13.2. Publishing

| Chapter 13: Testing and Publishing |

| 13.2. Publishing

These three examples simply show what can be done using Inform's EPS-format map output, if one is willing to tweak the design in some vector-art program. Unfortunately, at present, there are few alternatives to Adobe Illustrator - a superb but very expensive program - in the field of EPS editing, and indeed, of vector art generally: this is especially the case for Windows users. But for the IF author who does happen to have Illustrator for some other reason, Inform plays nicely with it.

436
| Example Baedeker Creating a floorplan of the cathedral using the locations from previous examples. |
WI

437
| Example Bay Leaves and Honey Wine Creating a map of Greece using the locations from previous examples. |
WI

The map-maker can be used in quite versatile ways, in short; though the default is a schematic line-and-box affair, that is hardly the only option. While the EPS created is not always the result of our dreams, Inform usually can be made to do most of the hard and boring part, leaving the author to do only a bit of aesthetic touchup. In many previous examples, we have sent hapless deities wandering around a map of Greece; we might like to chart that for ourselves, in a semi-realistic fashion. So: "Bay Leaves and Honey Wine" Corinth is a room. Athens is east of Corinth. Epidaurus is southeast of Corinth and east of Mycenae. Mycenae is south of Corinth. Olympia is west of Mycenae. Argos is south of Mycenae. Thebes is northwest of Athens. Pylos is south of Olympia. Sparta is east of Pylos and south of Argos. Delphi is northwest of Thebes. Index map with an EPS file and room-size set to 8, map-outline set to off, room-name-offset set to 40&-40, room-outline set to off, room-colour set to "White", route-colour set to "White", room-name-colour set to "White", room-name-length set to 25, room-shape set to "circle". This produces a line-and-dot map, where the names of rooms do not appear inside the city-circles, but rather (thanks to "room-name-offset") off to one side. We specify a long room-name-length because we want all the names of the cities spelled out in full; and we make all the elements white because we intend to place them over a black background layer. We can then superimpose this on a vector map of Greece and tweak the exact positions of cities a little by hand (in Adobe Illustrator, as it happens, but other programs would also allow this level of editing). The result:

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| Example Port Royal 5 Port Royal scenario given instructions for an EPS map. |
WI

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