RouteMaker

RouteMaker is a sample SkunkWorks script for creating and editing route files for use with SkunkNav. To use it, choose RouteMaker.swx from the dropdown list of scripts on the SkunkWorks in-game miniconsole and click Go to bring up the RouteMaker control panel:

On the left is a set of controls for browsing and selecting route files. Use the folder dropdown (the one at the top left) to navigate among folders on your disk. When you choose a folder, RouteMaker will scan it for route files (this may take a few moments) and add them to the file dropdown (the one in the middle). When you choose a file, RouteMaker will open it, read in any routes it contains, and add them to the route dropdown (the one at the bottom). A file can contain more than one route; if the routes have names, those names will appear in the route dropdown; if not, they'll be listed as "Default route", "Route #2", etc.

You can create a new route file, or add a new route to an existing file, by choosing "+ New route file" or "+ New route" from the appropriate dropdown. You'll be prompted for a filename or route name, which will then be added to the appropriate list.

After choosing a route, you can use the buttons at the lower left to try it out. The Go button starts the route from the beginning and visits each point in turn. The Stop button interrupts a route in progress. The Resume button resumes an interrupted route where it left off.

The definition of the chosen route is shown at the right. Here you can see the value of the route's timeout parameter, if any, whether or not it starts with a recall, and if so what kind, and also the list of waypoints, doors, and portals that make up the route.

You can edit the route by changing any of these values. To set or change a timeout, just type into the Timeout edit box. Specify a recall setting using the Recall dropdown, or choose None to remove a recall.

To add waypoints, manually walk your character to the desired waypoint location and click Add. By default points are added at the end of the route (in front of the "Stop" entry); to insert a point into the middle of a route, highlight the point in the list that you want to insert in front of before clicking Add.

Similarly, to add a door or portal to your route, highlight the point in the list where you want the insertion to take place (or the "Stop" entry if you want to insert at the end), select the object (door or portal) that you want to add, and click Add Sel.

To delete a point from the route, highlight it and click Delete. (You can't delete the "Stop" entry.)

At any time during editing you can use the Go/Stop/Resume controls on the left to try out your route.

When you're satisfied with your changes, click Save to write the currently loaded route file back to disk. You'll be prompted to confirm the filename. Press Enter to keep the current filename, or edit the name to save to a different file. If the loaded file contains more than one route, all of them will be written to the specified file. See route.FromFile for information on how to access named routes in a multi-route file from script.

If you've changed any route parameters but haven't yet saved the changes, you'll be prompted to save if you try to load a different route or file. Press Enter to save the changes, or Esc to discard the changes before proceeding.

If your route includes a recall or portal, using route.RouteReverse on it won't give sensible results, since recall and portal travel is one-way. If you want to be able to use route.RouteReverse with such routes, you should create an explicit reverse route. Do this by checking the Show reverse route checkbox at the lower left. If you've already specified an explicit reverse route, this will show its parameters. If not, this will create a reverse route by inverting the order of the points in your forward route. You can then edit the reverse route to use a different recall or portal (or whatever) and click Save to save it as an explicit reversal of the current route.

Click Quit to exit RouteMaker. If you have unsaved changes you'll be prompted to save them.

While RouteMaker provides a fairly friendly interface to all of the routing options, it may not be the most convenient way to deal with very complex routes. Remember that route files are just text files and you can always edit them directly with Notepad or your favorite text editor.