Creating new boards for HeroScribe

• Vector's: HeroScribe/Icons/Vector/Europe/Board_EU.eps.gz and HeroScribe/Icons/Vector/USA/Board_US.eps.gz
• Objects.xml's: HeroScribe/Objects.xml
• Raster's: HeroScribe/Icons/Raster/Europe/Board_EU.png and HeroScribe/Icons/Raster/USA/Board_US.png

Vector editing

Vector information for the basic HeroQuest board is stored inside HeroScribe/Icons/Vector/Europe/Board_EU.eps.gz and HeroScribe/Icons/Vector/USA/Board_US.eps.gz, in .eps files compressed in a .gzip archive (we suggest 7-Zip to manage such files); these .eps files include PostScript info that will be converted in .eps or .pdf by Ghostscript, within HeroScribe. Extract Board_EU.eps from the .gzip file, then open it with NotePad++, or TextEdit.

In order to create a new board for HeroScribe you will need to get used to the code used in PostScript; these boards are usually simple to draw, but it could seem hard to understand how this process works: it is not, actually, but it needs some practice. We will not be focusing on every detail here, as we just want to easily create a new board for HeroScribe; so the essential sections we will look into are the following:

• Credits: basic copyright/authorial info
• Board size: expressed in squares
• Colors: grid, border, room, corridor and trap's (at EasyRGB you will find a useful calculator)
• Eventual functions: you could need more complex functions, here is where you would put them
• Vertical grid: toggle on/off
• Vertical border lines: toggle on/off
• Horizontal grid: toggle on/off
• Horizontal border lines: toggle on/off
• Eventual corridor, dark and grid areas: you could need to draw more complex areas, here is where you would put them
• Rooms: info about rooms

Once the European version of your board is ready, head to the Objects.xml editing Section to complete your board creation. We will now have a full look at the HeroQuest board .eps files; the most interesting parts are colored as such:

• blue: differences between European and North-American map layouts
• red: drawing functions we should not care about
• green: vital info we (may) need to modify

%!PS-Adobe-3.0 EPSF-3.0
%%BoundingBox: 0 0 538 404
%%HiResBoundingBox: 0 0 537.6 403.2
%%LanguageLevel: 2

% Made with/for HeroScribe
% The board layout is (C) Milton Bradley Company
% This eps file is (C) 2003-2014 Flavio and Valerio Chierichetti

%/adjacentBoardsOffset offset def
/x 26 def
/y 19 def
/Unit { 19.2 mul } def
/Border 0.15 def

/RoomStroke 1.3 def
/GridStroke 0.1 def

/BorderRGB { 0 0 0 } def
% European version only, BEGINNING
/DarkRGB { 0.8 0.8 0.8 } def
/CorridorRGB { 1 1 1 } def
% European version only, END
% North-American version only, BEGINNING
/DarkRGB { 0.7 0.7 0.7 } def
/CorridorRGB { 0.9 0.9 0.9 } def
/TrapRGB { 0.976 0.486 0.200 } def
% North-American version only, END

/BoundingBox {
% Width, Height

exch
dup
1 sub adjacentBoardsOffset mul
exch
x 2 add mul
add Unit

exch
dup
1 sub adjacentBoardsOffset mul
exch
y 2 add mul
add Unit

2 array astore

<< /PageSize 2 index
>> setpagedevice

pop

%Ghostscript only
%mark /MediaBox [ 0 0 x 2 add Unit y 2 add Unit ] /PAGE pdfmark
%mark /CropBox [ 0 0 x 2 add Unit y 2 add Unit ] /PAGE pdfmark
} def

/horizontalline {
0 rlineto stroke
} def

/verticalline {
0 exch rlineto stroke
} def

/HorizontalLineTo {
% length > 0

currentlinewidth exch currentpoint

% lw length x y

currentlinewidth 2 div sub exch

% lw length (y - lw / 2) x

currentlinewidth 2 div sub exch

% lw length (x - lw / 2) (y - lw / 2)

2 index currentlinewidth add
currentlinewidth

% lw length (x - lw / 2) (y - lw / 2) (length + lw) lw

0 setlinewidth
rectfill

pop

setlinewidth

% [empty]
} def

/VerticalLineTo {
% length > 0

currentlinewidth exch currentpoint

% lw length x y

currentlinewidth 2 div sub exch

% lw length (y - lw / 2) x

currentlinewidth 2 div sub exch

% lw length (x - lw / 2) (y - lw / 2)

