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# 15 The Automapper window

#### Table of Contents

- 15.1 Introduction
- 15.2 Automapper toolbars
- 15.3 Creating regions
- 15.4 Creating rooms
- 15.5 Automapper modes
- 15.6 Selecting rooms
- 15.7 Selecting exits
- 15.8 Simple and complex exits
  - 15.8.1 Drawing regions without exits
- 15.9 One-way exits
- 15.10 Connecting rooms
- 15.11 Moving rooms and labels
  - 15.11.1 Dragging exits
- 15.12 Bent exits
- 15.13 Up and down
- 15.14 Non-primary directions
- 15.15 Labels
  - 15.15.1 Customising labels
- 15.16 Exit ornaments
  - 15.16.1 Twin exit ornaments
- 15.17 Assisted moves
  - 15.17.1 Assisted moves using exit ornaments
  - 15.17.2 Custom assisted moves
- 15.18 Pathfinding
- 15.19 Room tags
- 15.20 Room guilds
- 15.21 Room flags
  - 15.21.1 Room flag groups
  - 15.21.2 Room flag filters
  - 15.21.3 Applying room tags
  - 15.21.4 Editing room flag colours
- 15.22 The painter
  - 15.22.1 Using the painter toolbar
- 15.23 Colouring the background map
  - 15.23.1 Colouring multiple gridblocks
- 15.24 Wilderness rooms
  - 15.24.1 Wilderness border rooms
- 15.25 Room interiors
- 15.26 Graffiti mode
- 15.27 Updating maps
  - 15.27.1 Matching rooms
  - 15.27.2 Hidden exits
  - 15.27.3 Crafty exits
  - 15.27.4 Transient exits
- 15.28 Checked directions
- 15.29 Backing up maps
  - 15.29.1 Sharing maps
- 15.30 Miscellaneous features
  - 15.30.1 Opening the automapper window automatically
  - 15.30.2 Creating temporary regions
  - 15.30.3 Organising regions
  - 15.30.4 Favourite regions
  - 15.30.5 Running scripts
  - 15.30.6 Tooltips
  - 15.30.7 Using the automapper without a window
  - 15.30.8 Using unusual exits
  - 15.30.9 Primary directions in other languages
  - 15.30.10 Secondary directions
  - 15.30.11 Secondary directions in Cyrosphere

To open the automapper window, click this button in the main window or use one of the following commands:

        ;openautomapper
        ;openmap
        ;oam
        ;map

## 15.1 Introduction

Axmud has an extremely powerful automapper, but it won't work at all if the Locator task can't recognise the character's location (or if the Locator task isn't running at all).

If you're using a pre-configured world, you're good to go: you can start drawing maps immediately. If not, the current world profile needs to be configured first.

Axmud provides a Locator wizard which can handle most of the configuration process (with just a little assistance from you). Simply click this button in the main window and follow the instructions.

Hint 1 The wizard has a 100% accuracy rate with some worlds, but struggles to cope with other worlds. If you have problems configuring your favourite MUD, visit us at the Axmud website and we'll try to help.

Hint 2 The wizard can learn to recognise all the components of a room statement: the room title, the verbose description, the exit list and the contents list. In most cases, the only component you really need is the exit list. If you're having problems, run the wizard again, ignoring everything except the line with the list of exits.

Hint 3 A few worlds (such as LambdaMoo and MUD1) don't use exit lists in their room descriptions. The Locator wizard won't work at these worlds, but the Automapper can still be configured correctly.

## 15.2 Automapper toolbars

Near the top of the automapper window is a toolbar containing several buttons.

These buttons perform many of the same actions that can be performed from the window's menu.

The buttons that can't be clicked represent actions that can't be performed at the moment. When you first open the window, almost none of the buttons can be clicked.

There are too many buttons to fit on the window, so they have been divided into sets. The button on the left with arrows switches between button sets. If you click it once, the next set of buttons will appear:

If you keep clicking on the arrows button, you'll eventually arrive back at the original button set.

You can display more than one button set at the same time by clicking the red plus button.

It's not always obvious what an button does. Let your mouse hover an button for a short explanation.

## 15.3 Creating regions

Worlds can contain many thousands of rooms so it's usually necessary to divide your maps into regions. The area on the left of the window lists all the regions you've created.

The first step in drawing a new map is always to create a region.

- In the automapper window menu, click Regions > New region
- In the dialogue window that appears, give the region a name
  - Each region must have a unique name
  - The usual Axmud naming rules do not apply
    - Region names can contain spaces and punctuation
- Don't select a parent region, for now
- Click the OK button to create the region

## 15.4 Creating rooms

Once you've created the first region, the map will turn from white to yellow. You can now add your first room.

There's more than one way to add a room, but this is the simplest way:

- Make sure the Locator task is running and that it's displaying the current room
  - If you need to reset the Locator task, you can click the brown RL button
- Right-click the map and select Add first room

The new room will appear in the middle of the map. It should have the same number of exits as the room displayed in the Locator task's current window.

## 15.5 Automapper modes

The automapper can operate in one of three modes. You can switch between them by clicking on the W, F and U buttons.

U is Update mode. As your character move around the world, the automapper will automatically draw new rooms and update existing rooms.

F is Follow mode. As your character moves around the world, the automapper tracks your location but doesn't make any significant changes to the map.

W is Wait mode. The automapper will ignore what your character is doing.

When you first open the automapper window it is in Wait mode. However, if you create a new room by right-clicking the map and selecting Add first room, the automapper automatically switches to Update mode.

The current room is always drawn in a different colour. In Update mode it is drawn with a red border.

