current board. No overlay
means just that- overlay mode is completely off. Normal overlay
is a normal overlay that Scrolls with the board. Static overlay
is a normal overlay that remains in a fixed position even when
the board Scrolls. A Transparent overlay is similar to no
overlay in that none is shown, but it allows you to edit it so
that one may appear later. Overlays are discussed in full in
another section.

>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay
>#EDITINGK.HLP:080:Editing Keys and Options Reference
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#SOUNDEFX.HLP
:1st:MegaZeux's Sound System

MegaZeux has two types of sound: Digitized sound, played through
a sound card, and sound effects, which are emulated PCS effects.

MegaZeux's many sound options can be accessed through the
config.txt file. Please see this section for details.

>#CONFGINI.HLP:1st:The Config File

$Music Files

Music files, referred to as MODULES, can be any one of the
following formats:

* MOD (or NST/WOW/OCT)
* GDM
* S3M
* XM
* IT
* WAV
* OGG
* Other formats {STM, MTM, MT2, 669, ULT, FAR, MED (MMD0), DSM,
  AMS, MDL, OKT, DMF, PTM, DBM, AMF, PSM, J2B, UMX}

MZX does not support GDMs natively. Instead, when a GDM is
loaded it is converted to an S3M file. The S3M file is loaded
in all future incidences. To discourage loading of GDMs, it is
impossible to select a GDM file from the board's music
selection menu (alt+N). Thus, if you want to use a GDM in your
game, you should instead use one of the following:
 * The original audio file prior to conversion if you have it.
 * The GDM converted to S3M - this can be done by using ajs's
   convertor or by using a Robot in MZX to load the GDM, which
   will automatically make the S3M appear. You can then select
   it normally.

NOTE: The above text only applies to ModPlug (the default
module engine). It is now possible to build using MikMod, to
support platforms which cannot handle ModPlug. It can play
formats: {669, AMF, APUN, DSM, FAR, GDM, IT, IMF, MOD, MED,
MTM, OKT, S3M, STM, STX, ULT, UNI, XM, WAV, OGG}. GDMs load
natively in MikMod, in contrast to ModPlug.

$Using Sound and Music in Your Own Games

There are three ways to utilize sound and music in your own
games-

. 1- Select default modules for each board.
. 2- Edit the built-in speaker sfx.
. 3- Use Robots to play modules, SAMs/WAVs/OGGs, and speaker
.   sfx.

$Selecting Default Modules for Each Board

This is perhaps the easiest method to get music in your games.
Simply make sure that the proper module files are in the
current directory, and use Alt+N to select music for a board.
Press Alt+N to turn it back off again.

>#EDITINGK.HLP:AltN:Details on Alt+N

$Editing the Built-in Speaker SFX

To edit the built-in speaker sound effects, use Alt+F. The
format for them is discussed later in this section.

>#EDITINGK.HLP:097:Details on Alt+F

$Using Robots

Robotic has a large number of commands for playing modules,
SAMs/WAVs, and speaker sfx. A knowledge of Robotic basics is
required, so see the following sections to learn about Robots.

>#ROBOTSWH.HLP:1st:Robots - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTICT.HLP:1st:Robotic Tutorial
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual

The following sections discuss individual commands relating to
sound and music.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c6:~ACHANGE SFX # "string"
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_e2:~AEND MOD
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_e4:~AEND SAM
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_e3:~AEND PLAY
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_j1:~AJUMP MOD ORDER #
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_m3:~AMOD "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m5:~AMOD FADE IN "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m6:~AMOD FADE OUT
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m4:~AMOD FADE # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m7:~AMOD SAM # #
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_p2:~APLAY "string"
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_p3:~APLAY SFX "string"
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_s1:~ASAM # "file"
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_sO:~ASFX #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_v3:~AVOLUME #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w2:~AWAIT MOD FADE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w3:~AWAIT PLAY
>#COMMANDR.HLP:_w4:~AWAIT PLAY "string"

$SAM Files in the Port

Much like GDMs, SAM files are not directly supported in MZX.
WAV files are created on first loading the SAM, and are
exclusively used thereafter. An easy way to convert SAM files
is by using Alt+L and playing each. However, using WAVs is
preferred, as conversion can degrade quality. For large sound
effects such as voice try using OGGs; while lossy, the OGG
format can provide good compression and still sound the same 
(or extremely similar) to the human ear. You may also use
module formats with the SAM command, which has its uses.

$Format for Sound Effects

The sound effects editor and Robotic PLAY commands all use the
same format for playing sound effects. The format consists of
a single string of characters, each character representing one
note or command. Spaces are ignored, and capitalisation is not
important. A knowledge of music is required to use the format
effectively. The commands are:

~A A B C D E F G
.  Plays the note stated, at the current octave and duration.
.  The scale starts at C and continues DEFGAB before going up
.  an octave. Use # and $ for sharps and flats, placing them
.  after the note.
~A # $
.  Sharps (#) or flats ($) the previous note. Does not affect
.  any note other than the note directly before the sharp or
.  flat. Constructs such as B# are allowed.
~A 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
.  Sets the current octave. Octave 3 starts at middle C. The
.  lower the number, the lower the notes.
~A + -
.  Raises or lowers the current octave by 1, but only if
.  possible. You cannot go below octave 0 or above octave 6.
~A X
.  Plays a rest of the current duration. A rest is a period of
.  silence.
~A Z T S I Q H W
.  These letters change the current duration of notes and
.  rests, I.E. the length of time each subsequent note is
.  played. Each one is twice as long as the previous one,
.  with Z being the fastest and W the slowest. Duration
.  defaults to Z. The counterparts to the durations follow-
.   Z = sixty-fourth note
.   T = ~AT~Fhirty-second note
.   S = ~AS~Fixteenth note
.   I = e~AI~Fghth note
.   Q = ~AQ~Fuarter note
.   H = ~AH~Falf note
.   W = ~AW~Fhole note
.  Duration (and octave) does not carry over from one string to
.  the next.
~A .
.  A dot will change the current duration to 150% that of
.  usual. This is a permanent duration change and will only
.  affect subsequent notes. Its use is similar to that of a
.  dot in regular music, except this dot affects multiple
.  notes.
~A !
.  An exclamation point will change the current duration to 33%
.  that of usual. This is a permanent duration change and will
.  only affect subsequent notes. Its use is similar to that of
.  triplets in regular music, except it affects ALL subsequent
.  notes.
~A &
.  & is a very special command. It is used to play SAM files
.  (digitized sounds) within a sfx string. It allows digitized
.  sounds within the sound effects editor. The general format
.  for & is as follows:

$"&FILENAME.SAM&3C"

.  This will play middle C using FILENAME.SAM. Multiple notes
.  are ignored- only the last is played. Duration is
.  irrelevant. If nothing follows the last &, the effect will
.  play at natural frequency.
~A _
.  An underscore is usually used in conjunction with &. It
.  basically turns off digitized sounds for the rest of the
.  string, and ignores the rest of the string IF digitized
.  music/sound is on. For example:

$"&SHOT.SAM&C_+C-C"

.  The above will play SHOT.SAM at frequency 428 (middle C)
.  if digitized sound is on, OTHERWISE it will play the normal
.  shooting sound of "+C-C".

$Sound Effect Numbers

The PLAY SFX command in Robotic plays one of the built-in sound
effects. The numerical values corresponding to these sound
effects are listed below.

0 - Gem
1 - Magic Gem
2 - Health
3 - Ammo
4 - Coin
5 - Life
6 - Lo Bomb
7 - Hi Bomb
8 - Key
9 - Full on Keys
10- Unlock
11- Can't Unlock
12- Invis. Wall
13- Forest
14- Gate Locked
15- Open Gate
16- Invinco Start
17- Invinco Beat
18- Invinco End
19- Door Locked
20- Open Door
21- Hurt
22- AUGH!
23- Death
24- Game Over
25- Gate Closing
26- Push
27- Transport
28- Shoot
29- Break
30- Out of ammo
31- Ricochet
32- Out of bombs
33- Place bomb (lo)
34- Place bomb (hi)
35- Switch bomb type
36- Explosion
37- Entrance
38- Pouch
39- Ring/Potion
40- Empty chest
41- Chest
42- Out of time
43- Fire ouch
44- Stolen gem
45- Enemy HP down
46- Dragon fire
47- Scroll/Sign
48- Goop
49- Unused

:frq:
$SAM, OGG, MOD and WAV Frequencies

Sounds played using the SAM command in Robotic play at
"natural" frequency at value 0; if one wants to play the sound
at a different pitch, a frequency value is needed. Frequencies
corresponding to MOD file notes follow:

. --------------------------------------------
. |        | C | C#| D | D#| E | F | F#| G | G#| A | A#| B |
. --------------------------------------------
. |Octave 1|856|808|762|720|678|640|604|570|538|508|480|453|
. --------------------------------------------
. |Octave 2|428|404|381|360|339|320|302|285|269|254|240|226|
. --------------------------------------------
. |Octave 3|214|202|190|180|170|160|151|143|135|127|120|113|
. --------------------------------------------
. |Octave 4|107|101| 95| 90| 85| 80| 75| 71| 67| 63| 60| 56|
. --------------------------------------------
. |Octave 5| 53| 50| 47| 45| 42| 40| 37| 35| 33| 31| 30| 28|
. --------------------------------------------

The following table lists frequencies corresponding to PLAY
statement notes:

. -------------------------------------------------
. |O|C   |C#  |D   |D#  |E   |F   |F#  |G   |G#  |A   |A#  |B   |
. -------------------------------------------------
. |0|3424|3232|3948|2880|2712|2560|2416|2280|2152|2032|1920|1812|
. -------------------------------------------------
. |1|1712|1616|1524|1440|1356|1280|1208|1140|1076|1016| 960| 906|
. -------------------------------------------------
. |2| 856| 808| 762| 720| 678| 640| 604| 570| 538| 508| 480| 453|
. -------------------------------------------------
. |3| 428| 404| 381| 360| 339| 320| 302| 285| 269| 254| 240| 226|
. -------------------------------------------------
. |4| 214| 202| 190| 180| 170| 160| 151| 143| 135| 127| 120| 113|
. -------------------------------------------------
. |5| 107| 101|  95|  90|  85|  80|  75|  71|  67|  63|  60|  56|
. -------------------------------------------------
. |6|  53|  50|  47|  45|  42|  40|  37|  35|  33|  31|  30|  28|
. -------------------------------------------------

The following tables list how to play a Wave or OGG at its
normal sound with PLAY statements:

. 48000Hz Wave/OGG --> 37
. 44100Hz Wave/OGG --> 41
. 32000Hz Wave/OGG --> 56
. 24000Hz Wave/OGG --> 75
. 22050Hz Wave/OGG --> 81
. 16000Hz Wave/OGG --> 112
. 12000Hz Wave/OGG --> 149
. 11025Hz Wave/OGG --> 162
. 08000Hz Wave/OGG --> 224

To convert frequencies from MZX to real, use these formulae:

. Actual frequency = 1789682 / MZX frequency
. MZX frequency = 1789682 / actual frequency

WAVs converted from SAMs play at a natural frequency of 8363Hz.

Finally, tracked modules have a normal frequency of 44100 Hz;
other types such as OGG and WAV have normal frequencies at
their recording rate (for example, a WAV encoded at 22050 Hz
will play normally at the 22050 Hz setting). The frequency of a
module can be controlled with the "mod_frequency" counter;
changing the frequency mid-song can create a popping sound,
especially while lowering frequency. The lowest setting of
mod_frequency is 16 Hz.

$Where to Get Module and Sound Files

These questions are answered in the Frequently Asked Questions
section of help.

>#FAQ.HLP:1st:Frequently Asked Questions
>#CONFGINI.HLP:1st:External MegaZeux Options
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#TOVERLAY.HLP
:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

The overlay is a simple but useful part of a board. If one
looks at Floors and Fakes as a floor layer, and Walls as a
central layer, the overlay is a ceiling layer. Basically, the
overlay, when on, appears OVER anything on the board. The
player, enemies, Robots, etc. all move underneath it. The
overlay is purely for show and graphical effects. For example,
you could create archways that the player moves under, or have
a score and lives display that is overlaid over the view at all
times (by using Robotic). However, character 32 (space 99.99%
of the time) is never part of the overlay. To emulate a space,
use the wall character or make your own space character. This
is very important to remember when putting text onto the
overlay.

To turn the overlay on, go to board info (I) and set the overlay
to a mode other than Off. The editor will prevent you from
editing the overlay if it is Off, since it will not be saved
if it is. These are the available overlay modes:

Off - No overlay is saved, none is shown.
On - The overlay is shown normally, scrolling along with the
.  rest of the board. Default for boards.
Static - The overlay is shown, but it does not scroll with the
.  board. It always shows the top left position.
Transparent - The overlay is saved and can hold info, but is
.  currently not shown.

If the overlay is on, press Alt+O in the editor to edit it.
This brings you to the overlay editor. The menu at the bottom
of the screen will change, and you will have access to the
following keys and options:

:074:~EAlt+B - Block

Press Alt+B to start block mode. Then move the cursor to the
opposite corner of a rectangular block, and press Alt+B again.
You can then select an action to perform upon the block. Copy
will allow you to duplicate the block by moving the cursor to
a destination and pressing Enter. The cursor marks the new
UPPER LEFT corner. Copy (repeated) is the same as Copy but can
allow copying of the same block to multiple places. Move will
allow you to move the block to a new location. Clear will erase
the contents of the block. Flip will flip the block upside
down. Mirror will flip the block left to right. Paint will
change the entire block to the current color. Copy to/from
overlay will copy the block to the main level from the overlay.
You will have to select the type of thing it will be copied as:
Floor, Text, etc. Save as MZM will save the block as an .MZM
file. Destinations for Move and Copy can overlap the original
block safely. Ctrl+Dir is especially helpful when doing a
repeated copy block; it moves the cursor the width of the block
ensuring no overlap when pasting.

Like normal Block functions, one can now copy between boards by
selecting the board when the editor prompts the user for the
block's destination.  Use the B key to select the destination
board.

:_C:~EC - Color

Press C to select a new current color from a menu. The character
under the cursor is not affected.

:_F:~EF - Fill

Press F to fill in an enclosed area with the current character
and color. The area must be completely surrounded by characters
other than the character beneath the cursor. For example, you
can fill over a solid square of A's with something else. The
current fill command may not work right for very large and
complex areas- In this case, you must move to the unfilled areas
and press F to continue filling. However, this happens very
rarely.

:AltO:~EAlt+O - Edit Overlay

Alt+O will exit overlay mode and return to editing the main
board.

:AltS2:~EAlt+S - Show Level

Alt+S will toggle whether the level beneath the overlay is
shown. Without the level, only the overlay is shown, and no
board bits are seen through the holes in the overlay. However,
it is a good idea to show the level to see how it looks beneath
the overlay.

:F1:~EF1 - Help

F1 will bring up help on the current action. You can press F1
at almost any time.

:F2:~EF2 - Text

F2 will toggle text mode on and off. When text mode is on, Enter
will go to the next line, and Backspace will delete going
backwards. All printable characters will type in as text.

:Ar:~EArrow - Move

The arrow keys will move the cursor. The edit window will Scroll
when necessary.

:AltAr:~EAlt+Arrow - Move 10

Alt with the arrow keys will move the cursor up to ten spaces at
a time.

:BkSp:~EBackspace - Delete
:Del:~EDel - Delete

These two keys will delete everything under the cursor. The
current character is not affected.

:End:~EEnd - L/R Corner

End will jump the cursor to the lower left corner of the entire
overlay.

:Enter2:~EEnter - Character

Enter will change the current character. Select it from a menu
and then press Enter to confirm your choice.

:ESC:~EESC - Exit/Cancel Mode

ESC will exit overlay mode. If you are in block, text, or draw
mode, ESC will instead cancel the current mode and return to
normal overlay editing.

:Home:~EHome - U/L Corner

Home will jump the cursor to the upper right corner of the
entire overlay.

:Ins:~EIns - Grab

Ins will select the character and color under the cursor
as the current. The actual character is not affected.

:Sp:~ESpace - Place

Space will copy the current character and color to the location
under the cursor. Trying to place something over itself will
instead delete it. Other things will be deleted if they are in
the way.

:Tab:~ETab - Draw

Tab will toggle the current draw mode. When drawing is on, you
will place a copy of the current character every time you move
the cursor.

The basic method of editing the overlay is to use C and Enter to
select characters and colors, and use Space, arrows, and Tab to
draw with them. Do not switch overlay mode to Off once you have
drawn your overlay, or it may be permanently erased.

The overlay and overlay mode can also be changed using Robotic;
with Robotic, not only can one powerfully manipulate the
overlay, but also copy directly to the board from the overlay
(and vice versa). A knowledge of Robotic basics is required,
so see the following sections to learn about Robots.

>#ROBOTSWH.HLP:1st:Robots- What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTICT.HLP:1st:Robotic Tutorial
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual

The following sections discuss individual commands relating to
overlays.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c4:CHANGE OVERLAY [color] [char] [color] [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c5:CHANGE OVERLAY [color] [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cJ:~ACOPY BLOCK # # # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cL:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cR:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "@@filename" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cS:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # "@@filename" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cU:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "$string" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cV:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # "$string" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cX:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "#x" "#y"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cZ:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cAA:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" # # "#x2" "#y2"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o2:OVERLAY ON
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o3:OVERLAY STATIC
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o4:OVERLAY TRANSPARENT
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_pE:PUT [color] [char] OVERLAY # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w7:WRITE OVERLAY [color] "string" # #

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#SCROLLSS.HLP
:1st:Signs and Scrolls in the Editor

Signs and Scrolls are a simple way to get messages across in the
game. To place them in the editor, press F10 and select Sign or
Scroll from the list. You must then edit the text of the Sign or
Scroll.

The Scroll editor is very simple. You can move the cursor among
the different lines and characters. Type to insert text
anywhere. Press Ins to toggle between insert mode (default)
and overwrite mode, where typed characters will overwrite any
characters already there. Backspace and delete work as normal,
as do PageDown, PageUp, End, and Home. Finally, use Enter to
start or insert new lines.

Press ESC when you are done editing your Scroll. It will be
placed at the current cursor position and will become the
current thing. Note that although you can now copy the Scroll
freely, there is a limit of 255 Scrolls and Signs per board.
This limit shouldn't ever be a problem.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#ERRORMES.HLP
:1st:Error Messages

The following is a list of error messages in alphabetical order,
which link to descriptions of the error and possible remedies.
Pressing F1 during an error message will take you directly to
the description.

>004:Attempt to load nonexistent board
>001:Attempt to overwrite board in storage
>022:Board is from a more recent version of MegaZeux
>007:Error accessing boards
>048:Error importing .SFX file
>024:Error importing char. set
>036:Error importing palette
>040:Error importing Robot
>026:Error importing world
>033:Error loading save game
>013:Error loading world
>012:Error saving world
>003:Error storing current board
>044:Error swapping to next world
>002:Out of memory and/or disk space
>005:Out of Robot memory
>017:Overlay mode is not on (see Board Info)
>031:Windowing code bug
>014:World is from a more recent version of MegaZeux
>028:World is from old version (1.0); use converter
>049:You can only play this game via a swap from another game

:001:~AAttempt to overwrite board in storage

This is an internal error. It occurs when two boards try to
occupy the same slot. Try to isolate the reason for the problem
and notify the maintainer(s), as this error signifies a bug in
MegaZeux.

:002:~AOut of memory and/or disk space

You have no more RAM or hard disk space on the current drive.
Clear up some memory and disk space before running MegaZeux
again.

:003:~AError storing current board

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage. This can also be caused by a bug in MegaZeux,
although this is unlikely.

:004:~AAttempt to load nonexistent board

This is an internal error. MegaZeux tried to load up a board
that does not exist. This error may signify a bug in MegaZeux.
If so, try to locate the problem and notify us. This error
could also have been caused when boards or worlds were
imported in a version before 2.80. Before 2.80, worlds
imported did not link their exits properly upon importation.

:005:~AOut of Robot memory

This error should never occur, as the total Robot memory is
unlimited. This error now signifies a bug in MegaZeux.

:007:~AError accessing boards

This is an internal error. Try to isolate the reason for the
problem and notify the maintainer(s), as this error signifies a
bug in MegaZeux.

:012:~AError saving world

This is caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage. It can also result from an attempt to overwrite a
read-only file.

:013:~AError loading world

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage.

:014:~AWorld is from a more recent version of MegaZeux

The .MZX file you tried to load or import is from a more
current version of MegaZeux. You must upgrade MegaZeux to play
this worldfile.

:017:~AOverlay mode is not on (see Board Info)

You cannot edit or copy to the Overlay if it is Off; go to
board info and turn it to On, Static, or Transparent.

:021:~AError importing board

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage.

:022:~ABoard is from a more recent version of MegaZeux

The .MZB file you tried to load or import is from a newer
version of MegaZeux. Upgrade your copy of MegaZeux when this
error appears.

:024:~AError importing char. set
:026:~AError importing world

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage.

:028:~AWorld is from old version (1.0); use converter

You tried to load a .MZX file from version 1.00g, 1.01, 1.02, or
1.03 of MegaZeux. In order to use these worlds, they must first
be converted to 2.51 format using the included VER1TO2 program.
Run VER1TO2 without any command line arguments and it will tell
you what to do.

:031:~AWindowing code bug

This is an internal error. Try to isolate the reason for the
problem and notify the maintainer(s), as this error signifies a
bug in MegaZeux.

:033:~AError loading save game

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage.

:036:~AError importing palette

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage.

:040:~AError importing Robot

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space shortage,
sometimes caused by TSRs or other programs not closing their
files.

:042:~AOut of memory for SAM

A SAM, WAV or OGG file couldn't fit into memory to play. This
error will not occur in normal game-play unless the debug menu
is active. (The SAM, WAV or OGG will simply not play.)

:044:~AError swapping to next world

A Robotic command, SWAP to WORLD, was issued, but the stated
world could not be found or otherwise could not be swapped to,
due to version conflicts, file errors, etc.

:048:~AError importing .SFX file

This can be caused by file errors or a hard disk space
shortage, sometimes caused by TSRs or other programs not
closing their files.

:049:~AYou can only play this game via a swap from another game

This error occurs when you try to play a game that has the
option set to disallow normal game-play. The world can only be
played as a swap from another game. For example, this may be
the second half of another game, or a separate world for
showing the introduction.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#SENSORSW.HLP
:094:Sensors - What They Are and How to Use Them

Sensors have two real purposes. The first is to act as save
points. The second is to interact with Robots as a type of
floor. The first use is simple... just set the board to "Save
only on Sensors," and then the player can only save when
standing on a Sensor.

The second use is more complex, and requires a knowledge of
Robotic. Sensors are like controllable CustomFloors. When
creating one, give it a name and a character, then enter the
name of a Robot that it will interact with. This use of sensors
is easily replicable through Robotic now, so this use of
sensors is depreciated. However, if one wants to use sensors,
this information will easily help.

Sensors interact with Robots using labels (messages) and SEND
commands, just like Robots interact with each other. Any Robot
can SEND a message to a Sensor, but the Sensor will only SEND
messages to the Robot stated in its settings. If you entered a
Robot of ALL, then it will SEND messages to all Robots.

$Messages TO Sensors

The following messages can be sent to a Sensor. A Sensor can
receive messages even when it is beneath the player.

~EDIE

This will cause the Sensor to disappear forever.

~ECHAR'X'

This will cause the Sensor to change its character to X.

~ECHAR###

This will cause the Sensor to change its character to that
represented by the number ###, from 0 to 255.

~ECOLORxx

This will cause the Sensor to change its color to that
represented by the code xx, a hexadecimal number from 00 to
FF. The color coding is the same as used for Robotic commands,
except without the c and ?'s are not allowed.

~EN
~ES
~EE
~EW

This will cause the Sensor to move north, south, east, or west,
respectively. If the player is on top of the Sensor, the player
will move along with it. If the Sensor tries to move towards
the player, it will instead move beneath.

$Messages FROM Sensors

Sensors will send Robots the following messages.

~ESENSORON

This is sent when the player steps onto the Sensor, or when the
Sensor is told to move and it ends up beneath the player, or
when something pushes the player onto the Sensor.

~ESENSORTHUD

This is sent when the Sensor is told to move, but it is blocked.

~ESENSORPUSHED

This is sent when something (not the player, of course) pushes
the Sensor.

$Notes on Sensors

Only the player can step onto a Sensor; other things will push
it. The Sensor, when moving, will move UNDER the player if in
the way, or will take the player with it if the player is on
the Sensor.

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#ROBOTICR.HLP
:087:Robotic Reference Manual

Use the following help links to see your desired topic(s).

>#COMMANDS.HLP:1st:Command Syntax
>#COMMANDR.HLP:1st:Command Reference
>#USINGTHE.HLP:1st:Using the Editor
>#THEGLOBL.HLP:gbl:The Global
>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors
>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions
>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#BUILTINL.HLP:1st:Built-in Labels
>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters
>#COMMAND2.HLP:pre:Prefixes
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic
>#COMMANDS.HLP:con:Conditions
>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music
>#SMZXMODE.HLP:095:Super MZX Modes
>#SUBROUTE.HLP:sub:Subroutines
>#EXPRESS.HLP:exp:Expressions
>#FILEACSS.HLP:fil:File Access
>#SPRITES.HLP:spr:Sprites
>#VLAYER.HLP:vla:The Vlayer
>#MZM.HLP:mzm:Using MZMs
>#TRIG.HLP:tri:Trigonometric Functions
>#PARTIAL.HLP:par:Partial Character Sets
>#BULLETTY.HLP:1st:Bullet Types
>#CHANGECH.HLP:1st:CHANGE CHAR ID - The CHAR ID Table

>#ROBOTSWH.HLP:1st:Robots - What They Are and How to Use Them
>#ROBOTICT.HLP:1st:Robotic Tutorial
>#BADPRACT.HLP:101:Robotic Usages That Should be Avoided
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#COMMANDS.HLP
:1st:Command Syntax

Commands in Robotic must conform to a certain syntax -

.  COMMAND [param] [param] ...

COMMAND is the words or symbol that specifies exactly which
command you are using. Params are the values used to supplement
the command's function -

~E"string" or "counter" or "label" or "Robot" or "file"

Strings are a series of characters surrounded by quotes.
Counters are strings representing the name of a counter. Labels
are strings representing the name of a label, a point within a
Robot. Robots are strings representing the name of a Robot.
Files are strings representing a file on disk, always including
the extension. (e.g.: "Hi", "Gems", "Label5", "*1230 +725",
etc.) The quotes can be left off if the string contains no
spaces and is not the same as any word found in any command or
parameter, i.e. a word that the editor could not mistake for a
part of a command. For example, "fifty" and "HONK" don't need
quotes, but "Ammo", "N", "Goto", and "You died" do.

~E#

Numbers are allowed to be integers within the range of
-2147483648 to 2147484647. Numbers can be replaced with a string
representing the name of a counter at any time. Examples of
legal numbers- 3200, -79k, .$FA9, "Ammo". They can also be
represented in hexadecimal, using $xxxx format. In this case,
xxxx can be any number from 0 to FFFF.

Numbers can not directly be allowed to go past the 16-bit
limits (-32768 to 32767) in Robotic commands, but this can be
easily circumvented by using constant expressions. Constant
expressions also allow octal numbers and larger hexadecimal
numbers; please view the expressions section for more detail.

>#EXPRESS.HLP:1st:Expressions

:col:~E[color]

The format for colors is cXX, where X is 0-9, A-F, or ?. The
first X represents the background color, the second X represents
the foreground color. The numbers and symbols represent the
following colors-

0 Black       ~0(color #0)
1 Blue        ~1(color #1)
2 Green       ~2(color #2)
3 Cyan        ~3(color #3)
4 Red         ~4(color #4)
5 Purple      ~5(color #5)
6 Brown       ~6(color #6)
7 Lt. Gray    ~7(color #7)
8 Dk. Gray    ~8(color #8)
9 Lt. Blue    ~9(color #9)
10 Lt. Green  ~A(color #10)
11 Lt. Cyan   ~B(color #11)
12 Lt. Red    ~C(color #12)
13 Lt. Purple ~D(color #13)
14 Yellow     ~E(color #14)
15 White      ~F(color #15)
? Any color/No change in color

The use of ? is not always a logical option for some commands.
When used, it signifies to replace it with the current color or
ignore that part of the color for that command. Colors may be
selected from a menu within the Robot editor using F2. Colors
can also be replaced with the name of a counter at any time. In
this case, the value of the counter is BK*16+FG, where BK and FG
are 0-15. To use ?, use the following values-

.   256+FG = c?X
.   272+BK = cX?
.   288  = c??

A color of c?? will be inserted into commands when you have a
thing and you do not put a color as well. Examples of legal
colors- cF9, c02, c?5, c??, "Colored".

While detecting colors of ?? is generally an accepted practice,
it's extremely discouraged to change or put colors of ??.

>#BADPRACT.HLP:101:Robotic Usages That Should be Avoided

~E[char]

Characters are a single character surrounded by apostrophes -
e.g. 'X'. X can be any character except #0. A character can be
selected from a menu in the Robot editor using F3. Numbers and
counters can be used to represent characters as well, with
values from 1 to 255. Examples of legal characters - 'a', '',
20, "Count". Characters can also represent numbers, so
typing in commands like INC "health" '5' can yield _much_
different results than intended. However, for some usages this
use of chars is vastly superior to any other method (such as in
reading from the overlay onto strings).

:dir:~E[dir]

Directions are used to denote a direction on the board. A
direction is one of the following-

.  NORTH (or N or UP)
.  SOUTH (or S or DOWN)
.  EAST (or E or RIGHT)
.  WEST (or W or LEFT)
.  IDLE
.  NODIR
.  ANYDIR
.  RANDNS
.  RANDEW
.  RANDNE
.  RANDNB
.  RANDB
.  SEEK
.  FLOW
.  RANDANY
.  UNDER (or BENEATH)

The four cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) are self explanatory.
Descriptions of the other directions-

~BIDLE

No direction, as in the absence of any direction. Used with:

:_w5:~AWALK [dir]

>#COMMANDS.HLP:con:Conditions

~BNODIR

No directions satisfy the condition. Used with:

>#COMMANDS.HLP:con:Conditions

~BANYDIR

Any direction satisfies the condition. Used with:

>#COMMANDS.HLP:con:Conditions

~BRANDNS

Randomly NORTH or SOUTH.

~BRANDEW

Randomly EAST or WEST.

~BRANDNE

Randomly NORTH or EAST.

~BRANDNB

Randomly any direction that the Robot is not blocked by
something in.

~BRANDB

Randomly any direction that the Robot is blocked in.

~BSEEK

The direction towards the player. If the player is on a
diagonal, it will randomly be one of the two directions
comprising the diagonal.

~BFLOW

The direction the Robot is currently walking in.

~BRANDANY

Randomly NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

~BUNDER

The direction signifying whatever is BENEATH something, such
as floors. Used with:

:_l1:~ALAYBOMB [dir]
:_l2:~ALAYBOMB HIGH [dir]

>#COMMANDS.HLP:con:Conditions

Most directions can be used with the following modifying
prefixes:

~BOPP

The opposite direction. NORTH becomes SOUTH, etc.

~BCW

The direction clockwise of the named direction. NORTH becomes
EAST, etc.

~BRANDP

Randomly a direction perpendicular to the named direction.
NORTH becomes EAST or WEST, etc.

~BRANDNOT

Randomly any direction OTHER than the given direction.

~E[thing]

The name of any thing from the editor, other than the player.
Use the name from the thing list, minus any punctuation or
spaces. In addition to the things on the lists, you can use
Lazer for any lazer walls shot by lazer guns or Robots. You can
use OpenGate for a gate that has been opened. Examples of legal
things- Gem, CustomFloor, LitBomb, Robot.

~E[param]

A code representing the settings for a thing. (see above) The
format is p# or p??. # is a hexadecimal code from 0 to FF. ??
represents settings that you don't care about or shouldn't
change. To enter parameter codes easily, use F4 in the Robot
editor after you have typed in a thing. p?? will be inserted
automatically any time you have a thing without a parameter.
Counters can also be used as parameters, as well as decimal
numbers; to insert decimal numbers, place the number without
the "p" before it.

~E[item]

One of the following: TIME, SCORE, GEMS, AMMOS, LIVES, LOBOMBS,
HIBOMBS, COINS, HEALTHS. Note the plural format. This
distinguishes items from things.

~E!<>=

A conditional for comparing two numbers, counters or strings:

.= or ==        Equal to
.<              Less than
.>              Greater than
.<= or =<       Less than or equal to
.>= or =>       Greater than or equal to
.!= or <> or >< Not equal to

:con:~E[condition]

A word, sometimes followed by a direction, signifying a certain
condition, use in IF [condition] and IF NOT [condition] commands
to test whether a condition is currently present.

