Welcome to www.lasersquad.org.uk
When converting the Spectrum version of Laser Squad to run in Java it quickly became apparent that I could expand it to allow my version to do more than the origional scenarios. The size of the map is now only limited by the amount of memory the computer can use and there could be 65535 units, terrains and items as opposed to the origional 256. The graphics can now be up to 24 bit colour and feature animation. There is support for advanced effects and sound (I was even working on supporting music files). Scenarios could be directly linked together with events in one scenario affecting the nect scenario. The conversion to javascript means an even larger number of units, terrains, and items possible. Some of the code for other advanced features is there, but not utilized for lack of time to write scenarios to make use of them.
To allow Laser Squad enthusiasts to create their own scenarios, I wrote an editor (also in Java) that allows people to edit a scenario or even create a new one. It is strictly Alpha as I did not finalised the editor or the best way in which to save off scenario data, and the user interface is rough around the edges still. There were several more features that I wanted to add. However it is fully functional and has been used to create and edit scenarios that can then be played in the java version of Laser Squad.
It's about 20,000 lines of source code, that I can no-longer compile as the java API has changed significantly since I wrote it about a decade ago. The compiled .jar file still runs (I've tested it on Linux with the openJDK runtime), but cannot edit files for the new javascript version. Only one other persion that I know of took an interest in it, and I cannot justity the time and effort to bring it up to date. I may (time allowing) create a script to convert a scenario file created by the editor into one usable by the javascript version of the game.
I also wrote a manual for the scenario editor. It's pretty basic but covers all aspects of the editor. It goes into more detail for the effects editor as this might be a difficult concept for people to grasp (unless they've programmed in assembly language or byte code before). I've even included some examples for the effects editor as well as a list of all the commands.
Both the scenario editor and it's manual can be downloaded from the downloads section.
If my circumstances change, and I somehow find the time to update the editor, on my list are an undo option, an automatic node calculator, and true copy and paste. The problem that I have with the copy and paste is that when you copy a unit for example, do you copy the equipment, and if you copy this then do you copy the generic item details of the equipment, and do you copy any effect data that the generic item may contain, which might in turn reference other items or terrains. If you do then when you paste the copied object then should it try to find an apropriate match for the effects, or items in the scenario that it's pasteing into, or should it generate new items, and terrains. I have not found a satisfactory answer to these questions and so although I can easily write the code to copy and paste, how to implemnent it is not so easy.
If you have a problem using the editor, please don't hesitate to contact me at william@lasersquad.org.uk, but I can only give advice or examples, and am unable to fix bugs or add features.
