Utility: Province Editor v101 - Updated

[Ballbarian]

Attached to this post is a tool to make creating custom provinces for RanDom a whole lot easier.

7/08/07 - Replaced v100 with v101: Now supports RanDom ver 2.03 (SemiRandom ver 1.06) and the new "_OR_" tag which will allow placement of a single province file across a wide variety of terrain types.


From the included ReadMe.txt:
-


Province Editor v1.01
Author: Ballbarian
Email: semirand AT dom3minions DOT com
Web: http://www.dom3minions.com/~semirand/


About:
*****************
The Province Editor is a tool for creating province files (.gan)
for SemiRandom. It may also be useful as an aid in the development
of custom provinces for non-SemiRandom scenario type maps as well with
some slight modification of the output.


Requirements:
*****************
The Province Editor was developed in VB6 and will therefore requires
the VB runtime dll which you probably already have on your system.
If not, it is widely available on the net. (If you are having problems
with the vb libraries, Gooles and Gandalf reported having some luck
with this link: http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/libraryfiles.exe

The Province Editor will also require SemiRandom. If you are using
the RanDom map generator, then you will already have SemiRandom.


To Install:
*****************
Place the D3PEv100 folder in your dominions3 directory (you should
have a SemiRandom folder here as well). I would recommend taking
a moment to create a shortcut to ProvinceEdit.exe and place the
shortcut on your desktop, or somewhere convenient for you.


Getting Started:
*****************
The first time that you run ProvinceEdit.exe, you will see an open
dialog. Use this to locate SemiRandom\SemiRandom.exe.

Once the program is loaded, you should see a window split into two
distinct sections...

The top section contains four tabs. In theory, you should be able
to walk through the process of creating a province file somewhat like
reading a book. Work from the top left corner to the bottom right
and then move on to the next page and continue. In practice, you
will likely find yourself skipping back and forth as the theme for
the province develops.

The bottom section contains the "Unit Finder". Use the controls at
the left to set various filters and remember to hit the [Apply Filters]
button to uhh... apply them. Use the right dropdown box to browse
units by name. Tip: Use the up/down arrow keys to browse the list
and the description box will update as you browse. Tip2: If you
select a unit, notice that the grey box will fill with a blue unit
number. This is a link to that unit in the Online Unit List and
clicking it will open that units information page in your default web
browser. The user name and password are provided at the bottom of the
window for your convenience. These blue unit links also appear in the
poptype and magic site selectors.

Take note of the 2 green [?] buttons. Pressing these will open
and close a help window which will update with information as your
mouse moves over various control sections.

The first time you create a province, remember to change the
author name from the default to something original to you! This
will help to prevent conflicts with other users provinces. The
index number will auto increment when you save your province,
but you can change it manually as well if needed.


Simple as 1,2,3:
*****************
Step 1 - > This tab is where you build the gan file name. This step
is very important as it will tell SemiRandom where your province might
appear when it modifies a map file. Careless settings might make it
impossible to place the province at all!

Step 2 - > This tab is where you can set some key attributes of the
province. The province name, population and type, features, structures
and victory points may all be set here.

Step 3 - > This tab is where you can build a garrison for the province.
Set commanders and their attributes, magic, items, bodyguards, units, etc.
There is also a [Begin Siege] button which is enabled when there is a fort
in the province. Use this to enable defenders outside of the castle walls.
As you work through the sub tabs, use the [Submit] bottom to add commands
to the code box at the left. You can also edit this manually.

Step 4 - > This tab is where you can preview your creation and save it if
it is ready. You may return to previous steps at any time and your changes
will be updated when you return. Use the [Save As] button to select a location
to save the gan file without adding it to SemiRandom's gan list. Use the
[Save and Add] button to automatically save the gan file to your SemiRandom
gan directory and add it to your gan list so that it is available for use
the next time you SemiRandomize a map. Use the [Clear Garrison] button to
clear the code box containing units and commanders from Step 3. Use the
[Clear All] button to reset every control back to a fresh start. Do not hit
these buttons accidentally, because there will be no warning box asking you
if you are sure that you want to!


Sharing is good:
*****************
Remember to share your best thematic creations with the community! You may
submit gan files, name lists, and RanDom settings to: semirand AT dom3minions DOT com


Forum Discussions:
*****************
RanDom version 2
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...&Number=523661

RanDom version 1 (OLD)
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...&Number=496176

SemiRandom version 0.95 (OLD)
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...&Number=496171

Online Unit Reference
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...&Number=497152


Since the dom3minions server is deceased, the semirandom email address is no longer working. If you wish to submit semirandom files, for now just use: