Welcome to www.lasersquad.org 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 can now 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'm even working on supporting ogg vorbis music files). Scenarios can now be directly linked together with events in one scenario affecting the nect scenario.

To allow Laser Squad enthusiasts to create their own scenarios, I have written an editor (also in Java) that allows people to edit a scenario or even create a new one. It is strictly Alpha as I have not yet finalised the editor or the best way in which to save off scenario data. There are several features that I would like to add (time permitting). However it is fully functional and has been used to create and edit scenarios that can then be played in Laser Squad.

I've also written 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.

When I have a bit more time I might get round to adding a few more features. 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 theit 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 spot any bugs, or ommisions, or have any god ideas about the problems with cut and paste or anything that you think would be usefull, please don'e hesitate to contact me at william@lasersquad.org