In other modes, the current room is drawn in a slightly different colour. In Follow mode it is drawn with an orange border, and in Wait mode it is drawn with a pink border.

As you move around the world, sometimes the automapper will get lost. This often happens when the current room (captured by the Locator task) isn't the one the automapper was expecting.

When the automapper gets lost, the previous current room is drawn with a green border.

Since there is no longer a current room, the automapper won't modify any of the existing rooms by mistake.

## 15.6 Selecting rooms

You can select a room by clicking it. A selected room is drawn blue.

If you select the current room, it is drawn purple (which represents a mixture of blue and red).

You can unselect a room by clicking on an empty area of the map (or by clicking again on the selected room).

You can select multiple rooms by holding down your left mouse button, and then dragging the cursor over the map. Alternatively, you can hold down the SHIFT or CTRL keys, and then click on the rooms you want to select.

Selecting a room (or rooms) makes some of the menu items (and buttons) available. For example, when there is a single selected room, you can click on the menu item Rooms > Edit room. When there are multiple selected rooms that menu item can't be clicked.

When the automapper gets lost, you should first reset the Locator task by clicking the brown RL button.

Then you can set the current room by right-clicking it and selecting Set current room. Alternatively, left-click the room and then click the orange St button.

## 15.7 Selecting exits

You can select an exit by clicking on it or near it. A selected exit is also drawn blue.

Actually, Axmud treats the selected exit as two distinct exits: one leading south from the room at the top and one leading north from the room in the middle.

Therefore, if you right-click on the exit and click Delete exit, you'll be asked which of the two exits you want to delete. You can choose to delete one, or the other, or both.

## 15.8 Simple and complex exits

The automapper displays exits in two different styles. These styles are called simple and complex. You can also choose to display no exits at all.

When you first start drawing a map, the automapper uses simple exits.

- In the automapper menu, click View > Exits (all regions) > Draw complex exits
  - The map will change to look like the picture below
- The double lines represent a 'two-way exit' - that is to say, if you go north from the middle room, you can then go south and arrive back where you started
- The short single lines represent an 'incomplete exit' - one that leads to an unknown destination

Now, look what happens if we go west, twice:

- The west exit from the selected (blue) room is an uncertain exit - we know that we can travel west to arrive at the current (red) room, but we don't yet know if we can then travel east to arrive back where we started
- The corresponding exit from the current (red) room is another incomplete exit

- If you now move east, the automapper will redraw the exit as a two-way exit.
- You can easily switch between simple and complex exits. Switching styles has no effect on the map itself; the only thing that changes is the way the map is drawn

### 15.8.1 Drawing regions without exits

Some regions might have a thousand or more rooms, with perhaps ten of thousands of exits. Maps like these cannot be drawn instantaneously; in fact, on some slower computers, the drawing process might take a few seconds.

Besides drawing simple and complex exits, you can also opt to draw no exits at all.

- In the automapper menu, click View > Exits (all regions) > Use region exit settings
  - You can now set each region's settings individually
- Select a region that has many rooms
- Click View > Exits (current region) > Draw no exits

- In this mode, it is sometimes difficult to see the current room
- If this is a problem, try clicking View > Draw current room > Draw emphasised room
- If that's still not comfortable, you can opt to fill in the whole box by clicking View > Draw current room > Draw filled-in room

There is an alternative method for drawing so-called wilderness rooms - see Section 15.24.

## 15.9 One-way exits

Here we can see a one-way exit. The arrow tells us that we can travel east from the selected (blue) room to the current (red) room, but that we can't travel west to get back to where we started.

This usually happens when the current (red) room doesn't have a west exit at all. However, you can convert an existing exit into a one-way exit:

- Right-click on the exit
- Click Set exit type > Set one-way > Mark exit as one-way

## 15.10 Connecting rooms

It's easy to connect an exit to a room.

- Right-click an exit and choose Connect to click
- Click on the destination room

Sometimes it can be tricky to click on the right exit, but there are always alternative methods.

- Right-click on a room and choose Select exit
- In the dialogue window, choose an exit and click the OK button

There is also a handy connect-to-click button. The procedure is the same as before:

- Select an exit (left-click on it, or use the method described just above)
- Click the button
- Click on the destination room

- If the destination room is in a different region, the exit is drawn as a region exit (an empty square)
- Click the region exit to select it
- The exit's destination room (in another region) is now drawn with a cyan border

A fourth method is to drag the exit over the destination room. We'll discuss dragging in Section 15.11.1.

## 15.11 Moving rooms and labels

Rooms can be moved to another part of the map or even to a different region altogether.

First select the rooms you want to move. Then hold down the ALT-GR key (it's just to the right of the space bar) and simply drag-and-drop the rooms to their new position.

- Multiple rooms are dragged together
- If you've selected at least one room, any selected labels are dragged along with it
- If you've selected only labels, only the label under the mouse cursor is dragged
- When you move rooms around, exits are automatically re-drawn. If necessary, they are re-drawn as region exits.

A few keyboards don't have such any such key, in which case you can use the Drag mode button.

- Click the button to turn on Drag mode
- Drag the room(s) to their new position
- Click the button again to turn off Drag mode

Yet another method is to use CTRL+C.

- Select a group of rooms and/or labels
- Press CTRL+C
- Click on the map to move the selected rooms/labels to that position

### 15.11.1 Dragging exits

You can connect rooms together by dragging the exit onto its destination room.

- Turn on drag mode, or hold down the ALT-GR key
- Drag the exit while holding down your left mouse button
- When the exit is above the destination room, release your left mouse button

## 15.12 Bent exits

While moving rooms around the map, you'll already have noticed that exits are able to bend.

