How to write an article for Exploration DiskMagazine.  v1.0
  written by Pierre Flick, LightWing^Explizit.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.



OVERVIEW:
Introduction: How to write an article for Exploration DiskMagazine.......19
Section I   : My first article...........................................50
Section II  : BIG Headings for our article..............................107
Section III : Underline and forced Pages................................159
Section IV  : Alignment and page appearance.............................204
Section V   : Pictures and 3D Vector animations.........................272     
Section VI  : Everything in one.........................................380 
Section VII : Exploration tag code overview.............................457
Section VIII: Some final words..........................................518
 


Introduction: How to write an article for Exploration DiskMagazine
------------------------------------------------------------------

Exploration uses a clone of the HTML specifications for article data
files, which will then be converted into a binary Advanced Article
System (or short AAS) data file.  As of now there is no easy to use
editor available which would allow typing in an article in a Word/
Works like manner. (planned release for the editor is January '97)

The following will explain how to write a nice looking article for
Exploration DiskMagazine, with the use of an ordinary editor like
the MS-DOS EDIT.EXE (or Win95 NOTEPAD).


If you are familiar with the HTML tag codes, you can skip to
Section V to read about the Exploration tag codes only.

For those who never heard about HTML or don't have a clue how
to write a WEB page with HTML tag code should continue reading the
following text carefully and try/pratice the examples while you read.

The examples which should be typed into your computer, or
illustrate something are within a top and bottom separator.
<>--------------------<>
this would be the text you type.. and only this.
<>--------------------<>

NOTE: Exploration will ignore extra spaces and also end of line symbols



Section I: My first article
---------------------------

For the lucky once who got Win95 or an other multi-tasking
environment, should open on other window with a simple and pure
text editor.  The word pure meaning not to use a word processor
which saves in some binary format.  A WEB browser like Netscape
or Internet Explorer can also be a nice tool to use.

Now that you are in your Editor program, type the following:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.
I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

The above example sure already is a article which could be converted
to the AAS format.  It would be a one page and one line article,
but an article.  ONE LINE?  What the heck?
Well, Exploration does NOT read end of line symbols, and so
the above example would be displayed like this:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration. I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

Now that is something we don't like to do, in order to get rid of this,
we have to use a Exploration tag code.  Using a tag code is as easy
as adding text to your article.  The tag code to make a HARD RETURN
pr line break is "<BR>".  So every time you use the "<BR>" tag code,
you insert a blank line.  Make the following modifications in your
editor and lets see what will happen.
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.<BR>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

Exploration would then show the article like this:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.
I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>


Now that looks a lot better. :)   If you would like to have a blank line
between the two text lines, you would modify your text like this:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.<BR><BR>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

This has been the first section, and if you understood all of it,
the following will be easy.  If you like you can save your text file
and read it into your WEB Browser, which will also recognize the
"<BR>" command and show the article in the exact same way as Exploration
does.



Section II: BIG Headings for our article
----------------------------------------

Now that you feel comfortable with the "<BR>" tag code, it is time
to a nicer look to our article:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.<HR><BR>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

Looks like our old example, but we replaced the first "<BR>" with a
"<HR>".  "<HR>" does a HARD RETURN, draws a nice horizonal line and
an other HARD RETURN after that.  You can use "<HR>" to separate
your header or sections of your article.
Exploration would display the article like this:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.
   ---------------------------------------

I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

The above looks a lot better in graphic mode or with your WEB Browser.
Now lets give the heading a more powerful look by using a bigger
font size.  The font size tag code is one of the codes with have
to be turned on and until they are turned off, they will remain
active for the rest of the text.  DOUBLE SIZE CHARACTERS can be
turned on by using "<H1>", and until the "</H1>" appears, the text
will be in printed with doubled size.  Lets modify the example:
<>--------------------<>
<H1>Hello Exploration.</H1><P>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

I added an other tag code to the above example, lets see if you
can figure out what it does in the displayed version:
<>--------------------<>
HELLO EXPLORATION.

I am happy to write an article for you. :)
<>--------------------<>

Hmm, the header is now displayed in doubled size letters (I am using
upper case letters to illustrate the doubled size of the letters).
After the heading we got our two HARD RETURN, but instead of using
"<BR><BR>" we used "<P>", which stands for PARAGRAPH.
A paragraph does the same as two "<BR>", but with less letters
to type. :)   You mostly use "<P>" for all the paragraphs in your
article.



