Documentation for LoMSpy 2.4

Deutsche Version

	Overview
		1 Description of program
		1.1 Assumptions, installation, deinstallation
		1.2 Handling of program
		1.3 Troubleshooting
		2 Shareware notes
		2.1 Register
		3 About
		3.1 Limitations
		3.2 History

	Overview
		1 Description of program
		1.1 Assumptions, installation, deinstallation
		1.2 Handling of program
		1.3 Troubleshooting

Do you want to win (almost) every battle?
Were you frustrated by the game level easy? ;-)
Do you want to explore all dungeons and conquer all capitals already in the first circle?
Didn't you get all possible creatures?

Then the Lords Of Magic-editor can help you.

What is the Lords Of Magic-editor able to do?
All significant parameters can be manipulated for every player. If Balkoth is too meighty, just drop down his hit points or his level.

In particular you can manipulate:

• Ressources
  Increase the values for your ale, beer and crystals to any high value. So you can improve your capitals, mage towers, thieves guildes and barracks (and watchtowers in Special edition) to level 3 without problems. Furthermore you can afford as many solders as you want.
  If there are too less followers for some proposes: create as much as you want.
• Level
  Are your magnicans too less experienced to examine new incantations quickly? Set their experience level to the maximum and now they work quickly.
• Movement points
  Are you fad of just moving 10 or 15 points? With one action you can have grown up the movement points for one creature, one unit or all your units; 5000 for example is enough to cross Urac multiple times.
  But it must said that the game will reset these values for some creatures after a circle.
• Hit points
  Make your fighters (nearly) invincible with increasing their hit points. The stone thrower were quite astonished the time they couldn't beat an elve rider...
  But be careful: a lot of hit points are useless against some enchantments. If the spell confusion has hit one of your invincible fighters you'll have a lot of work to beat him.
  And careful again: Some artefacts restore the "normal" number of hit points after a battle. If you don't realise this and go straight ahead into the next battle, ...
  It must be said that the game will reset also these values for some creatures after a circle.
• Mana
  Do your magnicans want mana? Give them: 10, 100, 1.000, ...

By the way: What the Lords Of Magic-editor can't, you can try by yourself: the program is able to store the saved game in a hexadicimal format  ­  including some more or less useful comments. You can edit this file with any editor, read it again with the Lords Of Magic-editor and then save it as a game file.

The mentioned hexadecimal file may consists only of hexadecimal digits (0-9, a-f, A-F), grouped to pairs. Thiese pairs may be divides by white space like space, tabs and line breaks. Comments are also allowed and must be set in the parantheses '(' and ')'.

Please remember the twisted byte order in intel-architecture while manipulating the hex file: the integer number 12345678h (32 bit) is stored as 78563412.

	Overview
		1 Description of program
		1.1 Assumptions, installation, deinstallation

• Assumptions:
  Windows 95 or better. Of course you should have installed the game Lords of Magic.
  Until now the versions 92, 93, 107, 108 and 111 of stored games are supported by the Lords Of Magic-editor. See also Troubleshooting.

• Installation
  
  1. Fetch the newest program version.
  2. Unpack the archiv into some directory, for example C:\Program files.
  3. Either you can start LoMSpy.exe direcly by double click or you can install it by executing Install.bat. If you use Install.bat, you will get a Start Menu entry and can deinstall the program comfortably.
     LoMSpy.exe as well as Install.bat don't copy files to any place. All files needed to have the program work stay in the directory of the program.
     In order to be more comfortable LoMSpy.exe and Install.bat write data to the registry.

• Deinstallation
  
  • If you installed the program with Install.bat you can uninstall it by Start|Programs|LoMSpy 2.4|Deinstall or by Start|Settings|Control|Software|Install/Deinstall|LoMSpy 2.4|Add/Remove. All parts of the progam will be removed then, also your register code.
    The INF-script cannot determinate if there is another version of the Lords Of Magic-editor. Therefore the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MSDatec\LoMSpy will not be deleted.
  • If you did not use Install.bat just delete all files which belongs to the distribution and the registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MSDatec\LoMSpy\2\4.

