Introduction to MakeKISS

[ PlayGirl ]

Overview

Welcome to MakeKISS, the KISS doll editing tool for RISCOS. It is the third (and probably last) part of my KISS suite, complementing the KISS viewer PlayKISS and the file conversion utility KISSTools.

If you are going to create and edit your own dolls, MakeKISS will make your job a lot simpler. It is assumed that you are familiar with basic KISS concepts, and have a copy of the KISS General Specification (KISS/GS). If you do not have a copy of this, you can download it from The Big KISS Page on <http://otakuworld.com/kiss/>, maintained by Dov Sherman.

MakeKISS provides nearly all the player functionality of PlayKISS and the file conversion functionality of KISSTools, and provides the following features:

Although MakeKISS is a powerful utility, it is neither quite as neat a pure KISS viewer as PlayKISS, nor quite as flexible for file conversion as !KISSTools; if you are serious about your KISS, you will need all three.


Iconbar menu

The iconbar menu is shown below. Click on a menu entry for help.

[ImageMap]

Info

This leads to a standard RISCOS program information dialog.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Doll Info

This entry leads to a dialog box providing information on the current doll:

Name The doll directory or archive and the current cnf file. If the doll consists of a base doll plus one or more extension sets, only the name of the last directory or archive is shown.
Version For French KISS dolls, the FKISS version.
For non-FKISS dolls, this shows the KISS/GS "rank", as below:
GS1 Doll conforms to the original KISS spec.
GS1+ All cels and palette files conform to the original KISS spec, but the set exceeds the spec in some minor way (e.g. the image is too large, or there are too many cels or objects).
GS2 Doll conforms to the KISS/GS2 spec.
GS2+ Doll exceeds the strict KISS/GS2 spec in some minor way.
Colour model Shows the colour model used by the doll.
Cels/Objects Shows the number of cels and objects used by the doll.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

History

This leads to a submenu containing entries for recently-opened dolls. Selecting a doll from the history menu will open that doll.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Create doll

This leads to a "SaveAs" dialog box. Dragging the directory icon to a filer window will create a new (blank) doll and automatically load it into MakeKISS.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

French KISS

Used to enable, disable, or in other ways control, various parts of the French KISS scripting language.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Show active

This leads to a submenu that can be used to highlight (by flashing) cels and objects that are sensitive to one or more FKISS events.

Item Type of cels/objects Events such as...
Drag Sensitive to being dragged press, catch, fixcatch, release, drop, fixdrop, unfix
Pointer Sensitive to mouse position without a mouse click mousein, mouseout
Collide Sensitive to collision detection collide, apart, in, out, stillin, stillout
Detach Sensitive to objects that are detached from their parents detached

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Options

This entry leads to a submenu where various options can be enabled or disabled:

Strict checks Enforces much more stringent validation of the CNF file.
Virtualise Allows virtual memory to be enabled/disabled.
NB This only works if !Virtualise is running, otherwise it does nothing.
Toolbar Enable/disable the set/palette switcher toolbar.
Track mouse Enable/disable the mouse tracker toolbar.
Debugger Enable/disable the FKISS debugger.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Preferences

Open the Preferences dialog box.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Help

Open the MakeKISS "Help" text.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu

Quit

Quit MakeKISS.

[ Menu ] Back to Iconbar menu


Enhancements over earlier versions

MakeKISS has been enhanced to support version 4 of the FKISS scripting language. In addition, it supports a number of new base KISS features introduced at the same time as FKISS 4:


Differences between MakeKISS and PlayKISS

Using MakeKISS differs from PlayKISS in that when using MakeKISS you can shift between user "Modes"

Changing between Play mode and Build mode can be executed either by using the main image window menu, or by using a pair of radio buttons on the toolbar.

Whenever a doll is loaded, MakeKISS automatically enters Build mode.


Differences between MakeKISS and KISSTools

KISSTools provides completely general-purpose file conversion facilities, and there are no pre-conditions about where the converted files are placed.

MakeKISS, on the other hand, allows import and export only to and from the current doll; if there is no doll loaded, MakeKISS will not allow any conversion to be performed.


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