WN-Script

WN-Script v0.23 beta
Readme File
3/1/02
(c)2001-2002 PC Kwik

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About WN-Script:

	After several weeks playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein I 
noticed that some players not only had colours in their names but
at the end of every round some would animate. After doing a bit of 
research I discovered that these animations were relatively simple 
to add. Using a script file you can bind a special script to one of
your keys, When you press this key the Wolfenstein engine executes
the relative script code.
	WN-Script is a simle tool programmed in Visual Basic that 
simplifies the process of generating this script code. I realized
that not everyone enjoys or knows scripting and that this program 
allows a wider majority of people to animate their own names.

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		    	TABLE OF CONTENTS

		  I.	GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES
		 II.	INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
		III.	REVISION HISTORY


I. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES
-----------------------------
	As this is in the early beta test stages. Some charachters may
not appear on the WN-Script preview window as they would in the game. At
this time we are testing various scripts for bugs and the like. 
	If you do find any bugs or ommisions please feel free to E-mail us
at [email protected] and we will try to accomodate the fixes in the next 
release.
	At present the scripter has only been tested with Windows XP 
Proffesional although it should work on any system as long as the Visual 
Basic runtime files are present.( These files are also available on the
PC Kwik site, www.kwikpc.com)


II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
------------------------
	WN-Script works by generating a script code file from a list of 
frames defined in the WN-Script interface. The following steps describe 
how to create a simple name script with colour animations. This "frameset"
(tutorial.wns) is also included with WNScript to show you how it works.


(1)	When WN-Script loads you will see a Window labelled "Frame list"
	This is where you will add each frame to be played back. We start
	by adding the first frame, we do this by pressing the Add button

(2)	Now you will see in the frame list a blank entry labelled with the
	number one. To edit the name you can do either of the following:
		
		(a)	Click the mouse pointer on the preview window at
			the foot of the WN-Script window and you will see
			a flashing square appear. Typing will add charachters 
			starting from the square selected and in the colour 
			shown in the Colour window.

		(b)	Typing in the text box just under the frame list will
			add charachters in white (You may use the ^ control char
			to add colours also as in RTCW)
	
(3)	At this point you may wish to change the colour of part of the name. To 
	do so simply click on the relevant charachter in the preview window and 
	then select a colour from the palette. Notice all subsequent charachters
	of the same colour will also be affected as this is the way the scripts
	affect colour. You can see the actual script change in the text box under
	the frame list, adding colours will insert a control character in the text.

(4) 	Now we have our first frame we will want to animate it. With the first frame
	highlighted you should be able to see the value 50 in the time box. This is
	the amount of time in 1/50th of a second that the frame will display before 
	changing to the next frame in the list. Change this value to 8 as we want the
	next frame to come quite quick to provide the feeling of a smooth animation

(5)	Once the first frame is complete we can now move on to the second. We are going
	to move the name off screen to the right before finally placing it back for all
	to see. We achieve this by copying the first frame using the Copy button.

(6)	When you press the Copy button with the first frame highlighted a second frame
	is created with exactly the same attributes as the first. we can now adjust this
	second frame slightly to create the illusion of movement. To do this we simply 
	insert a minus sign at the beggining of the text displayed in the text box under 
	the frame list. Notice how doing this also updates the preview window and that
	the charachters that are beyond the 16 charachter limit in the text box are NOT
	displayed in the Preview window so we don't necessarily have to remove the excess 
	charachters.

(7)	Repeat this process of copying the last frame to a new frame and inserting an extra
	minus sign at the beggining until you reach frame 17 at which point frame 17 should
	only show minus signs in the preview window. At this point you can press the Play
	button in the preview window to view how the animation will look so far. Pretty good
	Eh? Now the final touch is to keep the name off for a full second and then put it back
	in one move (no animation). To do this first we keep the name of for a second by 
	changing the time value of frame 17 to 50.

(8)	Finally we need to make a new frame with the original name as in frame 1. We can do 
	this by copying the first frame. highlight frame one in the frame list and press the
	copy button. This will Insert a copy of the frame in slot 2. now simply drag the newly
	copied frame down the list until it sits in position 18. FINISHED! Now press the Play 
	button to preview the finished article

(9)	In order to use these framesets in Wolfenstein you need to export the script file. Do 
	this by selecting Export Script (F12) from the file menu. The script will be generated
	and stored in a file called name.cfg in the wolfenstein directory. To use this file 
	simply bring down the console and then type the following followed by enter.

		/exec name.cfg

	Now whenever you press the "P" button whilst in a game the script will be executed and your
	name animated. Be warned though, this is best done only at the round end screen as the name
	changes will be visible by everyone on the server and it has been known for people to be 
	kicked for using them in the middle of a game....

	NB. 	It has been said by some that only the winner of each team should use animation on a 
		public server as excessive name scripts can cause server problems.



III. REVISION HISTORY
---------------------

v0.23b  3/1/02		-	Script exporting made easier, WNscript locates script directory upon
				first run. Further animation effects introduced.

v0.22b  2/1/02		-	Path Not found 76 error fixed.

v0.21b	1/1/02		-	Bug fix regarding Visual Basic runtime files. WNScript is no longer
				distributed as a windows installer

v0.2b	31/12/01	-	Original test beta. Many features still missing but script generation
				and UI working

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