2 index currentlinewidth add
currentlinewidth

exch

% lw length (x - lw / 2) (y - lw / 2) lw (length + lw)

0 setlinewidth
rectfill

pop

setlinewidth

% [empty]
} def

% eventual, more complex functions

/RectStroke {
% xs ys width height

3 index 3 index moveto
1 index HorizontalLineTo

3 index 3 index moveto
0 index VerticalLineTo

3 index
3 index 2 index add
moveto
1 index HorizontalLineTo

3 index 2 index add
3 index
moveto
0 index VerticalLineTo

% xs ys width height

pop pop pop pop

} def

/Grid {
gsave
1 Unit 1 Unit translate

BorderRGB setrgbcolor
0 setlinejoin

GridStroke setlinewidth

0 1 x 1 sub {
gsave
Unit 0 translate

0 0 moveto
y Unit verticalline

2 1 10 {
gsave
12 div Unit 0 translate

0 0 moveto
-1 Border mul Unit verticalline

0 y Unit moveto
Border Unit verticalline

grestore
} for

grestore
} for

0 1 y 1 sub {
gsave
Unit 0 exch translate

0 0 moveto
x Unit horizontalline

2 1 10 {
gsave
12 div Unit 0 exch translate

0 0 moveto
-1 Border mul Unit horizontalline

x Unit 0 moveto
Border Unit horizontalline

grestore
} for

grestore
} for

% eventual corridor, dark and grid areas that are more complex

0 0
x Unit
y Unit
% Use RectStroke (the function previously defined) instead of ``rectstroke''
% for using PDFs of this file as converted by ghostscript with Illustrator
rectstroke

0 Border sub Unit
0 Border sub Unit
2 Border mul x add Unit
2 Border mul y add Unit
rectstroke

RoomStroke setlinewidth

% Central Room
10 Unit 7 Unit 6 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke

% Lower-Left Rooms
1 Unit 1 Unit 8 Unit 8 Unit rectstroke
9 Unit 1 Unit 3 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke
5 Unit 1 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke
1 Unit 5 Unit 4 Unit 4 Unit rectstroke
5 Unit 6 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit rectstroke

% Upper-Left Rooms
1 Unit 10 Unit 8 Unit 8 Unit rectstroke
1 Unit 10 Unit 4 Unit 8 Unit rectstroke
1 Unit 15 Unit 8 Unit 3 Unit rectstroke
9 Unit 13 Unit 3 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke

% Lower-Right Rooms
14 Unit 1 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke
18 Unit 1 Unit 7 Unit 4 Unit rectstroke
21 Unit 1 Unit 4 Unit 8 Unit rectstroke

17 Unit 6 Unit moveto 3 Unit verticalline
17 Unit 9 Unit moveto 4 Unit horizontalline

% Upper-Right Rooms
14 Unit 13 Unit 3 Unit 5 Unit rectstroke
17 Unit 10 Unit 8 Unit 8 Unit rectstroke
17 Unit 14 Unit 8 Unit 4 Unit rectstroke
17 Unit 10 Unit 4 Unit 8 Unit rectstroke

grestore
} def

/Dark {
DarkRGB setrgbcolor
0 setlinewidth

3 index Unit
3 index Unit
3 index Unit
3 index Unit

rectfill

pop pop pop pop
} def

/Trap {
% North-American version only, BEGINNING
TrapRGB setrgbcolor
0 setlinewidth

3 index Unit
3 index Unit
3 index Unit
3 index Unit

3 index
3 index
3 index
3 index

gsave
rectclip
rectfill
Grid
grestore
% North-American version only, END
pop pop pop pop
} def

/Corridor {
% North-American version only, BEGINNING
CorridorRGB setrgbcolor
0 setlinewidth

3 index Unit
3 index Unit
3 index Unit
3 index Unit

rectfill
% North-American version only, END
pop pop pop pop
} def

/StartBoard {
% Column Row

exch
dup
adjacentBoardsOffset mul
exch
x 2 add mul
add Unit

exch
dup
adjacentBoardsOffset mul
exch
y 2 add mul
add Unit

gsave
translate
} def

/EndBoard {
grestore
} def

/HorizontalBridge {
% bottom

dup

CorridorRGB setrgbcolor

Unit
x 1 add Unit
exch
2 adjacentBoardsOffset add Unit
1 Unit
rectfill

BorderRGB setrgbcolor
GridStroke setlinewidth

Unit
x 1 add Unit
exch
2 adjacentBoardsOffset add Unit
1 Unit
rectstroke
} def

/VerticalBridge {
% left

dup

CorridorRGB setrgbcolor

Unit
2 adjacentBoardsOffset add -1 mul 1 add Unit
1 Unit
2 adjacentBoardsOffset add Unit
rectfill

