        Ultima 4 Map Editor
              by                       clarification notes by
           Centurion  bob@cei.net      Micro Dragon    louis@psyber.com


            This program will let you modify the Ultima 4 Map to your
        liking.  While it's not very interactive, it does get the job
        done.  In addition to the files contained in this archive, you
        will need a Bitmap editor that can edit GIF files in 256 colors.
        (PhotoShop works great.)
            Many thanks to Centurion for this excellent, and innovative
        map editor!   -- MD

	Okay, once you've unzipped this, you should have 4 files:

        README.TXT --(this file)
        MAPIN.EXE  --The program that converts U4BRIT.GIF to WORLD.NEW
        U4BRIT.GIF --A Map of the Ultima 4 Universe.
        DOS4GW.EXE --A file needed for Mapin.Exe to operate.

	Copy these files into your U4 directory (this is the same directory
	where you will find the WORLD.MAP file).

	IMPORTANT! Back up your WORLD.MAP file as WORLD.GOD or something,
	just in case you fry your original map and want to start over.

        Here's how this works: the U4BRIT.GIF contains the default map of
        Britannia.  [Make a backup copy of this file!!!  (I like the name
        U4Map.Gif. --MD)]

             Now open the U4BRIT.GIF file in your favorite Bitmap editor.
        Select the color that you wish to use FROM the map--the Eye-Dropper
        tool works great for this.  Then draw with this new color where-ever
        you wish.  You're re-creating Britannia in your own image--have fun.
        --MD

        WARNING: Do not alter the locations of towns and such. [i.e., Don't
        Color over towns or dungeons, represented as red and black dots--MD]
        The coordinates of the locations in the game are hardcoded somewhere
	and I'm really not motivated to search for them. You cannot enter
	a location unless an icon is present AT the original location.
	You can swap around the icons for towns, castles, villages and 
	ruins, - just don't swap dungeons icons for town-like icons and 
	vice-versa.

            When you're done with your masterpiece, save the modified
        U4BRIT.GIF.  Now run the program MapIn.Exe.  This will convert the
        file U4Brit.Gif to World.New.  Make a backup of the file World.Map
        (such as World.Bak)--I can't warn you enough.  Then copy World.New
        to World.Map.  --MD

            Now fire up Ultima IV and play in your new world!  Isn't that
        just easy?!  :)  --MD

            To return Ultima IV back to "normal", either copy the World.Map
        file from your floppy or CD-Rom original.  Or copy the U4Map.Gif back
        to U4BRIT.GIF and run MapIN.Exe.  Everything's back to normal!  --MD


	If you want to do some serious terrain building, you'll need to
	print out the following. These are the internal codes for each
	tile type (which is also the color number in your paint program):

	 0 deep sea       22 dungeon floor        76 lava
	 1 sea            23 bridge               60 chest
	 2 shallow sea    29 ruin                 61 ankh
	 3 swamp          30 shrine               62 brick floor
	 4 grass                                  63 wood floor
	 5 brush          24 balloon              57 big rock
	 6 forest         16 ship
	 7 hills          20 horse
	 8 mountains      
	 9 dungeon       127 brick wall
	10 town           67 full moongate
	11 castle         68 poison field
	12 village        69 lightening field
	13 lbc castle 1   70 fire field
	14 lbc castle 2   71 sleep field
	15 lbc castle 3   73 secret passage

	(there are 256 tiles in all, these are only the important ones)

							Centurion
							bob@cei.net
	

           Unfortunately, not many Bitmap editors refer to the colors in GIF
        files by their value.  So, the best you can do is Select the color
        you want with the Eye-Dropper tool (in PhotoShop) and paint with
        that.  Just make sure the color is the object you think it is...
           I played with this program a bit.  I selected the "plains" color
        and drew a path to every island, shrine, castle, and cave as a test.
        This program worked like a charm.
           The only problem I see is that there's no visual indication that
        the program did anything.  At first, I thought it didn't work, until
        I figured out what I was supposed to do.  Hopefully this annotated
        document will make Map Editing much easier for everyone.
           I tried to note every change I made by indenting the paragraph
        and by putting a "--MD" after it. Well, gotta get back to editing
        maps...  Have fun!

                                            --Micro Dragon
                                              louis@psyber.com