If an exit is re-drawn in an inconvenient way - overlapping a room, perhaps - you can add bends to the exit:

- Right click on the exit at the point where you want to add the bend
- In the pop-up menu that appears, choose Add bend

Bends are usually invisible, but are highlighted when the exit is selected.

The exit bend can be dragged around the map, just like any other object (hold down ALT-GR, or turn on drag mode).

If you remove the bends, the exit will be automatically re-drawn in the original way.

- Right-click the exit near the bend you want to remove
- In the pop-up menu that appears, choose Remove bend

## 15.13 Up and down

The exits up and down are drawn as the letters u and d inside the room:

These up and down exits are actually incomplete exits (whose destination is unknown), because the exits are drawn as lower-case letters. Two-way exits would be drawn as U and D.

## 15.14 Non-primary directions

Axmud's so-called primary directions are the sixteen cardinal directions (north, southeast, northnorthwest etc) plus up and down. (Most worlds don't use directions like northnorthwest, but they are available if you want them.)

Exits in other directions (such as enter, out or climb wall) are initially drawn as an x.

These exits should be assigned a primary direction before they are used. There are three ways of doing this; here's the first one.

- Right-click on the exit and choose Allocate map direction > Choose direction...
- In the dialogue window that appears, choose one of the available primary directions, such as northeast
- Click the OK button. The exit is redrawn

The second method is useful for rooms which have two exits leading to the same destination room - one of them a primary direction like east, the other a non-primary direction like enter pub. (Dead Souls, one of Axmud's pre-configured worlds, has a few rooms like this.)

- Right-click on the exit and choose Allocate shadow...
- In the dialogue window that appears, select the east exit
- Click the OK button. The east and enter pub exits are now drawn as a single exit
  - The east exit is called the enter pub exit's shadow exit

The third method is perhaps the most convenient, and it doesn't involve the automapper window at all.

The client command ;allocateexit can be used to allocate the direction.

        ;allocateexit northeast enter pub
        ;alx ne enter pub

Note that the compass direction can be typed in full (northeast) or abbreviated (ne).

Of course, typing the ;allocateexit part every time is a little cumbersome, so you can simple miss it out. The following commands all have the same effect:

        ;allocateexit northeast enter pub
        ;alx ne enter pub
        ;northeast enter pub
        ;ne enter pub

## 15.15 Labels

Besides rooms and exits, you can also draw labels on your maps.

- Right-click on the map and choose Add label here
- In the dialogue window that appears, enter any text
- Click the OK button. The label appears at the position you originally clicked

Labels can be selected by clicking on them (like rooms, they are drawn blue when selected.) Labels can also be right-clicked or dragged around the map, in exactly the same way as rooms (see Section 15.11).

### 15.15.1 Customising labels

The appearance of labels can be customised.

You can specify your own label styles. Axmud provides four label styles by default:

- Style 1 - red text, normal size
- Style 2 - purple text, normal size
- Style 3 - black text, large size
- Style 4 - black text, very large size

You can modify any of these label styles, or add new styles.

- From the automapper window's menu, select Edit > Edit world model...
- In the edit window that appears, click the Label styles tab
- Select a style by clicking on it
- Click the Edit button
- Make any changes you want in the new edit window
- Click the OK button in both edit windows to apply your changes

The best way to use label styles is to use one style for titles, another style for street names, another style for warnings, and so on.

If you want a label with its own unique colours, you can modify the appearance of that label only.

- Right-click the label
- In the popup menu that appears, select Customise label...
- Make any changes you want, and click the OK button

If you want to get rid of the unique colours, you can do this:

- Right-click the label
- In the popup menu that appears, select Set label...
- Select a label style, and click the OK button

## 15.16 Exit ornaments

When your character tries to move south but walks into a closed door, the automapper redraws the exit (assuming that the current world has been configured to recognise closed doors).

An exit with a single line through it is a door that can be opened (and presumably closed, too). The extra line is called an exit ornament.

A locked door is drawn with two lines through it.

You can add an ornament to an exit manually.

- Right-click on the exit and choose Set ornaments > Pickable exit

An exit which can be picked (for example by a thief, using a lockpick) is drawn as an empty rectangle. A breakable exit (representing a locked door that can be broken down by brute force) is drawn as a letter I, perpendicular to the exit.

An impassable exit (representing an exit that can't actually be used, at least not by ordinary players) is drawn as purple square.

An exit can be reset so that it no longer has an exit ornament.

- Right-click on the exit and choose Set ornaments > No ornament

### 15.16.1 Twin exit ornaments

Two-way exits are normally drawn as a single line (or a parallel pair of lines, in complex exits mode). This actually represents two exits: one leading north, and one leading south back to where you started. The south exit is called the twin exit of the north exit.

Axmud usually adds an exit ornament for both an exit and its twin at the same time. If this behaviour isn't what you want, you can turn it off.

- Select any exit on the map
- In the automapper menu, de-select Exits > Set ornaments > Also set twin exits

## 15.17 Assisted moves

Section 15.14 describes how to draw an exit like out as a primary direction like north or southeast.

The automapper has a function called assisted moves. If you're in a room with only one exit - out - and if this room is drawn in an easterly direction, you can leave the room by typing either out or east.

Unfortunately, because of technical limitations, assisted moves only apply a few exits at a time. You're safe to assume that these command sequences will have the same effect:

        north;north;out
        north;north;east

...but the following pair of command sequences might not have the same effect, 100% of the time:

        n;n;n;e;e;e;ne;nw;ne;e;e;se;e;se;s;s;sw;e;se;u;u;u;s;n;out
        n;n;n;e;e;e;ne;nw;ne;e;e;se;e;se;s;s;sw;e;se;u;u;u;s;n;east

Assisted moves can be turned off, if they're an annoyance.