BorderRGB setrgbcolor
GridStroke setlinewidth

Unit
2 adjacentBoardsOffset add -1 mul 1 add Unit
1 Unit
2 adjacentBoardsOffset add Unit
rectstroke
} def

% width height BoundingBox

% Deactivating showpage and setpagedevice
% We have to reactivate them before the end

% 2 dict dup dup /showpage {} put /setpagedevice {} put begin
%
% column row StartBoard
%
% x1 y1 width height Corridor
% ...
% x1 y1 width height Dark
% ...
% Grid
%
% EndBoard

Objects.xml editing

Rename Board_EU.eps (e.g. DewayneBoard_EU.eps, or anything else), then open Board_EU.eps.gz (with 7-Zip, remember?) and drag in there your new, hypothetical DewayneBoard_EU.eps; while still in 7-Zip, right click on the original Board_EU.eps and delete it. Now close 7-Zip and rename Board_EU.eps.gz to DewayneBoard_EU.eps.gz. You are half way on your vector board editing!

Now open NotePad++: is there the Compare menu, under Plugins? If there is, jump to the next paragraph. If there is not, close Notepad++ and download the plugin (go with the UNI version), then copy the extracted ComparePlugin.dll inside C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins.

Now, open HeroScribe/Icons/Vector/Europe/DewayneBoard_EU.eps with Notepad++, then go in HeroScribe/Icons/Vector/USA/, extract Board_US.eps from Board_US.eps.gz and open it too with Notepad++; you should have now both DewayneBoard_EU.eps and Board_US.eps opened in Notepad++. Click on Plugins -> Compare -> Compare and copy the edits done in DewayneBoard_EU.eps to paste them inside Board_US.eps (be sure to paste them in the same file region!). Once again: rename Board_US.eps to the hypotethical DewayneBoard_US.eps (or the one you chose, but it should be exactly like the European's), insert it into Board_US.eps.gz, delete Board_US.eps from inside Board_US.eps.gz and finally rename Board_US.eps.gz to DewayneBoard_US.eps.gz. Your vector board editing is done! Let's move on to your Objects.xml.

Open it up with Notepad++ / TextEdit and give the <board></board> section a look:

<board width="26" height="19" borderDoorsOffset="0.08" adjacentBoardsOffset="-0.5">
<icon region="Europe" path="Europe/Board_EU" />
<icon region="USA" path="USA/Board_US" />

<!-- Border corridors -->
<corridor left="1" top="1" width="26" height="1" />
<corridor left="1" top="19" width="26" height="1" />
<corridor left="1" top="1" width="1" height="19" />
<corridor left="26" top="1" width="1" height="19" />

<!-- 2x7 corridors -->
<corridor left="13" top="1" width="2" height="7" />
<corridor left="13" top="13" width="2" height="7" />

<!-- 10x1 corridors -->
<corridor left="1" top="10" width="10" height="1" />
<corridor left="17" top="10" width="10" height="1" />

<!-- 1x7 corridors -->
<corridor left="10" top="7" width="1" height="7" />
<corridor left="17" top="7" width="1" height="7" />

<!-- 8x1 corridors -->
<corridor left="10" top="7" width="8" height="1" />
<corridor left="10" top="13" width="8" height="1" />
</board>

Your Objects.xml editing is done! Let's move on to your board's raster editing.

Raster editing

To export in .eps/.pdf HeroScribe needs Ghostscript: that's the software we will use to rasterize your board. Locate the bin folder of your Ghostscript (ours' at C:\Program Files/gs/gs9.04/bin) and there past the two .eps files you have just extracted (eu.eps and us.eps); now start up your command line (Start -> Run, then type cmd) and enter this command:

cd c:\program files/gs/gs9.04/bin

gswin32c -dMaxBitmap=2147483647 -sDEVICE=pngalpha -r125 -sOutputFile="eu.png" -dNOPAUSE -dEPSCrop "eu.eps"

gswin32c -dMaxBitmap=2147483647 -sDEVICE=pngalpha -r125 -sOutputFile="us.png" -dNOPAUSE -dEPSCrop "us.eps"

That's it, even the raster version of your board is ready! Open HeroScribe and have fun. Or head to the more complex drawing functions to panic a bit.

