                         Quake Message Editor 1.5
            (c) Copyright 1997-99 - Innovative Software Creations

The program is very simply to operate, but for the few of those people
that actually read documentation, here you go.

Warranty, Copyright, and Liability

  * (Quake Message Editor) QMESS IS SUPPLIED AS-IS. IT IS NOT GUARANTEED FOR
    FITNESS OR SUITABILITY FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
  * INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE CREATIONS WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY
    DAMAGES--ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHERWISE--FROM THE USE OF, OR THE
    INABILITY TO USE, QMESS. INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE CREATIONS WILL NOT BE HELD
    LIABLE FOR ERRORS IN ITS DOCUMENTATION.
  * INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE CREATIONS HEREBY EXPLICITLY DISCLAIM ALL OTHER
    WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
  * QMESS AND ITS DOCUMENTATION ARE COPYRIGHTED. INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE
    CREATIONS RETAIN ALL LEGAL RIGHTS TO BOTH.

  Quake is a trademark of Id Software, Inc.

What is QMESS?

  Quake Message Editor is a Windows utility that will create scripts
  the work with QUAKE. The scripts create large block letter messages
  that display during playing quake.

  The program uses a database to store all the messages you create with
  QMESS.

  When registered, the program can also create scrolling messages. Please
  refer to the ORDER.TXT for complete registration information.

  The EXAMPLE.TXT file contains a list of examples that you can create with
  QMESS.

Updates in Version 1.5

  *** PLEASE READ IF UPGRADING FROM VERSION 1.0 ***

  QMESS has been modified to work with Quake I and Quake II. I had to change
  the QMESS.TPS message database format, so you must enter your message again.
  It is recommended that you install QMESS 1.5 into another folder and then enter
  your messages into the program. If you had registered QMESS, click the setup
  button and enter your registration name and number into the program.

  QMESS now works with Quake I and Quake II. You will see a new check box -
  "Quake I Message". Checking this box will create a script that will work
  in Quake I. If you leave this check box checked and try to execute the script
  in Quake II, you will get an error "Line has unmatched quote, discarded." To
  fix, edit the message and uncheck the "Quake I Message". You can then generate the
  script again and the error should disappear.

Other problems with Quake II

  Quake II has been changed so you can't "talk" lots of times. You may have
  seen the message "You can't talk for xx seconds". This does cause some problems
  with QMESS. If you have large messages that are split into multiple lines
  you will get the "You can't talk..." message. Also scrolling can't be preformed.
  Make your message short. You can use the anonymous feature to give you more
  characters on the screen.

Where can you get the latest version of QMESS?

  Visit the home page at http://www.iscreations.com/qmess/. If
  you require further information, please e-mail: iscreations@iscreations.com

  All ideas and suggestions about the QMESS program are welcome. Let me
  know if you have some ideas about improving the program or have ideas
  that could make the program even better.

Program Background.

  I have been playing Quake for some time now. Occasionally I wanted to
  type a message to the other fellow quakers. Quake has a message
  function built in. Normally you can press "T" to talk and type a
  message. This is OK, but sometimes the messages get lost with all
  of the other game messages flying around.

  Just recently I saw some large block character messages while playing
  quake. These messages really get your attention. So, instead of saying
  Camper!!! you can have:

                     
                      
                    
                      

  I thought this was great, I created a few scripts by hand. (A major
  pain!!!) I'm a programmer, so I thought there must be a better way.

  I did some research and came up with some program specs and ta da,
  QMESS was born.

  Quake Message Editor, or just QMESS, uses a database to store
  messages that you want to say during the game. Just type the message,
  enter the script name, and click the generate button. Then simply have
  a key bound to the script name. When you want to show the large message,
  just kit the bound key and your message it then shown to the other
  players.

  I originally wanted to just display the large messages. However, I
  couldn't stop there, so I added the scrolling abilities. (Registered
  version only) Please refer to the Editing Quake Messages section for
  more information.

  I also added the ability to become "anonymous". (no one knows that
  you sent the message)

  The fonts are crude looking. (4 rows by 5 columns). So if you think you
  can create a better looking font, I also included a Quake Message font
  editor. (Registered version only)

Program Setup

  Simply unzip the contents of QMESS15.ZIP into a folder named QMESS.
  Example: C:\QMESS\

  To run the program, double click on the QMESS.EXE

  The first time starting the program, you are asked to set the program up.

