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The Wall is just a
rectangular plane. It can be placed in 6 different positions as shown in the graphic. The
Sign, which uses the Wall, is also located at a given distance from a center or reference point.
This point works the same way as the (X,Y) coordinate system used in a
MSO macro file. |
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The first thing you have to do is to pick the Wall position, then define the wall surface and texture. There are only 3 variables to enter - the Wall lengths of each side and the Distance from the center point. The sign may be visible at night if required. Force draw to front view, or Zbias command, is an special option needed when using two or more coplanar polygons, that is, when you want to place a polygon over another one. The option will avoid some flashing of textures and other visual problems.
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An example using the sign and the Zbias option, the building number. You will use this tool extensively when making your signs for terminals and gate numbers, etc. |
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If you place the sign on
the top or bottom positions you can also specify a layer call number. You
have to enter a layer call number other than 0 if your sign remains on
the ground. For elevated signs don't use any layer call number.
When using the layer call your macro can't have any other objects than this one. So use or enter only ONE sequence or object in your macro. This is because this instruction generates some special coding only needed for surfaces lying directly over the ground. |
SPECIAL OPTIONS
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If you use the top or bottom options you can also raise one end of the sign. |
How to make a macro table:
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Macro tables
are very useful when you need to place for example, the gate numbers on an
scenery. To make a macro table, you need to create a BMP where you will
place the data in cells. The left picture shows an example, as you can see there are a a list of cells with different numbers, that could be for example, the gate numbers. The cells may have any width and/or height but ALL cells must be or have the same lengths. This pictures uses cells of 32x32 pixels. When using this macro in your scenery, you will need to enter an extra argument in your macro, the cell number. The cell number is easy to identify, by its ROW and COLUMN. For example cell having the number 37 in the picture is identify as cell 37 ( Row 3, column 7) |
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To select to make a table, you have to check the Data table box for each side of the SIGN. Then , you will enter the number of cells you need in your macro, range is from 2 to 64, if you need more, you will need to use a second texture and macro. You will also need to enter the width and height of the cells. The number of cells per column will vary on the cell width, since all cells must be the same size, playing with the 3 values, you will find soon how this works and how you need to make your bitmap to make it work properly. |
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And this is what it looks when you select the right bitmap in the program, be sure, your drawing really match the borders of each cell on the design, or you will have display errors in your scenery. If the other side of the sign uses the same cell as the front, you only need to check on the data table in side 2. This example only selects the first 2 rows, 16 cells, even if there are 24 on the bmp. |
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For instance, you may need to have the same side 2 all over any macros you use, no mater which cell you use in side 1. To do this, you have to check off the side 2 data table and enter the common section of the texture to be used in all macros. |