More complex drawing functions

To draw such board you would need new functions like: colors, fills, paths, oblique lines, arcs and ellipses. As long as we are talking about corridor and dark areas, or grids, you should be coding this at this point of the .eps; if you need to draw rooms, instead, just do them in the room section of the .eps.

• Setting colors: in case you need to draw more complex corridor or dark areas, editing your Objects.xml will not be enough; you would need to draw them directly inside the board. To do that, select the matching color:

  DarkRGB setrgbcolor

  You may choose which one from the colors section, or pick a new one by converting its classic RGB code with this online calculator, then setting it like this:

  0.3 0.3 0.3 setrgbcolor

  Then, you would need a function to fill the color with.
• Rectangle filling: similar to RectStroke, this function needs the coordinates for the starting square and the rectangle size:

  10 Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 5 Unit rectfill

  This way you are filling the 2x5 rectangle starting at 10,1 with the previously configured DarkRGB color.
• Path filling: this function draws a complex polygon made of coordinates:

  newpath 1 Unit 1 Unit moveto 2 Unit 3 Unit lineto 3 Unit 1 Unit lineto closepath fill

  With this, you would be drawing a triangle (whose vertices are at 1,1 - 2,3 - 3,1) filled with the previously configured DarkRGB color. Paths can be build by any number of coordinates:

  newpath 1 Unit 1 Unit moveto 2 Unit 3 Unit lineto 3 Unit 4 Unit lineto 5 Unit 6 Unit lineto 3 Unit 1 Unit lineto closepath fill

• Setting strokes: in case you need to draw more complex grids, select the right stroke's size:

  GridStroke setlinewidth

  You may choose which one from the strokes section in the .eps. Then, you would need a function to draw the stroke with.
• Oblique line drawing: this function draws an oblique line, getting over the more simple horizontal and vertical lines:

  1 Unit 1 Unit moveto 4 Unit 4 Unit lineto stroke

  You are drawing an oblique line from 1,1 to 4,4; no filling this time, just a line.
• Arc drawing: this function draws an arc, partial or not:

  11 Unit 8 Unit 3 Unit 0 360 arc stroke

  You are drawing a 3 squares-radius circle, its center being in 11,8. 0 being the anticlockwise begin of the stroke (3 o'clock) and 360 being the anticlockwise end of the stroke (3 again): a full circle, as shown in the Dragon Strike© City board. Let's say you want a partial circle filled for the third hour quarter (12:30 to 12:45), you would code it this way:

  11 Unit 8 Unit 3 Unit 180 270 arc fill

  Please note that 0 means the start of the circle (3 o'clock), 360 the ending.
• Path and arc drawing: you may draw a complex path which includes an arc:

  newpath 11 Unit 8 Unit 3 Unit 180 270 arc 11 Unit 8 Unit lineto closepath stroke

  You are now drawing a closed, partial arc; again, you could fill it by replacing stroke with fill.
• Room drawing: in order to draw room borders, be sure to pick the right stroke size (RoomStroke setlinewidth) then choose any of the known functions to start drawing.
• Ellipse drawing: this function draws an ellipse, partial or not. In order to be able to use it, you will need to insert the following code at this point of the .eps:

  /ellipse {
  /endangle exch def
  /startangle exch def
  /yrad exch def
  /xrad exch def
  /y exch def
  /x exch def
  /savematrix matrix currentmatrix def
  x y translate
  xrad yrad scale
  0 0 1 startangle endangle arc
  savematrix setmatrix
  } def

  That said, you may now draw an ellipse:

  11 Unit 8 Unit 2 Unit 4 Unit 0 360 ellipse stroke

  You are drawing a full 2 squares tall, 4 squares wide ellipse, its center being in 11,8. 0 being the anticlockwise begin of the stroke (3 o'clock) and 360 being the anticlockwise end of the stroke (3 again).
• Text: this function lets you write texts on your board. In order to be able to write, you will need to insert the following code at this point of the .eps:

  /simplecj {dup stringwidth pop 2 div
  4 -1 roll sub neg 3 -1 roll moveto show} def

  That said, you may now write:

  /Times-Bold findfont 7.5 scalefont setfont 9.5 Unit 9.5 Unit (Text On My Board) simplecj showpage

  You are writing "Text On My Board" at 9.5,9.5.