~BWALKING [dir]

Tests whether the Robot is currently walking in a given
direction. IDLE, NODIR, and ANYDIR are allowed here.

~BSWIMMING

Tests whether the Robot is currently in water.

~BFIREWALKING

Tests whether the Robot is currently in either lava or fire.

~BTOUCHING [dir]

Tests whether the player is next to the Robot in the given
direction. NODIR and ANYDIR are allowed here.

~BBLOCKED [dir]

Tests whether the Robot is blocked by something in the given
direction. NODIR and ANYDIR are allowed here. This condition
has a special mode- If the IF command has a REL PLAYER prefix
before it, it will instead check next to the PLAYER for being
blocked. If the IF command has a REL COUNTERS prefix before
it, it will instead check next to the position pointed to by
the counters XPOS and YPOS.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:pre:REL COUNTERS
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r2:REL PLAYER

~BALIGNED

Tests whether the player is aligned with the Robot either
horizontally or vertically.

~BALIGNEDNS
~BALIGNEDEW

Tests whether the player is aligned with the Robot, but only
tests horizontally (EW) or vertically (NS), not both.

~BLASTSHOT [dir]

Tests whether the last direction the Robot was shot in was
the given direction. For example, if the Robot had just been
shot on the north side, then LASTSHOT NORTH would be true.

~BLASTTOUCH [dir]

Similar to the above, tests whether the last direction the
Robot was touched by the player is the given direction.

~BRIGHTPRESSED
~BLEFTPRESSED
~BUPPRESSED
~BDOWNPRESSED
~BSPACEPRESSED
~BDELPRESSED

Tests whether the indicated key is currently being held down.

~BMUSICON

Tests whether digitized music and sound effects are currently
on.

~BPCSFXON

Tests whether PC speaker sound effects are currently on.

~EMiscellaneous

When typing in a command, the following symbols and words, as
well as spaces, can be used freely- They have no effect on the
final command and are only used to clarify its meaning.

, (comma)
; (semicolon)
A
AN
AND
AS
AT
BY
ELSE
FOR
FROM
INTO
IS
OF
THE
THEN
THERE
THROUGH
THRU
TO
WITH

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
#STRINGS.HLP
:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

$Simple Strings

Generally, a string is a series of symbols within quotes- "BUG",
"Hi there!", or even "ŁEA9 _". There are two special aspects
or features of strings which may be useful.

$Color

Used in Robotic commands *, %, ?, and &, strings can contain
color codes. There are two color symbols- ~~ for changing
foreground, and @@ for changing background. These should be
followed by one of these characters-

0 Black (color 0)      8 Dk. Gray (color 8)
1 Blue (color 1)       9 Lt. Blue (color 9)
2 Green (color 2)      A Lt. Green (color 10)
3 Cyan (color 3)       B Lt. Cyan (color 11)
4 Red (color 4)       C Lt. Red (color 12)
5 Purple (color 5)      D Lt. Purple (color 13)
6 Brown (color 6)      E Yellow (color 14)
7 Lt. Gray (color 7)     F White (color 15)

To show a ~~, use a ~~~~. To show a @@, use @@@@.

$Counters

Strings can show the values of counters, using the counter name
surrounded with &'s. For example, if the player has 55 gems,
"You have &GEMS& gems." will become, "You have 55 gems." If you
use &INPUT&, then the last inputted string will be shown. Use &&
to show a true '&'. The above features are available in ALL
Robotic commands that use strings, including in the name of
OTHER counters. This can be used to simulate array-like
constructs.

$Robotic Usage of Strings

In Robotic, strings can be incredibly powerful. They can act
like counters, but hold text information as well as numbers
(however, counters are by far better suited for number use).
A string is any counter prefixed by a $ sign.

$Robotic Usage - Setting Strings

~BSET "$string" to "text"

Sets the given string to the given line of text.

~BSET "$string" to "$string2"

Sets the given string to another string.

~BSET "$string" to #
Sets the string to an integer value. Notice that DEC commands
and other similar commands will not work arithmetically with
strings but instead clip and append.

$Robotic Usage - Outputting Strings

Anywhere you can output a counter, you can output a string.
Simply encase the string name in ampersands. E.G:

SET "$woohoo" to "my favorite song!"
* "&$woohoo&"

Would output "my favorite song!" in the message row.

There are several special things you can set strings to for
certain functions.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:stc:String Counters

$Robotic Usage - Comparing Strings

Strings can be compared through these commands:

IF "$string" = "value" then "label"
IF "$string" != "value" then "label"
IF "$string" > "value" "label"
IF "$string" < "value" "label"
IF "$string" >= "value" "label"
IF "$string" <= "value" "label"

Allowed comparisons are to a line of text, to another string
and to a number. However, the string is required to be the
first item, and string counters such as "MOD_NAME",
"BOARD_SCAN", etc. are not valid comparisons.

$Robotic Usage - Manipulating Strings

Firstly, strings can be offset and limited ("spliced").

$strname#X will cap the string to X characters.

$strname+X will offset the start of the string by X
characters.

$strname+X#Y will offset the string by X characters and limit
the string to Y characters.

Normally strings that are spliced this way are used to be read;
however, they can also be used for writing to parts of strings.
When you use the offset when setting a string the length of the
string will not decrease, so you'll only set a portion of the
inside of the string. For instance:

set "$str" "hello"
set "$str+1" "LOL"

Will cause $str to have the value "hLOLo"

$strname.X will manipulate the Xth character in a string. When
used for output it will give the character value of the given
character in a string. Any invalid numbers (past the
terminator) are given a value of 32. This command works well
with char immediates: E.G. SET "$string.0" 'S' . When setting
the character in a string it will make the string length one
larger than X, so be careful with using very large values.

$str.length will give the length of the given string.

Secondly, strings can be clipped, appended or written to from
the board or overlay.

INC "$string" "$string2"
INC "$string" "text"

These two commands append another string's contents or text to
the end of a given string, respectively.

DEC "$string" #

This command clips the given number of characters from the end
of a string. # is treated as unsigned so using negative numbers
will probably cause the length to go down to zero.

COPY BLOCK x y w h "$string" t
COPY OVERLAY BLOCK x y w h "$string" t

These commands copy information from the board or overlay,
respectively, to a given string. X and Y are the coordinates
of the upper-left corner of the block; W and H are its width
and length; T is the terminating character. For T, one can put
in a counter with the param value of the desired terminator
character or a char immediate in the form 'c' (not just the
character itself). If "t" is 0 there will be no terminator.
The letters are added from left to right and up to down until
the terminator character or anything with a parameter of 0 is
reached. If x and y begin with a pound sign (#) the string will
instead be read from the vlayer. Please use this method of
scanning strings instead of BOARD_SCAN.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#COMMANDR.HLP
:1st:Command Reference

The following table is a list of all Robotic commands in
MegaZeux. They are listed as help links, in alphabetical order.
After the table are the actual command descriptions, in order
of importance/difficulty. Note that because of its size, the
command reference is split into two parts.

>__1:% "string"
>__2:& "string"
>__3:* "string"
>__4:. "string"
>_4b:. "@@string"
>__5:/ "string"
>__6:: "label"
>__7:? "counter" "label" "string"
>__8:? "label" "string"
>__9:[ "string"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:__0:| "label"
>_a1:ABORT LOOP
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_a2:ASK "string"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_a3:AVALANCHE
>_b1:BECOME [color] [thing] [param]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b2:BECOME NONLAVAWALKER
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b3:BECOME NONPUSHABLE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b4:BECOME LAVAWALKER
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b5:BECOME PUSHABLE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b6:BLIND #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b7:BOARD [dir] "string"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b8:BOARD [dir] NONE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b9:BULLETCOLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b0:BULLETE [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_bA:BULLETN [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_bB:BULLETS [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_bC:BULLETW [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c1:CENTER MESG
>_c2:CHANGE [color] [thing] [param] [color] [thing] [param]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c3:CHANGE CHAR ID # [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c4:CHANGE OVERLAY [color] [char] [color] [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c5:CHANGE OVERLAY [color] [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c6:CHANGE SFX # "string"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c7:CHANGE THICK ARROW CHAR [dir] [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c8:CHANGE THIN ARROW CHAR [dir] [char]
>_c9:CHAR [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c0:CHAR EDIT [char] # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cA:CLEAR MESG
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cB:CLIP INPUT
>_cC:COLOR [color]
>_cD:COLOR FADE OUT
>_cE:COLOR FADE IN
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cF:COLOR INTENSITY # PERCENT
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cG:COLOR INTENSITY # # PERCENT
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cH:COPY # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cI:COPY [dir] [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cJ:COPY BLOCK # # # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cK:COPY CHAR [char] [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cL:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cQ:COPY BLOCK # # # # "@@filename" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cR:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "@@filename" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cS:COPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # "@@filename" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cT:COPY BLOCK # # # # "$string" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cU:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "$string" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cV:COPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # "$string" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cW:COPY BLOCK # # # # "#x" "#y"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cX:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "#x" "#y"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cY:COPY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cZ:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_cAA:COPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" # # "#x2" "#y2"
>_cM:COPYROBOT "Robot"
>_cN:COPYROBOT # #
>_cO:COPYROBOT [dir]
>_cP:CYCLE #
>_d1:DEC "counter" #
>_d2:DEC "counter" RANDOM # #
>_dA:DEC "$string" #
>_d3:DIE
>_d4:DIE ITEM
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_d5:DISABLE MESG EDGE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_d6:DISABLE SAVING
>_d7:DIVIDE "counter" #
>_d8:DOUBLE "counter"
>_d9:DUPLICATE SELF # #
>_d0:DUPLICATE SELF [dir]
>_e1:END
>_e2:END MOD
>_e3:END PLAY
>_e4:END SAM
>_e5:ENDGAME
>_e6:ENDLIFE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_e7:ENABLE MESG EDGE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_e8:ENABLE SAVING
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_e9:ENABLE SENSORONLY SAVING
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_e0:ENEMY BULLETCOLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eA:ENEMY BULLETE [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eB:ENEMY BULLETN [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eC:ENEMY BULLETS [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eD:ENEMY BULLETW [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eE:EXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eF:EXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_eG:EXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION # DUPLICATE SELF
>_eH:EXPLODE #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_f1:FIREWALKER #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_f2:FILLHEALTH
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_f3:FLIP CHAR [char] [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_f4:FREEZETIME #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_g1:GIVE # [item]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_g2:GIVEKEY [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_g3:GIVEKEY [color] "label"
>_g4:GO [dir] #
>_g5:GOTO "label"
>_g6:GOTO "#return"
>_g7:GOTO "#top"
>_g8:GOTOXY # #
>_h1:HALF "counter"
>_i1:IF "counter" !<>_= # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i2:IF [condition] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i3:IF # # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i4:IF [dir] PLAYER [color] [thing] [param] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i5:IF [color] [thing] [param] # # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i6:IF [color] [thing] [param] [dir] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i7:IF ALIGNEDROBOT "Robot" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i8:IF ANY [color] [thing] [param] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i9:IF FIRST STRING "string" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_i0:IF NO [color] [thing] [param] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iA:IF NOT [color] [thing] [param] [dir] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iB:IF NOT [condition] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iC:IF PLAYER # # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iD:IF STRING "string" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iE:IF STRING MATCHES "string" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iF:IF STRING NOT "string" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iO:IF "$string" (equality) # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iK:IF "$string" (equality) "text" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iL:IF "$string" (equality) "$string2" "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iG:IF c?? Sprite_Colliding pNN # # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iH:IF c?? Sprite p?? # # "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iM:INC "$string" "text"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iN:INC "$string" "$string2"
>_iI:INC "counter" #
>_iJ:INC "counter" RANDOM # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iP:INPUT STRING "string"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_j1:JUMP MOD ORDER #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l1:LAYBOMB [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l2:LAYBOMB HIGH [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l3:LAZERWALL [dir] #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l4:LOAD CHAR SET "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l5:LOAD PALETTE "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l6:LOCKPLAYER
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l7:LOCKPLAYER ATTACK
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l8:LOCKPLAYER EW
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l9:LOCKPLAYER NS
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_l0:LOCKSCROLL
>_lA:LOCKSELF
>_lB:LOOP #
>_lC:LOOP START
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m1:MESSAGE ROW #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m2:MISSILECOLOR [color]
>_m3:MOD "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m4:MOD FADE # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m5:MOD FADE IN "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m6:MOD FADE OUT
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m7:MOD SAM # #
>_m8:MODULO "counter" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m9:MOVE ALL [color] [thing] [param] [dir]
>_m0:MOVE PLAYER [dir]
>_mA:MOVE PLAYER [dir] "label"
>_mB:MULTIPLY "counter" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_n1:NEUTRAL BULLETCOLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_n2:NEUTRAL BULLETE [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_n3:NEUTRAL BULLETN [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_n4:NEUTRAL BULLETS [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_n5:NEUTRAL BULLETW [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o1:OPEN [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o2:OVERLAY ON
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o3:OVERLAY STATIC
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_o4:OVERLAY TRANSPARENT
>_p1:PERSISTENT GO "string"
>_p2:PLAY "string"
>_p3:PLAY SFX "string"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_p4:PLAYER BULLETCOLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_p5:PLAYER BULLETE [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_p6:PLAYER BULLETN [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_p7:PLAYER BULLETS [char]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_p8:PLAYER BULLETW [char]
>_p9:PLAYER CHAR [dir] [char]
>_p0:PLAYER CHAR [char]
>_pA:PLAYERCOLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_pB:PUSH [dir]
>_pC:PUT [color] [thing] [param] # #
>_pD:PUT [color] [thing] [param] [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_pE:PUT [color] [char] OVERLAY # #
>_pF:PUT [color] [thing] [param] [dir] PLAYER
>_pG:PUT PLAYER # #
>_pH:PUT PLAYER [dir]
>_pI:PUT "@@FILENAME.XXX" Image_File [param] # #
>_pJ:PUT [color] Sprite [param] # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:pre:REL COUNTERS
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r2:REL PLAYER
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r3:REL SELF
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r4:REL COUNTERS FIRST
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r5:REL PLAYER FIRST
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r6:REL SELF FIRST
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r7:REL COUNTERS LAST
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r8:REL PLAYER LAST
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r9:REL SELF LAST
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r0:RESETVIEW
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_rA:RESTORE "label" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_rB:RESTORE PLAYER POSITION
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_rC:RESTORE PLAYER POSITION #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_rD:RESTORE PLAYER POSITION # DUPLICATE SELF
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_rE:ROTATECW
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_rF:ROTATECCW
>_s1:SAM # "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s2:SAVE PLAYER POSITION
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s3:SAVE PLAYER POSITION #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s4:SCROLL CHAR [char] [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s5:SCROLLARROW COLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s6:SCROLLBASE COLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s7:SCROLLCORNER COLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s8:SCROLLPOINTER COLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s9:SCROLLTITLE COLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_s0:SCROLLVIEW [dir] #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sA:SCROLLVIEW POSITION # #
>_sB:SEND # # "label"
>_sC:SEND "Robot" "label"
>_sD:SEND [dir] "label"
>_sE:SEND [dir] PLAYER "label"
>_sF:SET "counter" #
>_sG:SET "counter" RANDOM # #
>_sH:SET "$string" "text"
>_sI:SET "$string1" "$string2"
>_sJ:SET "$string" #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sK:SET COLOR # # # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sL:SET EDGE COLOR [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sM:SET MAXHEALTH #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sN:SET MESG COLUMN #
>_sO:SFX #
>_sP:SHOOT [dir]
>_sQ:SHOOTMISSILE [dir]
>_sR:SHOOTSEEKER [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sS:SLOWTIME #
>_sT:SPITFIRE [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sU:STATUS COUNTER # "counter"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sV:SWAP WORLD "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sW:SWITCH [dir] [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_t1:TAKE # [item]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_t2:TAKE # [item] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_t3:TAKEKEY [color]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_t4:TAKEKEY [color] "label"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_t5:TELEPORT PLAYER "string" # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_t6:TRADE # [item] # [item] "label"
>_t7:TRY [dir] "label"
>_w1:WAIT #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w2:WAIT MOD FADE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w3:WAIT PLAY
>_w4:WAIT PLAY "string"
>_w5:WALK [dir]
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w6:WIND #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_w7:WRITE OVERLAY [color] "string" # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_u1:UNLOCKPLAYER
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_u2:UNLOCKSCROLL
>_u3:UNLOCKSELF
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_v1:VIEWPORT # #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_v2:VIEWPORT SIZE # #
>_v3:VOLUME #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_z1:ZAP "label" #

$Command Descriptions

:__3:~A* "string"

This command displays the given string as a message on the
message line, usually shown at the bottom of the screen.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:__5:~A/ "string"
:_p1:~APERSISTENT GO "string"
:_g4:~AGO [dir] #

Use / followed by a string to move the Robot around the board.
The string must consist of a series of N, S, E, W, and I. NSEW
will move the Robot in that direction, and I will wait for one
cycle. One action is performed each cycle.

Use PERSISTENT GO in the same way as /. However, if the Robot
attempts to move in a given direction and it cannot, the Robot
will wait until it can before moving on to the next symbol.

Use GO to move in a single direction for a given number of
spaces (limited to 255; higher numbers wrap).

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:__6:~A:~A "label"

A : is used to denote actual LABELS within a Robotic program.
These labels are used as points within the program to branch
to when a Robot receives a message from another Robot, goes to
a label of its own, or otherwise receives an external message.
Label names can be any length and consist of any characters.
They are not case-sensitive.

Labels starting with a pound sign/hash (#) are subroutines.
See the corresponding section for more information.

>#SUBROUTE.HLP:sub:Subroutines
>#BUILTINL.HLP:1st:Built-in Labels

:_g5:~AGOTO "label"

This will send the current Robot to the label given. If label
begins with a # it will go to it as a subroutine.

:_g6:~AGOTO "#return"
:_g7:~AGOTO "#top"

This will send the current Robot to the line after the
next-highest subroutine call and to the line after the first
subroutine call, respectively.

:_sC:~ASEND "Robot" "label"
:_sD:~ASEND [dir] "label"
:_sE:~ASEND [dir] PLAYER "label"
:_sB:~ASEND # # "label"

Use SEND to send another Robot to the label given. This is
called "messaging" a Robot, and the label given is the
"message". The target Robot can be given one of four ways,
as listed above respectively:

1- State the target Robot's name. Use "ALL" to message all
.  Robots, excepting the Robot which does the SEND "All"
.  command.
2- State the direction of target Robot.
3- State the direction of target Robot, relative to the player.
4- State the x/y coordinates of target Robot.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:__9:~A[ "string"
:__2:~A& "string"
:__1:~A% "string"
:__8:~A? "label" "string"
:__7:~A? "counter" "label" "string"

Use these commands to bring up a "Scroll", or box-message,
during the game, containing the given text. The box-message will
contain all consecutive lines using the commands [, &, %, or ?.
Blank lines and labels will be skipped over. Description of box
message commands-

.  [ will simply display the given message.
.  & will display the given message, centered within the box.
.  % will display the given message, which can have color
.   codes.
.  ? will display an option, which, when selected, will send
.   the current Robot to the given label. If a counter is
.   included, the option will only be shown if the counter is
.   NOT zero.

All box-message commands can use ~~ and @@ color codes, EXCEPT
for [. The advantage of [ is that it will be clipped to 64
characters if it is too long, thereby preventing the display
from being screwed up. The other commands are not clipped and,
if too long, can mess up the display. (No permanent damage is
done- it just looks stupid.)

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:__4:~A. "string"

This command does nothing. It is used for comments and other
notes you may wish to make within your Robots. There is one
exception- If "string" begins with a @@. (see next)

:_4b:~A. "@@string"

If a comment's string begins with a @@, then the rest of the
string becomes the new name for the Robot. For example,
."@@hiya" would name the Robot "hiya".

:_e1:~AEND

This command ends the Robot's program. The Robot will not run
any further commands until an external event affects it.

:_d3:~ADIE
:_d4:~ADIE ITEM

These commands destroy the Robot forever. DIE ITEM will also
put the player at the location the Robot previously occupied,
which is useful for creating Robots that simulate items.

:_w1:~AWAIT #

This command will cause the Robot to do absolutely nothing for
a given number of cycles (limited to 255; values over this will
wrap around).

:_c9:~ACHAR [char]

This command will change the Robot's character (appearance) to
that given.

:_cC:~ACOLOR [color]

This command will change the Robot's color.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_sF:~ASET "counter" #
:_sG:~ASET "counter" RANDOM # #

These commands set a counter to a certain value. Counters are
internal variables that can be changed through Robots. They are
usually used for custom purposes, although there are many
counters with pre-defined uses as well, such as "Gems". The
RANDOM version will set the counter to a random number within
the given range, inclusive.

:_sH:~ASET "$string" "text"
:_sI:~ASET "$string" "$string2"
:_sJ:~ASET "$string" number

These commands set strings to a certain value: a line of text,
another string or a number respectively.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_iI:~AINC "counter" #
:_d1:~ADEC "counter" #
:_iJ:~AINC "counter" RANDOM # #
:_d2:~ADEC "counter" RANDOM # #

These commands will increase or decrease a given counter or
string by a given amount. The RANDOM versions will increase or
decrease by a random number within the given range, inclusive.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_i1:~AIF "counter" !<>= # "label"

This command tests to see if a given counter is equal to, less
than, etc. another counter or value. If the conditional is met,
the current Robot is sent to the given label. The following
conditionals are allowed- = Equal, < Less than, > Greater than,
<= Less than/equal, >= Greater than/equal, <> (also !=) Not
equal.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_cP:~ACYCLE #

This command changes the Robot's speed to one command for every
given number of update cycles. An update cycle is how often
everything on-screen is updated, such as most enemies. Every
time a given Robot gets to run commands, is called a cycle in
terms of that Robot. (Cycles are limited to 255; values over
this will wrap around.)

:_e6:~AENDLIFE
:_e5:~AENDGAME

These commands will end the player's current life or the entire
game, just as if the player died or lost.

:_w5:~AWALK [dir]

This will cause the Robot to move one space in the given
direction every cycle. Use a direction of IDLE to turn walking
off.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_sP:~ASHOOT [dir]
:_sQ:~ASHOOTMISSILE [dir]
:_sR:~ASHOOTSEEKER [dir]
:_sT:~ASPITFIRE [dir]

These four commands all shoot a weapon in the given direction:
A bullet, a missile, a seeker, or a shooting fire,
respectively.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_t7:~ATRY [dir] "label"

This will have the Robot attempt to move in the given
direction. If it can, it will. If it can't, it will jump to the
given label.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_b1:~ABECOME [color] [thing] [param]

The Robot will end its program permanently, and instead become
a specified object with a given color and parameter. 
NOTE: Becoming another Robot type will not destroy the program,
but there are better commands for doing this. (~ABECOME PUSHABLE
and ~ABECOME NONPUSHABLE~F)

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b3:BECOME NONPUSHABLE
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_b5:BECOME PUSHABLE

:_c2:~ACHANGE [color] [thing] [param] [color] [thing] [param]

All objects on-screen of the given type will become objects of
a new type. This command, if used too much, can slow down the
game.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_pC:~APUT [color] [thing] [param] # #
:_pD:~APUT [color] [thing] [param] [dir]
:_pF:~APUT [color] [thing] [param] [dir] PLAYER

This will put a given object somewhere on-screen. The target
location can be given in one of three ways:

1- State the direction.
2- State the direction, relative to the player.
3- State the x/y coordinates.

Note that this command is not suitable for placing Robots. For
moving a Robot, use ~AGOTOXY # #~F; for placing a copy of a Robot,
use ~ADUPLICATE SELF # #~F or ~ADUPLICATE SELF [dir]~F.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_m3:~AMOD "file"

Load up the given module/OGG file as background music. The
biggest difference between MOD and SAM commands is that for a
file loaded with MOD one can use related commands like VOLUME
and MOD ORDER; the music loops as well.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_s1:~ASAM # "file"

Play the given SAM/WAV/OGG file at a given frequency. 0 is
natural frequency. Music loaded as SAM will not loop.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_e2:~AEND MOD
:_e4:~AEND SAM
:_e3:~AEND PLAY

Ends the playing of the current module/OGG music, SAM/WAV/OGG
sound, or PC speaker sound effects (respectively).

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_d8:~ADOUBLE "counter"
:_h1:~AHALF "counter"

Doubles or halves (rounding down) the value of the given
counter, respectively.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_mB:~AMULTIPLY "counter" #
:_d7:~ADIVIDE "counter" #
:_m8:~AMODULO "counter" #

Multiplies, divides, or performs a modulo on the value of the
given counter by the given value or counter (rounding down). To
modulo is to set to the remainder when dividing. Example:
7 modulo 3 is equal to 1, since 7 divided by 3 gives a
remainder of 1.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_p2:~APLAY "string"
:_p3:~APLAY SFX "string"
:_w4:~AWAIT PLAY "string"

These all play sound effects, PC speaker notes, or a
combination thereof. PLAY SFX will only play if there are no
other notes currently playing, while PLAY will add its notes to
the end of the current sound effects queue. WAIT PLAY will wait
until the queue is almost empty before adding its notes.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_sO:~ASFX #

Plays the given built-in sound effect.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_eH:~AEXPLODE #

The Robot will explode, destroying it and its program forever.
The radius of the explosion is stated in the command, with a
maximum of 16.

:_cD:~ACOLOR FADE OUT
:_cE:~ACOLOR FADE IN

Fades the palette out to black or in to full color. Fading in
will not work if you haven't faded out, and neither will affect
the current palette or current intensities.

:_g8:~AGOTOXY # #

The Robot will go to the given x/y coordinates on the current
board. If the player is at those coordinates, the Robot does
nothing.

:_lC:~ALOOP START
:_lB:~ALOOP #
:_a1:~AABORT LOOP

These three commands define a loop, or sequence of commands to
be repeated. LOOP START marks the start of a loop. LOOP # will
loop back to LOOP START the given number of times. ABORT LOOP
will jump out of the loop, to the command after LOOP #. The
loop count is kept in the local counter "loopcount".

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_m0:~AMOVE PLAYER [dir]
:_mA:~AMOVE PLAYER [dir] "label"

The player attempts to move in the given direction. If the
player is blocked, and the command contains a label, the Robot
will jump to that label.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_p0:~APLAYER CHAR [char]
:_p9:~APLAYER CHAR [dir] [char]

Changes the character (appearance) of the player. The second
form allows you to change the appearance of one of the four
directions at a time, while the first form changes all four
directions at once.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_pA:~APLAYERCOLOR [color]

Changes the color of the player.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_pG:~APUT PLAYER # #
:_pH:~APUT PLAYER [dir]

The player will go to the given x/y coordinates or to the given
direction of the Robot.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_pI:~APUT "@@FILENAME.XXX" Image_File [param] # #

Puts an MZM of the given filename and given type on the board.
The numbers mark the xy coordinates of the MZX's upper-left
corner; the parameter determines the placement of the MZM (00
= board, 01 = overlay, 02 = vlayer). See the MZM section for
further details.

>#MZM.HLP:mzm:Using MZMs

:_pJ:~APUT [color] Sprite [param] # #

Puts a sprite on the board. NN is the number of the sprite in
hex (auto-converted from decimal). If the color is c?? then the
sprite is drawn with its normal colors as seen on the board,
otherwise it's painted with the given colors. # # marks the
xy coordinates of the sprite's upper-left corner. See the
Spites section for further details.

>#SPRITES.HLP:spr:Sprites

:_lA:~ALOCKSELF
:_u3:~AUNLOCKSELF

Locks or unlocks, respectively, the current Robot. When a Robot
is locked, no external messages will be acknowledged - Only
internal GOTOs, etc. will be processed.

:_v3:~AVOLUME #

Changes the volume of the MOD playing. From 0 (silent) to 255.

:_cM:~ACOPYROBOT "Robot"
:_cN:~ACOPYROBOT # #
:_cO:~ACOPYROBOT [dir]

The current Robot becomes an exact duplicate of the noted
Robot, and then begins its program anew at the first command.
The Robot to copy can be stated in one of three ways:

1- State the target Robot's name.
2- State the direction of target Robot.
3- State the x/y coordinates of target Robot.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_d9:~ADUPLICATE SELF # #
:_d0:~ADUPLICATE SELF [dir]

The current Robot creates an exact duplicate of itself and
places it at the noted x/y coordinates or direction. That Robot
then begins its program at the first command.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

~EThe remaining Robotic commands are covered in another section.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:1st:Command Reference Part II
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#COMMAND2.HLP
:1st:Command Reference Part II

>#COMMANDR.HLP:1st:Command Reference (Part I)

:_b9:~ABULLETCOLOR [color]

Changes the color of all bullets.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_p4:~APLAYER BULLETCOLOR [color]
:_e0:~AENEMY BULLETCOLOR [color]
:_n1:~ANEUTRAL BULLETCOLOR [color]

Changes the color of a specific type of bullet: Player, Enemy,
or Neutral (ricocheted/Robot) bullets.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#BULLETTY.HLP:1st:Bullet Types

:_bA:~ABULLETN [char]
:_bB:~ABULLETS [char]
:_b0:~ABULLETE [char]
:_bC:~ABULLETW [char]

Changes the character (appearance) of one of the four
directions of bullet, across all three types.

:_p6:~APLAYER BULLETN [char]
:_p7:~APLAYER BULLETS [char]
:_p5:~APLAYER BULLETE [char]
:_p8:~APLAYER BULLETW [char]
:_eA:~AENEMY BULLETE [char]
:_eB:~AENEMY BULLETN [char]
:_eC:~AENEMY BULLETS [char]
:_eD:~AENEMY BULLETW [char]
:_n3:~ANEUTRAL BULLETN [char]
:_n4:~ANEUTRAL BULLETS [char]
:_n2:~ANEUTRAL BULLETE [char]
:_n5:~ANEUTRAL BULLETW [char]

Changes the character of one of the four directions of bullet,
for one of the three types of bullet: Player, Enemy, or Neutral
(ricocheted/Robot) bullets.

>#BULLETTY.HLP:1st:Bullet Types

:_b5:~ABECOME PUSHABLE
:_b3:~ABECOME NONPUSHABLE

The Robot becomes a pushable or nonpushable Robot,
respectively.

:_i2:~AIF [condition] "label"
:_iB:~AIF NOT [condition] "label"

These test whether a given condition is present or not, and if
it is, the first will jump to the given label. If it isn't, the
second will jump to the given label. Conditions are covered in
another section.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:con:Conditions

:_i3:~AIF # # "label"

Jump to the given label if the current Robot is at the x/y
coordinates given.

:_i4:~AIF [dir] PLAYER [color] [thing] [param] "label"

Jump to the given label if the given thing is to a given
direction of the player.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_i5:~AIF [color] [thing] [param] # # "label"
:_i6:~AIF [color] [thing] [param] [dir] "label"
:_iA:~AIF NOT [color] [thing] [param] [dir] "label"

Jumps to a label if a given thing is at the given x/y
coordinates or to the given direction of the current Robot.
The third form jumps if the thing is NOT in the given
direction.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_i7:~AIF ALIGNEDROBOT "Robot" "label"

Jump to the given label if the current Robot is aligned either
vertically or horizontally with the named Robot.

:_i8:~AIF ANY [color] [thing] [param] "label"
:_i0:~AIF NO [color] [thing] [param] "label"

If there are ANY of a given thing on the current board, jumps
to the given label. The second form searches for the absence
of the given thing. These commands can slow down your game
if used too often.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_iC:~AIF PLAYER # # "label"

If the player is at the given x/y coordinates, jump to the
given label.

:_g2:~AGIVEKEY [color]
:_g3:~AGIVEKEY [color] "label"
:_t3:~ATAKEKEY [color]
:_t4:~ATAKEKEY [color] "label"

Attempts to give or take keys to or from the player. The
label-less forms will give or take the key if possible,
otherwise they will do nothing. The forms with labels will jump
to them if you try to give a key when they have no room for
keys, or you try to take a key they don't have.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_g1:~AGIVE # [item]
:_t1:~ATAKE # [item]
:_t2:~ATAKE # [item] "label"

Gives or takes a number of a certain item. The third form jumps
to a label if the player doesn't have enough of the stated
item.

:_t6:~ATRADE # [item] # [item] "label"

Gives the player a number of the first item and takes a number
of the second item in exchange. If the player doesn't have
enough of the second item, jumps to label and has no other
effect. This command eases the writing of shops and vendors.

:_l6:~ALOCKPLAYER
:_l9:~ALOCKPLAYER NS
:_l8:~ALOCKPLAYER EW
:_l7:~ALOCKPLAYER ATTACK
:_u1:~AUNLOCKPLAYER

The first four commands lock the player, preventing the player
from doing any moving and attacking (i.e. default shooting and
bombing), moving north or south, moving east or west, and
attacking, respectively. The fifth command will clear all locks
on the player, allowing free movement and attacking. These have
no relation to the Board Info options "Can Bomb" and
"Can Shoot". Player locking is local, only affecting the
current board.