Section III: Underline and forced Pages
---------------------------------------

Underlining a text is a simple feature of most Word Processors,
and so Exploration just has to have it too. hehe..
To underline a text section, you use the "<U>" to mark the begin
of the underline and use "</U>" to mark the end of turn off the
underline.  An example would be:
<>--------------------<>
Last time I played <U>Quake</U>, I got <U>killed</U>!!
<>--------------------<>

The above would be displaced in Exploration like this:
<>--------------------<>
Last time I played Quake, I got killed!!
                   -----        ------
<>--------------------<>

Of course the underline would be a true underline and not as showed
above by using an additional time.


The last tag code is used to force a PAGE BREAK, which means that
no matter how much text is displayed on the current page, a new
page will be used for the following text.
This is useful if you like to separate different section of your
article, or if you show some kinda ascii art which needs to me
on one page and not split over two.
Page Break is defined as "<PG>", which is as far as I know not
a HTML tag code.  One more example:
<>--------------------<>
Text bla bla bla.<PG>HELLO Page 2<PG>HELLO Page 3
<>--------------------<>

...would look like this:
<>------Page-1--------<>
Text bla bla bla.
<>------Page-2--------<>
HELLO Page 2
<>------Page-3--------<>
HELLO Page 3
<>--------------------<>



Section IV: Alignment and page appearance
-----------------------------------------

Lets make our text look a bit more professional by centering, left/right
aligning and stretching it over the page.
You must have been wondering how you can make your article header
centered to the page if Exploration ignores all additional SPACES.

Lets introduce the new tag code called "<ALIGN=xxxxx>", which as said
will align our text in a certain way.  The "xxxxxx" indicate different
options for this tag feature.  The options are "LEFT", "RIGHT", "CENTER"
and "OUTLINE", which we will examine a bit closer.

<>--------------------<>
<ALIGN=CENTER>Hello Exploration.<ALIGN=LEFT><P>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)<BR>
<ALIGN=RIGHT>One more line.<BR>
<ALIGN=OUTLINE>And this one is often used, cause it kicks!
<>--------------------<>

The screen wide is shown by a series of -'s, and the whole thing
would look like the following in Exploration:

----------------------------------------------
<>--------------------<>
               Hello Exploration.

I am happy to write an article for you. :)
                                One more line.
And  this one is often  used, cause  it kicks!
<>--------------------<>

Does it make sense?  If not then you really have had a few
too many drinks, or your did not even read the text above!

So and what is it with this page format?   We have two different
page formats in Exploration, where the first one called FULL PAGE
is a normal page which can be 80 normal characters wide.
The 2nd format called SPLIT PAGE just splits the FULL PAGE
in half and so 38 characters will remain per split page.

Lets look at this in an example:

FULL PAGE version:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
<>--------------------<>
Today is Wednesday 10/30/96, the clock shows 6:57pm and I am writing
some more on the tag codes file, so that all Exploration article
writers know how to create THE kick-ass article. :)
Well, I also just finished my college homework assignments and...
... what am I talking about?!&@&%   Better not think about school
in my free time, maybe I rent me some X-Rated movie now. hehe
<>--------------------<>


SPLIT PAGE version:
----------------------------------  ----------------------------------
<>--------------------<>
Today is Wednesday 10/30/96, the    Well, I also just finished my 
clock shows 6:57pm and I am         college homework assignments and...
writing some more on the tag codes  ... what am I talking about?!&@&%
file, so that all Exploration       Better not think about school
article writers know how to create  in my free time, maybe I rent me
THE kick-ass article. :)            some X-Rated movie now. hehe
<>--------------------<>



Section V: Pictures and 3D Vector animations
----------------------------------------------

Just recently added to Exploration are the ability to show pictures
in your articles and also...  3D polygon Vector models! YES, heard right!
First let's talk about pictures, which should be fairly easy to understand.

To include a picture in your articles, you first of all have to get, draw
or scan a nice picture and make it so it fit's into the screen dimensions
of the page format.  That is, if you are using the FULL PAGE option,
you can display a picture of maximal 640x400 pixels in your article!
Or the SPLIT PAGE format you can display a picture with maximal 300x400
on a single SPLIT PAGE.
Keep in mind that the pictures you like to display have to be in the 256
color mode and the picture palette will be converted to the Exploration
color palette, which will make the picture appear in slightly different
colors. :)

Now, to display a picture you use the "<IMG SRC="xxxx.gif">" tag code,
in which the "xxxx.gif" is the filename of your GIF file.
Lets do an example of an article with a picture:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.<P>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)<BR>
And by the way, this is how I look like:<IMG SRC="lightwing.gif">
Cool eh? :)
<>--------------------<>

...would be display like this:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.

I am happy to write an article for you. :)
And by the way, this is how I look like:
 ooooooooooooooooooooo
 o        _          o
 o       ( )         o
 o       -|_         o
 o        |          o
 o       / \         o
 o                   o
 ooooooooooooooooooooo
Cool eh? :)
<>--------------------<>

Hahah, isn't that cool? :)

As you see, the "<IMG SRC="xxxx.gif">" tag code first does a HARD RETURN,
then draws the picture and finally does an other HARD RETURN.