  To access the setup information at any time, click the Setup button.

Quake Script Directory.

  Enter the full path the QUAKE\ID1\ directory. QMESS needs to know
  this path, so message scripts are created there.

    EXAMPLE: C:\GAMES\QUAKE\ID1\

  NOTE: If you are using QMESS with Quake II, the path is
  usually: \QUAKE2\BASEQ2\

Quake Name Length

  Enter the total number of characters that your name is when playing
  quake. QMESS needs to know this information to correctly create
  scrolling messages. If the scrolling doesn't look very good, then
  check the Quake Name Length for a problem

    EXAMPLE: QuakeGOD would be a length of 8

Message ASCII Character

  To select a different ASCII character for messages, enter it here. Any
  number from 1 to 255 is supported here. NOTE: Some characters don't
  work. Click on the "..." button to display a list of graphic ASCII
  characters that are known to work.

Max Lines per Script

  When developing the QMESS program, I ran into a problem with too many
  lines in a script. It only happens when creating HUGE messages and
  lots of scroll delays. If you run into a problem with a script, just
  reduce the number here and try it again. The default is 150 lines
  per script

Registered Name

  Enter the name you want registered with QMESS. This information is used
  to create an Access Key to "unlock" the program. You may enter up to
  30 characters in the Registered Name field.

Access Key

  Enter the Access Key to "unlock" the program. The Access Key is obtainable
  from Innovative Software Creations. Please refer to the ORDER.TXT for
  all the information that is needed to register QMESS.

Message Table Screen

  If you have not done so, please make sure the program is setup and install
  properly.

  This screen shows all the messages that are stored in the Message Table.
  The list box shows the first part of the message and the second column
  contains the message script name.

  Below the list box are the update buttons. Add will allow you to add
  additional messages to the message table. Edit will edit the currently
  selected message. Delete will delete the currently selected message.
  Duplicate will copy the selected message allowing you to make small
  changes and save the message again.

  To the right of the list box, is the Generate Message button. Use this button
  to create the message script for the highlighted message.

Updating the Messages

  Click on the Add, Edit, Delete, or Duplicate buttons to make changes to
  Message Table. Changes are not allowed if the delete button was clicked.
  Simply click the OK button to delete the message.

Message

  Enter the message that you want displayed in Quake. You can enter up to 255
  characters per message. (That's a BIG message) I recommend that you keep
  you messages short. Any letter or symbol that you see on the keyboard can
  be used. EXAMPLE: ABC... !@#$%^....

  NOTE: Some of the symbols look bad. (Don't even look at the &) Remember
  the fonts can only be 4 rows by 5 columns wide. I did my best to create
  the fonts. If you want to make a better letter, register the program
  and use the font editor. :-)

  QMESS will automatically chop up words to try to make it fit. Occasionally
  a large word may not look right on the screen if it was chopped. Scrolling
  right to left continuously doesn't chop the words.

Script Name

  Enter the script name that will be called to display the message. Usually
  the extension should be ".CFG" (there is no law that says this, just
  everyone usually uses it)

  NOTE: If the script gets big because you have lots of scrolling options,
  QMESS will automatically create more scripts for you. The next name will
  have ".001", then ".002" as the extension.

  The number of lines in a script can be setup in the setup area of the
  program. Usually this is 150 lines per script. If you get an error message
  in QUAKE, make the number a little smaller and generate the script again
  to see if the problem goes away.

  NOTE: You don't have to do any special calling in quake if the message
  script goes to more than one script. At the bottom of the first script
  will be a call to the next script. It will continue to "chain" call
  until the last script.

  EXAMPLE: SAMPLE.CFG - last line EXEC SAMPLE.001
           SAMPLE.001 - last line EXEC SAMPLE.002
           SAMPLE.002 - All done

  To call the script within quake, just simply type EXEC "script name" at the
  console. The more preferred method would to BIND a key to call the script.
  Have this binding done in the AUTOEXEC.CFG file.