	Overview
		1 Description of program
		1.2 Handling of program

Well, this is a short story: the program is similar to the Windows Explorer. In the left window you can select an tree item and in the right window you can change values of this item by double click or ENTER if there is the pen symbol , if it isn't, you cannot change this value.

The valid range for the values can only be tested by playing that modified game. The Lords Of Magic-editor just prohibits silly values, e.g. negative hit or movement points. Furthermore the Lords Of Magic-editor keeps track of the physical range of values, e.g. the maximum characters count for the name of creatures.

In order to simplify the setting for more than one unit there is a XXX-average-property at almost every part of the tree. With this average-property you can set a value for all subentries with just one operation.
For example: choose the entry Game data|death|armies in the tree in the left window. In the right window you can set the property average hit points for all creatures of all units of the player death.

If you are in a hurry, you can also use the menu item Edit|Quick edit (or the button with the flash). This will set your gold, ale and crystals, count of followers in all your capitals and the average of mana, hit and movement points to 5000 and finally save the game. Pay attention to your prisoners in this case...

Another remark to the experience level: it seems to be an integer value between 0 and 4.000.000. The experience level shown in the game seems to depend on other values additionally.

	Overview
		1 Description of program
		1.3 Troubleshooting

Possible problems are:

• Unknown saved game version
  If you open a saved game with an unknown version with the Lords Of Magic-editor, the program will ask you what to do: you can abort opening or you can open it as it were a known version. Perhaps this works or not. Save your unsaved other data before. ;-) If the 'fake' of the version works and you save the game, of course the original version number will be written.
• Error(s) on open
  If you get other error messages while open a saved game there meight be lists which didn't have entries in my stored games, and I didn't realize them as lists. Therefore the positions of particular entries are not there where the Lords Of Magic-editor expects them and this will lead to that error messages.

	Overview
		2 Shareware notes
		2.1 Register

Limited shareware version
The shareware version cannot save games. Play Example.sav to see what the Lords Of Magic-editor is able to do.

Some additional hints about shareware:

What is shareware?

Shareware means that you can try and use the program before buying it. So you can see if the program makes what you need.

May I give the shareware program to others?

You may give it to others, if you didn't change anything in the distribution. Please keep the name of the distribution if you give it to others.
Of course you are not allowed to give the register code to others except you don't use it anymore.

What is the difference between the unregistered and the registered version?

Your conscience. ;-)
Technically the difference is that you can save manipulated games with the registered version.
Furthermore you get technical support concerning this program as well as free updates to versions with the same main version number (for example if you register version 2.1 you can use all versions 2.x).

How can I register?

See next page. :-)

	Overview
		2 Shareware notes
		2.1 Register

How to register the shareware version
If you register this program you can save manipulated games. The cost of one licence is 5 Euro (plus 1.5 Euro for sending per letter plus 1.5 Euro for writing a bill (if wanted at all)). You can transfer it to my account or you can send me a letter with a cheque or bank notes. Please don't forget to mention your e-Mail- or letter-address.
If you have done so you will get the register code by eMail or letter. You can enter the code in the menu Help|Register code... in the Lords Of Magic-editor. After that you can save your game.

You can send me the following order as an eMail. If you have activated java script in your browser, the sums are calculated automagically.
(If the order isn't possible with this formular {e.g. the early versions of internet explorer can't do this}, you can send me the text formular LSRegEn.txt with eMail, fax or letter.)

	Overview
		3 About
		3.1 Limitations
		3.2 History

Author of program

Matthias Stolte Datentechnik (MSDatec)

Communication channels:

• S-Mail: 33613 Bielefeld, Albert-Schweitzer-Straße 4, Germany
• Telephon: +49-521-88 00 56 oder +49-177-88 00 56-0
• Telefax: +49-521-88 00 59
• Eurofiletransfer: +49-521-88 00 59
• BBS (analogue and ISDN): +49-521-8 94 98 40
• Web: http://www.msdatec.de/
• E-Mail:

Newest version

	Overview
		3 About
		3.1 Limitations

The usage of this program is at your own risk. There is no warranty for the program except the above mentioned functions. Neither the author nor his company is responsible for any damage or loss concerning this program.

