The Depot: How to Use the ps18xx Files

Matthias Klose's ps18xx files may be the single most useful utility for the 18xx pbem gamer yet. A set of high-quality, editable map and tile sets, the files allow one to keep track of a game with a minimum of fuss, and produce variant maps and tilesets for your games.

Unfortunately, there is a great deal of confusion on how to use the files to get the results you want. I speak from experience - I was unable to get any results for quite a while. I finally had to design a tile and map set and send it to Matthias since I could not generate useable output. Once I saw what he had done, I quickly figured out my problem. Hopefully, this primer will help all of the people who have emailed me with the same questions.

The files generate output in PostScript, a page description language that is used in high-end printers. If you are unfamiliar with PostScript, you may want to look into it further. If you do not have a PostScript-compatible printer or a program to view PostScript documents, I recommend getting Ghostscript, a freeware program that translates PostScript files. When paired with another free program called Ghostview, you will be able to view the files on your monitor and generate files that can be used on websites.

When you unzip the ps18xx package, you will find a lot of files. You will find that half of the files have names that are in lower case, and half in upper case. The upper case named files are the final products, ready for using. M is for the map and T is for the tile set. These will also be the files you need to edit, if you want to see your results. I suggest making a duplicate file with a different name before you start modifying things.

Another file that you will want to look at are the GTILES file, which contains the building blocks of the maps and tilesets. If you are looking at working on a new set, I suggest you print a listing of the M file for the game closest to the one you are working on, the graphics versions of the file, the graphics version of the tileset for the game, the listing for the tileset (the lowercase file in this case) and the graphic vbersion and listing of the GTILE file. This should give you enough information to figure out defining new maps and tiles. If you are completely stumped, try writing Matthias - he's very willing to help, or drop me a line - I'll try, but I'll admit, I am still learning...

Go back to the waiting room.
Go back to the platform.

dmreed@bihs.net last updated 27 April 97