- From the automapper menu, de-select Mode > Moves > Allow assisted moves

Assisted moves are not available when redirect mode is turned on (see Section 7.5.6).

### 15.17.1 Assisted moves using exit ornaments

Section 15.16 describes how to modify an exit to mark it as a door, a locked door, an impassable exit, and so on. Modified exits are drawn with an exit ornament - for example, an exit with a door is drawn with a line through it.

When you try to move through an exit that has (for example) an openable door, the automapper will try to intercept the world command:

        east

...and convert it into a command sequence that will prevent your character from bumping into the door:

        open east door;east

If this an annoyance, you can turn it off.

- From the automapper menu, de-select Mode > Moves > Open doors before move

You can also turn on protected moves mode, which blocks any world command which would move the character through an impassable or non-existent exit.

- Select Mode > Moves > Allow protected moves

### 15.17.2 Custom assisted moves

Sometimes the generic assisted move will not work - for example, it might not be possible to move through the exit by using the usual open east door command.

If so, you can specify the precise commands to use in an assisted move.

- Right-click on an exit and choose Set assisted move...
- In the dialogue window that appears, enter a new command sequence at the bottom
  - For example, knock on door;north
- Click on OK to store the new assisted move

A custom assisted move of this kind will be used instead of the normal one. In other words, the automapper will not try to insert an open door command while moving through this exit.

## 15.18 Pathfinding

The automapper can find the shortest path between two rooms virtually instantaneously, even if it means crossing dozens of different regions.

Double-click on a room to go there via the shortest possible path. (You can also right-click the destination room and select Go to room.)

All rooms along the path are selected so that you can clearly see the route. When you arrive, click on an empty area of the map to de-select them all.

## 15.19 Room tags

A good way to mark important rooms is with a room tag. Rooms tags belong to a specific room.

- Right-click the parent room and choose Set room text > Set room tag...
- In the dialogue window that appears, enter a room tag
- Short room tags are better - no more than five or six letters, ideally

To help distinguish them from labels, room tags are drawn larger, and usually in CAPITAL LETTERS. (This behaviour can be turned off, if desired.)

Like all other objects, room tags can be selected and dragged around the map. If, by any chance, you lose track of which room tag belongs to which room:

- Right click on the room tag and choose Reset position

## 15.20 Room guilds

Rooms that belong to a guild can be marked some text that's drawn slightly smaller than a label, and in a different colour.

- Right-click on a room and choose Select room text > Select room guild...
- In the dialogue window that appears, enter the room's guild

If you haven't added any guild profiles yet (see Section 5.2), then of course it won't be possible to set a room guild.

The room guild text can be selected, dragged around the map, right-clicked and reset, just like room tags.

## 15.21 Room flags

The colour of a room can be changed to show what kind of room it is. For example, all pubs can be drawn in blue.

Every room has dozens of room flags which can be turned on or off. When a room is first created, all of its room flags are off.

If we turn on the room flag for pubs, the room turns blue; if we turn off the flag, the room turns back to white.

Another example is the room flag which means this room is the centre of the world. When this flag is on, the room is drawn orange.

Each room can have more than one flag on. If a room is both a pub and the centre of the world, Axmud will choose one colour or the other.

In fact, there is a standard list of room flags whose order doesn't often change. If a room has several room flags turned on, the flag that's highest on the list is the one that is drawn. (As it happens, the room flag which means this room is the centre of the world is above the room flag which means this room is a pub - so the room would be drawn orange, not blue.)

### 15.21.1 Room flag groups

Room flags are divided into groups. These groups are:

- Markers - rooms that are important, dangerous, or need to be examined more closely
- Custom - rooms flags that you've created yourself
- Navigation - rooms at the centre of the world, or located on routes; rooms that contain signposts, vehicles or require which swimming or flying
- Commercial - rooms where you can buy or sell things
- Buildings - rooms that are other kinds of building
- Structures - rooms that are gates, walls, towers, tunnels, bridges or other structures
- Terrain - rooms that are in a forest, in a desert, in a swamp (and so on)
- Objects - rooms that contain notable objects
- Light - rooms that are outside, inside, underground or dark
- Guilds - rooms that are inside a guild area
- Quests - rooms that are important for a certain quests
- Attacks - rooms where fighting isn't allowed or where one of your characters has died

Room flags from any of these groups can be used to colour a room.

### 15.21.2 Room flag filters

A useful automapper feature is to show room flags from one (or more) of the groups, ignoring all the rest. For example, you might decide that you only want to see room flags from the buildings group or from the terrain group. You might also decide that you want to see room flags from all groups except the markers group.

To stop showing a particular group, you apply a filter for that group. This action filters out room flags from the group, allowing all other room flags to pass through.

By default, all filters are released. The first step, then, is to apply them all.

- In the automapper menu, de-select View > Room filters > Release all filters

All filters are now applied and all rooms are coloured white. You can now choose one (or more) filters to release.

- To allow pubs to be drawn blue, select View > Room filters > Release commercial filter
- To allow the centre of the world to be drawn orange, select View > Room filters > Release navigation filter

### 15.21.3 Applying room tags

There are two ways to turn room flags on and off. The more convenient way is to use the painter, described in Section 15.22. The direct way is to set room flags, one room at a time.

