Castle and Cave Stencils ======================== Copyright John C. Brown (e-mail: john@clue.demon.co.uk ) Parts Copyright Mark Gallaway (e-mail: 100552.554@compuserve.com ) Description ----------- I have drawn myself floor plan shapes and made them in to ViSiO for Windows, stencils. They are for use with 25mm figures and print out to the same scale as the cardboard ones that are available. Shapes included are: > Flagstone floors > Wells and holes > Doors > Thick and thin walls > Drawbridge > Cave walls, straight and curved > Trap doors > Stairs > Rubble and many others You can design your plans for your scenario notes, print them out and actually use the same plans with 25mm figures. Each shape is based on the standard 5 foot square. (ViSiO will also allow you to change the scale and print them out for 15mm figures if you wish.) They were created for use with ViSiO 2.0 for Windows. Files ----- castle5.txt (Identical to caves5.txt) castle5.exe (Self extracting archive of castle5.zip) castle5.zip (Compressed file containing the following:) > castle5.vss (Actual stencil) > caves5.txt (Idential to castle5.txt) > caves5.vss (Actual stencil) > castle5.vst (Template, for use with castle and caves stencils) Installation ------------ Unzip the files and copy them all to your ViSiO TEMPLATE directory. This is usually "C:\VISIO\TEMPLATE". If you have only one of the two stencil files you can use them by opening them separately from a new drawing. If you do this, make sure the page scale is set correctly. Use "page setup" from the page menu. Change the measurements to feet and inches then set the custom scale to 0.875in to 5ft. The best way to use these stencils is to use the template already created. This sets up the page scales and opens copies of the two stencils ready for you to use. Just select new from the file menu and click on the "Castle and Caves Floor Plans" template which should automatically appear in the list of standard templates. The template was set up on an 800 by 600 resolution screen, so may need changing for other sizes. Separate Stencils ----------------- The drawings with in the stencils are complex and therefore large. This uses a lot of memory. To make them easier to modify on slower or lower memory machines than my own, I have split what was once one stencil in to two. To get all of the shapes you still need both stencils, but you can close one while you use the other. Public Domain ------------- As long as you own a copy of ViSiO you may use this master stencil for any purpose. ViSiO ----- ViSiO is Copyright Shapeware Corporation, Seatle. CompuServe "GO VISIO" It is NOT shareware, but is usually available at reasonable prices. It needs Windows to run on a PC. These stencils have been created using version 2.0 of ViSiO. I have no intention, at the moment of upgrading, but there is now a version 3. It is possible to convert version 2 stencils to version 3 stencils (so I am told.) Warranty -------- None, these stencils should only ever be distributed FREE of charge and I therefore offer NO Warranty what so ever on them. 25mm Scale ---------- I designed the stencil because I like using 25mm figures with my scenarios. I like the cardboard plans, but they take time to set up. If you use these stencils you can have ALL of your plans in your scenario notes and just put them on the table at the appropriate time. Page Scale 0.875 Inches to 5 feet ---------------------------------- All the objects are designed around the standard 5 foot square. You can change the page scale to suit any size of figure. A nice feature of ViSiO, is that all of the shapes alter automatically with the scale. Even with 25mm figures you may want to use slightly smaller squares to fit more on to the page. For example 20mm to 5 Feet still works well with 25mm figures, but does not match the cardboard plans. Speed ----- Sorry, due to the complexity of the shapes they are large, either be patient or close down as many other applicatons as possible. You realy need a 486 with 8 meg of memory and a fast graphics card. Please try them out on slower machines as the results are worth the time it takes to redraw the screen. You can always make some tea or clean the bathroom while waiting. If your wife claims she is a "computer widow" you could take her out for a meal. A machine with 16 meg of RAM and a fast graphics card is the ideal for these stencils. General Tips ============ The shapes can be stretched or rotated to add variety, for example, the small hole can be stretched to form a large hole, or the doors can be flipped so that they open the other way. Cave walls can be enlarged or reduced to produce larger or smaller caves, rotate the sections so that the caves do not look the same. > Stairs The stair sections can be added to the top of the stair bottom to create any length stairway. It can be stretched sideways to make wider stairs or position the same sections next to each other. > Castle Doorways These use the same door as the hovel but you must position the Doorway floor section (JCB Thick Doorway) over the wall section, then place the door on top. Final Note ---------- I would like to thank Mark for adding extra shapes to the stencils, especially the Draw Bridge and for using the plans with such success. If you need any help with them feel free to e-mail me, john@clue.demon.co.uk Enjoy using these plans. They add a great deal to any scenario. -- John C. Brown, Essex, England. 20 May 1995