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gmtoolhowto [2012/09/24 18:26]
irian
gmtoolhowto [2012/10/03 11:11] (current)
irian
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 ===== Installation ===== ===== Installation =====
-...+First you need to have a [[http://www.java.com|Java]] runtime installed, at least version 6 (but version 7 should be fine, too).
  
 +Installation of the gmtool itself is pretty simple: Extract the contents of the gmtool.zip file somewhere. If everything is alright, you should be able to start it by double clicking the "gmtool.jar" file.
  
 +To add new plugins, simply copy them into the "/plugins" folder of the gmtool. 
 ===== Starting ===== ===== Starting =====
 When starting the program by simply double clicking the "gmtool.jar" file, the first thing you should see is something like this: When starting the program by simply double clicking the "gmtool.jar" file, the first thing you should see is something like this:
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 {{ :gmtool-gui.jpg |}} {{ :gmtool-gui.jpg |}}
  
-As you can see, every plugin is displayed as a "tab" (Images, Notes, Sounds). As each plugin is unique, see their descriptions (coming soon) for more information about a specific one.+In the title, you can see the name of your choosen scenario. 
 + 
 +As you can see, every plugin is displayed as a "tab" (Images, Notes, Sounds). As each plugin is unique, see their [[Plugins|descriptions]] for more information about a specific one.
  
 A plugin can (but does not have to) add buttons to the area at the bottom for tasks you might need often. For example, here, you see a "Show Image" button for the image viewer (this can show an image on an attached 2nd screen for your players to see) and the "Stop" ("||") and "Start" (">")buttons for the sound player. A plugin can (but does not have to) add buttons to the area at the bottom for tasks you might need often. For example, here, you see a "Show Image" button for the image viewer (this can show an image on an attached 2nd screen for your players to see) and the "Stop" ("||") and "Start" (">")buttons for the sound player.
  
 Always there are the save/load buttons: Use them to store the scenario into a file. This will save all loaded files in the different plugins and allow you to re-load them later. Please note, that at the moment, only the used filenames are stored, so copying only the scenario file onto another computer will NOT be enough. There will be an option to export a scenario to a .zip file later. Always there are the save/load buttons: Use them to store the scenario into a file. This will save all loaded files in the different plugins and allow you to re-load them later. Please note, that at the moment, only the used filenames are stored, so copying only the scenario file onto another computer will NOT be enough. There will be an option to export a scenario to a .zip file later.
 +
 +==== Resources and Scenarios ====
 +Resources are simply files, that you load into the GMTool via a plugin. For example, if you click "+" in the Image Viewer plugin, then select an image which gets loaded into the Image Viewer, this image is called a "resource". 
 +
 +A scenario is a list of resources, stored in an .xml file. So if you add the image and then save your scenario as "myscenario.xml" (for example), this file "myscenario.xml" will contain the information, that this image should be used as a resource. So be saving/loading a scenario, you save/load the information, which resources should be used. To load / save a scenario, simply click "Load" or "Save" on the bottom left control and select an .xml file.
 +
 +Please note, that the scenario .xml file itself does NOT contain the resources themselves, just the information, where these resources can be found, for example "C:/temp/images/myimage.png". So simply copying a scenario file onto another computer will not be sufficient to transfer the resources as well:
 +
 +Fortunately, you can also save the scenario into a .zip file. This will not only store the scenario file, but also the resources themselves into the .zip file. To do so, simply choose a .zip file when saving/loading the scenario. This way, you can copy the file onto another computer where you can load it again.
 +
 +Some plugins will allow you to modify resources, for example the Note Panel (making notes without the ability to save them is a little bit strange). Please note, that every newly created file will first be stored locally. To add them to a scenario .zip file, save your scenario again after adding the resources, this will add the resource to the .zip file too (and all following changes will be written to the resource in the .zip file).
gmtoolhowto.1348503962.txt.gz · Last modified: 2012/09/24 18:26 by irian