To mark a room as a pub - that is to say, to turn on the room's pub room flag:

- Right-click the room and choose Toggle room flags > Commercial > Room is a pub
- Repeat this step to turn the room flag off again

To turn on the room flag that means this room is the centre of the world:

- Right-click the room and choose Toggle room flags > Navigation > Room is centre of world
- Repeat this step to turn the room flag off again

Of course, the rooms will only be coloured blue and orange if the navigation and commercial filters have been released, as described above.

### 15.21.4 Editing room flag colours

If you don't like the colour the automapper is using for a particular flag, you can easily change it.

- In the automapper menu, click Edit > Edit world model...
- When the edit window is open, click the Room flags tab
- Scroll through the list until you find the pub room flag
- Click the line to select it
- Click the Change button
- When the dialogue window appears, select a new colour
- Click the OK buttons in both windows to apply your changes

## 15.22 The painter

While exploring a region of the world - a forest, perhaps - it would be quite tedious to set the room flags for every new room individually. The solution is to use the automapper window's painter.

The painter can be configured by using the menus or by using the toolbar. We'll start by using the menus.

The first step is to turn the painter on:

- From the automapper menu, select Mode > Painter > Painter enabled

Now we can ask the painter to 'paint' each new room green, using the room is in a forest/wood room flag:

- From the automapper menu, choose Mode > Painter > Edit painter
- When the edit window opens, click on Room > Page 2
- Find the combo (drop-down) boxes near the bottom of the window
  - In the first one, select terrain
  - In the second one, select the forest room flag
- Click the Use button to add the room flag to the list above
- Click the OK button to close the window

Now, as you move around the forest, every new room will be drawn green.

To turn off the painter, de-select Mode > Painter > Painter enabled.

The painter remembers its settings, so the next time you enable the painter, it will resume painting new rooms green.

At the moment, the painter is only painting new rooms. This is how to modify existing rooms, too.

- From the automapper menu, choose Mode > Painter > Paint all rooms
- Set your character's current room
- Move your character from one room to another, painting rooms as you go

### 15.22.1 Using the painter toolbar

The painter toolbar can be used instead of the menus. In many ways it's more convenient.

- Click the paintbrush button to enable the painter
- Click the Ne button to paint only new rooms, or the All button to paint all rooms

Now you can add your favourite room flags.

- Click the plus button
- In the popup menu, select Terrain > Room is in a forest/wood
- A new green button will appear

You can add as many favourite room flags as you like. Each room flag aren't actually applied until you have clicked its button to select it. Click the button a second time to unselect it.

The remaining buttons in this toolbar are used for wilderness rooms, discussed in Section 15.24.

## 15.23 Colouring the background map

You can colour the background map, if you want to. It's very useful for features like rivers and mountain ranges which are a part of the game world, but which are not directly accessible to players.

The background map is coloured using the toolbar.

The first step is to choose some colours.

- Click the plus button
- Choose a colour, and click the OK button
- A new button appears in the toolbar

Now you can choose your painting method. The map contains an invisible grid, with each gridblock containing no more than one room. You can colour each gridblock separately.

- Click the button with a spray can and a small red jet
- Select the colour to use by clicking on one of the colour buttons you've created
- Click on the background map to colour one gridblock

### 15.23.1 Colouring multiple gridblocks

Drawing a whole river, one gridblock at a time, would be rather laborious, so it's also possible to draw coloured rectangles.

- Click the button with a spray can and a large red jet
- Select the colour to use by clicking on one of the colour buttons you've created
- Click on the one corner of the rectangle
- Then click on the opposite corner of the rectangle
  - Rectangles can overlap each other, if that's convenient for you
  - But colouring a single gridblock destroys the colour underneath it

You may have noticed that there's a colour button that's the same colour as the map. You can use this button to remove coloured areas by the same method you used to paint them - one gridblock at a time or in rectangles.

The colour normally applies only to the current level. If you want to colour the background map on every level, not just the visible one, clicking the button with three parallel lines.

When you've finished colouring, click the button with empty spray can.

## 15.24 Wilderness rooms

In MUD terminology, a wilderness is an area of the world in which movement is possible in all directions.

In many cases, rooms in a wilderness have no exit list. This is presents a problem for the automapper, which expects an exit list an every room. EmpireMUD 2.0 provides a good example.

The best way to handle wilderness rooms is to use the painter (described in Section 15.22) and its toolbar.

- Click the paintbrush button to enable the painter
- Click the Wi button to make it paint wilderness rooms

Now, as your character moves around the world, the automapper draws wilderness rooms instead of normal rooms. Wilderness rooms are drawn with a black circle in the middle of the room.

In a normal room, if you try to move in a direction without an exit, the automapper will get lost.

In a wilderness room, the automapper will assume that there's an exit leading to any adjacent room. In fact, the automapper won't draw exits at all in wilderness rooms.

You can convert a normal room to a wilderness room and back again, if you want to.

- Right click the room
- In the popup menu, select Set exits > Mark room as wilderness
  - Select Set exits > Mark room as normal to convert back to a normal room

When you've finished drawing wilderness rooms, click the painter button to disable the painter.

### 15.24.1 Wilderness border rooms

EmpireMUD 2.0 presents us with another problem: the wilderness contains buildings which can only be entered in one direction, a situation something like this:

The solution to the problem is to use wilderness border rooms. For these rooms, the automapper makes these assumptions:

- An exit exists between the room and any adjacent wilderness room
- An exit exists between the room and any adjacent wilderness border room
- No exit exists between the room and any adjacent normal room unless you have drawn it on the map

In the example above, you would draw a normal room for the house, but draw wilderness border rooms all around it. Then you would manually add an exit between the house and the room to the south.

Wilderness border rooms are drawn with an empty circle in the middle. The nearby rooms can remain as wilderness rooms.