Also, locking the Player will not cause the relevant input to
be ignored completely. MegaZeux will still detect that you are
pressing keys, even if the Player is forbidden from responding
to them, and will act accordingly. In short, even if a Player
is locked, Robots that take directional and space/delete inputs
will still act the same.

:_b7:~ABOARD [dir] "string"
:_b8:~ABOARD [dir] NONE

Changes the board exit in the given direction to lead to the
given board or to nowhere.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_z1:~AZAP "label" #
:_rA:~ARESTORE "label" #
:__0:~A| "label"

ZAP will scan the Robotic program from the top down, changing
a given number of the stated label to a ZAPPED label. A ZAPPED
label is inactive - it cannot be jumped or sent to under any
circumstance. This has two uses: It will prevent interference
from a certain outside event, and it allows multiple instances
of the same label. For example, you could have five SHOT labels
in a row, and ZAP one each time the Robot was shot, and the
last one could lead to an explosion.

RESTORE will scan the Robotic program from the bottom up,
changing a given number of the stated label from a ZAPPED label
back to a normal label. Both ZAP and RESTORE can have a number
larger than the number of instances of the stated label. The
final command, |, is a ZAPPED label, allowing you to have labels
in your Robotic programs that are already ZAPPED and inactive.

:pre:~AREL COUNTERS
:_r2:~AREL PLAYER
:_r3:~AREL SELF

These are a special type of command, called PREFIXES. Prefixes
don't do a thing by themselves, but when placed before another
command that uses x/y coordinates, they change the origin of
the x/y coordinate system for that ONE command. REL COUNTERS
moves the origin to the x/y location stated in the counters
XPOS and YPOS. REL PLAYER moves the origin to the x/y of the
player. REL SELF moves the origin to the x/y of the current
Robot.

The movement of the origin changes the 0/0 coordinates from the
upper left of the board to somewhere else, effectively adding
that x/y position to any coordinates entered. For example, if
the Robot is at the 5/5 position and uses REL SELF on a 2/2
coordinates, it will effectively be 7/7. If the player is at
the 7/2 position and a Robot uses REL PLAYER on a -3/6 pair
of coordinates, it will effectively be 4/8.

Let's look at some examples.

~EPUT c0E GEM p?? 5 5

This places a gem at the x/y coordinates 5,5.

~EREL PLAYER
~EPUT c0E GEM p?? 5 5

This places a gem 5 spaces to the right and 5 spaces below
where the player currently is.

~EREL SELF
~EPUT c0E GEM p?? -2 -3

This places a gem 2 spaces to the left and 3 spaces above
where this Robot currently is.

~EREL COUNTERS
~EPUT c0E GEM p?? 1 -4

This places a gem at the coordinates XPOS+1,YPOS-4.

Prefixes only have an effect on the very next command.

Prefixes also affect two other things. The built in counters
THISX and THISY will be offset by a prefix, and the command
IF [dir] BLOCKED will check next to the player or next to the
position noted by the counters, if a prefix is present. See
these for details.

:_r4:~AREL COUNTERS FIRST
:_r5:~AREL PLAYER FIRST
:_r6:~AREL SELF FIRST
:_r7:~AREL COUNTERS LAST
:_r8:~AREL PLAYER LAST
:_r9:~AREL SELF LAST

These prefixes are similar to the above prefixes, but they only
affect the first or last x/y coordinates in the next command.
For example, COPY accepts two pairs of coordinates. If you
precede it with the following:

REL PLAYER FIRST
REL SELF LAST

Then the first pair of coordinates will be relative to the
player, and the second, relative to the Robot. There is one
other difference with these commands - REL COUNTERS FIRST works
off of FIRSTXPOS and FIRSTYPOS, and REL COUNTERS LAST works off
of LASTXPOS and LASTYPOS.

:_j1:~AJUMP MOD ORDER #

The current module jumps to the stated order, if applicable.
For example, JUMP MOD ORDER 3 will begin playing the fourth
order in the module, which is the fourth section of the module.
Sometimes your music editor will refer to this as 'Pattern' or
'Track'.
With OGG music, this command makes OGGs jump to the stated
frame.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_l1:~ALAYBOMB [dir]
:_l2:~ALAYBOMB HIGH [dir]

Places a bomb (high strength for the second form) next to the
Robot in the given direction. Use a direction of UNDER or
BENEATH to place the bomb underneath the Robot.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_l3:~ALAZERWALL [dir] #

The Robot shoots a lazer in the given direction, and the lazer
has the color of the Robot and the duration given.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_cH:~ACOPY # # # #
:_cI:~ACOPY [dir] [dir]
:_sW:~ASWITCH [dir] [dir]

Copies the thing at one location to another, with the location
stated through x/y coordinates or directions relative to the
current Robot. The third command will swap the things at the
two directions.

NOTE: DO NOT normally use COPY # # # # to copy Robots; use
DUPLICATE SELF or COPY ROBOT. It is useful for copying by Robot
id, however; use COPY r&id&.thisx and r&id&.thisy as the first
pair of coordinates.

Using COPY # # # # on a Robot will no longer cause the Robot
copy to start where the parent left off.

>#BADPRACT.HLP:101:Robotic Usages That Should be Avoided
>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_cJ:~ACOPY BLOCK # # # # # #
:_cL:~ACOPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # # #

Copies a block of things from one location on the board or
overlay to another section. The first two numbers state the
upper-left corner of the block to be copied, the second two
numbers state the size of the block, and the third two numbers
state the destination block's upper-left corner.

COPY BLOCK and COPY OVERLAY BLOCK can copy from board to
overlay and from overlay to board (respectively). The last two
numbers must be prefixed by plus signs, like so:

COPY BLOCK # # # # "+#" "+#"
COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "+#" "+#"

This command can slow down the game if used too much.

>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:_cW:COPY BLOCK # # # # "#x" "#y"
:_cX:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "#x" "#y"

These commands copy from the board or overlay (respectively) to
the vlayer. The first two numbers are the [x,y] coordinates of
the upper-left corner of the block to be copied; the next two
numbers are the respective width and height of the block; the
"#x" and "#y" are the [x,y] coordinates of the destination
block's upper-left corner. The pound sign in "#x" and "#y" MUST
be included.

:_cY:COPY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # # #
:_cZ:COPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # # #

These commands similarly copy from the vlayer to the board or
overlay (respectively).

>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay
>#VLAYER.HLP:vla:The Vlayer and Its Uses

:_cAA:COPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" # # "#x2" "#y2"

This command copies a block from the vlayer and copies it onto
a different spot on the vlayer. "#x1" and "#y1" are the [x,y]
coordinates of the upper-left corner of the copied block; the
next two numbers are the respective width and height of the
copied area; "#x2" and "#y2" are the [x,y] cooridnates of the
destination block's upper-left corner. The pound sign in #x1",
"#y1", "#x2" and "#y2" MUST be included.

>#VLAYER.HLP:vla:The Vlayer and Its Uses

:_cQ:~ACOPY BLOCK # # # # "@@filename" #
:_cR:~ACOPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "@@filename" #

These commands copy from the board or overlay (respectively)
to an MZM. The first two numbers are the [x,y] coordinates of
the block's upper-left corner; # # is the respective length and
width of the block; filename is the name of the file - the @@ is
required. Finally, the last number determines the MZM type.
1 saves as layer; 0 saves as board. 0 is integral for copying
non-graphical data (primarily Robots); 1 is proper for copying
graphical data, as the block's appearance will stay as exactly
as it was when saved.

>#MZM.HLP:mzm:Using MZMs
>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:_cS:~ACOPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # "@@filename" #

These commands act much like the above two commands, but they
copy from the vlayer to an MZM instead.

>#MZM.HLP:mzm:Using MZMs
>#VLAYER.HLP:vla:The Vlayer and Its Uses

:_cT:~ACOPY BLOCK # # # # "$string" #
:_cU:~ACOPY OVERLAY BLOCK # # # # "$string" #
:_cV:~ACOPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x" "#y" # # "$string" #

These commands copy information from the board, overlay, or
vlayer (respectively) to a given string. The first two numbers
are the [x,y] coordinates of the upper-left corner of the
block; the third and fourth are its respective width and
length; the last is the terminating character's char value
(i.e. a number from 0-255). For the vlayer command, the pound
sign is REQUIRED.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic
>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:_s2:~ASAVE PLAYER POSITION
:_s3:~ASAVE PLAYER POSITION #

Saves the player's coordinates and board in one of eight
internal slots. If no number is given, slot one is used.

:_rB:~ARESTORE PLAYER POSITION
:_rC:~ARESTORE PLAYER POSITION #
:_rD:~ARESTORE PLAYER POSITION # DUPLICATE SELF

Relocates the player to the coordinates and board stored in
the given slot, or slot number one if none is given. The third
form also duplicates the current Robot where the player used to
be; this Robot then starts its program at the first command.

:_eE:~AEXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION
:_eF:~AEXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION #
:_eG:~AEXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION # DUPLICATE SELF

Exchanges the player's current coordinates and board with the
coordinates and board stored in the given slot, or slot number
one if none is given. The third form also duplicates the
current Robot where the player used to be; this Robot then
starts its program at the first command.

:_f2:~AFILLHEALTH

The player's health is refilled to maximum.

:_cA:~ACLEAR MESG

The message row is cleared to show no message.

:_m1:~AMESSAGE ROW #

The message row is moved to the stated row, from 0 to 24.

:_sN:~ASET MESG COLUMN #

The message is displayed at the given column, from 0 to 79.

:_c1:~ACENTER MESG

The message is centered on its row instead of being shown at a
constant column. (see above)

:_l4:~ALOAD CHAR SET "file"
:_l5:~ALOAD PALETTE "file"

Loads in the specified character set or palette, exported using
Alt+X from the world editor. The new character set or palette
is permanent and affects the entire world until a new one is
loaded.

Character sets can be loaded to the middle of a charset by
prefixing the "file" name with +offset where offset is a
hexadecimal number, or @@offset where offset is a decimal
number.

>#PARTIAL.HLP:par:Partial Character Sets
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_t5:~ATELEPORT PLAYER "string" # #

Teleports the player to the given board at the stated x/y
coordinates.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_c4:~ACHANGE OVERLAY [color] [char] [color] [char]
:_c5:~ACHANGE OVERLAY [color] [color]

All of the stated character and color are changed to the new
character and color on the overlay. The second form doesn't
care about the character, only the color.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:_m9:~AMOVE ALL [color] [thing] [param] [dir]

All of the stated thing are moved in the given direction.
Overuse of this command can slow down your game.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors
>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_o1:~AOPEN [dir]

If there is a gate or door in the given direction, it will
open. If the door is going to open towards the Robot, the
Robot will be pushed out of the way if necessary. It is
suggested that you wait a couple cycles before then continuing
on through the door. (Gates aren't a problem.)

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_m7:~AMOD SAM # #

Plays a sample (instrument) from the current module file. The
first number states the frequency to play it at, the second is
the number of the sample, from 1 on.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_l0:~ALOCKSCROLL
:_u2:~AUNLOCKSCROLL

Locks or unlocks Scrolling. When Scrolling is locked, the view
will remain showing the same thing, even if the player moves. 
It will not Scroll.

:_c0:~ACHAR EDIT [char] # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Changes the appearance of the given character, using a 
14-number code from the character editor. To insert these codes
easily, use F5 in the Robot editor, select the desired
character, and press ESC.

:_m5:~AMOD FADE IN "file"

Fades in the stated module/OGG music file, from 0 volume to 255
volume.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_m6:~AMOD FADE OUT

Fades out the current module/OGG music file, from current
volume to 0 volume.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_m4:~AMOD FADE # #

Fades the current module/OGG music file to a given volume at
the given rate. The first number is the target volume, the
second number is the speed at which to fade. All numbers over
255 will wrap around.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_m2:~AMISSILECOLOR [color]

Changes the color of all missiles fired from this point on.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_pB:~APUSH [dir]

Pushes anything in the given direction one space forward, if it
is pushable. The Robot itself does not move.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_sL:~ASET EDGE COLOR [color]

Changes the color of the edging shown around the view.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_sM:~ASET MAXHEALTH #

Changes the player's health limit, or maximum health rating.

:_w2:~AWAIT MOD FADE

Waits for the module/OGG music to finish its fading. (see MOD
FADE IN, MOD FADE OUT, and MOD FADE)

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m5:~AMOD FADE IN "file"
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m6:~AMOD FADE OUT
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_m4:~AMOD FADE # #

:_w3:~AWAIT PLAY

Waits for all queued sound effects to finish playing.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_a2:~AASK "string"

Brings up a dialog box asking the player a question. The player
can select YES or NO. The Robot is then sent to either the YES
or NO label. If the player presses ESC, the NO label is used.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_a3:~AAVALANCHE

Enacts the potion/ring effect, Avalanche, placing boulders
randomly about the board. Usually precedes the CHANGE c??
Boulder p?? to c?? Explosion p?? command.

>#POTIONFX.HLP:1st:Potion and Ring Effects

:_b4:~ABECOME LAVAWALKER
:_b2:~ABECOME NONLAVAWALKER

The current Robot can or cannot move on lava now. Robots can
always move over fire.

:_b6:~ABLIND #
:_f1:~AFIREWALKER #
:_f4:~AFREEZETIME #
:_sS:~ASLOWTIME #
:_w6:~AWIND #

The stated potion/ring effect is now active for the given
number of cycles. Potion/ring effects are global; that is, they
affect the entire world. The only exception is the global
Robot; FREEZETIME and SLOWTIME commands do not affect it.

>#THEGLOBL.HLP:gbl:The Global
>#POTIONFX.HLP:1st:Potion and Ring Effects

:_c3:~ACHANGE CHAR ID # [char]

Changes the character/color/number at the stated (numerically)
location within the CHAR ID table. The CHAR ID table is
internal and is covered in another section.

>#CHANGECH.HLP:1st:CHANGE CHAR ID - The CHAR ID Table

:_c6:~ACHANGE SFX # "string"

The sound effect referenced by the given number is changed to
the new string. This is the same as editing sound effects with
Alt+F in the world editor.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:Sound and Music

:_c8:~ACHANGE THIN ARROW CHAR [dir] [char]
:_c7:~ACHANGE THICK ARROW CHAR [dir] [char]

Changes the character used to represent thin arrows (for guns)
or thick arrows (for pushers and spikes) for the specified
direction.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_iP:~AINPUT STRING "string"

Asks the player to input a string, using the given string as
a prompt, or question. The inputted string is stored in memory.
This string can be displayed within box messages or on the
message row by using &INPUT& within a message. Inputted strings
are local to the current board.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_iD:~AIF STRING "string" "label"
:_iF:~AIF STRING NOT "string" "label"

Jumps to the given label if the inputted string is or is not
equal to the given string. Case is ignored.

:_iE:~AIF STRING MATCHES "string" "label"

If the string matches a given pattern, jump to the given label.
(Case is ignored) The pattern is a series of characters and
symbols to match. Characters must match exactly. The following
symbols apply:

.# matches any number from 0-9
._ matches any letter from A-Z or a-z
.? matches any character
.* matches the remainder of the input string

:_i9:~AIF FIRST STRING "string" "label"

If the first word in the inputted string matches the given
string, jump to the given label.

:_cB:~ACLIP INPUT

This command chops off the first word of the inputted string.
For example, "Hello there" will now read in memory as "there".

:_iM:~AINC "$string" "text"
:_iN:~AINC "$string" "$string2"

This command appends the given text or string to the end of a
given string.

:_dA:~ADEC "$string" #

This command clips the given string by the amount of characters
given. Decreasing negative numbers will not add characters to
the string.

:_iO:~AIF "$string" (equality) # "label"
:_iK:~AIF "$string" (equality) "text" "label"
:_iL:~AIF "$string" (equality) "$string2" "label"

These commands jump to a given label if the string matches the
given equality conditions (ONLY equal or not equal; others such
as less than are automatically parsed as FALSE). These commands
compare the given string to a number, a line of text, or
another string respectively.

:_iG:~AIF c?? Sprite_Colliding pNN x y "label"

This command determines whether the sprite numbered NN is
colliding at the location [x, y]; if it is, the program goes to
the given label.

:_iH:~AIF c?? Sprite pNN x y "label"

This command checks if the sprite numbered NN is currently at
the location [x, y]; if it is, the program goes to the given
label.

:_cF:~ACOLOR INTENSITY # PERCENT
:_cG:~ACOLOR INTENSITY # # PERCENT

The first command changes the intensity of the entire palette
from 0 to 255 percent (100 percent is a palette's default). The
second command only changes one color, stated by number from 0
to 15.

:_cK:~ACOPY CHAR [char] [char]

The character picture of the first character is copied to the
second character.

:_d5:~ADISABLE MESG EDGE
:_e7:~AENABLE MESG EDGE

Disables or enables the edging on the message row - When
enabled, all messages have a space tacked on to each end for
display clarity. This is enabled by default.

:_d6:~ADISABLE SAVING
:_e8:~AENABLE SAVING
:_e9:~AENABLE SENSORONLY SAVING

Disables or enables saving on this board, or enables saving on
Sensors only.

>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors

:_f3:~AFLIP CHAR [char] [dir]

The character picture of the stated character is flipped up and
down if direction is north/south, or left and right if
direction is east/west.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_o2:~AOVERLAY ON
:_o3:~AOVERLAY STATIC
:_o4:~AOVERLAY TRANSPARENT

Turns the overlay on, to static mode, or to transparent mode.

>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay

:_rE:~AROTATECW
:_rF:~AROTATECCW

Rotates all pushable items around the Robot in a clockwise or
counter-clockwise direction, respectively. This is done in the
same manner as a CW Rotate or CCW Rotate.

:_s4:~ASCROLL CHAR [char] [dir]

The character picture of the stated character is Scrolled one
pixel in the given direction, with wraparound.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_s5:~ASCROLLARROW COLOR [color]
:_s6:~ASCROLLBASE COLOR [color]
:_s7:~ASCROLLCORNER COLOR [color]
:_s8:~ASCROLLPOINTER COLOR [color]
:_s9:~ASCROLLTITLE COLOR [color]

Changes the color used to represent a specific element of the
Scroll and box-message system-

ARROW   = The arrows used to denote options
BASE    = The overall box and text color
CORNER  = The color of the corners of the box, and of the
          options in the option box at the bottom
POINTER = The color of the pointers on the left and right
TITLE   = The color of the Scroll/box title

>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_s0:~ASCROLLVIEW [dir] #
:_sA:~ASCROLLVIEW POSITION # #
:_r0:~ARESETVIEW

The first two commands Scroll the current view a number of
spaces in one direction or until the given coordinates are in
the upper-left corner. RESETVIEW resets the view to normal,
showing the player in the center of the screen when possible.

>#COMMANDS.HLP:dir:Directions

:_sK:~ASET COLOR # # # #

The given color (stated by the first number, from 0-15) is
changed to the RGB values of the next three numbers. The RGB
values must range from 0 to 63. These are the same numbers
shown in the palette editor.

:_sU:~ASTATUS COUNTER # "counter"

The status screen counter stated is changed to the given
counter. The numbers of the counters range from 1 to 6.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

:_sV:~ASWAP WORLD "file"

Transfers play to the first board in the stated world file.
All counters, items, keys, etc. are retained from the current
world.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

:_pE:~APUT [color] [char] OVERLAY # #
:_w7:~AWRITE OVERLAY [color] "string" # #

Puts the given color/character at the given coordinates on the
overlay, or writes a message in the given color at the given
coordinates on the overlay.

>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic
>#TOVERLAY.HLP:081:Editing and Using the Overlay
>#COMMANDS.HLP:col:Colors

:_v1:~AVIEWPORT # #

Moves the viewport's upper-left corner to the given screen
coordinates. X ranges from 0 to 79, and Y ranges from 0 to 24.

:_v2:~AVIEWPORT SIZE # #

Changes the size of the viewport. X size must be from 1 to 80,
and Y size must be from 1 to 25.

>#COMMANDR.HLP:1st:Command Reference (Part I)
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#BULLETTY.HLP
:1st:Bullet Types

There are three different types of bullets in MegaZeux: Player,
Enemy, and Neutral. The player shoots Player bullets, enemies
shoot Enemy bullets, and ricocheted bullets become Neutral
bullets. A Robot can shoot any type of bullet, according to its
BULLETTYPE counter, but it defaults to Neutral bullets. All
Enemy bullets become Neutral bullets when the option "Enemies
can hurt enemies" is set.

Player bullets can only hurt enemies. Enemy bullets can only
hurt the player. Neutral bullets can hurt either. Robots go to
different labels when shot with each one, or to a generic SHOT
label if there are none of the specific PLAYERSHOT, ENEMYSHOT,
or NEUTRALSHOT labels.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#CHANGECH.HLP
:1st:CHANGE CHAR ID - The CHAR ID Table

The Robotic command CHANGE CHAR ID has many uses. It basically
changes a character, color, or number from the Global Chars
or Damage tables from Global Info. The first number in the
command states what is to change. (note - if noted, the number
corresponds to a color or damage. Otherwise, it is a character)
These numbers are also listed next to things in the Global Edit
Chars menus.

Number  Changes
------  -------
0       Space
1       Normal
2       Solid
3       Tree
4       Line
6       Breakaway
8       Boulder
9       Crate
11      Box
13      Fake
14      Carpet
15      Floor
16      Tiles
20      Still Water
21      N Water
22      S Water
23      E Water
24      W Water
27      Chest
28      Gem
29      Magic Gem
30      Health
31      Ring
32      Potion
33      Energizer
34      Goop
36      Bomb
38      Explosion
39      Key
40      Lock
43      Stairs
44      Cave
47      Gate
48      Open Gate
50      Coin
55      Pouch
57      Slider NS
58      Slider EW
65      Forest
67-70   Whirlpool Anim 1-4
71      Invis Wall
73      Ricochet
80      Snake
81      Eye
82      Thief
83      Slimeblob
84      Runner
85      Ghost
86      Dragon
87      Fish
88      Shark
89      Spider
90      Goblin
91      Spitting Tiger
94      Bear
95      Bear Cub
125     Sign
126     Scroll
128-143 Thin Lines (Web) (see below)
144-159 Thick Lines (Thick Web, Lines) (see below)
160     Ice
161-163 Ice Anim 1-3
164-166 Lava Anim 1-3
167     Small Ammo (below 10)
168     Large Ammo (above or equal to 10)
169-175 Lit Bomb Anim 1-7
176-183 Energizer Color Anim 1-8
184-187 Explosion Colors 1-4
188     Horizontal Door
189     Vertical Door
190-193 CW Rotate Anim 1-4
194-197 CCW Rotate Anim 1-4
230-233 Transport N Anim 1-4
234-237 Transport S Anim 1-4
238-241 Transport E Anim 1-4
242-245 Transport W Anim 1-4
246-249 Transport All-Dir Anim 1-4
250     Thick Arrow N (Pusher/Spike)
251     Thick Arrow S (Pusher/Spike)
252     Thick Arrow E (Pusher/Spike)
253     Thick Arrow W (Pusher/Spike)
254     Thin Arrow N (Guns)
255     Thin Arrow S (Guns)
256     Thin Arrow E (Guns)
257     Thin Arrow W (Guns)
258-261 Horizontal Lazer Anim 1-4
262-265 Vertical Lazer Anim 1-4
266-271 Fire Anim 1-6
272-277 Fire Color Anim 1-6
278-281 Life Anim 1-4
282-285 Life Color Anim 1-4
286     Ricochet Panel \
287     Ricochet Panel /
288-289 Mine Anim 1-2
290-291 Shooting Fire Anim 1-2
292-293 Shooting Fire Color Anim 1-2
294-297 Seeker Anim 1-4
298-301 Seeker Color Anim 1-4
302-305 Whirlpool Color Anim 1-4
306-309 Player Bullets, NSEW
310-313 Neutral Bullets, NSEW
314-317 Enemy Bullets, NSEW
318-321 Player, NSEW
322     Player Color
323     Missile Color
324     Player Bullet Color
325     Neutral Bullet Color
326     Enemy Bullet Color
353     Lava Damage
365     Explosion Damage
386     Lazer Damage
388     Bullet Damage
389     Missile Damage
390     Fire Damage
402     Spike Damage
403     Custom Hurt Damage
405     Shooting Fire Damage
406     Seeker Damage
407     Snake Damage
410     Slimeblob Damage
411     Runner Damage
412     Ghost Damage
413     Dragon Damage
414     Fish Damage
415     Shark Damage
416     Spider Damage
417     Goblin Damage
418     Spitting Tiger Damage
421     Bear Damage
422     Bear Cub Damage

Do not use any numbers that are not listed above - They may
cause strange things to happen in the game.

To change a character, use the following form:

CHANGE CHAR ID # [char]

.# is the number corresponding to the character that you want to
change, or a counter representing that number. [char] is the
character (or counter representing the character) that you wish
to change it to.

To change a color, use the following form:

CHANGE CHAR ID # [color]

.# is the same as above, but corresponding to a color. [color]
is the color or a counter representing the color that you wish
to change it to.

To change damage values, use a number or counter in place of
the [char] or [color].

After typing in a [color] or damage value, it may change to a
character representation, but the value will still remain the
same.

To change line characters-

Take the base number for the type of line you wish to change
(128 for thin, 144 for thick) and add one of the following
values to represent which sides are connected via other web or
lines-

0  -
1  N
2  S
3  N S
4  E
5  E N
6  E S
7  E N S
8  W
9  W N
10 W S
11 W N S
12 W E
13 W E N
14 W E S
15 W E N S

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_c3:CHANGE CHAR ID # [char]
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#BUILTINL.HLP
:1st:Built-in Labels

Robotic has many built-in labels (messages) that are activated
on certain external events. The cause of each label is listed
below.

~ETOUCH

This is sent when the player touches the Robot, I.E. the player
stands next to it and presses an arrow key towards it.

~ETHUD

This is sent when the Robot is walking and it runs into a wall.
This label is not sent when the wall is hit during the 
~EGO [dir] #~F or the ~E/ "string"~F commands.

>#COMMANDR.HLP:_w5:WALK [dir]

~EEDGE

This is sent when the Robot is walking and it runs into the edge
of the board. If EDGE is not found, the Robot is sent to THUD. 
This label is not sent when the edge of the board is hit during
the ~EGO [dir] #~F or the ~E/ "string"~F commands.

>#COMMANDR.HLP:_w5:WALK [dir]

~EBOMBED

This is sent when the Robot is hit with an explosion.

~EKEY?

This is sent when the player presses the given key. ? should be
replaced with the key to be scanned for. Characters A to Z and 0
to 9 work as expected. Other characters can be entered by
pressing F3 and selecting them from the grid, but they are not
all guaranteed to work. Shifted characters will NOT work, and
will actually scan as their non-shifted counterparts.

There are some special-case keys; ENTER is char 13, and the
function keys are as follows:

         F1 = 197     F6 = 192
         F2 = 196     F7 = 191
         F3 = 195     F8 = 190
         F4 = 194     F9 = 189
         F5 = 193     F10 = 188

Then again, it is recommended that you don't use the function
keys as they have special purposes in MegaZeux, such as the
quicksave/quickload features.

There is another way to scan for keypresses, using counters.

~EKEYENTER

This is sent When the player presses the Enter key.

~EINVINCO

This is sent when the player grabs an energizer.

~EPUSHED

This is sent when a pushable Robot is pushed by something other
than the player.

~EENEMYSHOT
~EPLAYERSHOT
~ENEUTRALSHOT

One of these is sent when the Robot is shot, according to the
type of bullet used. If the appropriate label is not found, the
Robot is sent to SHOT instead.

~ESHOT

This is sent when the Robot is shot by a bullet and the more
specific label cannot be found.

~EPLAYERHIT

This is sent when the player is shot. If not found, the Robot is
sent to PLAYERHURT instead.

~EPLAYERHURT

This is sent when the player is hurt by anything other than a
bullet. Bullets send the Robot to PLAYERHIT, and only send it
to PLAYERHURT if PLAYERHIT cannot be found.

~ESPITFIRE

This is sent when the Robot is hit with shooting fire.

~EJUSTLOADED

This is sent when the world was just loaded or restored from a
saved game.

~EJUSTENTERED

This is sent when the board was just entered or the world was
just started on this board.

~ESENSORON

This is sent by a Sensor when it is stepped upon by the player,
or the Sensor moves beneath the player.

>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors

~ESENSORTHUD

This is sent by a Sensor when it tries to move and is blocked.

>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors

~ESENSORPUSHED

This is sent by a Sensor when it is pushed by something.

>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors

~ELAZER

This is sent when the Robot is hit with a lazer.

~EGOOPTOUCHED

This is sent when the player touches Goop.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#SENSORSW.HLP:094:Sensors
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#COUNTERS.HLP
:1st:Counters, Built-in Counters and Local Counters

Counters are built-in variables, or stored values with names.
Each counter has a name, such as "Yellow" or "Apple Pies". A
counter can hold a value from -2147483648 to 2147483647, in
most cases. A counter is "active" when it has a value other
than 0. There can be a practically unlimited amount of active
counters at any one time, in addition to the built-in counters
(in reality it tops off around four billion). Counters retain
values between different boards.

Local counters, on the other hand, only hold their values for
one Robot. These are useful because local counters cannot be
written to by other Robots, only read by other Robots. There
are several local counters explicitly reserved for use; these
are the "local" & "local2" thru "local32" counters.

To display a counter's number, enclose the counter in
ampersands. (e.g. &counter& ). This displays the counter value
in decimal. Sometimes hexadecimal is needed, like in certain
MegaZeux commands. To output a counter number in hex, add a
+ to the front of the enclosed counter (e.g. &+hexcount&).

Also, characters can be used as counters in commands. For
example: SET "boom" to '0' would come out as SET "boom" to 48.
It's quite a difference!

The following is a list of built-in counters, which all have
special meanings. There are three types of built-in counters:
Global, which affect everything, Robot, which are different for
each Robot and are only available to read by that Robot, and
Local, which are specific to the current board. Some built-in
counters are read-only; a few are write-only.

MegaZeux utilises a large number of built-in counters to
maximise flexibility. For this reference, they have been
divided into distinct sections.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:ply:Player Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:rob:Robot Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:brd:Board Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:mth:Mathematical Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:fac:File Access Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:spc:Sprite Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:stc:String Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:szc:Super MZX Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:cha:Character Edit Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:chu:Mouse Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:def:Defaults Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:vlc:Vlayer Counters
>#COUNTERS.HLP:msc:Miscellaneous Counters

$Player Counters
:ply:
~BGEMS, AMMO, LOBOMBS, HIBOMBS, COINS, LIVES, HEALTH

These contain the current number of the stated item that the
player currently has.

~BINVINCO

The number of cycles of invincibility the player currently has.

~BSCORE

The player's current score.

~BPLAYERLASTDIR

The last direction the player moved- 0 for none, or 1 2 3 4 for
N S E W. Used to determine ice slippage and certain other
effects.

~BPLAYERFACEDIR

The direction the player is facing - 0 1 2 3 for N S E W. Used
to determine which player character to display.

~BPLAYERX (read-only)
~BPLAYERY (read-only)

The x or y coordinate of the player, respectively.

$Robot Counters
:rob:
~BPLAYERDIST (read-only, local)

The distance from the Robot to the player, in spaces. The sum
of HORIZPLD and VERTPLD.

~BHORIZPLD (read-only, local)
~BVERTPLD (read-only, local)

The horizontal or vertical distance from the Robot to the
player, in spaces.

~BTHISX (read-only, local)
~BTHISY (read-only, local)

The current X or Y coordinate of the Robot. Affected by
prefixes - If a command that uses THISX and THISY is prefaced
with a REL PLAYER command, THISX and THISY will be generated
based on the player's current position. For example, if the
player is at [2,2] and the Robot is at [5,5], THISX and THISY
will be 3. If the player is at [8,8], THISX and THISY will be
-3. If a command that uses THISX and THISY is prefaced with
a REL COUNTERS command, THISX and THISY will be generated
based on XPOS and YPOS. Basically, THISX and THISY will be
set to THISX-XPOS and THISY-YPOS.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:pre:REL COUNTERS
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r2:REL PLAYER

~BBULLETTYPE (local)

The current type of bullet shot by the Robot: 0 for Player, 1
for Neutral, and 2 for Enemy. Technically, this counter can
hold any number from 0 to 255, but only 0, 1 and 2 have
defined behavior. Use the others at your own risk!

>#BULLETTY.HLP:1st:Bullet Types

~BCOMMANDS

The number of commands executed per cycle (30 is default). This
number is global. It can severely slow MegaZeux if set too high
and coupled with poor coding (especially busy loops lacking
waits).