Ok, lets assume the picture is higher then the size of our page,
then Exploration will just cut off the remaining part.  And if the
picture if too high for the page, it will be split and the remaining
part of the picture is drawn on the next page.   So make sure you
first make your picture fit the page format you have selected!


The picture stuff should be straight forward and so we take a look at
the awesome 3D polygon vector model feature.   Including a 3D model
is as easy as including a picture, and the tag code you use for
doing so is <VECTOR SRC="xxxx.asc">.  You should by now know that "xxxx.asc"
stands for the file name of the ASC data file.  ASC data files are created
by 3D Studio and hold the information of a 3-dimensional model.
You can find tons of em on the internet or on some BBSs, or maybe you
know a cool gfx guy who can crate your own 3D model.

Once you got a ASC file, you just include it into the article in the same
manner as you would include a picture, but with a different tag code.
When users then reads your article, they will see the 3D model randomly
rotation in your article!  Exploration will use the original size
of the model, or down scale it if the model does not fit on the page.

Note: - Exploration will ignore all color and shading definition in the
        ASC file and use a nice blue gouraud shading.
      - ASC file can have multiple objects
      - Exploration assumes that the 3 vertices of each face are in
        counter-clockwise order!

Finally an example of a 3D model article:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.<P>
I am happy to write an article for you. :)<BR>
And by the way, this is my own 3D model:<VECTOR SRC="first.asc">
Cool eh? :)
<>--------------------<>

...would be displayed/animated like this:
<>--------------------<>
Hello Exploration.

I am happy to write an article for you. :)
And by the way, this is my own 3D model:
       ***********
      *        * *
    ***********  *
    *         *  *
    *         *  * 
    *         * *
    ***********
Cool eh? :)
<>--------------------<>

Well,... hehe, it is does look better in Exploration, that's for sure. :)
And the 3D model will rotate by itself, depending on the speed of the
computer, either slow on a 486 or normal on a Pentium with PCI video-card.



Section VI: Everything in one
-------------------------------

Now that you know all about the Exploration tag codes, we go
and create a article!  Copy and Paste the following text
into your Editor and add the tag codes, so it will look like
as showed:
<>------Page-1--------<>
                            HI ALL!
     -------------------------------------------------------------
I am this coder guy from Explizit and nobody knows no nothing about me. :)
                         --------
Well, it must be because I have not introduced  myself to all of you guys.
Maybe  I can  find some  free  time and write an introduction for the next
issue,   but   then   of   course   who   likes   to  read   it   anywayz?
<>------Page-2--------<>
Check out this cool ascii art:

 .sS$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"'"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"'"$$$$$$$$$$$Ss.
 $$$$"$$$$$$$' $$$ `' $$$ $$$$$$"$$$$
 $$$ $$$"$$$'.sS$$$Ss.$$$s  s$$$$$sS$$Ss.$$$"$$$$$$$Ss."$$$$$$ $$$$"$$$ $$$
 $$ $$$ $$$ $$$P"   $$ `S$S.S' $$$P"  $$$$$$s.s'.ssssS$$$s.s$$$ sssss$$$ $$$ $$
 $$ $$$ $$$ $$$""""""'  .S`S$S.$$$    $$$$$$$$$$$$"""""' $$$$$$.`$$$ $$$ $$
 $$$ $$$.$$s."$$$$$$$$$$..$$$$$$$$$S"$$$$$$`$S$$$$$$$$$`$$$$$$$$ $.$$$ $$$
 $$$$.$$$s$$$Sssssssssssss$$s. $$$  sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss$s$$$.$$$$
 `S$$s$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Ss...sS$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$rDL$$$$$$s$$S'
                      - --( information protocol 4.90 )-- -

       I better got going and code some more for the Exploration, or I get
                                                      my ass kicked! hehe.
<>------Page-3--------<>
<>------Page-4--------<>
<>------Page-5--------<>
Ah, you found my secret page!  GREAT!
Here is the secret no one found in Exploration 2:
In the main menu click on <secret> then press: A, SHIFT+A, CRTL+A
you are now in the secret game mode!  The one who sends me the
password, which you get after completing the game, gets a free dinner
with my girlfriend! hehe
<>--------------------<>


