Deer Hunter Map Editor v1.1
written by James Boer
Copyright (c) 1997 Sunstorm Interactive, Inc.

Disclaimer:
MapEdit is a completely UNSUPPORTED piece of software provided free
of charge to our customers for the purpose of creating new maps for
Deer Hunter.  Please be aware that we do not guarantee in any way
this piece of software or maps created with it.



ABOUT MAPEDIT

MapEdit is a simple tool I threw together to create the maps you
see in Deer Hunter.  We've provided it for you so you can create
your own maps to use in the game.  Here's the basic idea...


WHAT'S CHANGED SINCE VERSION 1.0

Since so many people have been using the map editor, I've cleaned
it up a bit and given it a nicer look.  I've now made the fixed
window size 640x480 instead of 800x600, since a lot of people 
had trouble seeing the lower portion of the window.  The biggest
change is the Deer Hunter launcher buttons on the right side of
the editor, which allow you to automatically swap your custom
map files with the default ones and launch Deer Hunter.


INSTALLING MAPEDIT

The Mapedit program must be placed in the same directory where
Deerhunt.exe resides.  Otherwise, the launching and map management
system may not function properly.

The files you need to run mapedit.exe are:
mapedit.exe
bg.pcx
systm12.fgf
systm12b.fgf


CREATING YOUR OWN MAPS

Clicking on the File menu, then selecting Save As... will allow you
to choose a file name for your map.  Be sure not to overwrite any
of the existing .map files (named map1.map - map6.map).  These are
the original Deer Hunter maps.  If you every accidently lose these
maps, don't panic.  You can simply copy them from the CD to your
hard drive.


EDITING THE MAP

Adding items to the map is as simple as clicking on the item's button
on the left side of the editing window, then clicking on the map to
place it.  You'll notice that the currently selected item remains
depressed.  You may place as many or as few trees, bushes, rocks, and 
stumps as you wish on the map.  Open up the existing maps to get
a feel for how many items should be placed and how densly.

To remove items, click on the remove button, then drag a box around the
items you wish to remove with your mouse.  When you release the mouse,
the selected items will be removed.

The three control points on the map function as follows:

Control1 = Deer Attractant Point
Control2 = Deer Repellant Point
Control3 = Deer Marking Point

You will notice the three types of control points: a plus, a minus, 
and a point.  These obviously correspond to the attractant, repellant, 
and the third is a deer marking point.

Attractants should be placed along densly populated wooded areas or
other places deer are more likely to be found.  Deer will naturally
gravitate to these places.

Repellants should be placed in open fields or other places deer will
be wary of.  Usually one point per open area works best.

Marking points should be scattered liberally around where the attractants
are found.  These points have a chance in the game to be one of the
indicators that you've found a prime area.  The chance of a marking 
point being in the game is about 1 in 5, so place about 5 times
as many marking points as you want there to be on the map at any
one time.


NAVIGATING

Use the right button to zoom in and out of the map.  You'll see at the
bottom of the editing window how large of an area you are currently
editing.  To zoom in, right-click and drag down and to the right to
see the area you will zoom in on (dragging in other directions messes
up the constraints, but doesn't really hurt anything).  To zoom all the 
way back out, simply right-click anywhere in the map.


LAUNCHING DEER HUNTER WITH YOUR CUSTOM MAP

There are six buttons on the right side of the editing screen, 
corresponding to the six possible scenes to hunt in.  Three of these
will be unavailable if you do not have the "Extended Season" add-on
pack.  When you click on one of these buttons, the current map will
become the new default map for that particular scene.  In other words,
if you are editing a map and you click on Indiana, the default Indiana
map will be replaced by your map.  If you haven't saved your map yet,
it will ask you for a filename.  Otherwise, it will simply save your
map and then swap that file with the file corresponding to your 
scene.  There is a chance that if the map editor or your system
crashes before the Deer Hunter can exit normally, the files may be
left swapped.  The original map files will have a .bak extension and
your custom files will be named what the original ones should be.
Simply rename these files to correct the situation.


Have fun using the Deer Hunter Map Editor!

James Boer
jim@sunstorm.net