In this example, it's now only possible to enter the house from the south.

## 15.25Room interiors

The automapper can show statistics about each room. One useless but entertaining feature is to show how many times a room has been visited by the current character.

- In the automapper menu, select View > Room interiors > Draw character visits

For the benefit of users who need to keep precise records of which rooms they've visited, and how often, there are some toolbar buttons you can use to modify the numbers shown.

- Click the orange SC button to set the selected room as the current room, and increase the number of visits by one
- Click the V+ and V- buttons to increase/decrease visits in the selected room(s) by one
- Click the SV button to set the number of visits manually
- Click the RV button to reset the number of visits to zero
  - The number zero is not drawn inside the room

These operations can also be performed by right-clicking a room and using the popup menu, or by using the window's main menu.

## 15.26 Graffiti mode

Often it's useful to temporarily mark the rooms you've visited. For example, a quest might require you to find something in a random room, somewhere in the region. You can check each room in the region, one by one, marking them as you go.

To turn on graffiti mode from the automapper window's menu, click Mode > Graffiti mode.

When graffiti mode is turned on, every room you visit is marked with a large X. The graffiti is erased when you turn off graffiti mode, or when you close the automapper window.

In addition, the automapper window's title bar shows how many rooms have been graffitied, and how many have not. (Rooms are counted in the current region, and then in all regions.)

If you need to toggle graffiti in a particular room (or rooms), you can do this:

- Select one or more rooms
- In the automapper menu, select Rooms > Update character visits > Toggle graffiti

## 15.27 Updating maps

As your character moves around the world, the automapper adds new rooms to the map (but only when it is in Update mode).

Details about each new room are stored. In particular, the room's title, verbose description and list of exits are all stored, if they are available.

For existing rooms, the title and verbose description are updated, if they have changed since the character's last visit.

If you don't want to store (or update) all of these components, you can change the default behaviour. For example, to prevent the automapper from storing (or updating) verbose room descriptions:

- From the automapper window, de-select Mode > Update rooms > Update room descriptions

### 15.27.1 Matching rooms

When your character moves to an existing room, the automapper compares the room on the map to the room captured by the Locator task. If it's not the same room, the automapper decides that it is now lost.

By default, only the room's exits are checked: if the room on the map has the same exits as the room captured by the Locator's task, the automapper considers that the rooms match.

If you want the automapper to be more fussy - for example, if you want the rooms to have the same room title, as well as the same exits - you can change the default behaviour.

- From the automapper window, select Mode > Match rooms > Match room titles

If you de-select all of the items in the Mode > Match rooms menu, the automapper will never get lost. (This is not recommended, especially when the automapper is in update mode.)

When comparing verbose descriptions, only the first 100 characters are compared by default. You can increase or reduce that number, if you want.

- From the automapper menu, choose Mode > Verbose characters...

### 15.27.2 Hidden exits

Some rooms have an exit which is visible some of the time, but not visible at other times.

This can confuse the automapper, which typically expects the Locator task's room to have exactly the same exits as a room on the map.

The solution is to mark the exit as a hidden exit:

- Right-click the exit and choose Set exit type > Set hidden > Mark exit hidden

When comparing rooms, the automapper will ignore any exits that are marked hidden. For example, if you draw a room with a normal north exit and a hidden south exit, it will match both of these rooms:

        This is a cobblestone road, leading south.
        Obvious exits: north, south

        This is a cobblestone road, leading south.
        Obvious exits: north

Some rooms have exits which are never visible in the room's exit list. You can add these kinds of exit to the map, as well.

- Right-click a room and choose Add exit > Add hidden exit...
- A dialogue window appears. In the combo (drop-down) box at the top, select a direction like south
  - The entry box just below will be set to the same value
- Click the OK button to add the exit
  - Hidden exits are always visible on the map

### 15.27.3 Crafty exits

If you're mapping an area with a lot of hidden exits, you can turn on crafty exits mode.

- From the automapper menu, click Mode > Moves > Allow crafty moves

In crafty moves mode, if you character moves north from a room that doesn't contain a north exit, the automapper will create a hidden exit in that direction for you. (This mode overrides protected moves mode, described in Section 15.17.1.)

### 15.27.4 Transient exits

A transient exit is one which moves from room to room.

A better explanation is that a transient exit leads to a moving vehicle, and it's the vehicle which moves from room to room.

If your character moves into a room with a transient exit, the automapper will get lost. (If the automapper was expecting a room with north and south exits, but the room contains three exits, the automapper is forced to assume that it's in the wrong place.)

For worlds like Discworld that use a lot of moving vehicles, you can specify a list of transient exits. The automapper ignores any transient exits you specify.

- From the main window menu, click Edit > Edit current profile > Edit current world...
- In the edit window, click Moves > Page 4
- In the box, add a transient exit like board wagon

## 15.28 Checked directions

Some worlds have hidden exits dotted around the game which aren't easy for the player to find.

If you're playing at such a world, you can go from room to room, testing each compass direction, and you can ask Axmud to keep track of each room and each direction you've tried.

- From the automapper menu, select Exits > Exit options > Collect checked directions
- Drawing of checked directions is turned on by default
  - If not, select Exits > Exit options > Draw checked directions

The next step is to tell Axmud which directions you want to check. For example, most LP MUDs use directions like northwest, but very few Diku MUDs do, so checking that direction in every room would be pointless.

- From the automapper menu, select Exits > Exit options > Checkable direcionts
- Select the most appropriate option

Checked directions, when turned on, are drawn as pink squares.

If you're trying to check every room in a region systematically, there are some tools to help you.