>#COMMANDR.HLP:_lC:LOOP START

~BLOOPCOUNT (local)

The counter used for looping commands in Robotic - LOOP START,
LOOP #, and ABORT LOOP.

~BROBOT_ID (read-only, local)

The internal ID of the Robot.

~BRID<robot name>
~BROBOT_ID_<robot name>

Both of these give the robot_id number of the given named
Robot. In the case of multiple robots with the same name the ID
number corresponds to one of them (which one is undefined). If
no robots have the name, or if the name in question only
belongs to the global Robot, -1 is given.

BEWARE: The existence of this counter makes it impossible to
use words which start with "rid" as counters. The port will NOT
fall through and give the values of any counter which starts
with "rid"; instead, it ends at -1 (since the Robot the counter
is trying to find, like "dles" (for "riddles"), will most
likely not exist). Older games will allow this, but only for
compatibility reasons.

~BRn.<counter>

Gives the value of the counter in the Robot with the robot_id
number n.

~BTHIS_COLOR (read-only, local)
~BTHIS_CHAR (read-only, local)

The current color and character of the Robot, respectively.

~BLAVA_WALK (local)

Controls whether the Robot can walk on lava or not. Setting
this to 1 is the equivalent of using the BECOME LAVAWALKER
command. Setting it to 0 is the same as BECOME NONLAVAWALKER.
Like BULLETTYPE, this counter can hold any value from 0 to 255,
but only 0 and 1 have defined behavior. This was a popular
local counter before the local counters were plentiful, as most
Robots didn't deal with lava.

>#COMMANDR.HLP:_b4:BECOME LAVAWALKER

~BLOCAL (local)
~BLOCAL2 (local)
...
~BLOCAL32 (local)

The local counters without other usages each Robot can use.

$Board Counters
:brd:

~BBOARD_ID

Reads or alters the CHAR ID value of the object located at
"board_x" "board_y".

>#CHANGECH.HLP:1st:CHANGE CHAR ID - The CHAR ID Table

~BBOARD_PARAM

Reads or alters the parameter of the object located at
"board_x" "board_y".

~BBOARD_W (read-only)
~BBOARD_H (read-only)

The current board's width and height, respectively.

~BTIME

The current timer value, between 0 and the time limit for the
current board.

~BTIMERSET

The time limit for the current board. 0 for no time limit.

~BSCROLLEDX
~BSCROLLEDY

The top-left corner of the screen's x or y coordinates
(respectively).

~BBOARD_X
~BBOARD_Y
~BBOARD_COLOR (read-only)
~BBOARD_CHAR (read-only)

Set BOARD_X and BOARD_Y to the X/Y coordinates of a cell on the
current board, and BOARD_COLOR and BOARD_CHAR will
automatically hold the color and character values for that cell,
respectively.

One thing to note is that BOARD_COLOR takes transparency into
account. For example, if a white-on-black Robot walks onto a
yellow-on-blue floor tile, the Robot appears as white-on-blue on
the screen, but this counter will still report it as
white-on-black.

~BOVERLAY_X
~BOVERLAY_Y
~BOVERLAY_CHAR (read-only)
~BOVERLAY_COLOR (read-only)

These work in the same way as the BOARD_xxx counters above, but
deal with the overlay instead.

~BOVERLAY_MODE (read-only)

Shows the state of the overlay. 0 is off, 1 is normal, 2 is
static and 3 is transparent.

~BMOD_FREQUENCY

Controls the frequency (in Hz) of the currently playing module/
OGG music.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:frq:SAM, OGG, MOD and WAV Frequencies

~BMOD_ORDER (read-only)

Reports the current mod order (that is, pattern) of the
currently playing mod.

~BMOD_POSITION

Controls the current row in tracked modules or the current PCM
sample in other types of audio files.

$Mathematical Counters
:mth:

~BABSn

Gives the absolute value of the number n.

~BSQRTn

Gives the integer approximation of the square root of n.

~BMULTIPLIER
~BDIVIDER

Counters which multiply or divide the temporary float value
before truncating in MegaZeux's trigonometry functions.

~BC_DIVISIONS

Determines how many divisions the base circle in MegaZeux's
trigonometric functions is divided.

~BSINn
~BCOSn
~BTANn
~BASINn
~BACOSn
~BATANn

Access MegaZeux's sine, cosine, tangent, inverse sine,
inverse cosine, and tangent inverse functions (respectively).

>#TRIG.HLP:tri:Trigonometric Functions

$File Access Counters
:fac:

~BFREAD_OPEN (function)
~BFWRITE_OPEN (function)

Opens a file for reading from or writing to, respectively. The
syntax is as such:

set "file.ext" to "FREAD_OPEN"

~BFWRITE_MODIFY (function)

This opens an existing file for reading without overwriting it,
starting at the beginning of the file.

~BFWRITE_APPEND (function)

This opens a file for writing at the END of the file.

~BFREAD_COUNTER (function)

Reads two bytes from the open file.

~BFWRITE_COUNTER (function)

Writes two bytes to the open file.

~BFREAD_POS
~BFWRITE_POS

The current reading or writing position of the accessed file.
If set to -1, sets the position to the end of the file.

~BFWRITE (function)
~BFREAD (function)

Writes strings to and read strings from, respectively, the open
file.

~BSAVE_ROBOT (function)
~BLOAD_ROBOT (function)
~BSAVE_ROBOTn (function)
~BLOAD_ROBOTn (function)

Saves or loads Robotic code to or from plaintext files,
respectively. The first forms save from/load to the current
Robot, while the second forms save to/load from the Robot with
the Robot ID of the number n.

~BSAVE_BC (function)
~BLOAD_BC (function)
~BSAVE_BCn (function)
~BLOAD_BCn (function)

Saves or loads Robotic code to or from bitcode files,
respectively. The first forms save from/load to the current
Robot, while the second forms save to/load from the Robot with
the Robot ID of the number n.

~BSAVE_WORLD (function)

Saves MZX worldfiles. The syntax is the same as the file
opening series.

~BSAVE_GAME (function)
~BLOAD_GAME (function)

Saves or loads MZX savegames, respectively.

>#FILEACSS.HLP:fil:File Access
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic

$Sprite Counters
:spc:

~BSPR_CLISTn (read-only)

A list of flagged collisions after a collision test was
performed. Values of n from 0 to (SPR_COLLISIONS - 1) are
valid. If the background collided SPR_CLIST0 is always set to
-1 to indicate this.

~BSPR_COLLISIONS (read-only)

The number of sprites/background listed in SPR_CLISTn.

~BSPR_NUM

When using p?? for a sprite this value is referenced. When
if c?? sprite p?? x y is used spr_num is used to match the
highest sprite to that's checked.

~BSPR_YORDER (write-only)

If set to 1 the sprites are drawn in order of lowest SPRn_CY
value to highest. Otherwise the sprites are drawn in order of
their numbers.

~BSPRn_CCHECK (write-only)

If set to 1 overlapping char 32's will not cause a collision
between sprites or the background. If set to 2 char 32's and
blank chars will also not collide.

~BSPRn_CWIDTH
~BSPRn_CHEIGHT

The dimensions of the collision box around a sprite. (x and y
dimensions, respectively)

~BSPRn_CLIST (write-only)

Setting this counter to any value will perform a collision test
on sprite n against its current location.

~BSPRn_CX
~BSPRn_CY

The location, relative to the sprite's upper left corner, of
the sprite's collision box (X and Y coordinates, respectively). 

~BSPRn_OFF (write-only)

Turns the given sprite off if it is on.

~BSPRn_OVERLAID (write-only)
~BSPRn_OVERLAY (write-only)

If either is set to 1, these draw the given sprite n over the
overlay as opposed to underneath.

~BSPRn_REFX
~BSPRn_REFY

Where the sprite's appearance is stored- either on the board or
the vlayer (see SPRn_VLAYER). Whatever this looks like at this
position is what the sprite will look like when drawn,
including the colors if c?? is used when placing the sprite.

~BSPRn_SETVIEW (write-only)

Setting this to 1 will cause the viewport to be centered around
sprite n. This is useful for scrolling the screen along with
sprite based players.

~BSPRn_STATIC (write-only)

If set to 1, makes given sprite n act static (like static
overlay, always stays in a given position on the screen); if
this is 0, the sprite scrolls with the board.

~BSPRn_SWAP (write-only)

Swaps the given sprite n with the sprite number to which this
function is set.

~BSPRn_VLAYER (write-only)

If set to 1, the sprite is referenced from the vlayer instead
of the board.

~BSPRn_HEIGHT
~BSPRn_WIDTH

The dimensions of the sprite. (x and y dimensions,
respectively)

~BSPRn_X
~BSPRn_Y

The current position of the sprite. This can be used to set the
sprite outside the edges of the board, whereas
PUT c?? sprite p?? x y disallows this.

>#SPRITES.HLP:spr:Sprites

$String Counters
:stc:

~BSET "$string" to "BOARD_NAME"

Sets the given string to the name of the current board.

~BSET "$string" to "BOARD_SCAN"

Sets the given string to a line of characters read directly
from the board starting at "board_x" "board_y" and terminating
at an asterisk, any instance of char 0, or after 63 characters
(whichever comes first). This command is depreciated; please
use copy block to strings instead.

~BSET "$string" to "INPUT"

Sets the given string to any input placed for the "input
string" command.

~BSET "$string" to "MOD_NAME"

Sets the given string to the name of the currently playing
module.

~BSET "$string" to "ROBOT_NAME"

Sets the given string to the name of the Robot this command
is in.

~BSET "$string" to "FREAD"
~BSET "$string" to "FREADn"

Sets the given string to the contents of the currently open
file. FREAD stops at an asterisk or at the end of the file.
FREADn reads the first n characters from the file. You can
use FREAD with the #N string splicing format to read up to
N characters while still terminating on an asterisk.

~BSET "$string" to "FWRITE"
~BSET "$string" to "FWRITEn"

Places the contents of the given string in the currently open
file. FWRITE places the entire string, while FWRITEn only
places the first n characters. If n goes over the string's
length, the entire string (and nothing else like whitespace or
garbage characters) will be placed.

$Super MZX Counters
:szc:

~BSMZX_MODE

Determines whether Super MZX mode is off, 1, 2, or 3.

~BSMZX_Rn
~BSMZX_Bn
~BSMZX_Gn

Changes or reads the value of color n's red/blue/green value,
respectively.

~BSMZX_PALETTE (read-only)

Loads a Super MZX palette. This command is depreciated; please
use load palette instead.

$Character Edit Counters
:cha:

~BCHAR_X
~BCHAR_Y
~BPIXEL

Set CHAR_X and CHAR_Y to a pixel location in the char set. You
can then set the PIXEL counter to one of the following to edit
the pixel:

  0 Turns the pixel OFF
  1 Turns the pixel ON
  2 Toggles the pixel

You can also read the counter to see the current state of the
chosen pixel. A value of 1 denotes that the pixel is set, and 0
if not.

The pixel location system works on a 32 x 8 grid of characters,
exactly like the 'Select Character' grid. Each character
consists of fourteen rows of eight pixels, which gives us 256
pixels across by 112 pixels down. Since we start counting at 0,
the top-left pixel of the top-left character (char 0) would be
0,0. The bottom-right pixel of the bottom-right character
(char 255) would be 255,111. However, these counters become
worthless in SMZX modes.

>#CHAREDIT.HLP:079:The Character Editor

~BCHAR_BYTE
~BCHAR
~BBYTE

Set CHAR to a character (0-225) and BYTE to one of the fourteen
bytes within the char (0-13). You can then read or write that
byte using the CHAR_BYTE counter. Byte values range from 0-255,
and meaning of each byte setting changes between normal mode
and SMZX modes. Normal MZX graphics mode sets bytes in binary
(base 2); SMZX modes use quaternary (base 4).

It helps to write the number in binary/quaternary first, then
convert to decimal. Writing the numbers this way helps
demonstrate that whatever is desired to be set is set. The
values per pixel decrease going left to right.

Examples:

(Normal MZX mode, setting the third, fifth and seventh pixel)

Binary: 00101010

-------------
|128|64|32|16|8|4|2|1|
-------------
|  0| 0| 1| 0|1|0|1|0|
-------------

Decimal: ((128*0)+(64*0)+(32*1)+(16*0)+(8*1)+(4*0)+(2*1)+(1*0))
         = 42

Notice that the binary number shows which pixels are on, in
order.

(Super MZX Mode, setting first and second pixel to color 2,
third to color 4 and fourth to color 1)

Quaternary: 1130

------
|64|16|4|1|
------
| 1| 1|3|0|
------

Decimal: ((64*1)+(16*1)+(4*3)+(1*0)) = 92

Much like the binary numbers for normal MZX mode, the
quaternary number shows what color each pixel is in order.
Here, color values range from 0 to 3.

>#CHAREDIT.HLP:079:The Character Editor

$Mouse Counters
:chu:

~BMOUSEX
~BMOUSEY

Reads/sets the mouse cursor's x or y-coordinates (respectively)
relative to the screen.

~BMBOARDX (read-only)
~BMBOARDY (read-only)

Reads the mouse cursor's x or y-coordinates (respectively)
relative to the board.

~BBUTTONS (read-only)

Reads which mouse buttons are being pressed (0 for none, 1 for
the left, 2 for the right and 3 for both).

~BCURSORSTATE

Determines whether the default mouse cursor is on or off (0 is
off, 1 is on - defaults off).

$Defaults Counters
:def:
~BENTER_MENU

Toggles the default status window loaded when the enter key is
pressed. 1 is on, 0 is off.

~BHELP_MENU

Toggles the default help window loaded when the F1 key is
pressed. 1 is on, 0 is off.

~BF2_MENU

Toggles the default MegaZeux options window loaded when the F2
key is pressed. 1 is on, 0 is off.

~BBIMESG (write-only)

Toggles built-in game messages (e.g. the message given for
touching goop); 1 is on while 0 is off.

$Vlayer Counters
:vlc:

~BVLAYER_WIDTH
~BVLAYER_HEIGHT

Sets the width and height of the vlayer, respectively. Setting
one will automatically set the other to the maximum possible for
the current vlayer_size.

~BVLAYER_SIZE

Sets the maximum size of the vlayer. The default is 32768.
Making this larger won't change the values of VLAYER_WIDTH or
VLAYER_HEIGHT but shrinking it may shrink both - height first,
then width.

~BVCHx,y

Allows reading and writing of single characters to the vlayer
with regards to coordinates x,y; the comma must be included.

~BVCOx,y

Allows reading and writing of single colors to the vlayer with
regards to coordinates x,y; the comma must be included.

>#VLAYER.HLP:vla:The Vlayer and Its Uses

$Miscellaneous Counters
:msc:
~BMZX_SPEED

The current game speed (1-9) of MegaZeux. Once set in-game, the
player cannot change the speed in the F2 menu until MZX_SPEED
is set to 0. Setting MZX_SPEED to 0 will not affect the current
speed. MZX speed is not preserved in saves so games which
change the speed must alter the speed using the :justloaded
label to stay consistent.

~BCURRENT_COLOR
~BRED_VALUE
~BGREEN_VALUE
~BBLUE_VALUE

When CURRENT_COLOR is set between 0 and 15 (between 0 and 255
in Super MZX modes), the other three counters contain the red,
green and blue values of that color.

>#SMZXMODE.HLP:095:Super MegaZeux Modes
>#PALEEDIT.HLP:093:The Palette Editor

~BINPUT

The numerical value of the last string inputted.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iP:INPUT STRING "string"

~BINPUTSIZE

The size, in characters, of the last string inputted.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_iP:INPUT STRING "string"

~BDATE_DAY (read-only)
~BDATE_MONTH (read-only)
~BDATE_YEAR (read-only)

Contain the current day, month and year respectively, based on
the system clock.

~BTIME_HOURS (read-only)
~BTIME_MINUTES (read-only)
~BTIME_SECONDS (read-only)

Contain the current hour, minute and second respectively, based
on the system clock, in 24-hour format.

~BINT
~BBIT_PLACE
~BINT2BIN

Used to manipulate bits within a counter. Set INT to the number
or counter you wish to edit. Set BIT_PLACE to a number between
0 and 15 (which correspond to the bits in a 16-bit signed
counter), and then set INT2BIN to one of the following to edit
the bit:

  1 Sets the bit ON
  2 Sets the bit OFF
  3 Toggles the bit

The edited value is placed into the INT counter. You can also
read the INT2BIN counter to see the current state of the bit.

This method of bit manipulation is heavily depreciated in favor
of expressions (especially considering it only works on 16 bits
instead of the current 32). Follow the link below to read more.

>#EXPRESS.HLP:1st:Expressions

~BKEY_PRESSED (read-only)

Tests whether any key (each referenced by a number) is
currently being held down; for example, on a typical keyboard, 
if the spacebar is being pressed the value of key_pressed will
be 32. This set of keycodes is the same as the ones required
for joystick support. Results are now unsigned, so checking for
negative numbers will not work. "Autorepeat" affects
KEY_PRESSED, so if you hold down a key you will get the value,
then get zeros for a period, then get the values again. This is
useful for many applications.

~BKEY_CODE (read-only)
~BKEYn (read-only)
~BKEY_RELEASE (read-only)

KEY_CODE acts the same as KEY_PRESSED but has different
keycodes. KEYn checks whether the key with the keycode n is
pressed; 1 means yes, 0 means no. These are depreciated in
favor of KEY_PRESSED. KEY_RELEASE tests whether a key is
released; it displays the same keycodes as KEY_CODE. Results
are now unsigned, so checking for negative numbers will not
work.

~BXPOS
~BYPOS

The X or Y-coordinates (respectively) used by the REL COUNTERS
command.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:pre:REL COUNTERS

~BFIRSTXPOS
~BFIRSTYPOS

The X or Y-coordinates (respectively) used by the REL COUNTERS
FIRST command.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r4:REL COUNTERS LAST

~BLASTXPOS
~BLASTYPOS

The X or Y-coordinates (respectively) used by the REL COUNTERS
LAST command.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_r7:REL COUNTERS LAST

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#USINGTHE.HLP
:1st:Using the Editor

The Robotic editor is quite simple to use. After selecting your
Robot's character and name, you will enter the editor screen.
There are three major sections to the editor screen: The top
box, showing current statistics; The middle box, showing the
Robot's program with the current line highlighted in the center;
The bottom box, showing the available editing commands.

To edit the Robot, you enter lines just as in editing Scrolls.
Use up and down or PageUp and PageDown to Scroll between lines,
and use Enter to insert new blank lines.

After you enter a line, it will be checked for proper syntax.
If it passes, it will be reformatted and redisplayed, and you
can then enter another line; if it does not, it will be marked
as ignored. The reformatting is unpreventable- Since MegaZeux
tokenizes Robotic lines to conserve space, all irrelevant
information such as extra spaces is lost. The editor attempts to
print the lines in a visually pleasing manner.

All lines other than the current line will have the various
elements such as strings and numbers highlighted in different
colors. Color codes will be shown as their actual color. The
current line is shown in a solid color and color codes are shown
in the usual cXX format.

The following keys are active within the editor.

>_a:F1    - Help
>_b:F2    - Color
>_c:F3    - Character
>_d:F4    - Parameter
>_e:F5    - Char edit
>_f:F6-F10  - Macros
>_g:Alt+B OR Alt+Enter - Block action
>_h:Alt+E OR Alt+End - Mark block end
>_i:Alt+H - Hide Help / Borders
>_j:Alt+I  - Import
>_k:Alt+O  - Macro Options
>_l:Alt+S OR Alt+Home - Mark block top
>_m:Alt+U - Unmark block
>_n:Alt+V  - Verify
>_o:Alt+X  - Export
>_p:Alt+Ins - Paste
>_q:Ctrl+F  - Find/Replace
>_r:Ctrl+G - Go to Line
>_s:Ctrl+R  - Repeat Find/Replace
>_t:Ctrl+I/D/C - Mark Invalidated
>_u: Ctrl+BackSpace - Delete Previous Word

:_a:~EF1    - Help

Use F1 to bring up context-sensitive help at any time.

:_b:~EF2    - Color

F2 will bring up a menu of colors. Select one and press Enter to
insert a cXX color code into the current line corresponding to
that color.

:_c:~EF3    - Character

F3 will bring up a menu of characters. Select one and press
Enter to insert that character into the current line. No quotes
or apostrophes are added.

:_d:~EF4    - Parameter

If you have just typed in the name of a thing, such as Ammo,
F4 will allow you to select settings for it in order to insert
a pXX parameter code.

:_e:~EF5    - Char edit

Use F5 to insert series of numbers corresponding to character
pictures, for use with the Robotic CHAR EDIT command.

:_f:~EF6-F10  - Macro

F6 through F10 will insert short macros, customizable using
Alt+O. If you have an extended macro set for these an input
window for it will come up.

:_g:~EAlt+B OR Alt+Enter - Block action

Allows you to perform an action on the current block of lines-
Copy it to an internal clipboard, Cut it to an internal
clipboard (copy it and then delete it), Clear it from memory,
or Export the block to a text file on disk. Alt+Enter is the
old and depreciated version, left in to ease use for
long-time users.

:_l:~EAlt+S OR Alt+Home - Mark block top
:_h:~EAlt+E OR Alt+End - Mark block end

Alt+S/E will mark the top or bottom of a block of lines. You
can then perform various block actions on these lines. The
marked lines are highlighted. Alt+Home and Alt+End are the old
and depreciated versions, left in to ease use for long-time
users.

:_i:~EAlt+H  - Hide Help / Borders

Alt+H toggles the horizontal borders and help key reference.

:_j:~EAlt+I  - Import

Use Alt+I to import a text file into the current Robot. The
new lines will be inserted into the current program. This
allows you to edit Robot programs outside of MegaZeux.

:_k:~EAlt+O  - Macro Options

You can change the values of the five macros here. Use ^ for
Enter in the macros. (43 characters max in MegaZeux itself, 64
max using the config file.)

:_m:~EAlt+U - Unmark block

The current block is unmarked.

:_n:~EAlt+V  - Verify

Use Alt+V to determine if there are any invalid lines in the
robot, and if there are what their errors are.

:_o:~EAlt+X  - Export

Use Alt+X to export either the current block or the entire
Robot program to a text file or bytecode file on disk. If saved
as text, one can then edit the program outside of MegaZeux or
use the text file in other ways.

:_p:~EAlt+Ins - Paste

Alt+Ins will paste in the block last copied to the internal
clipboard. The clipboard is preserved between Robots and even
between worlds.

:_q:~ECtrl+F  - Find/Replace

Use Ctrl+F to activate the Find/Replace menu. In this menu, one
can find an inputted string, replace it, or replace all
instances. Wrap Around End will ensure every line of the code
is checked (otherwise the code above the current line will be
ignored) and Match Case will require the search string and the
results match case exactly before giving results or replacing
text.

:_r:~ECtrl+G  - Go to Line

Use Ctrl+G to jump to the given Robotic line (if too high of a
number is given, the editor will jump to the last possible
line).

:_s:~ECtrl+R  - Repeat Find/Replace

Use Ctrl+R after a Find or Replace to repeat the action.

>_t:~ECtrl+I/D/C - Mark line

These commands mark the current invalid line as to be
ignored, deleted, or commented out upon editor exit,
respectively. If the line is valid Ctrl + C will turn it into
a comment. Note that comment-marking a comment will immediately
strip the line.

>_u:~ECtrl+BackSpace - Delete Previous Word

Use Ctrl+BackSpace to delete the last word typed in the editor.

The statistics line across the top of the Robot editor shows the
current line number, the current character within the line, and
the size of the Robot program versus the maximum size this Robot
can reach, based on remaining Robot memory and the 64k per Robot
limit.

Use ESC to exit the Robot editor when you are done editing your
Robot program.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#CONFIG.HLP
:1st:The Config File

>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#ROBOTSWH.HLP
:1st:Robots - What They Are and How to Use Them

Robots are the heart and soul of MegaZeux. Anything you could
want to do in MegaZeux, anything you see done in a MegaZeux
game, many things you didn't know were possible, can be done
with MegaZeux's Robots.

Robots are programmed in their own programming language, called
Robotic. Robotic is a fairly simple language to learn, somewhat
moderate to completely master. It is somewhere along the lines
of BASIC, although more complex. If you've ever used Epic
Megagame's ZZT, Robotic is vastly more complex than ZZT-OOP,
although it is similar and more logical in style and syntax.
There's a kludge or two dozen to get really powerful things
working, but you'll get used to them.

To place a Robot in the editor, press F10 and select Robot, or
Pushable Robot if you want things to be able to push the Robot.
Then name the Robot, and select a character to represent it. Now
you are brought to the Robot editor, where you can program the
Robot in Robotic.

>#ROBOTICT.HLP:1st:Robotic Tutorial
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
#ROBOTICT.HLP
:1st:Robotic Tutorial

Robotic has a few concepts that you must understand before you
begin to program in it. You can skip this if you want, but it
will help you learn Robotic much faster. A large portion of this
will be obvious to anybody who has ever programmed in any
language or used computers extensively.

$Commands

You can have one command per line. A command is an instruction
to MegaZeux or the Robot telling it to do something. A program
is a series of commands, that are run right after another.

$Parameters

A parameter is the part of the command that can change, such
as numbers or colors. They specify how the command should be
run or what it should effect. For example, in the command-

WAIT 6

WAIT is the command, and 6 is the parameter. Many commands have
multiple parameters. Parameters are often specified using #,
"string", or [color] [char] etc.

$Labels

A label is a point in a Robotic program that has been given a
name. It is used as a reference point so the Robot can return
to that point at any time, to allow repeating sections of
commands, etc. Labels are written as follows- :"label"

$Messages

A message is something one Robot sends to another, or an
external event sends to a Robot, to tell it to do something.
That something entails jumping to the label corresponding to
that message. For example, a Robot can tell another Robot to
"Bounce"; That Robot will now be executing commands starting
at the label :"Bounce".

$Coordinates

X/Y coordinates are a pair of numbers representing a point on
the current board. 0/0 is the upper left corner of the board,
and the coordinates increase going down and right. You can find
coordinates easily using Alt+Y in the editor, or F6 in the game
(only in editor playthroughs). X/Y coordinates can be negative,
but this is uncommon and used for special purposes only (e.g.
REL commands).

$Strings

A string is a series of letters or characters, inside quotes.
For example, "STRING", "Booga!", "MegaZeux dndndn", or "[[]]".

$Characters

A character is a single symbol, letter, number, punctuation
mark, space, graphic, etc. All things are viewed as single
characters. When using single characters in Robotic, they must
be enclosed in apostrophes- 'X'. Certain characters must be
inputted in specific ways to avoid problems with Robotic:
  \0 for character 0 (this probably won't work in strings, but
  should work in chars)
  \t for tab (character 9)
  \n for newline (character 10)
  \r for carriage return (character 13)
  \" for quotation mark
  \\ for slash

$Colors

A color is a code representing a background/foreground color
pair. They follow the format cXX, where X is 0-9 or A-F. To
enter color codes easily, use F2 in the Robot editor. The exact
format of color codes is covered in another section.

$Directions

Directions represent one of the four cardinal directions of
NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST. They can be abbreviated to N, S,
E, and W. There are other directions, but these are the most
commonly used.

Hopefully you understood the above material, as knowledge of it
is essential to program in Robotic. If you don't quite grasp
it, you can return to it later, but you will need to understand
it eventually.

$Your First Robotic Program: HELLO WORLD!

First, open the Editor and create a Robot. Then open the
Robot's programming box by pressing Enter twice while the Robot
is highlighted.

Now, type the following into the editor:

.~C* "HELLO WORLD!"
.~Cend

Here's what each line does.

~B* "HELLO WORLD!"

The * command puts whatever text is in the parentheses on the
bottom of the screen. (Actually, it's the given message row
line, which is the bottom by default.) All Robotic code starts
immediately, so this particular statement happens right as the
board with this Robot is loaded.

~Bend

This ends the code. It is good practice to include the END
command even when you don't think you need it; leaving the END
command out can cause some problems such as text glitches or,
worse, the running of any and all code after where you want
your Robot to stop!

That was simple, wasn't it? Now let's step up to something a
bit bigger.

$Your Second Robotic Program

Create a Robot in the editor, and give it the following
program:

. ~C: "start"
. ~CGO NORTH 2
. ~CGO SOUTH 2
. ~CWAIT 1
. ~CGOTO "start"

Now test the world. As you can see, this program makes the
Robot move up and down. Let's analyze it line by line.

~B: "start"

As we know, this is a label. It marks the beginning of the
program.

~BGO NORTH 2

This quite plainly tells the Robot to move north two spaces.

~BGO SOUTH 2

This tells the Robot to move south two spaces.

~BGOTO "start"

GOTO tells the Robot to jump to a label. In this case, the
Robot returns to the label "start", effectively restarting its
code. This particular Robot will be executing these lines of
code for the entirety of the game.

Pretty easy so far, huh? You will probably find that Robotic's
basics are easy to grasp. Let's try something a little more
complex.

$Your Third Robotic Program

Try the following Robot program-

. ~C: "loop"
. ~C/ "NNEESSWW"
. ~CGOTO "loop"

. ~C: "touch"
. ~C* "Hello!"
. ~CCHAR 'X'
. ~CEND

Testing will show you that this Robot runs around in a small
square. Now try touching it. If you can catch it, the Robot
will change to an X and greet you! Let's look at this program.

~B: "loop"

A label.

~B/ "NNEESSWW"

The / command tells the Robot to move along a given path. The
path is represented with a string of the letters N, S, E, W,
and I. NSEW represent the four cardinal directions, while I
tells the Robot to wait for a sec before continuing. Our path
tells the Robot to go north twice, east twice, south twice, and
west twice, forming a square path.

~BGOTO "loop"

The Robot will now return to the "loop" label, continuing in a
square path forever. Without an outside stimuli, the Robot will
never do anything else.

~B: "touch"

Another label, but this one is special. When the player touches
a Robot, by standing next to it and pressing against it, the
Robot is sent the message "touch". The following commands will
be run when the player touches the Robot.

~BCHAR 'X'

This tells the Robot to assume the appearance of character X.
Make sure that the X is in apostrophes ' and NOT quotes ".

$Robot Interaction

Let's get some Robots to interact with each other. Put two
Robots on a board, right next to each other. Name the left one
Lefty, and give it this program-

. ~C: "dance"
. ~C/ "WWWEEE"
. ~CSEND "Righty" to "dance"
. ~CEND

Name the right one Righty, and give it this program -

. ~CEND
. ~C: "dance"
. ~C/ "EEEWWW"
. ~CSEND "Lefty" to "dance"
. ~CEND

Now test this board out. You will see a silly pair of dancing
Robots, as they bump each other left and right. Let's examine
their programs more closely.

Since Righty has an END command as the first line, he isn't
going to be doing anything until told; so, we look at Lefty.
It's nothing we haven't seen, except for the SEND command.

~BSEND "Robot" to "message"

The SEND command allows one Robot to send messages to another,
telling it what to do. In this case, Lefty will tell Righty to
"dance", sending Righty to the label "dance".

Knowing this, the behavior of the two Robots should be clear.
Each one, in turn, moves away and back again, then it tells
the other one to do this. This repeats ad infinitum.

For a little practice, see if you can get them each to display
a message at the start of their dance step. Make the messages
different for each Robot.

$Some New Commands

The following Robot will demonstrate some new commands and
features. Make sure you put some ammo and bombs on the screen
with this Robot -

. ~CEND
. ~C: "shot"
. ~CCOLOR c2C
. ~C[ "OKAY, I GET THE POINT. I NEED MORE IRON"
. ~C[ "...and now a liver transplant :<"
. ~Czap "shot" 1
. ~CEND
. ~C: "shot"
. ~C[ "...cut it out. =("
. ~CEND
. ~C: "bombed"
. ~C. "Check this out..."
. ~C. "(editor) I'm not impressed."
. ~C* "ARRGHFRRAGGH I'M ALLERGIC TO BEING BOMBED"
. ~CDIE
. ~CEND
. ~C: "touch"
. ~C* "Watch out!"
. ~CWAIT 10
. ~CSHOOT NORTH
. ~CEND

Test this Robot out, bombing, shooting, and touching it. The
new commands and labels are explained below.

~B: "shot"

When the Robot is shot by a bullet, it is sent this message.

~BCOLOR c2C

This changes the Robot's color. The c2C represents Lt. Red on
Red. To enter colors, press F2 in the Robot editor and select
the color you want. The appropriate cXX code will be typed in
for you.

~B[ "OKAY, I GET THE POINT. I NEED MORE IRON"
~B[ "...and now a liver transplant :<"

The [ command is slick for a default. When encountered, all
the [ commands in the same area are put together to form one
long message, which is then displayed in a Scroll-like window.
It can be Scrolled and viewed by the player.