Have you edited the above example and added all the tag codes yet?
Better do so, and then once you are done look and compare your
version with the one below.  They both should be pretty similar. :)
<>------Page-1--------<>
<ALIGN=CENTER><H1>HI ALL!</H><HR>
<ALIGN=OUTLINE>
I am this coder guy from <U>Explizit</U> and nobody knows no nothing about me. :)<P>
                         --------
Well, it must be because I have not introduced myself to all of you guys.<BR>
Maybe I can find some free time and write an introduction for the next<BR>
issue, but then of course who likes to read it anywayz?<PG>
Check out this cool ascii art:<P>

 .sS$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"'"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"'"$$$$$$$$$$$Ss.<BR>
 $$$$"$$$$$$$' $$$ `' $$$ $$$$$$"$$$$<BR>
 $$$ $$$"$$$'.sS$$$Ss.$$$s  s$$$$$sS$$Ss.$$$"$$$$$$$Ss."$$$$$$ $$$$"$$$ $$$<BR>
 $$ $$$ $$$ $$$P"   $$ `S$S.S' $$$P"  $$$$$$s.s'.ssssS$$$s.s$$$ sssss$$$ $$$ $$<BR>
 $$ $$$ $$$ $$$""""""'  .S`S$S.$$$    $$$$$$$$$$$$"""""' $$$$$$.`$$$ $$$ $$<BR>
 $$$ $$$.$$s."$$$$$$$$$$..$$$$$$$$$S"$$$$$$`$S$$$$$$$$$`$$$$$$$$ $.$$$ $$$<BR>
 $$$$.$$$s$$$Sssssssssssss$$s. $$$  sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss$s$$$.$$$$<BR>
 `S$$s$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Ss...sS$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$rDL$$$$$$s$$S'<BR>
                      - --( information protocol 4.90 )-- -<P>
<ALIGN=RIGHT>
I better got going and code some more for the Exploration, or I get<BR>
my ass kicked! hehe.<PG><PG><PG><ALIGN=LEFT>
Ah, you found my secret page!  GREAT!<BR>
Here is the secret no one found in Exploration 2:<BR>
In the main menu click on <secret> then press: A, SHIFT+A, CRTL+A<BR>
you are now in the secret game mode!  The one who sends me the<BR>
password, which you get after completing the game, gets a free dinner<BR>
with my girlfriend! hehe
<>--------------------<>



Section VII: Exploration tag code overview
----------------------------------------

Here is the an overview of all the current tag codes, please
refer to the previous section on how to use them.

<BR>  (HTML tag code)
 HARD RETURN

<P>   (HTML tag code)
 PARAGRAPH, two hard returns

<HR>  (HTML tag code)
 HORIZONAL LINE, hard return, draws a line across the page, hard return

<H1> ... </H1>  (HTML tag code)
 DOUBLE SIZE CHARACTERS (on/off)

<U>  ... </U>   (HTML tag code)
 UNDERLINE TEXT (on/off)

<PG>   (non-HTML tag code)
 PAGE BREAK, force end of page and start a new page

<ALIGN=xxxxxx>   (HTML tag code)
 Align the following text using one of the following options:
 LEFT    - align the text to the left side of the page (default)
 RIGHT   - align the text to the right side of the page
 CENTER  - center the text between the left and right boundaries of the page
 OUTLINE - stretch text from left to the right side of the page
 Example: <ALIGN=CENTER>   centers the text on the page
 NOTE: an alignment option will remain intact for all text of the article,
       until a different alignment option is used

<FULLPAGE>   (non-HTML tag code)
 FULL PAGE FORMAT, display the article using the whole screen

<SPLITPAGE>   (non-HTML tag code)
 SPLIT PAGE FORMAT, display the article using two pages per screen

<IMG SRC="name.gif">   (HTML tag code)
 hard return, draw picture, hard return
 NOTE: - if picture is larger than remaining space on the page, the
         picture will be cut in half
       - if picture wider than 640 pixels, the remaining part of the picture
         will be cut off
       - only GIF pictures with 256 colors are allowed
       - a different palette will be used, so the image colors will look
         somewhat different than the original (limitation will be gone
         in the future, by using a 64,000 color mode for Exploration)

<VECTOR SRC="animation.asc">   (non-HTML tag code)
 hard return, draw animated 3D studio vector model, hard return
 - vector model will be down scaled to fit on the current page
 NOTE: - try to use as less complex (less faces and vertices) as possible,
         to archive nice and smooth performance :)
       - color definitions will be ignored, and a blue gouraud shading will
         be used for the model



Section VIII: Some final words
------------------------------

This article has been written in a hurry, I think I got like 10 mins or
something, and so I am pretty exhausted now. :))
Oh and about my grammar.. grammar?  All the grammar I ever learned is
called "C/C++ grammar", so don't wonder...

You can send comments, flames, mail-bombs (under 4Gigabyte), pictures,
warez, cool stuff and suggestions to:   pflick@xmission.com


end.