- From the automapper menu, select Edit > Generate reports > Checked directions > Current region
- Also, you can click Edit > Select > Select rooms > Rooms with checkable directions

## 15.29 Backing up maps

It's a good idea to make backup copies of your maps from time to time.

Actually, maps are stored in a world model, and it's this file which needs to be backed up.

- From the automapper menu, click File > Save/export world model...
- If the world model needs to be saved, you'll be asked if you want to save it; in most cases you should click Yes
  - If you click No, you'll be backing up the world model as it was, the last time you saved it
- A dialogue window appears. Decide where you want to save the back-up file
  - You can also change the file's name, if you want
    - It goes without saying that you shouldn't change the .tgz part

When you're ready to import the back-up file, follow this procedure. (The data in the back-up file will replace the data currently stored in memory, and the world model file that was most recently saved.)

- From the automapper menu, click File > Import/load world model...
- In the dialogue window that appears, select the file you saved earlier
- Then click the OK button

### 15.29.1 Sharing maps

If you've worked very hard on your maps, you might like to claim some credit before sharing them with other people.

- From the automapper menu, click Edit > Edit world model...
- An edit window will appear showing the General tab
- Enter any text you like into the Author, Date, Version and Description boxes
- Click the OK button to close the window

You can now share your maps with other Axmud users.

- Create a back-up of the world model, as described above
- Share the back-up file with your friends
- They can load the map by importing the back-up file, as described above

## 15.30 Miscellaneous features

### 15.30.1 Opening the automapper window automatically

If you use the automapper regularly, it's convenient to set the window to open every time you connect to the world.

- From the automapper menu, select Mode > Start-up flags > Open automapper on startup

### 15.30.2 Creating temporary regions

If you want to find your away around a random area - a maze that resets every time someone enters it, perhaps - you can use a temporary region.

- From the automapper menu, click Regions > New temporary region...
- In the dialogue window that appears, add a name like temp
- Click the OK button to create the temporary region
- Right-click on the empty map and choose Add first room

Temporary regions are deleted at the end of the session. (Actually, this is not quite true: they are deleted the next time you connect to the world, at the beginning of the session, before the automapper window opens.)

However, you can delete temporary regions at any time. If you want to delete all the temporary regions you've created:

- From the automapper menu, click Regions > Delete temporary regions

### 15.30.3 Organising regions

If your map has a lot of regions it's possible to organise them into groups.

For example, at Dead Souls the cave region is next to the much bigger town region, so we can make the town the parent region.

- In the region list, double-click on cave to make it the current region
- From the automapper menu, click Regions > Edit region features > Change parent
- In the dialogue window that appears, select town
- Click the OK button to close the window

The list of regions will now look like this:

- Click on the minus ( - ) sign, next to town, to hide its child regions
- Click on the new plus ( + ) to reveal its child regions

## 15.30.4 Favourite regions

The region list is normally in alphabetical order. If one region is at the centre of the world, or if you spend most of your time in a particular region, you can move it to the top of the list.

- In the region list, double-click on town to make it the current region
- From the automapper window, click View > Window components > Move current region to top

## 15.30.5 Running scripts

You can specify an Axbasic script that should be run, every time your character enters a particular room.

- Right-click the room and choose Edit room...
- When the edit window is open, click on Room > Page 1
- Enter the name of one or more Axbasic scripts in the box at the bottom of the window

### 15.30.6 Tooltips

If you want to find out more about a room, one method is to open its edit window. Exits also have their own edit windows. (Those edit windows can be opened from the automapper window's menus.)

A move convenient method is to let your mouse hover above the room (or exit). After a moment, Axmud will display tooltips for the object.

If this becomes annoying, automapper tooltips can be disabled.

- From the automapper menu, de-select Mode > Other flags > Show tooltips

You can add notes to a room, and these notes are visible in the tooltip.

- Right-click the room and choose Edit room...
- When the edit window is open, click on the Notes tab
- Enter any notes you like, then cick the OK button

### 15.30.7 Using the automapper without a window

The automapper actually consists of three separate components - the automapper object, which tracks the character's current position, the world model, which stores the data, and the automapper window itself, which draws rooms, exits and labels.

As a result, the automapper object can track your character's position, even when the automapper window is closed.

- Open the automapper window by clicking the button in the main window
- Make sure the automapper window is in Follow mode or Update mode
  - Click on the yellow F or the green U buttons near the top of the window
- Right-click the current room and click Set current room
- Close the automapper window and move around the world
- The character's position on the map is displayed in the Locator task window

Even though the automapper window is closed, the automapper object is still tracking your character's position. You can re-open the automapper window at any time; it should display the correct current room.

If you want Axmud to forget your character's position when you close the window, you can do so:

- From the automapper menu, de-select Mode > Start-up flags > Follow character after closing

You can also set your character's position without opening the automapper window at all.

Every room on the map has a unique number. If you happen to know the current room's number, you can use it in a ;setroom command.

        ;setroom 5961
        ;srm 5961

However, a much better approach is to use room tags (see Section 15.19). If you have marked the important rooms on your map with a memorable room tag, simply navigate to the nearest tagged room, and then:

        ;setroom tower
        ;srm tower

You can add a switch to set the automapper window's mode. Use -f to put the automapper into follow mode, and -u to put it into update mode.

        ;setroom -f 5961
        ;setroom -u tower

If you want to stop tracking your character's position, without opening the automapper window, you can use the ;resetroom command.

        ;resetroom
        ;rrm

### 15.30.8 Using unusual exits

Cryosphere, which is one of Axmud's pre-configured worlds, uses the standard north-south west-east directions, but some zones in the game use a fore-aft port-starboard system. In addition, areas of the game set on a radial space station use a hubwards-rimwards anticlockwise-clockwise system.