~BZAP "shot" 1

The ZAP command tells the Robot to ignore a certain number of
labels with the given name - in this case, the first "shot"
label. The ZAP command always starts from the top. Using the
ZAP command lets programmers give out different reactions for
going to the same label. In this case, we get to go to the
second "shot" label after we went to the first.

~B: "bombed"

When the Robot is bombed, or otherwise hit by an explosion,
it is sent this message.

~B. "Check this out..."
~B. "(editor) I'm not impressed."

Notice how this message was not shown in any way. The . command
is used for comments, i.e. messages that are not to be shown.
They are good for your own reference, so you know what you were
trying to do with this Robot, or so you can keep notes of
important things. Due to the loosening of Robot memory limits
it makes much more sense to comment your code.

~BDIE

This command destroys the Robot forever.

~BWAIT 10

WAIT causes the Robot to stop and sit for an amount of time,
the amount of time specified as a number. The time is in
cycles, which is the amount of time it takes to update the
board once, moving all the enemies and bullets, etc. Cycles
can vary in speed; the default is speed 1 (fastest) unless a
cycle command is placed inside the Robot.

~BSHOOT SEEK

The Robot will shoot a bullet in the indicated direction (in
this case, the direction the player is in).

$Conclusion

You now should know enough Robotic for simple programs. Even
more importantly, you should be able to scan the Robotic
reference manual, including the command reference, and be able
to learn many new commands. There are many important commands
in the command reference that we have not yet mentioned,
such as ENDGAME, IF statements and GOTOXY. It is recommended
that you at least browse over each of the Robotic reference
manual sections.

Make sure you (eventually) read over every part of the
reference manual, as there are many sections not covered in the
tutorials. Especially of interest will be advanced topics like
"The Vlayer and Its Uses", "Using MZMs", "Subroutines" and most
newer help file additions.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#THEGLOBL.HLP
:gbl:The Global

The global Robot is a special-case Robot; it is always present
on every board of the game. It is immobile (technically off the
board, but listed as at {-1,-1}), has a ROBOT_ID of 0, and
cannot be destroyed or changed into another object, even
through deliberate attempts to do so such as the EXPLODE
command. All other traits of Robots, such as 64k of Robot
memory and reserved local counters, apply to the global.

The global is important because it not only exists on all
boards, but also continues its state across boards. This allows
for easy management of continuous global engines such as an
inventory, status bars, and sidescrolling control, among others.
If the global did not exist, a copy of the engine would be
needed on every board, and the states of each such Robot would
be separate (possibly leading to management problems).

Certain commands (as hinted above) are worthless in the global.
Obvious commands such as BECOME, EXPLODE, COLOR/CHAR and all
command forms that take a relative direction (like LAYBOMB and
DUPLICATE SELF EAST). DIE, DIE ITEM and GOTOXY # # are
completely ignored as well.

Finally, the global is the only Robot which ignores FREEZETIME
and SLOWTIME states. This is extremely handy in creating the
ability to pause and unpause a MegaZeux game, among other
things.

>#COMMAND2.HLP:_f4:FREEZETIME #
>#COMMAND2.HLP:_sS:SLOWTIME #
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#BADPRACT.HLP
:101:Robotic Usages That Should be Avoided

There are several coding pitfalls in Robotic; while some are
complex in nature, others can be easily avoided. In general,
clean and efficient code is the least likely to cause
unexpected errors as well as the easiest to repair. Listed here
are several practises to avoid, as well as proper replacements.

~cBAD: Creating anything with c?? or p??
.  Anything that has an undefined value will use a default
.  which may be undesirable. The correct action would therefore
.  be to define the object's color and parameter values.
~9GOOD: Putting in any set value for colors and parameters.

~cBAD: Using global counters for temporary or localised work.
.  There are several counters that are Robot-specific and don't
.  eat up global counter space. local through local32 per Robot
.  should be enough for almost everyone, and the local counters
.  can be read by other robots as well (using the r&id&.local#
.  counter).
~9GOOD: Using local counters for temporary or localised work.

~CBAD: Breaking a subroutine without returning or entering the
.  ~Cmiddle of a subroutine.
~9GOOD: Fully finishing and starting subroutines.

~cBAD: Using a high amount of if statements regarding one
.  ~Cvariable.
~9GOOD: Using goto "label&number&" regarding one variable.

~CBAD: Using COPY # # # # to copy Robots when the copied
~CRobot's location at code execution is known.
~9GOOD: Using DUPLICATE SELF or COPY ROBOT when the copied
~9Robot's location at code execution is known.

~CBAD: Looping without using WAIT commands of any kind.
.  Looping without WAIT 1 in idle loops is more severe than many
.  think. Coupled with the "commands" counter set to a high
.  number, loops without WAIT 1 can absolutely choke a game's
.  speed, especially idle loops, and potentially FREEZE MZX.
~9GOOD: Including WAIT 1 in every loop except loops that are
.  ~9designed to get a finite length task done as quickly as
.  ~9possible.
.  You should add a WAIT 1 for any loop that constantly checks
.  for events (such as keypresses or board status).

~cBAD: Ending Robots with a label.
~9GOOD: Ending Robots with the END command.
.  It's debatable whether putting END after commands which
.  destroy the Robot (e.g. DIE, EXPLODE #) is necessary, but it
.  is still recommended in order to prevent a habit of leaving
.  it out in less redundant places.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#SUBROUTE.HLP
:sub:Subroutines

Subroutines are returnable labels, in essence. After the
subroutine actions finish, the Robotic goes to the line right
after the subroutine call. Anywhere a label can be used, a
subroutine can be called.

Another way to think about it is a label with a placemarker.
Going to this label marks your previous place; when done, the
program goes straight to the placemarker and returns where it
left off.

Subroutines are accessed by using the # sign as the first
letter. For example: ~egoto "#example"~f would call the
subroutine at the label "#example". To return to the next
command after the call use ~egoto "#return"~f.

In addition, one can go to the first subroutine's return
position using ~egoto "#top"~f.

A quick example of subroutines:

~B* "YE SHALL NOT PASS UNLESS YOU GIVE ME SPACE."
~Bgoto "#spacewait"
~B* "THAT'S BETTER BUT YOU'RE STILL HERE. _CORRECT THIS_"
~Bgoto "#spacewait"
~B* "THANKS FOR YOUR COMPLIANCE!"
~Bwait 25
~B* "YOUR PASS WILL ARRIVE IN 6 TO 8 WEEKS! or now! byebyebye"
~Bset "PASS" to 1
~Bdie
~Bend
~B: "#spacewait"
~Bwait 5
~B. "We don't want the space action to happen immediately again."
~B: "notspaceloop"
~Bwait 1
~Bif not spacepressed "notspaceloop"
~Bgoto "#return"

When sending other robots to subroutines the behavior is
slightly different. Because the robot is preempted (interrupted)
it will return to the same command it was at before going to
the subroutine, not the instruction after.

NOTE: Unlike older versions of MegaZeux, it is no longer needed
to initialise the stack, so don't get confused looking at older
examples of code and seeing odd statements like ~e. "#*-1-2-3"~f.
These statements are now treated as comments, and you should
mentally do the same.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#EXPRESS.HLP
:exp:Expressions

Expressions in MegaZeux allow users to set counters or a
displayed number to a mathematical expression. This possible
inputs are: counters, constants, or a combination. Any
expression in MegaZeux is bound in quotation marks and
parentheses. For example, an expression adding 5 and 3 would
be done in MegaZeux by inputting "(5 + 3)".

Counters can be used inside expressions using single quotes or
ampersands like so: "(&five& + 'three')".

MegaZeux cannot decipher directly nested ampersands or single
quotes; such will cause MegaZeux to misinterpret your
expression in different ways, depending on which you used.
Therefore, using expressions for nesting is another benefit.

Example: We set "r" to 1, "in" to 8 and ""out18" to 11. We want
to output the value of "out18".
"(&out&&r&in&&)" would output (0r&in&).
"('out'r''in'')" would output ('out'r''in'')
"('out('r')('in')')" would output the desired result - 11.

In fact, outside of simplifying mathematical code, nesting is
the main advantage of expressions. Nesting is limited only to
the amount one can put in a single editor line - 241
characters.

In expressions, the following operators may be used:

Binary operators (value-argument-value):

 +  Addition
 -  Subtraction
 *  Multiplication
 /  Division
 %  Modulo
 ^  Exponent (a^b is a to the b order/power)
 >> Bitshift right; it is logical, not arithmetic
 << Bitshift left
 >  Greater than
 <  Less than
 >= Greater than or equal to
 <= Less than or equal to
 =  Equal to
 != Not equal to
 a  Bitwise AND (not logical AND)
 o  Bitwise OR (not logical OR)
 x  Bitwise XOR (not logical XOR)

All of the either-or operators (i.e. "greater then" on down)
output a non-zero value for true and 0 for false.

Unary operators (operator followed by value):

- Unary negation; returns the negative value of the operand
(two's complement). (-10) would return -10.
~~ Bitwise negation; returns the bitwise NOT value of the
operand (one's complement). (~~10) would return 5. (1010 to
0101).

Using a constant expression "(n)" is the only way to directly
use numbers over 32767 or under -32768. This can not be changed
due to the way the world file format is coded. This is also the
only way to use octal (base 8) and full-sized hexadecimal
numbers; octal numbers always begin with a 0 (ex: 01745) and
hex numbers begin with 0x (ex: 0xDEAF).

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#FILEACSS.HLP
:fil:File Access

MegaZeux allows somewhat unwieldy but powerful file access
abilities. File access can do things that no other tools of
MegaZeux can do, such as create high score tables.

MegaZeux has some ways of saving standard formats in-game:

~ASET "file.txt" to "SAVE_ROBOT"
~ASET "file.txt" to "LOAD_ROBOT"
~ASET "file.txt" to "SAVE_ROBOTn"
~ASET "file.txt" to "LOAD_ROBOTn"

These commands can save Robotic code to text files and import
text files into a Robot. The first forms use the current Robot,
while the second forms use the Robot with the given Robot ID n.

~ASET "file.bc" to "SAVE_BC"
~ASET "file.bc" to "LOAD_BC"
~ASET "file.bc" to "SAVE_BCn"
~ASET "file.bc" to "LOAD_BCn"

These commands can save Robotic code to files in bitcode format
and import bitcode files into a Robot.  The first forms use the
current Robot, while the second forms use the Robot with the
given Robot ID n. Bitcode is much more compact than plain text,
but cannot be easily read by the human eye.

~ASET "file.mzx" to "SAVE_WORLD"
~ASET "file.mzx" to "LOAD_WORLD"

These commands save or load MZX worldfiles, respectively.

~ASET "file.sav" to "SAVE_GAME"
~ASET "file.sav" to LOAD_GAME

These commands save or load MZX savegames, respectively.

MegaZeux can manipulate any type of file with certain Robotic
commands. There are some basic things to remember when using
file access.

-Firstly, a file can only be read or written to at one time,
never both. This means you can't select the same file to be the
current "FREAD_OPEN" and "FWRITE_OPEN" targets.
-Secondly, only one file can be read to and one can be written
to at the same time.
-Next, writing and reading operations change the current fwrite
and fread positions.
-Lastly, files need to be closed when the current task is
finished. Otherwise, the file remains open and causes problems.
To close a file, use SET "" to "FREAD_OPEN" to close a file for
reading and SET "" to "FWRITE_OPEN" to close a file for
writing.

Here are the file writing commands at your disposal.

~ASET "file.xxx" to "FREAD_OPEN"

This command loads a file for reading.

~ASET "file.xxx" to "FWRITE_OPEN"

This command creates a new file for writing; if a file by this
name already exists, it is overwritten.

~ASET "file.xxx" to "FWRITE_MODIFY"

This command opens an existing file for reading without
overwriting it, starting at the beginning of the file.

~ASET "file.xxx" to "FWRITE_APPEND"

This command opens a file for writing at the END of the file.

~ASET "FREAD_POS" to #
~ASET "FWRITE_POS" to #

These commands change the current reading or writing position
of the accessed files. The position is in DECIMAL, not
hexadecimal. To seek the end of a file, set to -1.

~ASET "counter" to "FREAD_COUNTER"

Reads from the open file to a counter. This will grab two bytes
instead of the normal one.

~ASET "FWRITE_COUNTER" to "counter"

Writes from a counter to the open file. This will write the
full counter instead of simply the first byte.

~ASET "FWRITE" to "counter"
~ASET "$string" to "FWRITE"
~ASET "$string" to "FWRITEn"
~ASET "FREAD" to "counter"
~ASET "$string" to "FREAD"
~ASET "$string" to "FREADn"

These commands write values to and read values from,
respectively, the open file relative to the FREAD_POS or
FWRITE_POS counters. The SET "$string" to "FWRITEn" and
"FREADn" commands will write the first n characters (relative
to FREAD_POS or FWRITE_POS) from the file to the given string
or read the first n characters from the string into the open
file, respectively. Using ~ASET "$string.N" to "FWRITE(n)"~F will
insure that the string will be at least N characters long when
written.

Another use of file commands (which takes more work, but not
much) is verifying whether a file exists. To do this, a 
programmer would type:

~BSET "file.xxx" to "FREAD_OPEN"
~BSET "FREAD_POS" to -1
~BIF "FREAD_POS" >= 0 "existslabel"

If the file does not exist, "FREAD_POS" will read -1; if it
does exist, "FREAD_POS" will be the number of characters in the
file (0 or higher).

Here's a quick example of file access.

~BSET "example.txt" to "FWRITE_OPEN"
~BSET "$zoosound" to "ROAAAAR"
~BSET "$zoosound" to "FWRITE"
~BDEC "FWRITE_POS" by 1
~B. "This line backs us up one space so that the terminator
~B. "character will be overwritten, allowing us to display the"
~B. "whole contents of the file."
~BSET "$ender" to " (click)"
~BSET "$ender" to "FWRITE"
~BSET "" to "FWRITE_OPEN"
~B. "We're closing the file because we're going to read from it."
~BSET "example.txt" to "FREAD_OPEN"
~BASK "Want to play your animal sounds tape?"
~BEND
~B: "yes"
~BSET "$tape" to "FREAD"
~B* "&$tape&"
~BWAIT for 30
~BZAP "yes" 1
~BASK "Want to play it again?"
~BEND
~B: "yes"
~BSET "" to "FREAD_OPEN"
~B. "Switching tasks for the same file again."
~BSET "example.txt" to "FWRITE_OPEN"
~B. "We're wiping the file clean."
~BSET "$winder" to "bzz-bz-zipfwip--(clik) "
~BSET "$winder" to "FWRITE"
~BDEC "FWRITE_POS" by 1
~BSET "$tape" to "FWRITE"
~BSET "" to "FWRITE_OPEN"
~BSET "example.txt" to "FREAD_OPEN"
~BZAP "yes" 1
~B: "yes"
~BSET "FREAD_POS" to 0
~B. "We're starting from the beginning because we want to read"
~B. "all of the file."
~BSET "$tape" to "FREAD"
~B* "&$tape&"
~BWAIT for 30
~BASK "Want to play it again?"
~BEND
~B: "no"
~BSET "" to "FREAD_OPEN"
~BEND

This Robot will display first a roar and the sound of a tape
player clicking off before it asks if you want to play the tape
again. If no, the file is closed and the program ended. If yes,
rewinding tape sounds are stuck on the front of the text. The
player can then choose to re-view this text until "No" is
chosen.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:fac:File Access Counters
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#SPRITES.HLP
:spr:Sprites

Sprites allow the designer to have interactive entities on the
board composed of several characters. A sprite is a block of
characters drawn on the board or the vlayer that is then
displayed on the board, either beneath or above the overlay.
The biggest benefit of sprites is that they are cohesive;
unlike use of several Robots, there is absolutely no chance of
the sprite falling apart.

There are up to 256 available sprites, and sprites are
controlled in the following ways:

-Through sprite specific counters named SPRn_value
-Through control counters for all of the sprites
-Through commands for placing sprites and testing for collision

To setup a sprite you should set the SPRn_REFX / REFY / WIDTH /
HEIGHT counters to define where the sprite is and what its size
is. Then if you use:

~APUT cXX sprite pNN x y

where NN is the number of the sprite in hexadecimal (if you
write NN in decimal it will be automatically converted). If cXX
is c?? then the sprite is drawn with its normal colors as seen
on the board, otherwise it's painted with the given colors.

So, for example, to make a 2x2 sprite, you could draw it on the
board at the position [10, 10], assign it to sprite number 15,
then have it drawn at position [40, 5]. The Robotic for this is
as follows:

~BSET "spr15_refx" 10
~BSET "spr15_refy" 10
~BSET "spr15_width" 2
~BSET "spr15_height" 2
~BPUT c?? sprite p0f 40 5

You can then move the sprite around by changing spr15_x and
spr15_y. For example, using:

~BINC "spr15_x" 1
~BDEC "spr15_y" 1

will move the sprite to the northeast by 1.

Now that you have sprites setup and displayed you can do
collision tests; these check if moving sprites will cause
collision (i.e. overlapping) with either the background or with
other sprites. This way you can prevent sprites from moving on
top of walls or on top of other characters, or allow a sprite
to damage another one when striking.

This is done by using the following command:

~AIF c?? sprite_colliding pNN x y "collision"

This will go to the label "collision" if moving the sprite x by
y from its current position will cause it to collide with
something. If anything besides c?? is used then [x, y] are
absolute board coordinates instead.

If collision is gone to then the spr_clistN counters will be
set to what it collided with and spr_collisions will be set to
the number of things that the sprite collided with. If the
sprite will have collided with the background spr_clist0 will
be set to -1. If for instance, the sprite also collided with
sprites 2 and 3 spr_collisions will be set to 3 and spr_clist1
will be 2, spr_clist2 will be 3. The values of spr_clistN with
values of n greater than spr_collisions - 1 are undefined.

See the Sprite Counters and Robotic sections for other features
of sprites.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:spc:Sprite Counters
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#SMZXMODE.HLP
:095:Super MegaZeux Modes

Super MZX modes allow richer color options at the expense of
halved horizontal resolution. The number of colors per
character doubles to four, while the number of total max colors
on-screen at one time squares to 256. However, each mode works
differently and has different limitations and uses.

In Robotic, one can set the SMZX mode with the
~Aset "smzx_mode" # ~Fcommand, where # is the SMZX mode.

Super MZX mode 1 is the simplest mode and the easiest mode to
use. SMZX mode 1 simply blends the foreground and background
colors to get the third and fourth character colors. It is
obviously limited (this mode only allows editing of the 16
base colors) but is useful for anti-aliasing and shading
effects.

Super MZX mode 2 is the most difficult mode to use, although it
has its benefits. It allows considerable control over the
palette and allows for some overlay and sprite translucency
effects. Its colors (values in hex) are determined as such:

-Color I is the background color number as the first and second
digits. (For example, if background color is 5, the hex number
of color I is 55.)
-Color II is the background color number as the first digit and
the foreground color number as the second. (For example, if
background color is 5 and foreground color is 10, the hex
number of color II is 5A.)
-Color III is the foreground color number as the first digit
and the background color number as the second. (For example, if
background color is 5 and foreground color is 10, the hex
number of color III is A5.)
-Color IV is the foreground color number as the first and
second digit. (For example, if foreground color is 10, the hex
number of color IV is AA.)

Super MZX mode 3 is the best for dynamic usage of the palette,
and the easiest to edit in general. Its colors are determined
around a base value in hex (background color number as first
digit, foreground color number as second). Color I's number is
the base, II's is base+1, III's is base+2, and IV's is base+3.
The numbers wrap around (so if your base is, for example, FF,
color II would be 00).

Character editing in Super MZX modes is noticeably different.
While the character set can be edited in MegaZeux's internal
character editor, certain changes occur. 1-4 selects the
desired color; space no longer toggles between colors (it
always sets here); right click no longer clears; clear mode is
gone. Also note that the char editor sets itself to mode 1
during SMZX char editing; keep this in mind if you have a
visible character pool outside of the editor window to help
visualise.

Palette editing for SMZX modes cannot be done in MegaZeux's
editor. Palette creation must be done through Robotic.
Thankfully, people have created MZX files that greatly ease the
problem of creating SMZX palettes. PalzorII and Pal_ed are two
such programs. The commands for changing the palette are:

~BSMZX_Rn
~BSMZX_Bn
~BSMZX_Gn

These change or read the value of color n's red/blue/green
value, respectively. n ranges from 0 to 255.

Lastly, SMZX palettes and character sets can be loaded and
saved like any other palette or character set. However, this
wasn't the case in DOS, so there is a depreciated way to load
an SMZX palette (SET "filename" "smzx_palette").

>#COUNTERS.HLP:szc:Super MZX Counters
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#CHAREDIT.HLP:079:The Character Editor
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#VLAYER.HLP
:vla:The Vlayer and Its Uses

The vlayer is an extra, global graphical layer, but it is never
directly seen. It can only hold character and color info. The
vlayer acts like a workspace allowing copying from/to overlay,
copying from/to MZMs, copying from vlayer to vlayer,
reading/writing individual graphical data to/from the vlayer,
and reading strings from the vlayer.

Another important aspect of the vlayer is the ability to
reference a sprite to the vlayer.  This allows indirect display
of the vlayer through display of sprites. This can be
exploited to create the semblance of an extra overlay.

The vlayer defaults to 32768 characters large; its size can be
as large as roughly 16.7 million characters (2^24). Its size
can be determined by setting the counter "vlayer_size" to the
desired length of the vlayer. Doing this only sets the maximum
size; the actual vlayer will not be this large unless the
vlayer's dimensions are changed. All attempts to set the
vlayer's size above the maximum will be ignored.

To change the vlayer's dimensions, use the counters
"vlayer_width" and "vlayer_height". When one dimension is given
the other becomes as large as possible to fill the given
vlayer. For example, if one has a vlayer 50000 characters large
and sets vlayer_height to 499, the vlayer's width will become
100 characters wide (for a total vlayer size of 49900
characters). 

All bad values of vlayer_size, vlayer_height and vlayer_width
(0 and below) will be changed to 1.

To manipulate the vlayer, instead of pure numbers in copy
commands, "#n" is used instead. For example, if copying a 2x2
block from 6,6 of the board to 0,0 of the vlayer is wanted, the
command would be:

~ACOPY BLOCK 6 6 2 2 "#0" "#0"

Here are the vlayer copy functions:

Board to vlayer: ~ACOPY BLOCK x1 y1 w h "#x2" "#y2"
Overlay to vlayer: ~ACOPY OVERLAY BLOCK x1 y1 w h "#x2" "#y2"
Vlayer to board: ~ACOPY BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" w h x2 y2
Vlayer to overlay: ~ACOPY OVERLAY BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" w h x2 y2

In these, ~eCOPY BLOCK~f and ~eCOPY OVERLAY BLOCK~f are
interchangeable.

Vlayer to MZM:
~ACOPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" w h "@@name.mzm" m
Vlayer to string:
~ACOPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" w h "$stringN" c
Vlayer to itself:
~ACOPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x1" "#y1" w h "#x2" "#y2"

There are several ways to give the vlayer working coordinates.

Pure numbers: ~E"#xxx"~F
Counter value: ~E"#&counter&"~F
Expressions: ~E"#('counter' + x)"~F

MZMs can be placed on the vlayer by using p02. Example:

~APUT "@@visuals.mzm" image_file p02 x y

Reading and writing single characters or colors from the vlayer
requires the vch and vco counters.

For reading and writing characters use ~E"vchX,Y"~F.
For reading and writing colors use ~E"vcoX,Y"~F.

For example:

~ASET "vch10,10" '+'~f sets the vlayer char at 10, 10 to a plus
sign.
~ASET "vco10,10" 15~f sets the vlayer color at 10, 10 to white on
black.
~ASET "temp" "vch10,10"~f sets temp to whatever the character at
10, 10 of the vlayer is.

Remember that the vlayer is global. If many vlayers are wanted,
liberal usage of MZM saving and loading will help get around
this problem.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:vlc:Vlayer Counters
>#STRINGS.HLP:1st:Strings, Special Formatting, and Their Place in Robotic
>#MZM.HLP:mzm:Using MZMs
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#MZM.HLP
:mzm:Using MZMs

MZM files are equivalents of the ANSI files used in older MZX
versions. MZMs, however, are much more powerful and can store
much more information. MZMs can be up to 65535 x 65535 tiles in
size. MZMs are useful for easy access of reused graphics and
reused, multi-Robot entities.

MZMs come in two modes: "board" and "layer".
  * Board mode saves color, param, ID, and under information.
    However, it cannot save the player, scrolls or sensors.
    Board mode can save Robots and most built-ins; MZMs saved
    in the editor will save fresh robots, while MZMs saved
    in-game keep the Robots' current states.
  * Layer type saves only color and char information.

Any information not saveable will be replaced by a customblock
facsimile.

When loading a board MZM file to the overlay or vlayer, the
character used is the parameter stored. Outside of customblocks
and related, different characters could appear due to different
param settings (especially built-ins and Robots).

One can save MZMs in the editor; use the block action function.
MZMs saved in the editor from the board are saved as board;
from the overlay and vlayer, MZMs are always saved as layer.

Robotic methods of saving MZMs are:

~ACOPY BLOCK x y w h "@@filename" p
~ACOPY OVERLAY BLOCK x y w h "@@filename" p
~ACOPY (OVERLAY) BLOCK "#x" "#y" w h "@@filename" m

X/Y are the coordinates of the block's upper-left corner; w/h
are the length and width of the block; filename is the name of
the file (the @@ is required); finally, p determines the MZM
type. 1 saves as layer; 0 saves as board. 0 is integral for
copying non-graphical data (primarily Robots); 1 is proper for
copying graphical data, as the block's appearance will stay as
exactly as it was when saved. The last case is for saving from
the vlayer to MZM. The x/y coordinates MUST be in "#x" "#y"
format, and the m MUST exist.

The Robotic method of loading MZMs is:

~APUT "@@filename" image_file pNN x y

filename is the name of the MZM file (after the required @@),
x and y are the upper-left corner's coordinates, and NN is 00
for board, 01 for overlay, 02 for vlayer.

Finally, MZMs will neither be saved nor loaded if at the edge
of a board.

>#USINGTHE.HLP:_g:Alt+B OR Alt+Enter - Block action
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#TRIG.HLP
:tri:Trigonometric Functions

Trigonometry can simplify some complex engines, and MegaZeux
can access several trigonometric functions with fair precision.
Accessing trigonometric functions in MegaZeux requires some
setup, however.

Because MegaZeux works solely with integers, you need to set
the counter "multiplier" to determine how the non-integer 
working value is converted. For example, if your function
has a value of .86602 and multiplier is set to 10000 the
resulting value would be 8660. Numbers are always rounded
down from their values. The default value for the "multiplier"
counter is 10000.

Also, the counter "c_divisions" determines the precision of the
trig functions by determining how many times the circle is
divided. Common values for this include 360 (degree precision),
21600 (arc-minute precision) and 1296000 (arc-second
precision). The default value is 360.

The "divider" counter does what the "multiplier" counter
does for normal trig functions. This is extraordinarily helpful
for the inverse trig functions, and using the same divider
value as the multiplier makes interchanging use of normal and
inverse functions pretty smooth. Its default value is 10000.

These are the trig functions MegaZeux can directly utilise.

~BSIN - sine
~BCOS - cosine
~BTAN - tangent
~BASIN - arcsine (inverse sine)
~BACOS - arccosine (inverse cosine)
~BATAN - arctangent (inverse tangent)

To use the counters you put the unit number after the counter
name. Here's an example.  To display the cosine of 30 degrees
with degree-based precision, the needed line would be:

~e* "&cos30&"

Trig functions can also take expressions and counters. However,
counters can only be inserted through expressions; a construct
like "&sinlocal&" will not work, but "&sin('local')&" will.

>#COUNTERS.HLP:mth:Mathematical Counters
>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#PARTIAL.HLP
:par:Partial Character Sets

Partial character sets are less than full sets, indeed, but
they only overwrite the characters they are told to. This
leaves the rest of the characters intact. Heavy animations and
changes that keep part of the character set intact (such as the
alphanumeric characters) are two issues best tackled with
partial character sets.

One can save a partial character set in the editor by
selecting a starting character value (aka "offset") and a
length value. These fields show up when you export a character
set, under the filename input.

To load partial character sets into your current set, you have
two options. You can firstly load it as you would a normal
character set; this replaces all characters from the start of
the target character set until the end of the partial set.
Secondly, you can load the partial set into a non-0 position of
the target character set.  In the editor, this can be done by
setting the offset field in the import character dialog, under
the filename input. The @@xxx prefix allows this in Robotic;
xxx is the number (in decimal) of the first character to
replace in the target character set.

>#ROBOTICR.HLP:087:Robotic Reference Manual
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#NEWINVER.HLP
:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!

Whenever, 2007 - MZX 2.82

USERS

+ Added a more lenient WAV file loader so that ModPlug isn't
  relied on as much to play malformed WAV files (mostly old SAM
  conversions) (Mr_Alert).
+ Added SCORE to the counter debugger (Mr_Alert).
+ Added a 16-bit software renderer and a half-width renderer
  for the GP2X port (Mr_Alert).
+ Made the mouse cursor in the "opengl2" renderer look more
  like the mouse cursor in the other renderers (Mr_Alert).
+ Setting vlayer_size, vlayer_width or vlayer_height to values
  less than or equal to zero would crash MegaZeux. Limited the
  smallest vlayer size to 1x1.
+ If selecting a module with a non 8.3 filename, MZX will now
  ask you if you want to rename it to 8.3, and do so in an
  intelligent way. This means that music can be selected in the
  editor and correctly saved (Wervyn).
+ The OpenBSD compiler detected some serious string bugs in
  MegaZeux. These have now been fixed and should eliminate some
  more potential crashes.

DEVELOPERS

+ Made the build system less verbose by default (like Linux).
  This should help make warnings (due to coding errors) easier
  to identify. If you don't like the new syntax, or need the
  command debug, you can build with "make V=1".
+ Updated Win32 builds to use SDL 1.2.12.
+ Rewrote the build system to not use recursive Makefiles,
  because variable propagation was starting to be a problem,
  and a recursive design is generally discouraged.
+ Refactored the graphics rendering code to modularize the
  renderers and reduce code duplication (Mr_Alert).
+ Switched GDM2S3M over to use inttypes.h instead of
  home-brewing types. Improves portability to BSD.
+ MegaZeux now compiles on OpenBSD (and probably other BSDs),
  use --disable-gl.

>#280CLOG.HLP:280:New in versions 2.80-2.80h
>#OLDERVER.HLP:099:New in versions 2.60 to 2.70
>#OLDESVER.HLP:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60
>#NEWIN200.HLP:1st:New in version 2.00
>#ANCENVER.HLP:103:New in versions thru 1.03
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#281CLOG.HLP
:281:New in Versions 2.81-2.81g

July 4, 2007 - MZX 2.81g

Again, no significant new features have been introduced in this
release. However, there have been many essential bugfixes,
including improved compatibility with games made in older
versions of MegaZeux.

Additionally, improvements have been made to the opengl2 and
overlay2 renderers, improving performance for most users. A
port of MegaZeux to the GP2X console has been added. MegaZeux
has been backported to C (rather than C++) and can operate
correctly on a CPU without a floating-point unit.

Particular thanks go out to Mr_Alert (for his valuable bug
fixes), Lancer-X (for fixing what I was too lazy to) and Terryn
(for finding many annoying bugs that nobody else could).

