§13.2. Publishing

These three examples simply show what can be done using Inform's EPS-format map output, if one is willing to tweak the design in some vector-art program. Unfortunately, at present, there are few alternatives to Adobe Illustrator - a superb but very expensive program - in the field of EPS editing, and indeed, of vector art generally: this is especially the case for Windows users. Inkscape is a usable free alternative, but it needs to have EPS files translated to PDFs before they can be used. On Mac OS X, the built-in Preview application can do this; otherwise the open-source Ghostscript might be used, but it can be a pain to install. Still, for the IF author who does have EPS editing facilities available, Inform will play nicely with them.


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*ExampleBay Leaves and Honey Wine
Creating a map of Greece using the locations from previous examples.

*ExamplePort Royal 5
Port Royal scenario given instructions for an EPS map.

If our map is largely or entirely set inside a single building, we might want to produce something that resembles a floorplan. It's possible to do this with a little tweaking, like so:

paste.png "Baedeker"

Dome is a room. North of Dome is North Chapel. South of the Dome is South Chapel. West of the Dome is Western End. Quiet Corner is northwest of the Dome, north of Western End, and west of North Chapel. Loud Corner is east of North Chapel, northeast of Dome, and north of Eastern End. Eastern End is north of Dim Corner and east of Dome. Dim Corner is southeast of Dome and east of South Chapel. Ruined Corner is southwest of Dome, west of South Chapel, and south of Western End.

The church door is east of Eastern End and west of the Courtyard. The church door is a door.

Index map with
    room-shape set to "square" and
    room-size set to 60 and
    room-name-size set to 9 and
    room-name-length set to 13 and
    route-thickness set to 20 and
    room-outline set to off and
    map-outline set to off and
    route-colour set to "White" and
    room-colour set to "White" and
    room-shape of Dome set to "circle" and
    room-size of Dome set to 80 and
    EPS file.

Now we have a map made of white lines and boxes over a white background, which is not very exciting. If, however, we put a layer of black under this and slightly adjust the room shapes (using an image editor such as Adobe Illustrator), we can produce something that plausibly resembles a floorplan or museum map, like so:

Sophia.jpg

*ExampleBaedeker
Creating a floorplan of the cathedral using the locations from previous examples.

If our map is largely or entirely set inside a single building, we might want to produce something that resembles a floorplan. It's possible to do this with a little tweaking, like so:

paste.png "Baedeker"

Dome is a room. North of Dome is North Chapel. South of the Dome is South Chapel. West of the Dome is Western End. Quiet Corner is northwest of the Dome, north of Western End, and west of North Chapel. Loud Corner is east of North Chapel, northeast of Dome, and north of Eastern End. Eastern End is north of Dim Corner and east of Dome. Dim Corner is southeast of Dome and east of South Chapel. Ruined Corner is southwest of Dome, west of South Chapel, and south of Western End.

The church door is east of Eastern End and west of the Courtyard. The church door is a door.

Index map with
    room-shape set to "square" and
    room-size set to 60 and
    room-name-size set to 9 and
    room-name-length set to 13 and
    route-thickness set to 20 and
    room-outline set to off and
    map-outline set to off and
    route-colour set to "White" and
    room-colour set to "White" and
    room-shape of Dome set to "circle" and
    room-size of Dome set to 80 and
    EPS file.

Now we have a map made of white lines and boxes over a white background, which is not very exciting. If, however, we put a layer of black under this and slightly adjust the room shapes (using an image editor such as Adobe Illustrator), we can produce something that plausibly resembles a floorplan or museum map, like so:

Sophia.jpg