If you're using the pre-configured world profile, exploring this game with the Axmud automapper should be easy. You can move your character through a port exit using any of the following commands:

        west
        w
        port
        p

However, to move your character through a starboard exit, there are only three available commands that the automapper will recognise:

        east
        e
        starboard

This is due to the fact that you can abbreviate port with p, but you can't abbreviate starboard with s, because the abbreviation s has already been allocated to south.

Here's a brief explanation of how to configure the automapper for games that use directions like these.

Axmud uses a standard set of directions which are called primary directions. The primary directions are:

        north south west east / northwest southwest southeast
        northeast / northnortheast eastnortheast eastsoutheast
        southsoutheast southsouthwest westsouthwest westnorthwest
        northnorthwest / up down

Most worlds use these very same directions, in which case there's no need to configure anything. However, if a world uses a different set of directions all the time - for example, when the language of the game isn't English - we can customise each primary direction.

To set custom primary directions, first open the current dictionary's edit window:

        ;editdictionary
        ;edy

In the new window, click on the 'Directions' tab. You'll see a list of primary directions.

Very few games use northnorthwest, etc, so they aren't listed in this window by default. Such directions are also not listed in most automapper dialogue windows by default.

Even though they aren't listed, directions like northnorthwest are always available.

- In this window, you can click the checkbutton near the top of the window (Show all intercardinal directions)
- In the automapper window, click on the menu item Mode > Other flags > Show all directions in dialogues. This setting will apply to most automapper dialogue windows

### 15.30.9 Primary directions in other languages

Axmud knows how to set custom primary directions for about a dozen languages.

- In the edit window you just opened, click the Name tab
- Use the combo (drop-down) box to select a different language
- Click the Switch language button

These languages can also be set when using the Locator wizard (see Section 15.1).

If Axmud doesn't know about a language you can set the custom primary directions yourself. This would be the procedure to set up a French-language dictionary, if Axmud didn't already know how:

- In the same edit window, click the Directions tab
- In the direction list, click north, then click the Edit direction button
- The boxes below that button will be automatically updated
- In the Direction box, change the text to nord (the French word for north)
- In the Abbreviation box, the text is already set to n
- In the Opposite dir[ection]s box, change the text to the French word for south, sud
- In the Opposite abbrev[iated] dir[ection]s box, the text is already set to s
- Click on the Use changes button to update the list
- Repeat this process for the remaining primary directions
- When you're finished, click the Save'button at the bottom of the window

By the way, Axmud continues to use a set of standard primary directions - the English words 'north', 'southeast', 'up' and so on - internally, regardless of which custom primary directions you set. (You will probably only notice this if you start poking around deep inside Axmud's edit windows.)

### 15.30.10 Secondary directions

Axmud uses exactly eighteen primary directions - the ones described in Section 15.30.8 - but it also uses a set of 'secondary' directions.

Secondary directions help Axmud to distinguish between things that are exits and things which aren't exits. The default set of secondary directions are:

        in / out
        entrance / exit
        steps / lift
        gate / gateway / door / doorway
        hole / gap / crack / opening
        portal / vortex

Secondary directions also help Axmud to work out which exits should be drawn facing each other. As an example, if your character moves through a hole exit and you find yourself in a room with the exits north and out, it's a good bet that the out exit is the one that leads back to the original room.

You can also use secondary directions for worlds like Cryopshere, by adding port and starboard as secondary directions, and by specifying that the automapper should draw them as west and east exits respectively.

You can modify the list of secondary directions in any way you please. (The only rule is that you can't add a word that's already being used as a primary direction.)

It's not necessary to add every possible word to your list of secondary directions. If Axmud encounters an exit called cupboard, this exit will be (temporarily) drawn in the first available direction (see Section 15.14). In fact, most users will never need to modify any of the secondary directions.

(The previous Section demonstrated how you could change Axmud's custom primary directions, which are English words, into a set of French words at the click of a button. Doing so will not affect this list of secondary directions, which must be modified separately.)

### 15.30.11 Secondary directions in Cyrosphere

To set custom secondary directions, first open the current dictionary's edit window:

        ;editdictionary
        ;edy

In the new window, click on Directions > Page 2 tab. You'll see a list of secondary directions.

Cryosphere uses the standard north-south west-east directions in some zones, but in other zones it uses fore-aft port-starboard. This is how to add them to the dictionary, so that fore is treated as the equivalent of north, aft is treated as south, and so on. (Once again, if you are using the pre-configured world profile to Cryosphere, this has already been done for you.)

- Click on the Add/Edit direction button
- In the Direction box, change the text to fore (the equivalent of north in some game zones)
- In the Abbreviation box, change the text to f (the game uses f as an abbreviation of fore)
- In the Opposite dir[ection]s box, change the text to aft (the equivalent of south in some game zones)
- In the Opposite abbrev[iated] dir[ection]s box, change the text to a (the game uses a as an abbreviation of aft)
- In the Auto-allocate to combo box, select north, so that the automapper can automatically draw fore exits in the northerly direction
- Click the Use changes button
- Repeat the process to add aft (south), port (west) and starboard (east).
- When you're finished, click the Save button at the bottom of the window

Some zones of Cryosphere use rimwards (north), hubwards (south), anticlockwise (west) and clockwise (east). These can be added in the same way. Remember that the game abbreviates both aft and anticlockwise with a, so you'll need to decide which direction you want to abbreviate. (The pre-configured world profile abbreviates anticlockwise, not aft, as a.)

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