USERS

+ Fixed a bug in the audio code. The linear resampler was not
  taking volume into account, which broke changing the volume
  of samples (WAV and Vorbis) which cannot natively alter their
  volumes.
+ Fixed a regression in the overlay editor caused by the new
  editor space semantics.
+ Screenshots are now rendered to a separate texture using the
  8bit software renderer. This means that the hardware scalers
  will not affect the quality of the screenshot. It also fixes
  a bug when using opengl2, which would dump only a white
  screen.
+ Temporarily reverted a bugfix that broke Zeux IV - Forest of
  Ruin. I'm not dropping the bugfix, I just can't immediately
  see what's wrong.
+ Fixed a bug where setting the viewport to negative
  coordinates would crash MegaZeux. There was code to handle
  this, but it was wrong.
+ Fixed a bug that permitted the mouse y coordinate to be
  warped to row 25, which does not exist. This bug caused some
  of the renderers to crash, and the software renderer to draw
  in memory it did not possess.
+ Fixed a bug where games made before 2.68 could have available
  the "key?" counters, unsupported in that version. This caused
  collisions with counters with the key? name used with
  inc/dec/mul/div/mod. Fixes "Doom Keep".
+ Imported libmodplug 0.8.4, which adds MIDI/PAT and ABC format
  support, fixes some bugs in the mixer, and should build on
  more platforms.
  NOTE: MID files currently cannot be selected in the editor,
  because they do not play correctly.
+ Improved the performance of the "opengl2" renderer, by
  removing the convoluted 3D drawing commands and replacing
  them with 2D ones. Reduced the quad count by using an
  intermediary 80x25 texture. MegaZeux now depends on fewer GL
  features. [LogiCow]
+ Introduced an "fsafegets" to work around problems where
  robots exported by a Windows version of MegaZeux would not
  load on other platforms. This was due to differing EOL style
  and broke at least one game (Termination).
+ Renamed "force_resolution" to "fullscreen_resolution" to
  better match its semantics with the scaling renderers. The
  new name is less accurate for software render modes, but most
  people using software will not want to change it from the
  default anyway.
+ Fixed a bug where the variable-length string allocator would
  prematurely bail out when reading a string (of indeterminate
  length) from a file with the set "$var" to "FREAD" syntax.
+ Fixed a bug where more than 256 errors would crash the
  robotic checker.
+ Improved performance of the overlay2 (faster) renderer
  (Mr_Alert).
+ Made the transparent overlay "really" transparent when used
  in conjunction with sprites (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed a bug reported by Mr_Alert where MZX would not handle
  short, non-looping mods in the editor. The editor would try
  to destroy the mod again, even after the callback had
  destroyed it (premature termination).
+ Fixed a bug with SWAP WORLD where file translation would
  occur but the result would mistakenly not be used. This broke
  some uses of SWAP WORLD on non-Windows platforms (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed a bug where using JUMP to MOD ORDER right after
  switching boards would fail due to the board music not having
  been loaded yet (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed a bug where games made before 2.80 would inadvertently
  trigger "PLAYERHURT" due to using the SET command to reduce
  the amount of health (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed a bug where player clones were generated when entering
  transports during FREEZETIME (Lancer-X).
+ Debug menu is now eradicated on leaving the editor
  (Lancer-X).
+ Debug menu is now properly painted over when the board size
  is < the editor viewport. Fixes various graphical glitches
  (Lancer-X).
+ Fixed a crash bug when playing older MZX games from read-only
  media (such as a CD) or where file-system permissions
  prohibited creating SAM conversions (Lancer-X).
+ Fixed bug where certain file formats would not be
  automatically converted if their extensions were mixed or
  upper case (e.g. OGG/SAM/GDM).
+ Restored functionality of "if lasttouch DIR" which has been
  broken since MZX 2.02.
+ Fixed a bug where attempting to decrypt a read-only world
  file would result in a crash (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed several bugs where an error loading a world file would
  result in crashes in several different situations (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed a bug where a robot using the BECOME command to change
  into a PushableRobot or vice versa would freeze (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed memory leaks in the file selection dialog, the counter
  debugger, the collision list and the global robot (Mr_Alert).
+ Updated counter list (see docs/counter_list.txt in the
  source) (Terryn).
+ Fixed a bug where pressing escape when editing the effect of
  a ring or potion would result in an invalid parameter which
  would later cause a crash if edited again (Mr_Alert).
+ Fixed a bug in which robot-driven text boxes using option
  commands (the ? command) could overflow by two characters and
  spill over the side (Lancer-X).
+ Fixed the list box searching mechanism (used in the file
  manager and F11 counter list) and made the existing function
  more understandable. (Lancer-X).
+ Fixed a bug in which the message string given to the 'ask'
  command could spill over. Now, the 'ask' dialog resizes if
  possible, and clips when no further resizing can be performed
  (Lancer-X).
+ Clipped the 'input string' message properly, to prevent
  similar overflow.
+ Fixed a bug with the EXPLODE, DIE, DIE ITEM and BECOME
  commands when used with the global robot (would clear the
  global robot, eventually corrupting memory when in the
  editor). Presumably, these commands are bogus for the global
  robot, and have been disabled.

DEVELOPERS

+ Rewrote config.sh to use POSIX sh compatible functions, so
  that there is no dependency on the BASH interpreter.
  Surprisingly, some distributions still don't enable BASH by
  default (using csh, ash or zsh instead).
+ Ported most of MegaZeux back to C. Many more changes were
  required than I anticipated; MZX was using more C++ features
  than I expected. The only exception is audio.cpp, which
  cannot be ported back to C because it uses ModPlug's C++
  classes directly (but I plan to split this file up shortly).
  NOTE: The changes required were enormous, so I might have
  introduced some weird bugs! Please test!
+ Enabled GCC's -W flag for even more warnings, switching off
  unused parameter warnings (useful for delegates). Mostly
  typing fixes, but it found a bug in string handling.
+ No longer suppresses char-subscript warnings, and fixed up
  any remaining abuses in the tree.
+ Added manpages for 'megazeux' and other binaries for the
  Debian packages. Complied with the Debian packaging
  guidelines by providing a copyright note, listing significant
  contributors to MegaZeux.
+ Added support to the build system for supporting icons
  modularly. See contrib/icons/README for more information.
+ The debug build (make DEBUG=1) now enables GCC 4.x's stack
  protector. This breaks compatibility with GCC 3.x, but you
  can just remove the flag if you don't want to use it (the
  stack protector will improve stack corruption detection and
  provide more usable debug traces).
+ Custom Random() implementation to provide a more uniform
  number distribution. Factored out for future (better)
  implementations.
+ The audio backend (audio.cpp) has been modularised to support
  the use of mikmod instead of modplug. This should enable
  ports of MZX to platforms without an FPU, and improve
  performance on platforms with weak FPUs.
+ Added GP2X port to config.sh, based on work done by Simon
  Parzer.


January 30, 2007 - MZX 2.81f

This release is mostly about the new renderers, the first of
which was introduced in the previous version. There's also a
few important bugfixes, and a lot of internal tidy-up work. I'd
like to thank Mr_Alert, Quantum P. and LogiCow for contributing
to this release. Thanks guys.

USERS

+ Renamed the force_32bpp config option to force_bpp, in
  preparation for 16bit OpenGL render modes. This option now
  takes 8, 16 or 32. 16 is reportedly broken on Windows, so
  stick to 32 for now.
+ Added infrastructure for "pluggable" renderers. This code
  isn't perfect, but it's far better than the mess in 'e'.
  Defaults to the 'software' render mode.
+ Added Logicow's alternative OpenGL renderer. For more
  information about this renderer, see config.txt. NOTE: This
  code may be buggy! Please test!
+ Added Mr Alert's YUV overlay renderers. One does full YUV
  macropixel approximation, the other (faster) render does
  chroma supersampling. See config.txt for more information.
  NOTE: This code may be buggy! Please test!
+ Simplified Exophase's OpenGL renderer present in 'e', and
  fixed a few bugs that caused it to not work for some people.
+ Really made MegaZeux use 'directx' by default on Windows. The
  code in 'e' was non-functional. Use 'windib.bat' to run
  MegaZeux with the SDL windib driver.
+ The OpenGL renderers now have a 'filter' option that allows
  you to choose linear (where pixels are interpolated, looks
  "blurred") or nearest (where nearest-neighbour approximation
  occurs, looks "sharp").
+ Mouse warping was broken when using any of the hardware
  renderers. There should be code in there now to take account
  of this (thanks Mr_Alert).
+ Added an option 'editor_spaces_replace' which allows you to
  revert MZX's space overwrite behavior to the semantics of 'd'
  (the feature was removed in 'e'). By default, the behavior is
  unchanged (the same as 'e').
+ F6 (the debug menu) can now no longer be enabled anywhere but
  in the editor Alt-T test mode. In 'e', it was possible to
  enable on the title screen, but could not be enabled in a
  game. Like the cheats, this option is now visible only in
  test mode.
+ Fixed a bug where the global robot could be exited via some
  legal commands, in an abnormal fashion. The bug resulted in
  all the code up to the offending command being executed over
  and over.
+ Fixed a bug in the audio code. The linear resampler was not
  taking volume into account, which broke changing the volume
  of samples (WAV and Vorbis) which cannot natively alter their
  volumes.
+ Fixed a regression in the overlay editor caused by the new
  editor space semantics.
+ Temporarily reverted a bugfix that broke Zeux IV - Forest of
  Ruin. I'm not dropping the bugfix, I just can't immediately
  see what's wrong.
+ Screenshots are now rendered to a separate texture using the
  8bit software renderer. This means that the hardware scalers
  will not affect the quality of the screenshot. It also fixes
  a bug when using opengl2, which would dump only a white
  screen.
- The force_height_multiplier option has been removed. A lot of
  code wasn't properly designed to handle it, there have been
  mouse warp bugs with it for years, and nobody seems to use
  it. If people want stretching, they can choose one of the
  four hardware renderers to achieve this.
- Removed the 'lame/1337' menu feature.

DEVELOPERS

+ OpenGL can now be disabled via config.sh. This allows
  MegaZeux ebuilds to be constructed on systems that do not
  have any form of OpenGL support. (Although MZX runtime loads
  the OpenGL library, 'e' required the headers to build
  correctly. This is now no longer the case.)
+ On Windows, due to an ATi driver bug, I have provided a means
  of linking directly to opengl32.dll, instead of relying on
  the dynamic loader. This reduces binary portability, but
  fixes many bug reports of being unable to fullscreen on ATi
  video cards. See OPENGL_LINKING for more information.
+ Improved support for cross compiling with mingw32 on Linux,
  combined the win32 Makefile with this new support.
+ Rewrote the config.sh script. All of the options have
  changed, and the broken platform auto-detection has been
  removed. See ./config.sh for more information.
+ Rejigged MegaZeux's headers so that they can be used in both
  C and C++ mode. Renamed fsafeopen.cpp to fsafeopen.c.
  Hopefully by 'g' most of MegaZeux should be ported back to C,
  instead of the "C++" it is now.
+ Fixed up the 'txt2hlp' utility which Terryn has been using a
  version of to build the internal MZX help system. This binary
  is built in the source distribution, but it is not
  distributed with the MegaZeux binaries.
+ Moved some antiquated Greg code out into 'old'. No attempt
  has been made to make it compile, it is provided purely for
  reference.
+ For the windows binaries, "windib.bat" is now generated by
  package.sh and auto-generated for the name of the MegaZeux
  executable.
+ Updated Xcode package from Quantum P. (see macosx.zip).
+ Fixed an invalid assumption in config.sh where /bin/sh was
  chosen as the shell script interpreter. This should have been
  /bin/bash, as 'sh' is not required to support functions,
  which config.sh uses.

January 19, 2007 - MZX 2.81e
 
+ Made grabbing in the editor not combine background color
  - only uses "special" in game colors for player. tell me if
  anything ends up being weird because of this.
+ Possibly fixed an obscure bug where moving something happened
  immediately if it was sent to a label by a robot further
  east/south than it and it moved north or west (has to do with
  the way robots are reverse scanned). Tell me if this changed
  any behavior for the worse and I'll change it back or try to
  work out something new.
+ Added GDMs to ctrl + n; this will, of course, auto convert
  and play the s3m.
+ Added ability to preset player locked status from board
  settings.
+ Instead added ability to debug variables (counters and
  strings) ingame with F11. There's also an option to export
  the current variables to Robotic program that sets them.
+ Fixed bug where moving a block with the player into an
  overlapping region leaves a space where the player was.
+ Fixed bug with a robot indirectly sending itself to a
  subroutine via send all or send name causing it to loop the
  send.
+ Added compatability hacks for key# prior to MZX 2.69 worlds
  and ridNAME falling through in MZX 2.70 and earlier worlds.
+ F6, F7, F8, and F11 debug/cheat keys only work in editing
  mode now (as things were prior to the port) You can still
  save/load in the editor so if you want all of these things
  you can play the game from the start there.
+ Space in the editor no longer deletes something of similar
  type that is beneath; not sure what the point of this was
  anyway.
+ Fixed bug causing cursor to clipped be out of bounds in SMZX
  char editor if changing to smaller multichar edit region.
+ Accidentally messed up screen centering in fullscreen for
  32bpp mode, fixed.
+ Added hardware scaling option. You can now supply a window
  resolution besides 640x350 and allow for window resizing if
  hardware scaling is on; this will also scale fullscreen
  output to fill the entire screen. This can slow down
  rendering somewhat.
+ Fixed bug causing flip block to crash in the editor.
+ Made blocked directions relative to the player for put dir
  player.
+ Fixed bug where putting something to a direction relative the
  player overwriting the robot could crash MZX.
+ Fixed ability to input in input boxes by clicking on their
  question string.
+ Removed the bogus patch to Modplug and correctly fixed it in
  the build system.
+ Added 'debian' subdirectory for building Debian and Ubuntu
  upstream packages. Hopefully MegaZeux will be in the primary
  pool in a few months.
+ Added OS X xcode project files (see 'macosx.zip'). Fixed many
  bugs relating to endian that caused MegaZeux to be buggy on
  big-endian architectures (like PPC). Credit goes to Quantum P
  for finding these bugs and engineering high quality
  solutions.
+ Made 'directx' the default video render again on Windows.
  NOTE: This overrides the default SDL behaviour, but will not
  be applied if you set SDL_VIDEODRIVER yourself.
+ Repaired the 'linux-static' target so that it no longer
  includes a system C++ library, which caused unpredictable
  results on distros without a static version.
+ Fixed a locking bug with the audio code that caused hangs at
  startup on OS X. Also provided a mutex implementation using
  GNU pthreads as a temporary workaround for an SDL bug on the
  Linux platform.
+ Added PlayStation Portable (PSP) port. This code was written
  by Exophase and is highly experimental. It may not work at
  all for you. Please see docs/build.txt for more information
  regarding this port.
+ Fixed mouse movement from being affected by height_multiplier
  when not in fullscreen mode.
+ Fixed height_multiplier config.txt option allowing you to
  enter really stupid values (like negatives, 0, and values too
  large for the resolution).
+ Added in an extra video mode check to stop MZX from crashing
  on video modes that the video card can not reproduce.
+ Fixed Avalanche to a constant placement rate of 1/18 (this
  caused MZX to deliver an uneven number of boulders, and to
  crash with certain board sizes).
+ Fixed sprite collision box to stop MZX from crashing when
  stupid values are entered
+ Fixed setting the viewport size to weird values like some old
  MZX games do.
+ Default fullscreen resolution is now 640x480; this can be
  changed in config.txt .
+ The config.txt option force_32bpp is now enabled by default.
+ Seeking with mod_position when using a .WAV file as
  background music fixed (thanks Mr_Alert).
- Removed ability to change SMZX mode ingame (F11).

December 10, 2006 - MZX 2.81d

NOTE: This release was made by Alistair Strachan (ajs) and not
      by Exophase. As such, any problems present in this
      release that were not present in 2.81c should be reported
      directly to ajs.

+ Fixed a compilation failure on Linux, due to SDL no longer
  depending on libX11. Now we manually link X11 into MZX if
  necessary.
+ Various build system improvements, fixing bugs in the
  prefixing of dependencies.
+ New libmodplug 0.8 imported, fixing many endian problems on
  big-endian machines, integrating all of our local patches to
  0.7.
+ Fixed bug causing MZX to freeze when starting up on Win9x
  machines.
+ Fixed a warning generated by GCC 4.1.
+ Updated the GPL boilerplates project-wide to the newest FSF
  address.
+ Fixed a string range check causing an obscure crash in
  certain games.
+ Updated the build.txt documentation.

December 14, 2005 - MZX 2.81c

+ Oops, accidentally broke shift + F2. Fixed that.
+ Also accidentally broke &+counter& for full hex
  representation. Fixed.
+ Fixed memory leak problem with playing certain WAVs in a
  loop.
+ Fixed inconsistency of bad viewport sizes behaving
  differently on current versions from old DOS versions.
+ Accidentally broke joystick stuff in config.txt (has to do
  with way configure options were being read), fixed.
+ Fixed bug causing crash when loading MZBs larger than the
  current board size.
+ Made cursor hidden in alt + V in editor.
+ String comparison failed with nulls in the strings, fixed.
  Also should be slightly more optimal.
+ Fixed bug when using negative numbers for
  if sprite_colliding "counter".
+ Fixed math operations (inc, dec, etc) not working on string
  indeces. 
+ Added ability to force screen to 32bpp. Fixes some slight
  rendering issues, and if you have problems with fullscreen
  let me know if this helps (try it without first though). See
  force_32bpp in config.txt. 
+ Fixed sprite clipping bug with respect to overlay. 
+ Fixed bug where pressing enter on things besides robots,
  scrolls/signs, or sensors in the editor would clear whatever
  was underneath it. 
+ Accidentally broke SFX with optional PC speaker chains
  (played both, should only play PC speaker when digital music
  is off, fixes Bernard the Bard).
+ Made last character in char selection for F3 and alt + C
  remembered (note that they're remembered in two different
  places for both).
+ Accidentally broke life animations, fixed.

November 26, 2005 - MZX 2.81b

+ Fixed inability to make proper .savs of worlds with strings.
  (they'd crash when loaded..)
+ Fixed PC speaker audio bug causing a constant high pitched
  noise to be played instead of PC speaker audio sometimes.
+ Fixed some issues with long pathnames.
+ Fixed a bug causing Caverns to crash in recent versions (long
  story, it was most likely due to an error in ver1to2).
+ Now when you set mzx_speed in a game you can no longer change
  the speed from the F2 menu. Setting mzx_speed to 0 reallows
  this (and doesn't set the speed).
+ When loading a game its speed is now set to the speed MZX
  started with (whatever's in config.txt, or the default of 4).
+ Added backup_ext config.txt option to specify the extension
  of backup files (default is .mzx).
+ Fixed backup_interval for config.txt possibly being broken.
+ Fixed a bug messing up the death board on some old MZX games
  (like Nick Brick 2)
+ Escaped more things and made displays always in escaped form
  for certain character sequences. It should be impossible to
  type non-escaped forms. The following should be used:
  \0 for 0 (this probably won't work in strings, but in chars
  should)
  \t for tab (character 9)
  \n for newline (character 10)
  \r for carriage return (character 13)
  \" for double quote
  \\ for slash
+ Copy + paste on escaped character won't unescape them
  anymore.
+ Fixed error message for invalid lines in Robotic.
+ Fixed inability to import text files from other directories.
+ Huge overhaul of the source (proper types for things,
  directions, equalities, conditions, chest items, and
  potions), if anything is suddenly broken now let me know.
+ Made scrolls/signs only display text (letters, numbers, etc).
  in the default char set. That should be enough for now.
+ Added mousewheel support for robot editor and robot box
  display.
+ Fixed inability to load MZMs from other directories in the
  editor.
+ Wrapped audio stuff in proper mutex, hopefully this fixes
  some issues (like crashing when changing mod_frequency a
  lot).
+ Long current directory paths no longer write out too much in
  the file loader (instead the last bit is shown with a ...
  prefixing the beginning)
+ Decided to be nice and make board_scan not crash. Don't use
  it. It's only there to make one legacy game work. If you use
  it I will personally scold you. And don't tell other people
  to use it (that means you CJA). Use
  copy block x y w h "$str" t
  instead. If you don't know what that means read the help
  file, it explains everything.
+ Removed ability to copy + paste after changing board
  dimensions of the source under any circumstances (alt + R,
  alt + Z, import world, import board).
+ Fixed appearance of ghosts in F10 menu.
+ Prevented char editor from counting moving the cursor as an
  undo step if nothing was actually drawn.
+ Made pressing escape on initial char selection/board
  selection/param selection for things cause it to cancel
  placing anything.
+ Made it impossible to set board width/height to 0 again
  (oops).
+ Made starting lives and starting health take effect
  immediately for the first alt + t.
+ Added ability to play OGG from alt + l (but not the other
  mods, don't want to clutter that up).
+ Made it so if no note follows an embedded SAM in a play
  string it's played at native frequency.
+ Accidentally made loading worlds in the editor not change the
  current directory, fixed that.

November 20, 2005 - MZX 2.81

+ Fixed a bug where MZX world/save names > 12 chars could cause
  weird things to happen (like doors breaking).
+ Fixed problems with help file/charsets loading when loading
  MZX outside of the directory MZX is in. This should fix file
  associations on Windows as well.
+ Changed board selector so when board 0 is "(no board)" it
  doesn't actually refer to the title but to no board.
+ Made import world not overwrite the title string.
+ Fixed bug that causes crash when trying to flood fill an area
  with the color it already is in the SMZX char editor.
+ Redid audio engine. Everything is unified now, meaning that
  anything you can use as a mod you can use as a sam and
  vice-versa.
+ The new audio engine uses its own master resampler that has
  three interpolation modes - see config.txt for more
  information.
+ sam 0 filename will play a file at its native frequency (note
  that SAMs that have been converted from WAVs are set to be
  played at 8363Hz).
+ Added support for OGG vorbis audio files.
+ Fixed bug causing SFX volume control in F2 menu to not work.
+ Removed limitation on number of SAMs that can be played
  simultaneously.
+ Fixed bug where the mouse got "stuck" in the black border
  edges of non 640x350 fullscreen resolutions.
+ Fixed issues with message boxes being part default palette
  part current palette, they now always use the current
  palette.
+ Added mod_position counter. What these actually set/return is
  dependant on the type of file loaded. Modules use the current
  row, OGGs use the current PCM sample.
+ Added mod_frequency counter. There are a few things to note
  here: Modules have a "nominal" frequency of 44.1KHz. Other
  data types have their own nominal frequency to prevent output
  from sounding differently depending on the audio_sample_rate
  in config.txt. For OGGs and WAVs the nominal frequency is the
  one the file is encoded at. Changing the frequency can cause
  a noticeable one time popping sound, so it might not be
  desirable to slide it. This is much more prominent with
  lowering the frequency than raising it. This value is capped
  so it can't reach below 16.
+ Changed alt + L to play back at natural frequency instead of
  8363Hz.
+ Fixed bug causing sensor deletion while the player is on top
  to destroy the player.
+ Fixed bug causing imported boards to possibly crash after
  being tested.
+ Fixed bug causing save_game and save_world to not work if a
  file with the given name isn't already present.
+ Changed function counter matching removing restriction on
  number of digits for parameters. 10+ digit inputs should no
  longer fail (for instance, abs-123456789)
+ Made counter/string names internally variable length instead
  of a fixed 14 chars. There is now no longer a name length
  limitation.
+ Changed alt+8 for mod * to just * in the hotkey listing.
+ Fixed crash when referencing (by param) sprites > 256.
+ The string system has been redone. Strings are now
  dynamically sized and don't have an artificial maximum
  length. Writing to string.N will guarantee that the size of
  the string becomes at least N, while reading in this way will
  return 0 if out of bounds to maintain the illusion of null
  termination. Be careful when using this.
+ $str.length returns the length of string $str (this is faster
  than iterating through it to find when chars hit 0).
+ Vlayer is dynamically sized. The vlayer_width/vlayer_height
  counters still work as per usual, but the vlayer_size counter
  has been added to adjust the maximum size. The default is
  32768.
+ Fixed bug not allowing things to move over goop.
+ Fixed bugs causing current directory to be changed when
  importing things from other directories.
+ Properly implemented support for volume "string".
+ Fixed a few commands not working when they should from the
  global robot (such as put to dir of player).
+ Fixed a bug where going to a label at the end of a robot
  would treat it as if it's the first of its name in a sequence
  of labels.
+ Fixed a bug involving moving the a block with the player not
  moving what was underneath the player.
+ New help file, thanks MUCHLY to Terryn for pulling off this
  enormous effort! (This is what you're reading from.)
- Save files from 2.80 are not compatible due to several
  changes in the save format.

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
>#280CLOG.HLP:280:New in Versions 2.80-2.80h
>#OLDERVER.HLP:099:New in versions 2.60 to 2.70
>#OLDESVER.HLP:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60
>#NEWIN200.HLP:1st:New in version 2.00
>#ANCENVER.HLP:103:New in versions thru 1.03
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#280CLOG.HLP
:280:New in Versions 2.80-2.80h
June 6, 2005 - MZX 2.80h

+ Fixed a bug which could cause crashes when quitting the game.
+ Fixed some bugs when changing boards and other things that
  can cause duplicate players.. I think.
+ Fixed a bug that could cause crashes when adding boards.
+ Improved response time in editor for slower computers/high
  load situations.
+ Fixed some endian issues with the GUI.
+ Fixed some crash when moving the mouse cursor around in the
  editor.
+ Fixed bug where you if you had a robot whose name is the same
  as the global robot it wouldn't get messages (fixes yoyo in
  Weirdness).
+ Fixed debug box not moving with text input.
+ Fixed bug with duplicate player appearing when killed and a
  new one can't be put at 0, 0.
+ Added copy/paste for outside of MZX to/from the robot editor.
  It only works in Windows and X11, and functionality may be
  limited in X11 right now (currently seems to work in native
  X11 apps and GTK 2.6 apps but not earlier GTK or QT, also try
  shift + insert to paste).
+ Fixed bug in resizing involving overlay blanking.
+ Fixed clear messages/projectiles not working (and damaging
  the game instead).
+ Fixed behavior of P key in editor for wildweasel.
+ Fixed random in Robotic not correctly swapping the range if
  they're given in the wrong order.
+ Fixed clip length in [ messages.
+ Fixed crash when changing volume without a game loaded.
+ Redid internal GUI system, fixes some minor things.
+ New file loading/saving window - press del to delete a
  file/dir, alt + n to create a new directory, alt + r to
  rename a file/dir.
+ Added PC speaker volume control to F2 settings and
  config.txt.
+ Fixed yet another crash bug with resizing boards.
+ Fixed inability to type * in text placement in the editor
  (although this adds inability to turn on mod * while F2 is
  on...).
+ Added ctrl + n in the editor to load a module for listening
  only (won't set the current board's module, and will let you
  choose ones from different directories).
+ Fixed crash on macros with more variables than can be
  displayed in their configuration.
+ Fixed bug that causes char selection cursor to reset to 0 on
  unhandled keys (and continuously do so for lock keys).
+ Tweaked ctrl + dir in text entry boxes.
+ Added gdm2s3m in-tree to the contrib/ directory. gdm2s3m no
  longer needs to be installed on the system before compiling
  mzx.
+ Improved the build system to automatically build .c and .cpp
  files with compound system CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS, respectively.
+ Made package.sh automatically ship the source package with a
  Makefile.dist to warn the user that they need to run
  config.sh before 'make'.
+ Rectified inconsistency in source copyrights.
+ Added multi-character editor. Select multiple keys in the
  character selection with shift. The char editor also now has
  the ability to perform operations (delete, copy, scroll, etc)
  on subblocks. Hold down shift or press alt + b to highlight a
  region (press escape to remove the latter). Blocks copied
  like this will be pasted to where the cursor is at. Other
  small things in chareditor tweaked/changed... No longer press
  tab to toggle through set/clear/toggle draw modes, instead
  tab for set mode and shift + tab for clear (no more toggle).
  Mouse behavior is modified as well. In non-SMZX left click
  sets, right click clears. Shift + F2 will cut a block (clear
  + copy).

  alt + x/alt + i can now be used to import/export partial
  charsets while in the char editor. You can do so for several
  in series: put a # in the name of the charset then set the
  First for the first number # will be replaced with and the
  Count value to indicate how many in series to work with. For
  instance, saving s#.chr with first = 0, count = 3, starting
  at offset 100, with a 2x2 char selection will save charsets
  s0.chr from 100, s1.chr from 104, s2.chr from 108, and
  s3.chr from 112.

  *** NOTE *** Series import/export will only work correctly
  with char selections that are one in height (can still be
  split up another way in the editor itself). So if you want to
  use partial charsets on your edits it's important that you
  select all the chars in a row.

+ Made characters for the editor/GUI use another charset that's
  protected. Please notify me if any characters are incorrect.
  Modify mzx_edit.chr to change this charset. The same thing
  goes for colors. It doesn't work for SMZX, which also might
  look a bit different in the editor...
+ Added option (defaults on) to protect chars 32-127 in input
  boxes and strings in the robot editor.
+ Mouse warping goes to middle instead of top corner now, so
  there isn't a bias towards moving up.
+ Hopefully fixed another bug with the cursor and changing
  boards...
+ Fixed module looping problem in modplug...
+ Added libmodplug 0.7 with both patches (see contrib/)
  in-tree. Removes system dependency on libmodplug.
+ Made auto-backup on by default. (3 count)
+ Made if touching idle, beneath always false instead of like
  nodir.
+ Fixed bug that caused bad things to happen if you pressed too
  many different keys too rapidly.
+ Made mouse wheel emulate up/down in dialog boxes and list
  menu.
+ Added ctrl + backspace to intake (delete previous word).
+ Made modulo operator use floored instead of truncated mod
  (uses positive remainder instead of negative).
+ Fixed crash when testing after using ctrl + z to clear a
  board.
+ Fixed bug where sending other robots to subroutines caused
  the return address to be to the next instruction like local
  subroutine calling works.
+ Fixed bug where going to a label on the last line of the
  robot could screw the game up.
+ Fixed a bug where the editor froze if you tried to fill the
  board with players. (eheh...)
+ Fixed a bug that could cause crashes when sending all sensors
  something.
+ Fixed some crashes when exporting/saving fails.
+ Fixed import world's ability to go over the board limit and
  cause crashes.
+ Allowed input of decimal numbers for params.

April 1, 2005 - MZX 2.80g

+ Fixed crash on alt + x in robot editor.
+ Fixed missing line on alt + h in robot editor.
+ Introduced incorrect enter action in robot editor (didn't
  reset to beginning of the line), fixed.
+ Fixed garbage appearing when moving from a larger to smaller
  board and being outside of that board's scroll region.
+ Fixed bug that could cause glitches/crashing when resizing
  the board.
+ Fixed error with global next option not retaining the three
  checkmark options correctly.
+ Added work around so that move block moves the player (won't
  move it on inter-board moves).
+ Fixed bad palette loading for Linux introduced in 2.80e or f
  or something
+ Made it so block highlighting doesn't highlight the debug
  window.
+ Made the debug window move if necessary when home/end is
  pressed.
+ Added autorepeat buffering so previous keys can be resumed.
+ Fixed bug with swap world possibly not working (crashing??)
  off Windows.
+ Fixed more problems with garbage/crashes when resizing with
  the cursor in a position causing the scroll to go off the
  edge.
+ Fixed incorrect text cursor offset with
  force_height_multiplier on.
+ Redid way directories are loaded internally so you can load
  dirs with over 4096 entries now. Might be faster (unsure)
+ Chest contents list menu looked funny, fixed.
+ Changed default.spl to smzx.pal so you can load it more
  sanely.
+ Export block wasn't getting the last selected line. Fixed.
+ Hacked scroll editor so it wouldn't crash when removing
  lines. Scroll code either needs to be 100% overhauled or
  replaced by robots somehow...
+ Fixed config files not being closed.
+ Added include file option for config files. Use it like this:
  include "config file"; e.g., "include subconfig.cnf" will
  load subconfig.cnf's options.
+ Fixed freadN not terminating strings.
+ Fixed graphical glitch when using the mouse in the char
  selector.
+ Fixed save games crashing when they can't load fopened files.
+ Fixed some other problems with save games and fopened files.
+ Accidentally had title screen running a bit slow...
+ Value strings starting with ( not parsed as an expression if
  they don't end with the ).
+ Fixed problem with key_code being triggered for keys that
  aren't in-game.
+ Added extended macros. This allows for parameter based macros
  to be entered in the robot editor via a window or by command.
  See macro.txt for more information.
+ Fixed player cloning after flip/mirror and player placing.
+ Added random seeding that was mysteriously missing...
+ Finally added drive changing for Windows builds.
+ Fixed mousex/mousey for resolutions other than 640x350 (only
  applies to fullscreen).
+ Fixed crash on weird invalid death/endgame boards...
+ % and & messages clip correctly now.
+ Fixed potential crash on double closing the files.
+ Fixed crash bugs with placing sensors and maybe scrolls.
+ Fixed sending sensors when you have robots of the same name
  (fixes Weirdness chapter 1).
- Removed the unimplemented if player dir and if not player dir
  commands from RASM.

December 26, 2004 - MZX 2.80f

+ Fixed a bug that could cause crashes when auto-quoting params
  in the robot editor (eg, set x 1 -> set "x" to 1).
+ Fixed a bug that could crash the robot editor if you added a
  new line prior to the first line of a marked block, then did
  an action on it.
+ Fixed a bug where clearing the first and only line could
  cause it to appear as if it hadn't been cleared at all.
+ Unified global and global next parameter setting so that
  nothing is lost between first/next but information can be
  cancelled without application.
+ Fixed E/S block markers appearing in the robot editor when
  they should be off the screen.
+ Left click position in robot editor mysteriously disappeared
  after having been added somewhere after 2.80d. Re-added.
+ Added option to hide the hotkeys help and horizontal border
  in the robot editor with alt + h. Also added a config.txt
  option to have it default this way.
+ Search/replace in the robot editor. ctrl + f to find or
  replace/replace all, ctrl + r to repeat either search or
  replace (depending the last one you did, if you cancelled
  this does nothing).
+ The load_game counter sequence was broken; fixed.
+ Hopefully fixed all means of overrunning the current line max
  length in the robot editor...
+ Fixed robot editor validation not showing every 13th line.
+ Fixed aesthetic problem with validation report...
+ Fixed crash with setting message column less than 0.
+ A couple things added for 2.80e mysteriously disappeared in
  source handling. Re-added.
+ Changed max board size prevention to auto resize the lower
  dimension to the max that can be handled with the higher
  (ex, 30000x25000 becomes 30000x559).
+ Added flood fill to char editors (alt + f).
+ Added single depth undo to char editors (alt + u).