  EXAMPLE: BIND p "EXEC CAMPER.CFG"

  To call the script, just press p and the "CAMPER.CFG" will be called. It
  doesn't get any simpler than that.

Scroll Delay

  To tweak the scrolling of the letters in QMESS, enter the number of "WAIT"s
  that you want between each scroll step. A "WAIT" in Quake is called a game
  tick. Boy is that useful information. I experimented and fund that about 20
  "WAIT"s was about 1 second.

  I recommend that you keep the scroll delay a very low number. If you put a
  high number here, and have scroll right to left turned on with a big
  message, you are going to wait a LONG TIME before the script gets done
  displaying. Trust me, small numbers are good here.

  NOTE: Scrolling is only available in the registered version of the program

Row delay

  Refer the scroll delay setting section to explain what a "WAIT" is.

  Basically the Row delay allows your message to pause before scrolling
  off the screen.

Font

  Enter the font file that you want to use. The default font is called
  DEFFONT.FNT. The registered version allows you to edit this file.

  NOTE: The FNT files have to be in the same directory as the QMESS.EXE
  program.

  NOTE: The FNT file are not windows fonts. Don't try to load a windows
  font file in the font editor. Strange things may happen. You have been
  warned :-)

Mess Char

  Enter the message ASCII character that you want for this message. Enter "0"
  here to use the default character that you had in the setup screen. Click on
  the "..." button to display special block ASCII characters.

  Any ASCII number can be entered here (1-255) NOTE: Some ASCII characters
  don't work.

Anonymous

  Click this check box to turn on the Anonymous mode. When you are Anonymous
  no one knows that you sent the message. (Not even the ":" is shown.)

  I prefer the anonymous mode because more letters can fix on the screen
  when creating messages. You will have to experiment with it to see
  which way you like it.

Scroll direction

  When you register QMESS, you can also have the ability to scroll your
  messages. This is a "smooth" scroll. Parts of the letters are displayed
  until fully scrolled off the screen. (A neat effect that would take
  you days to create by hand!!!!)

After Full Line Scroll

  After a full line is displayed, you can optionally have the message
  scroll again. You can do some interesting effects with this feature.

  You could have the text scroll down from the top and then scroll back up
  again. Another interesting one is to have the text scroll from right to left.
  Once the first letter touches the left side of the screen, have the text
  scroll back to the right again.

  Experiment with the scrolling to see which way you like it. Remember, the
  scrolling feature is only available in the registered version of the program.

  I have created several samples that show off the scrolling abilities of the
  program. Please refer to the EXAMPLES.TXT file for more information. These
  examples are already generated, no need to create them in QMESS. (Actually if
  you did create them with an unregistered version of QMESS, the scrolling
  would disappear.)

The Font Editor

  Once registered, you can edit the fonts. Select Edit Fonts from the setup
  menu. Click the load button to load a FNT file. Click on the letters to
  toggle the current letter to edit. Click on the 4 row by 5 column font
  area to turn ON or OFF the square. When the message is created, black
  means an ASCII character will be generated there.

  The Clear button clears the current letter. It is recommended that you
  save the font file to another name and then make changes. (Don't overwrite
  the original DEFFONT.FNT file)

  NOTE: The FNT file are not windows fonts. Don't try to load a windows
  font file in the font editor. Strange things may happen. You have been
  warned :-)

Other notes about the program

  When you execute the message scripts, quake will become unresponsive. (It's
  busy displaying your message.) So don't hit the wrong key right in the
  middle of big battle.

  You may slow down other players with QMESS. Since you are constantly sending
  a message to all users, the server that you are connected to may slow down
  a tad. So don't make a HUGE message and have it scroll left and right. If
  people complain too much, stop for a while or move onto another server.

Thanks

  Thanks for taking the time to download the program. I hope you will enjoy
  it as much as it was creating it. If you really like the program, please
  register it. Refer to the ORDER.TXT file for complete information about
  registering the QMESS program.

  So next time you are quaking and you see something like:

                     
                      
                    
                      

  you know that they have QMESS. So you can say:

                        
                        
                     
                          

Innovative Software Creations - iscreations@iscreations.com
PO Box 102, Stewartville, MN 55976
Home Page: www.iscreations.com