	Overview
		3 About
		3.2 History

Version 1.0:

Release: 19.06.98, time stamp 01:00:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE file: 522.240 Bytes

Version 1.1:

Release: 27.06.98, time stamp 01:01:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE file: 523.264 Bytes
Bugfixes:

• On opening an already opened file the handle was not released.
• The newest file is shown in "Open"-dialog only, if the game is installed.
• The progress window now takes care of the "Cancel"-button.

Changes:

• The menu entry for register code is also accessable now after entering the register code.
• Little improvements with dialog boxes of hexadecimal-Open-/Save.

Additionals:

• In order to examine the program without the game the saved game file Beispiel.sav is included.
• Documentation review and extend.
• Added SETUP.INF to simplify installing and deinstalling (as promised:-).

Version 2.0:

Release: 15.10.99, time stamp 02:00:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE file: 566.784 Bytes
Bugfixes:

• On changing the movement points of an unit or one creature of an unit the Modified-flag wasn't set.
• Opening a new file didn't respect the the Modified-flag.

Changes:

• The current directory of the dialog box "Open" is restored.
• Probably everyone who is interested in Lords Of Magic-editor has installed the game Lords Of Magic. So I've deleted the saved game BEISPIEL.SAV. Instead there is a modified game Example.sav to see what Lords Of Magic-editor can do.
• The posssibility of playing as Balkoth wasn't coded in the registry as I thought, instead it is driven by an entry in LOM.CFG. So the menu item was useless and deleted.
• The progress box shows the lines again now instead of clocks.
• Register code improved.
• Unknown-entries deleted.
• Optimizing of routines, which set properties for multiple creatures.

Additionals:

• Now you can open saved games with not-standard-land scapes.
• The name all of creatures, which have space for characters, can be changed now.
• Nearly all program strings are collected in one language specific file <Countrycode>.NLS. So the program can change to another language simply. Furthermore the user can correct my bad english and translations... ;-)
  If somebody wants to do the work, he can send me corrected or even new translated versions.
• Editing of saved games of Special Edition possible.
• On getting focus the program checks if the time of the opened file has changed. If so, the user will be asked whether the file should be re-loaded.
• The mana-entries can be changed from all places in the unit tree now - if there is at least one magican.
• Because a INF file cannot ask the user about the desired language, the installation is processed by Install.bat. Depending on the choosen language the INF file is being mounted and executed then.

Version 2.1:

Release: 18.10.99, time stamp 02:01:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE file: 566.784 Bytes
Changes:

• Some translations improved in 0809.NLS.

Additionals:

• Install.bat improved.

Version 2.2:

Release: 26.10.99, time stamp 02:02:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE file: 567.296 Bytes
Changes:

• LoMSpyEn.htm corrected.
• The file extension INS is already occupied by another Windows applications. Now the extension is INR (Installation Raw File).
• If using Install.bat, Install.inf fails on direcories, if their name contains white space. BatHelp returns the DOS-Alias for the directory name now.

Version 2.3:

Release: 09.04.00, time stamp 02:03:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE file: 574.976 Bytes
MD-5-sum of LOMSPY.EXE: b98b4619939ae708c54cd2e6945433dd
Bugfixes:

• The creatur chicken had a wrong definition, which lead to errors on opening a game file with such a creatur.
• Correction of an "one missed"-error in the routines of decryption of register codes. This means also, that earlier register codes are rejected now.

Changes:

• Small cosmetic changes in the graphical interface (exchange of Speedbuttons by Toolbuttons).

Additionals:

• Tooltips switchable.

Version 2.4:

Hint: There have been no changes to the program itself. If you already use version 2.3, you don't need this version.
Release: 21.08.2001, time stamp 02:04:00
Size of LOMSPY.EXE: 599.552 Bytes
MD-5-sum of LOMSPY.EXE: 390501b759716c98bde3eb39c5f9accb
Changes:

• update of documentation
• changed name scheme of language files

Last update: 05 Oct 2001