December 19, 2004 - MZX 2.80e

+ Fixed a bug causing problems with static overlay if a
  non-overlaid sprite is displayed so it's clipped off the edge
  of the screen.
+ Fixed a bug in the display of c?x color boxes in the F2 menu
  in the robot editor.
+ Fixed a bug that caused incorrect thisx/thisy for one cycle
  after copyblock.
+ Fixed a bug preventing calls to nonexistent subroutines from
  passing that point in the robot.
+ Fixed crash on sam 0 "file".
+ Fixed a bug where loading new SFX may not correctly overwrite
  previous ones.
+ Fixed a bug where you could only load/unload so many mods
  before MZX couldn't load anymore.. same bug as the SAMs but
  went unnoticed!
+ Fixed a bug that caused you to be infinitely stuck in the
  global settings dialog box when you press previous on the
  next page.
+ Fixed a bug where going to next then exiting would not save
  the changes from the previous page.
+ Fixed a bug that could cause crashes while ending modules.
+ Fixed a bug that could do the same kind of thing with sams.
+ Fixed an allocation bug when loading MZX worlds that could
  lead to crashes.
+ Fixed a bug that caused MZX to crash if you interpolated an
  expression with a value equal to or greater than 1 billion.
+ Fixed a bug where mixing ccheck1/2 with sprites from board
  and vlayer could cause problems (that's the short version of
  the explanation, I'll spare you the long one).
+ Fixed a bug that could cause certain old MZX games to crash
  after the title screen
+ Somewhere broke missiles between 2.80c and 2.80d. Fixed.
+ Fixed error in lit bomb anim sequence setup in char ID
  editor.
+ Reworked a lot of robot editor code; adding/deleting lines
  while marked areas are active should work more naturally now
  and it's hopefully no longer possible to crash it in the same
  ways it was previously.
+ Fixed crash when setting mesg row to less than 0.
+ Fixed mouse presses not working in the robot editor.
+ Made MZX ignore alt + tab so you can safely switch in your WM
  without it triggering...
+ Added numerical key entry for number boxes. Use 0-9 to add to
  the most significant digit and backspace to take it away.
+ Added config.txt option to make MZX pause when key focus is
  lost (when clicking on another window, perhaps) or when it's
  minimized. Music will still continue.
+ Added save/load position to the editor. Works for loads
  in between boards as well. Press ctrl + num to save to slots
  0 through 9 and alt + num to load from that slot. Please
  press shift + 8 or the numpad * key instead of alt + 8 to set
  mod wildcard.
+ Fixed a further bug that could cause playing samples to
  crash.
+ Added config file option to revert the robot editor to the
  default palette when loaded.
+ Fixed bug in shoot command.
+ Fixed error when making save name in editor but cancelling.
+ Auto-backup - see config.txt for details.
+ Joystick key mapping - see config.txt for details.
+ You can now load game-specific config files by creating
  game.cnf for the corresponding game.cnf (for instance,
  caverns.cnf). This is mainly useful for joystick key mapping.
  Note that these settings will NOT go away if another game is
  loaded that doesn't have a .cnf.
+ Alt+enter finally works as block action in the robot editor.
+ Loading a .mzx/.sav from another directory indirectly (via
  command-line or robotic) will now actually change the current
  working directory.
+ Fixed bug that crashed MZX with ctrl + i in the robot editor.
- Fixed maximum board size to about 16.7 million tiles (128MB)
  for now.
- MZX now ignores the mouse scroll wheel instead of
  interpreting it as a click.

October 9, 2004 - MZX 2.80d

+ Fixed cursor going invisible when escaping from import in the
  editor.
+ Fixed robot editor entry when pressing OK on global info.
+ Fixed lack of name for MZB import/export (any MZB's exported
  in prior beta versions still won't have a name).
+ Fixed some problems with setting the mouse position.
+ Fixed problem with exits not bringing you all the way to the
  edge if width over 400 or height over 200.
+ Fixed bug that cleared too much when increasing both width
  and height while resizing the board.
+ Fixed problem with 1 char shortcut commands with spaces
  immediately after them.
+ Fixed problems with load_robot and load_bc (caused crashes
  and infinite loops).
+ Optimized RASM heavily (this should be most noticeable when
  doing a lot of external robot loading from text files).
+ Fixed inability to use absolute paths in loading a game from
  command line.
+ Fixed lastshot/lasttouch conditions with directions not
  working.
+ Fixed char editor in robots not going into SMZX mode when
  proper.
+ Cleaned up source code so it passes -Wall without complaint
  and in the process corrected some glaring code errors that
  may have corrected random problems.
+ File opening broken in 2.80c, fixed.
+ Implemented MZM2 saving and loading and rewrote mzm.cpp (if
  anything is changed or fixed regarding MZMs, attribute it to
  this). MZM2s can be of larger dimensions, smaller filesize
  for same amount of data, and can store robots.
+ Fixed bug that could cause MZX to crash when making new
  strings.
+ Block operations to overlay when overlay was off caused
  crashes - fixed.
+ Fixed a problem with sprite ccheck2 against other sprites.
+ Optimized function counter lookups a bit; speed gain for all
  counter accesses (especially ones that begin with certain
  characters such as _).
+ Fixed disassembly error with ' ' character.
+ Fixed assembly error where condition extended dir (such as
  blocked opp seek) was not getting compiled with the dir
  extension.
+ Fixed editor bug where the param was not being cleared when
  overwriting things by double placement.
+ Fixed inability to use counters with
  playercolor/bulletcolor/missilecolor.
+ Added ability to use counters in place of p?? in the robot
  editor. Note - even though this expands functionality of the
  editor this does not require a version number change because
  the worlds will still be playable in older MZX versions (and
  will display correctly in the robot editor - you simply won't
  be able to correctly edit the commands).
+ Mouse correctly limited to screen edges now.
+ Fixed inability to overwrite robots with pushable robots and
  vice-versa, as well as scrolls with signs and vice-versa.
+ Possibly fixed problem with windowing error when editing
  global robot (?).
+ Fixed disappearing cursor after color selection box with
  mouse (and other places?).
+ Fixed bug in sprite clipping that caused some to be clipped
  off inappropriately.
+ Made board_id/board_param counters readable.
+ Added bound checks for all counters using
  board_x/board_y/overlay_x/overlay_y.
+ Fixed potential direction corruption bug causing directions
  not to work sometimes even if they display correctly in the
  robot editor.
+ Fixed copy overlay to MZM copying to overlay too.
+ Fixed a bug where debug window could display the wrong amount
  of robot mem and potentially even crash MZX.
+ Fixed help_menu counter not doing anything (durr).
+ Changed sprite draw order so they're drawn underneath the
  message bar, debug box, and time remaining display.
+ Changed put p?? in Robotic so it will put default params if
  available.
+ Fixed a bug that could cause copies from overlay to vlayer to
  not end up at the correct destination.
+ Fixed a bug where c?x and cx? would not display correctly in
  the robot editor.
+ Optimized copy blocks a bit using variable length arrays
  instead of malloc.
- Removed ability to put robots, scrolls/signs, and sensors
  (with the put command in Robotic).

August 16, 2004 - MZX 2.80c
+ Fixed issues with the commands counter not being reset.
+ Color intensity now gets reset when you enter the editor
+ SAMs got cut off sometimes now.. fixed.
+ Fixed bug where loading a world with empty boards could
  change the starting, endgame, and death boards.
+ Fixed bug where you could text enter off the bottom of the
  board, causing problems.
+ Fixed bug involving cutting/clearing the entire robot in the
  robot editor while not at the first line.
+ Fixed robot name entry for global robot not disappearing on
  small boards.
+ Fixed bug where you could duplicate the player by holding
  down a direction as a saved game loads.
+ Fixed bug where you could go to line 0 in the robot editor.
+ Saving an MZM now auto-adds the .mzm extension...
+ Fixed black screen on quicksave.
+ Fixed bug where opening a file didn't close the old one if
  one was open (so it'd eventually crash MZX).
+ Changed Alt+backspace behavior in intake so it doesn't exit.
+ Added clipping for refx/refy/width/height for sprites (less
  than 0 at initialization, greater than board width/height at
  draw).
+ Fixed direction parsing for move all.
+ Fixed bug where creating things on top of the player would
  use a slot for robots/scrolls/signs/sensors instead of just
  copy to the buffer.
+ Added ability to use chars as immediates in Robotic commands
  (ie, set "$str.0" 'a').
+ Added options to enable oversampling and specify resampling
  mode in the config file (higher quality audio).
+ Building with patched modplug that fixes loading 2-channel
  mods outputted by FT2. If you're building yourself, see
  build.txt.
+ Fixed inability to mouse click in alt + h mode.
+ Fixed ability to mouse click outside of board range.
+ Should work better for Linux users; case insensitivity for
  file opens has been added.
+ Fixed close bug that was affecting Linux builds (may affect
  more).
+ Keypad enter works where normal enter works now.
+ Fixed disappearing cursor when cancelling out of abandon
  changes box when loading a new world in the editor.
+ Fixed problems when loading/saving robots outside of ID range
  (do not hardcode ID's people).
+ Fixed problem with NO BOARD exits being set to something else
  when empty boards were being stripped or when worlds were
  being imported.
+ Fixed bug where auto-decrypting worlds didn't work if the XOR
  value was negative.
+ Fixed problem with rid not working the first cycle.
+ Fixed inability to interpolate (with &&'s) counter names
  larger than 14.
+ Added new robot mem counter in debug box (only kb precise,
  rounds up).
+ Fixed ability to clone the player on non-title board after
  testing.
+ Lengthened size of mod name buffers.
+ Fixed bug where send x y doesn't work from the global robot.
+ Fixed a few bugs that could cause MZX to crash.

August 11, 2004 - MZX 2.80b

+ Made it possible for robots to move through teleporters.
+ Fixed bug with pressing shift in text entry boxes.
+ Made it so alt + tab does not switch draw modes in editor.
+ Fixed a disassembly error for color intensity N percent
  command.
+ Fixed problem with looping on mods that do not loop
  explicitly.
+ Fixed alt + dir scrolling in the char editor.
+ Fixed not being able to click the rightmost char in the char
  editor.
+ Re-added unmark (alt + u) to robot editor (mysteriously
  disappeared??).
+ Fixed key label so it returns proper unicode values.
+ The player and pushable robots can now be pushed by the push
  command.
+ Fixed bug where you could clone the player by switching
  boards.
+ Fixed bug where you could either turn off overlay or switch
  to boards that don't have it while in overlay edit mode...
+ Fixed bug where remains of debug window would not be cleared
  in editor if the board width is too small.
+ Fixed bug where turning off the menu with a board too small
  would mess things up.
+ Fixed bug where run lengths were saved one too large... this
  could fix stability problems in at least occasional cases
  (with saved worlds or save games, at least).
+ Fixed placing solid things beneath robots (like bombs).
+ Added support for a keyboard plus in the char editors.
+ Fixed previous button in SFX editor.
+ Made robot name box disappear when robot char box comes up...
+ Fixed bug where mods restart after pressing P if they're the
  same mod as what was playing before.
+ Fixed problem with changing params (with P) in the editor.
+ Fixed bug where null boards were not being pruned from old
  worlds upon load.
+ Made file name saving box larger (for saving games and
  worlds).
+ Fixed bug where default (100%) palette intensity values would
  not be applied to the palette a game loads with.
+ Fixed bug where exporting char sets that are full size caused
  a 0 byte charset to be exported (8bit wraparound).
+ Added support for forms such as :line.
+ Fixed sporadic incompletion of strings without trailing
  quotes at the end of the line.
+ Fixed bug where clearing/cutting the last line of a robot
  crashed MZX.
+ F4 in robot editor now works more generally.
+ Made line numbers in robot editor error report start at 1.
+ Added ctrl + G to go to a line in the robot editor (ala
  nano).
+ Made it possible to change a robot's color in the editor
+ Fixed bug where spitfire, seekers, and missiles didn't hurt
  something immediate adjacent to whatever shot it.
+ Fixed editing of spitfires.
+ Made default speed 4 again (5, bleh).
+ Re-added quicksave/quickload.
+ Re-added F8 clear (always works - be careful).
+ Fixed autorepeat problems for spacepressed/delpressed.
+ Wrapped around sprite values so LogiCow's bad code would work
  (HTMCIAB).
+ Cleared block commands in between board changing and other
  things like that.
+ Fixed bug where MZX would crash if put dir player overwrote
  the robot doing it.
+ Fixed bug where playing SAMs would eventually crash MZX
+ Fixed some mod * problems (hopefully?).
+ Fixed bug where pasting blocks over the edge of the board in
  the editor would cause MZX to crash.
+ Uses new GDM2S3M source that fixes some bugs. If your
  converted GDM's have problems, delete the S3Ms it generated.
- Removed export text in the board editor. Don't think anyone
  wanted it...

August 9, 2004 - First release, MZX 2.80 BETA

+ All ASM files have been rewritten to ANSI C compliant C++;
  this mainly involves the mammoth game2.asm.
+ Everything graphics related has been replaced with an SDL
  driven engine, including text mode rendering (also capable of
  rendering SMZX modes).
+ All keyboard and mouse events are now also handled by an SDL
  driven engine. All internal keyboard/mouse routines use SDL
  keycodes; no attempt was made to convert to MZX's old format
  at this level.
+ All world/board/robot loading and saving code has been
  entirely rewritten and is more modular now.
+ All robot handling code has been rewritten from scratch, and
  is more sane/efficient now (allocation, message sending,
  sensors, etc.)
+ All counter handling code has also been rewritten from
  scratch. This includes the functionality of builtin and
  "function" counters. It also includes a new string framework.
+ The robot interpreter has been almost entirely rewritten.
+ The main game playing code (game.cpp) has been almost
  entirely rewritten.
+ All module/sample playing code has been rewritten to use
  modplug and SDL. PC speaker effects are emulated.
+ The main part of the editor (edit.cpp) has been almost
  entirely rewritten.
+ The robot editor has been entirely rewritten, utilizing a
  modified (fixed) version of RASM (released by me over a year
  ago)
+ All other source files (for instance, window handling code,
  scroll displaying, char editor, etc.) have been largely
  overhauled, some to more of a degree than others. At the
  very least, everything has been reformatted and made to work
  with the new systems.
+ key_pressed and key_code now return unsigned chars instead of
  signed, so if the game checks for negative values, it won't
  work. The same goes for reading back characters for strings.
+ Boards may now be as large as 32767x32767. Please do not make
  boards this large. :)
+ You may now have up to 250 boards.
+ Boards may have up to 255 robots, 255 scrolls, and 255
  sensors.
+ There is no robot memory per board limit. However, individual
  robots may only be up to 64k large. If you include the global
  robot, this means that you effectively can have up to 16MB of
  robot memory per board.
+ The same applies to scrolls, which have separate memory
  spaces and may only be up to 64k in length each (so you could
  have almost 16MB of scroll text per board, but who would want
  that??).
+ The robot stack need not be initialized, and will be
  dynamically resized as necessary (useful for recursion). This
  refers to lines such as
  . "#*-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8"
  at the beginning of robots. They're no longer necessary or
  useful (they will be ignored, like any other comment).
+ You may have a virtually unlimited number of counters active.
  The theoretical limit is some 4 billion. The effective limit
  depends on memory available.
+ The same goes for strings, which may now have any name, so
  long as it begins with a dollar sign ($). The same
  conventions regarding strings in 2.68+ still apply (see
  268_info.txt for more information).
+ Local2 and local3 no longer have dangerous side-effects.
  Local4 through local32 are also available per-robot now.
+ The following are now natively supported: XM, S3M, MOD, MED,
  MTM, STM, IT, 669, ULT, WAV, DSM, FAR, AMS, MDL, OKT, DMF,
  PTM, DBM, AMF, MT2, PSM, J2B, and UMX.
+ You can now perform repeated copies by selecting "Copy
  (repeated)" from the block command window. This will cause
  you to repeat the copy indefinitely until you press escape.
  Also, after the first paste is made, you may press ctrl +
  direction to move in steps that are the size of the copy (you
  really have to try it to get a good idea of what I mean).
+ Press alt + H to hide/unhide the menu/information occupying
  the bottom 6 lines of the screen.
+ Right click is similar to pressing insert (grabs whatever's
  under the cursor).
+ Exporting char sets now gives direct options to set the
  size/offset for partial charsets. The old format (prefixing
  the name) will not work.
+ For saving files, you may make filenames larger and use mixed
  case (as opposed to all caps).
+ Now when you import worlds their exits will actually work.
+ Loading worlds results in all empty boards and empty
  robots/scrolls/sensors within the boards being removed. When
  you delete a board, you won't be presented with a gap in the
  board list anymore.
+ You may once again select ASCII as a default charset and
  revert to it in the char editor. You may also select a
  default SMZX charset.
+ Anywhere you can enter a line of text you can now press ctrl
  + left and ctrl + right to go to the previous/next word.
+ This isn't totally limited to the editor, but now everywhere
  a selection box shows up (such as for files, boards, items)
  you can press multiple keys to seek to a specific entry.
  Furthermore, in file selection boxes you can press backspace
  to go up a directory.
+ The SMZX char editor has been changed quite a bit. First, to
  use, you must be in SMZX modes 1-3 (toggle using F11). Within
  the editor, press keys 1 through 4 to change the "current
  color." You can place this color with space, and you can
  toggle repeated placement on/off using tab (sorry, no
  clear/toggle in this mode, they got in the way far more than
  they helped). You now move in increments of 1 char naturally
  instead of "half chars." Right click grabs the current
  "color" underneath the cursor.
+ You are now able to type invalid code within a robotic line.
  You will see that it's invalid due to the way the line is
  color coded. If you try to escape while any lines are invalid
  or if you press alt + V, a window will be brought up
  describing the nature of all erroneous lines. It will also
  let you mark each line to be deleted or commented out on
  exit. If all invalid lines are marked with anything besides
  ignore, you can exit safely. You may also mark invalid lines
  using ctrl + I, D, and C (to mark as ignore, delete, and
  comment respectively). ctrl + C may also be used to comment
  out a normal line, and then uncomment.
+ alt + O is still available, but you may only change macros
  here (see the config file for the other rarely used options).
  This does give you more room to modify macros, though. They
  may be up to 64 characters in length, and you may set up to
  around 45 or so in this window. (To get larger, you'll have
  to use the config file.).
+ Command line params have changed.
+ MegaZeux configuration information is now stored in a file
  called config.txt.
- There are some slight discrepancies in robot size; if you
  highlight the last line then leave it, it will register as a
  compilation of that line. Yet, when you exit, the line will
  be discarded, so this addition is not permanent. This
  shouldn't be problematic.
- alt + enter and alt + escape no longer work; use the
  alternatives (alt + b and alt + u).
- You cannot click on help options to make it happen (for
  instance, you can't click on L:Load and expect it to bring up
  the load window).
- You cannot import or export ANS files. Use MZM instead.
- Some things that worked in the DOS version only worked due to
  chance, such as there being default (but valid) values for
  sprite widths or heights and thus sprites could be displayed
  before new values were set. They will not work here.

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
>#281CLOG.HLP:281:New in Versions 2.81-2.81g
>#OLDERVER.HLP:099:New in versions 2.60 to 2.70
>#OLDESVER.HLP:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60
>#NEWIN200.HLP:1st:New in version 2.00
>#ANCENVER.HLP:103:New in versions thru 1.03
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#OLDERVER.HLP
:099:New in Versions 2.60-2.70
**NEW in 2.70***

+ Robotic code now loadable and savable to files, either to
  text files or compact but human-unreadable bytecode files.
  Other robots' code can be written to or read as well.
+ Defaults changed to more accepted values.
+ The swap world bug should be fixed. You should now be able to
  swap worlds back and forth with no trouble.
+ "atan" now works with any input/output value.
+ The "load_game" command now should work without any problems.
+ It should now be easier to compile MZX from the source.
+ It's not really a bug fix, but the palette is now returned to
  its original colors.
+ Robots can now 'put' things underneath themselves: eg. put
  c04 carpet p?? under.
+ The title screen menu now works: e.g. the menu you get when
  pressing 'Enter' on the title screen.
+ "key_pressed" now returns the twos-complement of the key
  value, i.e. the one used for :key?
+ The mouse can scroll across the whole screen after a screen
  refresh / transition to/from SMZX mode.

**NEW in 2.69c***

+ Sprite limit expanded from 64 to 256.
+ New sprite flag added: sprN_ccheck mode 2.
+ Vlayer added.  This is a virtual, unseen layer 32767 in size
  used to store graphical data.
+ World loading and saving through Robotic now possible.
+ Special class fwrite_modify; this allows editing of a file as
  opposed to overwriting.
+ File end seeking added.
+ Char file offsetting added.
+ File seeking added to editor.

***NEW in 2.69b***

+ Fixed the fwrite_append problem RoSS mentioned.
+ Fixed the string problem Nanobot mentioned.
+ Added ridNAME as an alternative to robot_id_NAME.
+ Added mouse_mx and mouse_my to determine mouse motion in
  "mickey" units.
+ Added two local counters "local2" and "local3", local2 uses
  walk_dir and is_locked (so walking and locking will affect
  it), local3 uses last_shot_dir and last_touch_dir (so
  shooting and being touched will affect it).
+ Added the builtin string "robot_name" to determine the name
  of the robot invoking it.
+ Reverted back to BWSB 1.20a again, in the hopes that it will
  alleviate swap world crashing a bit.

***NEW in 2.69***

+ if "$stringN" = "literal" should now work.
+ Embedding && or () in names for save/load files for MZM
  saving and the like should work now.
+ Expressions won't be activated in pre-2.68 games, meaning if
  they used the constructs which would be valid expressions
  they should be okay.
+ More minutiae.
+ key_code, a more useful key_pressed alternative, added.
+ SMZX mode 1 returns.
+ SMZX mode 2 added.

***NEW in 2.68***

+ Expressions added.
+ Trigonometric capabilities added.
+ MZM file capabilities added.
+ Board and overlay can now copy block to each other.
+ Saving and loading of SAV files through Robotic added.
+ String commands totally redone.
+ Now, instead of using value/sqrt_value/abs_value you may use
  a value with the counter directly as such:
   * sqrtN
   * absN
+ fread_pos/fwrite_pos and page should work correctly now; when
  you increase the pos it should bump up the page too.
+ pixel_x, pixel_y, char were broken in 2.65; fixed in 2.68
+ strings had some bugs in 2.62b+, should be fixed now because
  of a separate implementation.
+ MZX Robot files are now saved to save files, so if you have a
  read and/or write file open and the game is saved, if the
  game is loaded the file will be restored at the position it
  was at.

***NEW in 2.65***

+ Shows current mod playing in debug window
+ Misc new counters: (ro = read only, wo = write only)
 * fread_counter (ro), fwrite_counter (wo): reads/writes a full
   counter from file
 * board_w (ro), board_h (ro): returns current board
   width/height
 * robot_id_(name) (ro): returns the ID number of robot "name"
 * r(number).(counter) (ro): returns the value of the local
   counter for the robot with the given ID. Note that you
   cannot write to another robot's counter.
+ You can now save partial charsets in the editor.
+ Sprites added; limit set at 64 global.
+ Counters now representable in hex.
+ Subroutines added.

***NEW in 2.62***

+ Strings added; limited to ten strings.
+ "mod_order" counter: reports the current order (that is,
   pattern) the playing module is at. Used in conjunction with
   the jump mod order command it can be used to save/restore a
   mod position between boards...
- MZX 2.62 files are no longer forward compatible. That means
  that a file made in MZX 2.62 will NOT work in any previous
  versions (but it WILL work in future versions, so long as
  they set the version string correctly).
- The string reading from files may not work correctly on the
  first read (that is, it might truncate the first character of
  the string). For this reason put a junk string in the first
  part of the file and read it first.

***NEW in 2.61***

+ Game speeds have been normalized.
+ Original startup color scheme implemented!
+ Redocumentation of a few features left undocumented.
- Password protection has been fully removed.

$***

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
>#281CLOG.HLP:281:New in Versions 2.81-2.81g
>#280CLOG.HLP:280:New in Versions 2.80-2.80h
>#OLDESVER.HLP:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60
>#NEWIN200.HLP:1st:New in version 2.00
>#ANCENVER.HLP:103:New in versions thru 1.03
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#OLDESVER.HLP
:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60

~E2.60 release:

+ File access
+ Menu activation/deactivation
+ Current key pressed detection
+ Easy access to all 16 bits of a counter
+ Pixel editing of a char set
+ Single Byte editing of a char.
+ Real player distance
+ :key# added: gives twos-compliment of key value.
- SMZX removed.
- inter robot targeting removed.
- Random color startup removed.

~E2.51ak1.0 release:
. + Added Numerous new Counters
. + Added new inter robot targeting system
. + Added new SMZX mode, dynamic resolution setting
. + Fixed fatal crash when taking a picture, also increased
.  the number of picture you can take to 99
. + Removed Built-in ASCII charset
. + Added Random color start up

~E2.51s3.2 release:

. + Removed password protection
. + Added new counter BIMesg to turn off built-in messages

~E2.51s3.1 release:

. + Fixed damage table, now works correctly
. + Fixed unworking Alt+s
. + Fixed screenshot name
. + Fixed strange missile color when firing

~E2.51s3 release:

. + Fixed bug involving savegame name being overwritten by mod
.  name
. + Fixed overlay transparency weirdness. Now, background of
.  lower layer will ALWAYS show through if background of
.  overlay is 0
. + Added in kev's refresh screen support. Press Alt+w on the
.  title screen or editor screen, and = in the game(don't ask,
.  has to do with mzx's keyboard handler). Use this if your
.  charset gets corrupted in windows.
. + Screen shot saving rotates file name(starts with screen0.pcx)
. + Fixed bug involving incorrect loading of mzx health etc.

~E2.51s3final release:

. + Fixed bug involving mod * settings being lost when loading
. + Should have fixed ems problems some were reporting, if not,
. just try to get more conventional memory. Enclosed document
. (convmem.txt) should help you.
. + Fixed a bug involving direction checking.
. + Pressing ']' at most any time will now save a screenshot to
.  screen.pcx
. + Pressing Alt+8 in the editor will set the current mod to *.


~E2.5.1s2beta release:

. + Added MOD "*", which allows a board to use whatever module
.  the previous board was using; this necessitated a change in
.  the .SAV file format (still need changes in the editor UI
.  to access this feature outside of Robotic)
. + inmate's semantics for MOD "SOMETHIN.MOD*" aren't
.  immediately possible, although a rough hack is in already
. + char edits are now not displayed until the beginning of the
.  next cycle; the deferred display should eliminate a lot of
.  flickering
. + an (at least partial) fix for the infamous UNDER bug
. + MOUSEX, MOUSEY and BUTTONS are now buffered.
. + more sane magic handling
. + can load MZX 2.51 and 2.51S1 worlds, but will only save
.  2.5.1spider2 format

~E2.51s1beta release:

. + Increased counters to 1000.
. + Added following counters: (ro) is read only, (r&w) is read +
.   write
.   * (r&w) MOUSEX, MOUSEY - Location of mouse cursor over the
.     screen.
.   * (ro)  BUTTONS - Status of the buttons (none=0,left=1,
.     right=2,both=3)
.   * (ro)  MBOARDX, MBOARDy - Location of mouse cursor over the
.     board.
.   * (ro)  SCROLLEDX, SCROLLEDY - Length the screen has been
.     scrolled in each direction.
.   * (ro)  PLAYERX, PLAYERY - Location of the player
.   * (r&w) CURSORSTATE - Turns on & off the hardware cursor
.     (0= off, 1= on, 0 default)
. + Added new independent counter like LOOPCOUNT, named LOCAL,
.   it's now possible for a robot to search the screen or
.   something without wasting a counter.
. + New .MZX and .SAV formats for MZX2.51S1.
. + .SAV files from 2.51S1 are incompatible with 2.51, and
.   vice-versa
. + 2.51S1 is capable of loading 2.51 .MZX world files.
. - 2.51 is not capable of loading .MZX files created or opened &
.   saved in 2.51S1

$~ENEW in version 2.51: ALL NEW music/sound code! 32-channels;
$~Ebug-free; support for stereo, 16-bit, GUS, and PAS-16;
$~Esupport for many formats and effects; up to four
$~Esimultaneous sound effects!

Note that the new music support requires that you CONVERT all
non-MOD files using the included program, 2GDM. See 'MegaZeux's
Sound System' for details on the NEW music system.

>#SOUNDEFX.HLP:1st:MegaZeux's Sound System

Note- This is a direct translation from the file WHATSNEW.251,
included with MegaZeux. If you haven't used version 1.03 or
before, you probably won't understand much of this list.

~ENew in version 2.51: (quick fix before I do 3.00!)

. * Bug where moving north or west towards a board that is
.  larger than 100 tiles in a dimension may not work properly
.  fixed.
. * Bugs in 2GDM.EXE preventing proper conversion of some S3Ms
.  fixed.
. * A rare bug preventing internal MOD conversion fixed.
. * "Error opening MOD" will no longer appear during normal
.  gameplay.
. * Exporting ANSis now adds a color to the end returning text
.  to normal grey.

~ENew in version 2.50:

. * FOR ALL YOU 2.07 USERS- THE MAJOR UPGRADE is the new sound
.  code! Support for stereo, 16-bit, more cards, 4 sound
.  effects channels, 32 music channels, higher quality, and
.  faster sound code! Less bugs! More formats supported! All
.  non-MOD files MUST be converted to GDM using the included
.  2GDM.EXE program. Formats supported- MOD (up to 32 channels),
.  WOW/OCT/NST, S3M, 669, and MTM.

. * Volume controls (overall and SAM) added to F2-Settings (saved
.  in .CFG file)
. * SAMs play at 2x volume.
. * MTM support added to 2GDM.EXE. Other formats aren't added
.  because they aren't needed (not used often enough) or in the
.  case of XM, because they support too many advanced features
.  that MZX does not support. Partial XM support MAY be added
.  later.
. * Many minor bug fixes in 2GDM.EXE's conversion routines.
. * Internal MOD conversion (in MegaZeux) sped up considerably.
. * For all those that upgraded from 2.07, see 2.49g and 2.48b
.  WHATS-NEW for more stuff, including a couple interesting
.  new Robotic features

~ENew in version 2.49g:

. * New Import function added- You can import an ANSi to any
.  position on the board.
. * Full SAM sound effect support as in the original 2.07 version
.  (but using the new MOD code for up to 4 simultaneous
.  channels)
. * The OPEN Robotic command will now push the Robot out of the
.  way if the door would be blocked by the robot.
. * REL PLAYER and REL COUNTERS now affects the THISX/THISY
.  counters (giving the distance FROM the player/counters TO
.  the Robot) and the prefixes also affect the IF [dir] BLOCKED
.  command, allowing you to check for blocked status next to
.  the player or an arbitrary position.
. * [ box message statements now clip their message to 64
.  characters (the maximum) on display. Note that all other
.  box-message statements are NOT clipped!
. * Color codes are allowed in ? and & box message statements
. * Invalid sound card settings no longer cause a lock-up
. * You can hold down the mouse button to cycle through RGB
.  values in the palette editor
. * Changing something to an explosion no longer can cause weird
.  colors
. * What's New section of help sorted by version
. * Placing a robot over the player is prevented with a warning
. * The "Alt+N- Music" lights up properly in the editor now
. * When changing from a larger board to a smaller board, you
.  can no longer accidentally have the cursor outside of the
.  board size.
. * GUS owners don't need to enter # of SFX channels, since
.  MegaZeux cannot support GUS sound effects anyways.
. * File boxes (loading MODs, worlds, etc.) can now hold as
.   many filenames as memory allows.
. * GUS setup shown properly on configuration screen
. * 2GDM.EXE rewritten- In THIS release, it can only convert
.  MOD, NST, WOW, OCT, 669, and S3M files! The final (2.50)
.  release will have support for the remaining file formats.
.  It is being rewritten to fix many small bugs and make it
.  smaller and faster, as well as possibly add more file
.  formats.
. * 2GDM.EXE- F00 effect in MODs deleted during conversion
. * 2GDM.EXE- Bad effects S8x, S0x, and Xxx deleted during S3M
.  conversion
. * 2GDM.EXE now works properly from other directories
. * INTERNAL MOD loading support. You can now load MODs, NSTs,
.  WOWs, and OCTs from within the game without having to
.  convert them to GDM first. The only exception is 15-
.  instrument MODs- they must first be converted. Note that
.  all other formats, such as S3M, 669, etc. must still be
.  converted. NST/WOW/OCT support was only added because they
.  are extremely similar to MODs, and MODs were required for
.  backward compatibility.
. * Insert doesn't display those "Lo bomb selected" messages,
.  etc. if the player is Attack Locked or settings say he
.  cannot bomb.
. * Minor bugs in ANSi import corrected. (problem fixed- caused
.  errors on import of ANSis with more or the same number of
.  lines as the current board size maximum)
. * "Ammo <10" and "Ammo >9" entries in Global Chars changed to
.  "Small Ammo" and "Large Ammo" to prevent confusion.

~ENew in version 2.48b:

. * ALL NEW music code! Features include faster, NO BUGs, 32
.  channels, more formats supported (sorry, no MID or XM) etc.
. * Bug where selecting "(no board)" to add a board caused an
.  error if that wasn't the first "(no board)" on the list.
. * Bug where if a robot line entered consisted of only
.  semicolons, spaces, and commas, it would screw up that
.  robot's program, fixed.
. * Command line options (-port,-dma,-irq) added for setting
.  sound card parameters. Only needed if auto-detection fails.
. * Minor help corrections.
. * Save/load during testing in editor disabled.
. * Pressing \ no longer causes problems during gameplay.
. * Bug where "Restart board" for death option in global
.  options didn't function properly on first board, nor did
.  restart-if-zapped. (fixed)
. * Filling in the overlay no longer locks up if you fill over
.  something of the same color and picture.
. * Overlay no longer messed up when resizing board.
. * Lock up on Import World removed.
. * Setting the counter "INVINCO" to 0 works properly.
. * Hopefully fixed rare lockups after robot box messages.
. * Added confirmation for board deletion in editor.
. * All included worlds are NO LONGER password protected. (The
.  old password was "megahertz".)
. * Minor bugs in passage search algorithms corrected.
. * Obscure bug involving REL prefixes if used in "infinite-
.  loop" type constructs (fixed)
. * In editor- Alt+Dir to move 10 spaces now works as expected
.  with draw mode on. (IE it will draw in ALL 10 spaces)
. * Bug where passages on screens wider than 256 spaces didn't
.  work properly. (fixed)
. * Bug where fire-to-player's-right would lock up and kill him
.  FIXED.
. * Counters can be used in ALL strings in &COUNTER& notation.
.  For example, SEND "ROBOT" "LABEL&COUNTER&" will replace
.  &COUNTER& with a number. This works for ALL strings -
.  counter names, labels, robots, etc. See Robotic help for
.  details.

~ENew in version 2.07:

. * Labels and NON-valid counter-regulated options in robot box
.  messages are not blank lines; Instead they are just removed
.  from the message.
. * Passage (stairs/caves/whirlpools) search algorithm
.  corrected.
. * Digitized sample SFX works properly with the note B now.
. * Bug where getting multiple energizers in a row screwed up
.  player's color is fixed.
. * Bug where chests with invinco potions will die when taken
.  is fixed.
. * Filling in editor, with a robot/scroll/sensor over itself,
.  is now handled properly.
. * Whee!! More minor help typos fixed.

~ENew in version 2.06:

. * Yet more cursor safeguards inserted. (Where do you GET
.  these problems!? :)
. * Saving a game no longer asks for overwrite confirmation if
.  the file doesn't really exist.
. * Help and tutorial- Minor textual errors fixed
. * Save dialog boxes only allow entry of 12 characters now,
.  instead of 13.
. * Help file can be accessed from any directory.
. * -l cmd line option will no longer cause a loading error with
.  an oversized filename. (it will instead be ignored)

~ENew in version 2.05:

. * Cursor bug fixed. (If it isn't, then get a new BIOS! :p)
. * MegaZeux now utilizes overlaid code, for almost 50k core
.  memory savings.
. * LOCKSCROLL cmd fixed
. * Moving into the lower-right corner of full-size boards no
.  longer warps you to the upper-left corner.
. * SET COLOR and COLOR INTENSITY don't blow up if the color is
.  not from 0 to 16.
. * Code for activating 16 background colors is now shorter and
.  uses BIOS calls for compatibility.

~ENew in version 2.04:

. * Slight modifications to Robotic Tutorial (help file)
. * Sending a robot a message, when it hadn't done anything yet
.  that turn, activates it immediately. This helps with
.  synchronized activities, such as large, multi-robot
.  creatures.
. * Alt+Numerics feature of BIOS keyboard routine DISABLED (IE
.  Alt+3 will no longer break to DOS)
. * Counters' code optimized.
. * The temp file ~EDITRSZ.TMP created when resizing a board is
.  now deleted when finished.
. * a KEYBOARD CODE kink was worked out (hopefully got 'em
.  all...)
. * Made printer code more general (should work on any printer
.  in text mode)
. * PALETTE BUG on some SVGA cards FIXED. (black now looks like
.  black) If it still isn't, please notify me.
. * HOME and END will jump to the top/bottom of a box
.  message/help/scroll.
. * PgUp/PgDn/Mouse navigation work properly in box
.  messages/help/scrolls
. * HOME and END in dialogs works properly now- Unless you are
.  editing a number, they will jump to the FIRST item and the
.  NEXT or OK button, respectively. In a string, they will
.  still jump to the start/end unless you are already there,
.  then they will jump to the proper dialog location.
. * Robots (especially when there are lots of them) sped up.
. * DUPLICATE SELF and COPY ROBOT cmds sped up some, except when
.  used by global robot.
. * Palette intensities reset when going into editor after the
.  title screen changes them.
. * MODULO "str" # will no longer crash if # is 0.
. * Extreme palette activity no longer causes snow or (on EGA)
.  screen breakup. Palette activity also sped up.
. * Bug fixed- If a SAM/MOD command had to free up board memory
.  (showing the little "freeing up board memory..." meter) then
.  that robot stopped running.
. * Bug fixed- If the robot changed it's surroundings (IE
.  Putting a SPACE to it's NORTH) and then did a RANDNB or
.  RANDB, the new surroundings weren't always taken into
.  consideration.
. * DIVIDE ERROR crash/bug fixed. (It was related to usage of
.  RANDNB and RANDB)
. * CHAR "A" vs. CHAR 'A' question added to F.A.Q.
. * README.TXT changed- Boot disk/support info added.
. * Help on cmd ."@@string" corrected.
. * SPEED defaults to 4 (settings) and is saved in MEGAZEUX.CFG.

~ENew in version 2.03:

. * Intensity of palette (and other stuff?) now resets after a
.  test game.
. * Messed-up black color on certain graphics cards- Attempted
.  to fix.
. * Minor bug in VER1TO2.EXE fixed
. * Robot section of Tutorial corrected (the descriptor scrolls)
. * Speeds based on real time (IE speed 3 will be the same on
.  ANY computer, unless the computer itself is so slow that it
.  forces a slower speed.)
. * CAVERNS has game over screen fixed
. * MOVE PLAYER [dir] "label" command now works properly.
.  (Before, the label was almost always ignored)

~ENew in version 2.02:

. * Bugs with Enter in text mode on small boards fixed
. * Bugs with slime fixed
. * If you have screen faded out (COLOR FADE OUT) and go to
.  another screen, it no longer fades it in for you
.  automatically.
. * HELP.DOC- CHANGE CHAR ID section fixed
. * Fill really does now fill properly on boards larger than
.  127x127. :)
. * Sped up sensor interactions somewhat
. * Fixed problems with boards not scrolling with the player,
.  in the game on over-sized boards. Run FIX.EXE in all
.  directories containing version 2.01 or 2.00 .MZX/.MZB files.
. * Nothing can give you negative coins, gems, etc. (such as
.  thieves)
. * Minor robot speed improvements
. * Turning Music Off (Settings in Game) really keeps it
.  off... :)

~ENew in version 2.01:

. * Sensor command CHAR'X' fixed
. * TAKEing health now counts as hurting the player for the
.  :playerhurt label
. * Can load help from any drive/directory
. * Copy block in editor now properly clips the block's
.  destination
. * Move block in editor now properly clips the block's
.  destination
. * ."@@new_robot_name" command added
. * If the player runs up against a player bullet, it won't
.  hurt him
. * JUSTENTERED, JUSTLOADED, and GOOPTOUCHED labels fixed
. * UNLOCKSCROLL and locked scrolling in general fixed
. * Global info now properly sets endgame/death boards
. * Robot ASK command works properly now
. * Help- internet address/address validity date corrected
. * Help- CHANGE CHAR ID help section- added note about how the
.  numbers are also listed in the Global Edit Chars menus
. * ENTER can now exit robot box messages/scrolls
. * Message line (bottom) shows color correctly
. * EXCHANGE/RESTORE w/DUPLICATE SELF fixed
. * Attempted to fix cursor problems in editor. If it doesn't
.  work now, then I have no solution, as I use documented BIOS
.  routines with many safegaurds.
. * Minor speed improvements
. * Minor size reduction
. * Fill in editor now works with board sizes over 127x127

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
>#281CLOG.HLP:281:New in Versions 2.81-2.81g
>#280CLOG.HLP:280:New in Versions 2.80-2.80h
>#OLDERVER.HLP:099:New in versions 2.60 to 2.70
>#NEWIN200.HLP:1st:New in version 2.00
>#ANCENVER.HLP:103:New in versions thru 1.03
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#NEWIN200.HLP
:1st:~ENew in version 2.00:

. * All code has been rewritten or at least stepped through line
.  by line, except for the music code.
. * New user interface style and startup screen. Lots of neat
.  little items like shadows, nicer colors, etc. Mostly
.  aesthetic but nice. Mouse support also improved.
. * Keyboard code rewritten (again) All Alt+lock, shift-lock,
.  and ctrl+lock problems, as well as most other keyboard
.  problems, should not be a problem anymore. You may have to
.  use the -keyb2 command line option. If a key locks, tap it
.  a couple times.
. * No flicker- The game engine now page flips.
. * Better string input- ANYWHERE you can enter a string, you
.  can now move with the cursors and insert in the middle...
. * Better character selection box- Shows all the characters.
. * New default character set- Much nicer, more general use
.  characters.
. * Now detects processor to avoid lock ups on an old 8086/8088.
.  If an invalid graphics card is found, DOS services are used
.  for printing.
. * Different command line options. (use -? to get info on them)
. * Context sensitive help.
. * Bombs and Sensors under the player no longer mess up floors,
.  etc.
. * CHANGEing something to lava, fire, etc. now works correctly.
. * Transporting onto a Sensor works properly.
. * New conditions- MUSICON and PCSFXON
. * Changing things to spaces CLEARS them, to avoid screwing up
.  floors.
. * Restart position not changed during a save/load
. * Label- :playerhurt for when player is hurt, not sent on
.  invincible hurts
. * Maximum Robot commands per cycle is 40, not 25
. * Global Robot runs normally in freeze/slow time
. * Choice of 100x100, 200x50, 400x25, 80x125, or 60x166 for
.  each board.
. * Character editor remembers character you were editing.
. * Robo-P renamed to Robotic
. * Scrolls now allow proper use of mouse, pgup, and pgdn.
. * Scrollborder became Scrollcorner.
. * :gooptouched auto label added, for when the player touches
.  Goop.
. * Messages like "You got a red key" are now "You got a key" so
.  palette fiddling won't make strange words. :)
. * Within Robotic messages (box/line) a &INPUT& will be
.  replaced by the exact text of the currently inputted string
. * Notes in play of same freq. won't run together
. * Explosions won't destroy entrances, lava, water, ice, or
.  goop
. * Robots are stopped from firing if there is already a bullet
.  of the same dir/type in that dir.
. * Other things will push the player ONTO a Sensor.
. * The above will trigger the SENSORON label.
. * If player is on an entrance without having been there before
.  the update, use it. (I.E. can now be pushed onto entrances)
. * Teleporting or walking onto a screen and starting on a
.  Sensor will trigger the SENSORON label
. * Non-players/puzzle pieces now transport properly.
. * PLAYERLASTDIR (0-4) and PLAYERFACEDIR (0-3) as counters.
. * Points for killing enemies (3) and points for rings/potions
.  (5)
. * Way to disable edging spaces on message row- ENABLE MESG
.  EDGE, DISABLE MESG EDGE.
. * Cmds- LOOP START, LOOP # TIMES, ABORT LOOP, uses Robot
.  counter LOOPCOUNT
. * Counter limit increased to 50 plus built-in.
. * New passage search order- 1) Same type, same color 2) Same
.  color 3) Same type, same foreground 4) Same foreground 5)
.  Same type 6) Default player position
. * Palette import/export
. * If the starting board is deleted, change starting board to
.  title.
. * "Sets of five" numerical input actually increase by fives
. * Holding the mouse button on a numeric arrow button cycles
.  the num.
. * Removed the "." Directory from file menus
. * Six (not four) status counters.
. * CHANGE blah p?? blah p?? (notice the p?? added for the first
.  thing)
. * Doors, if can't move, don't advance in anim. I.E., doors
.  won't get "stuck" if they are blocked.
. * PERSISTENT GO command, like /"nsew" but WAITS to move if
.  blocked.
. * No chest message on empty.
. * Startup "help" screen on first use.
. * Explosions Leave Empty doesn't mess up ANY floors, etc.
. * Much better fill routine.
. * Entering a non-cmd with the first character as a [, ., :,
.  etc. automatically formats it. Leading and trailing spaces
.  and quotes are cleared first.
. * Save/Load game/etc. are accessed through F-keys in the game.
. * Removed special menu for Alt+M (modify) in editor
. * In editor, keeps track of whether world has been modified.
. * Ceiling layer - non-interactive, but overlays things and
.  looks neat. Included in editor- Edit, display toggle.
.  Robots - changing it by character, copying areas of it, and
.  filling an area of it by cmd or string (I.E. set area to "A
.  string") Char of 32 is see-thru. Layer during game can be on,
.  off, or static (I.E. not Scrolling, just showing upper left
.  portion).
. * Robot commands to change the mode of saving.
. * Limit any one Robot/Scroll to 31k.
. * Allow placing shooting fire in editor.
. * Make all enemies without speed arguments move 1/2 their
.  speed.
. * Player CANNOT be overwritten, you must place him anew to
.  move him.
. * First line of Robot now shows if it is a box mesg.
. * Speed 1 in game does NOT page flip, for speed.
. * Inputted strings allow input of spaces.
. * Time limits- Out of time zaps to entrance automatically,
.  THEN RESETS TIMER. Counter TIMERESET holds reset value for
.  timer, and the TIME counter holds the current time.
. * MOD code has only an error on no memory. Errors for loading
.  MODs and SAMs (I.E. not enough memory) are active if the
.  debug menu (F6) is shown. SAMs have errors for file errors/
.  out of memory. These errors are always in the editor/testing
.  games.
. * First test of a game doesn't give GAME OVER.
. * Sound effects aren't cut off across screens.
. * Placing a bomb while upon a passage no longed warps to title.
. * Sensors are pushable by things other than the player.
. * New Sensor-activated label- SENSORPUSHED, when the Sensor is
.  pushed, with or without the player on it.
. * Label- JUSTENTERED when the player just entered the screen
.  or the game is started. (NOT restored)
. * Command- Can lock/unlock board Scrolling temporarily-
.  LOCKSCROLL, UNLOCKSCROLL.
. * IF ALIGNEDROBOT "Robot" "label"
. * Damage editing- Changing the amount of damage things
.  inflict.
. * Load title screen directly when loading game for title.
.  Prevents music on first board from playing, and saves time.
. * New Robot-specific auto-counters- (read only) THISX, THISY.
. * Anywhere a number can go in a Robotic command, a counter can
.  too. Wherever there is a number, character, or color, you
.  can use a counter name in quotes instead.
. * Cmd line- load MZX file. (-lxxxxxxxx.MZX)
. * Config file for options, ask "OK?" on startup. Removed all
.  config cmd line options.
. * Cmd- SCROLLVIEW X Y. (upper left hand corner is specified)
.  Based off of current player position.
. * Cmd- SWAP TO WORLD "world.mzx" as if starting the world up.
.  Skips any title screen. (you could put a message there) The
.  other world can have a "Only play from swap" option set.
. * Quicksave key in game- Saves without asking for filename and
.  confirmation.
. * Quickload key in game- Same idea.
. * Option (default off) on world to clear messages, bullets,
.  and spitfires from a screen when exited.
. * Label JUSTLOADED sent to as soon as the game is started or
.  restored. (including the title screen and actual playing)
. * Shows character number on char edit and char selection.
. * Shows color number on color selection.
. * Multiple spots to SAVE/RESTORE/EXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION. (8)
. * RESTORE/EXCHANGE PLAYER POSITION with the option to
.  duplicate the Robot to take his place. When the player moves
.  back, the Robot is, of course, deleted.
. * Remove RANDOM POS/SIZE options.
. * Allow labels to interrupt in a Robot's box-message code and
.  have the message still show uninterrupted.
. * Show a pic of the item next to it in the THINGS menus.
. * Different bullet pics/colors for player, neutral, and enemy
.  bullets.
. * Status shown counters won't show if the value is 0.
. * Prefixes that affect only the first or last x y pair of a
.  command. (REL COUNTERS LAST, REL SELF FIRST, etc.)
. * Mod fading commands (background)
. * Allow lives/health to max out at 65535.
. * Score as a counter.
. * Maximum of 150 boards. (not 127)
. * Cmd- COPY BLOCK x y x y x y.
. * Label for SpitFire hitting a Robot- "spitfire"
. * Label for Lazer hitting a Robot- "lazer"
. * Cmd- CLIP INPUT (chops first word + spaces off of input)
. * Cmd- IF FIRST INPUT "str" "label"
. * KEY1 through KEY9 labels. (like KEYA thru KEYZ)
. * Allow viewport sizes down to 1x1.
. * PUSH Robot command- push things to dir without moving there.
. * ONE global Robot. (No ID) Stored separate from a board, and
.  is active on ALL boards.
. * Robots- Allow importing of a character into a CHAR EDIT
.  command.
. * Robots- Have SCROLL CHAR, FLIP CHAR, and COPY CHAR commands.
. * Full backward compatibility w/old MegaZeux via a conversion
.  program. (VER1TO2.EXE)
. * Editable built-in sfx. (including to digitized)
. * Elements- Goop, which is like Water from ZZT.
. * EGA/VGA palette editor, with easy fading. Commands- COLOR
.  INTENSITY # PERCENT, COLOR INTENSITY "counter" PERCENT,
.  COLOR FADE IN, COLOR FADE OUT, SET COLOR # TO r g b, SET
.  COLOR # TO INTENSITY # PERCENT, SET COLOR "counter" TO
.  INTENSITY "counter" PERCENT. (note- the FADE OUT/IN cmds
.  are "quick" fades, IE not in the bk, but they actually
.  stall the game a bit. They also end the current cycle.)
. * Display counters within strings, IE. * "You have &GEMS&
.  gems." (use && for &)
. * Robot command- LOAD CHAR SET "file.chr"
. * New default characters for global chars and char set.
. * When adding another board, copy most of the options (can
.  attack, etc.) from the current board, including MOD file.
. * Edit ANY character/color from Global Chars.
. * Char editor- Revert to ASCII, Revert to MegaZeux, changed
.  REVERSE to NEGATIVE.
. * Alt+Y Debug info LABELs each line.
. * Block command- Paint (w/color).
. * Board editor- Scroll when cursor is five spaces from the
.  edge.
. * Fade in/out between screens and program areas.
. * Ice does NOT keep pushing you against something. If you are
.  blocked, cease movement.
. * Make sound test available in editor as an option, from the
.  sound effects editing screen.
. * Can't test a save-locked game w/o pw, and it no longer locks
.  up from this.
. * REMOVED Scroll coloring on line by line. (using ! codes)
. * Export .ANS file.
. * Energizer will return player color to old color.
. * Capture and throw away ctrl+C, PrintScreen, SysRq, and
.  Pause.
. * Return in editor at end of program can now add a blank line.
. * Allow marking of a section of Robot, in lines. You can now
.  Copy, Cut, Clear, or Paste blocks.
. * Remove useless "pro" mode.
. * Robot commands- DIVIDE, MULTIPLY, MODULO.
. * Different player pics per direction.

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
>#281CLOG.HLP:281:New in Versions 2.81-2.81g
>#280CLOG.HLP:280:New in Versions 2.80-2.80h
>#OLDERVER.HLP:099:New in versions 2.60 to 2.70
>#OLDESVER.HLP:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60
>#ANCENVER.HLP:103:New in versions thru 1.03
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents
#ANCENVER.HLP
:103:New in versions thru 1.03

1.03 release: QUICK FIXES, LIMITED DISTRIBUTION

. * TELEPORT command fixed
. * Gives error on attempt to test pw-protected world
. * "Explosions leave Empty" won't screw up floors, etc. (except
.   web)
. * Placing a bomb over an entrance no longer warps to the title
.   screen
. * INPUT STRING allows input of spaces

1.02 release: NEW:

. * Miscellaneous help errors fixed
. * Miscellaneous errors in Caverns fixed
. * Miscellaneous speed/efficiency code updated
. * AVALANCHE fully fixed, now can be entered into a robot
. * Timing code fixed (may fix some problems)
. * Slight modification to keyboard code (may fix some problems)
. * Added -keyboard2 option

1.01 release: FIRST "NON-BETA" RELEASE:

. * JUMP MOD ORDER 'num' has now been documented.
. * AVALANCE corrected to AVALANCHE.
. * Robot command GO DIR "LABEL" fixed.
. * Some minor help errors fixed.
. * Fixed bug where a BECOME THING command, if becoming a space,
.   fake, or other "under"-type object, would not erase anything
.   already under the robot.
. * REL TO PLAYER and REL TO SELF now work with the TELEPORT
.   command.
. * If a robot (from WALKing) is sent to the EDGE label and none
.   exists, it then attempts to find a THUD label as well.

1.00g release: FIRST PUBLIC RELEASE:

. * Removed ALL joystick support- Didn't work, couldn't get it
.   to.
. * PW protect- lot simpler, faster, and easier to hack. :)
. * GLOBAL INFO- Toggleable game over music (you should correct
.   this in all your pre-1.00g games)
. * Fixed misc. bugs in games. SOMEONE NEEDS TO TEST THEM ALL
.   AGAIN FROM START TO FINISH.
. * Strings w/o quotes that begin with C or P are not
.   capitilized funny.
. * Settings box no longer turns off music.
. * Alt-A in editor (param) gives error if there is not a legal
.   "thing".
. * ALLIGNED fixed to ALIGNED (spelling error inherited from
.   ZZT)
. * Fixed bug where if slow time or freeze time was active when
.   player touched a door, player was copied.
. * Help- fixed slight bugs
. * Fixed minor problems in Caverns, Forest, and Chronos
. * MOD not required for SAM
. * Level not speeded up if MOD not playing
. * MOD not require a speed command (speed properly done)
. * Help uses Alt-P to print
. * Speed defaults to 3 not 4

6th beta release: NEW:

. * Fixed bug where slow/stop effects didn't work on title.
. * Fixed bug in command MOVE PLAYER where it would occasionally
.   create junk.
. * Fixed bug in robot editor where if "Show Colors" option
.   (Alt-O) was off, any color with a ? for the second digit
.   showed an incorrect first digit- cV? for cF?, etc.
. * The direction UNDER now works with the PUT thing dir PLAYER
.   command.
. * Dir/drive support added to loading MZX fileboxes.
. * HELP IS IN ONE FILE- MZX_HELP.PKG (note- memory minimum is
.   still maintained.)
. * Fixed bug where fire could hurt you indirectly even if
.   lavawalker was in effect.
. * Fixed bug where nothing (except player) could push a
.   pushable robot head on. (only if it was in a string of
.   things to push)
. * Fixed bug where shooting fire would destroy entrances.
. * Fixed bug in Put commands that would erase before placing,
.   so putting things over a fake or floor erased the
.   fake/floor. (etc)
. * Change command- Didn't change params properly if you were
.   changing between like objects (IE text to text) Also made
.   more robust against attempts to change things to
.   robots/scrolls/signs/sensors/players.
. * Put commands- Made more robust against attempts to put
.   robots/scrolls/signs/sensors/players.
. * Fixed bug where no player on a board would really mean no
.   player!
. * With Shift-F1 through Shift-F4 in editor, the key used to
.   stop the flashing is not interpreted but ignored.
. * Sensor/Robot interactions! (See help)
. * PageUp will change menus in the editor now. (along with
.   PageDown)
. * Removed all refrences (except in file format) to double
.   speed robots and projectiles. Code increase is not worth it.
. * RANDB, RANDNB directions added!
. * Misc. help corrections and bug fixes, finished help. (except
.   for minor changes)
. * Alt-O (options) no longer clears the command line at the
.   bottom
. * Character insert in robot editor now inserts the characters
.   corresponding to 10 and 13.
. * If you select base 16 in Alt-O options (robot editor) then
.   ALL numbers are shown in hex, including when editing the
.   line. (previously, the current line was shown in base 10 at
.   all times.)
. * Chronos-Stasis finished. (not tested outside of myself)
. * Forest of Ruin finished except for ending. (see above)
. * Repeat (F4) and Delete line (Alt-D) added to robot editor
. * Copy, Cut, and Paste line (Alt-C/T/P) added to robot editor
.   (note- paste REPLACES current line)
. * Export robot (Alt-X) added to editor. Exporting from current
.   line or top of program both supported.
. * Import robot (Alt-I) added to editor. Importing only looks
.   for *.TXT in the filebox. Import always REPLACES the current
.   robot program.

5th beta release: NEW:

. * Fixed bug in teleport command where screen was not updated
.   if player ended up in the same position.
. * Fixed bug where mouse didn't select right item on game menu
. * Fixed bug where adding a new robot/scroll/sensor when the
.   current item was a robot/scroll/sensor would reset the color
.   to lt.grey
. * Caverns all finished (hope I got all the bugs)
. * The DEF.COLORS option doesn't reset when changing/adding
.   boards now
. * SAM now works right...
. * In fact, added new code for MOD and VOC- a LOT less "out of
.   mem" or "error loading" errors.
. * Fixed bug with locked doors (not locks, but real doors)
. * Saving games and files is MUCH faster in almost all
.   circumstances. Save meter more accurate as well.
. * Board import/export fixed- robots/scrolls/sensors were
.   messed up
. * Pgdn, Pgup, Ctrl/Alt Home, Ctrl/Alt End added to robot
.   editor.
. * Ctrl/Alt Left + Right used to jump 10 chars in character
.   selection boxes.
. * Save area in character editor (F-2 and F-3) stays the same
.   between calls to the character editor, including when
.   loading games.
. * Character editor shows not only current char pic, but those
.   of the three chars before and three chars after as well.
. * Fixed bug where a robot with no program would majorly mess
.   up things.
. * Misc. bug fixes, help typos, and optimizations.
. !ADDED 14 COMMANDS (all commands finished)
. !ADDED  2 DIRECTIONS (randp, randnot)
. * Help brings up Robot Table of Contents within robot editor
. * Quotes not required around strings of one word not matching
.   any reserved word, IE a word used for ANYTHING else,
.   anywhere. They are added automaticaly, though.
. * EDITOR OPTIONS in robot editor (Alt-O) Choose number base,
.   upper case or lower case, and whether to display colors.
. * Bug fixed in editor- Now colors like c7? (with ? at end)
.   work right.
. * Calibrate Joystick button added to Game options (F2) Tony-
.   See if this helps.
. * Speeded up certain file operations. This MAY fix the
.   "lockup" bug when accessing Help during a MOD- I think that
.   the lockup may of been just a really slow file access.
. * Added X position indicator to bottom left of robot window,
.   to facilate creating box messages that aren't too long.
. * Fixed bug that allowed entering ANY character at the mixing
.   rate prompt.
. * INPUT STRING, IF STRING "str" "label", IF STRING NOT "str"
.   "label" robot commands added.
. * UNDER/BENEATH direction added to IF dir PLAYER thing "label"
.   command.
. * Clarified options at startup- Music device became Device for
.   Digitized Music and Sound.
. * Added four more mixing rates. Choose from 7500 up to 25000
.   in jumps of 2500. (eight rates total)

4th beta release: NEW:

. * Note- SAVE GAME FORMAT CHANGED. Delete all your .SAV files.
.   .MZX file format NOT changed- compatibility still
.   maintained.
. * Scroll border/etc. colors changable using robot commands-
.   SCROLLBASE COLOR, SCROLLBORDER COLOR, etc. (see help)
. * Removed Alt-Minus and Alt-Plus keys in editor- Useless and
.   dangerous. (they were only for testing purposes.)
. * Various bug fixes
. * Joystick support- UNTESTED! Tony- I need feedback!
. * Mixing rate options at startup.
. * A warning is given and verification is necessary if you try
.   to save a .MZX file over an already existing file.
. * You can now choose from some additional music output
.   devices.
. * Help is in seperate files, MZX*.HLP, to save memory. (lots!)
. * I FINALLY THINK THE MEMORY AND FILE CODE WORKS PERFECT!
.   Except for speed. Something to work on...
. * Char editor shows values of bytes along left side, for use
.   with robot command CHAR EDIT.
. * Yet more help
. * Robot editor! See the top box for keys to use (Import/eXport
.   not implemented yet)
. * Robots as well! See Help, Robo-P Reference, Command
.   Reference, and look at commands for help using them. Some
.   are not done yet.
. * Video mode returns to default VGA mode (text 16x9) on exit
. * File lists sorted
. * Directory support and DRIVE support in file boxes WAS added,
.   but was taken out due to problems since changing the current
.   directory makes it almost impossible to find the current
.   .MZX file to read boards from.
. * Custom Critical Error Handler (no dos grey messages if the
.   drive is invalid or something like that)
. * Password displayed as *'s when inputting, except on
.   protection menu. (Do YOU think it should be *'s on
.   protection menu? 'T'? CP?)
. * Enemys-hurt-enemys option added (GLOBAL info, SPEC. button)
. * "Show Robots" option added (Shift F2)
. * More help added
. * Fixed sensor bug (The player couldn't move onto it in most
.   cases)
. * Fixed a bug where if you tried to Grab something via the
.   Modify menu and the current thing was a scroll, sign, or
.   robot that had no copy anywhere else on the current board,
.   then the memory allocated to that object was not freed.
.   (whew!)
. * A few more optimizations
. * Mouse disapears after a certain period of time of non-use
. * Boulders from the AVALANCHE potion, and explosions from the
.   BLAST potion can't appear over an entrance anymore
. * Fixed some bugs in Text Export
. * Removed .BIN import- Waste of program space
. * Made ALL options (protection, ANSi import) available in
.   unregistered- now registration is only for the games
. * Removed "suicide key" from game. Think about how it could
.   screw up carefully planned cinemas, story sequences, etc.
. * Mouse support in character editor
. * Test function added
. * Speeded up saves and board switches
. * Slowed down all file access (okay, so it's not a feature,
.   but it's more reliable, as is memory management as well)
. * Made save meter more accurate
. * BLOCK COMMANDS! (in editor)
. * ZZT board import (not perfectly accurate, but...)
. * Bug fixed where games with the title screen title at maximum
.   length would mess up the file list box
. * MOD (SB & speaker) support! (& SAM)
. * Explosion-meets-player bug fixed

3rd beta release: NEW:

. * Full mouse support (except in character editing)
. * No "pointer" mouse...
. * Scrolls and sensors
. * Robot code (memory management) mostly transparent to user
. * GLOBAL Info- Death & endgame options
. * GLOBAL Info- Removed "Health Only/Lives Only" options
. * CW/CCW support
. * Sound always the same speed
. * Bug fixes and optimizations
. * Status Info added

2nd beta release: NEW:

. * Cmd line options
. * Mouse support (not finished)
. * -Bios option
. * Hopefully fixed Tony's graphics bugs (try it with and
.   without -bios)
. * Bug fixes
. * Tutorial.mzx has creatures/guns sections
. * Fixed/better/changed keyboard routines
. * Optimized code

>#NEWINVER.HLP:1st:NEW in MegaZeux!
>#281CLOG.HLP:281:New in Versions 2.81-2.81g
>#280CLOG.HLP:280:New in Versions 2.80-2.80h
>#OLDERVER.HLP:099:New in versions 2.60 to 2.70
>#OLDESVER.HLP:100:New in versions 2.01 to 2.60
>#NEWIN200.HLP:1st:New in version 2.00
>#MAIN.HLP:072:Table of Contents