Creating Spellmaster Games You should now have on your computer a directory/folder which contains the following files jigword2.html jigword2.swf speedword2.html speedword2.swf matchword2.html matchword2.swf words.txt The only file you will need to change to create new games is the words.txt file. Use a text editor e.g. Notepad™ to open this and look at they way the words are laid out This is a typical file;- • The first line must contain the name of the target language – then a comma – then the name of the list. • This is followed by pairs of words/phrases separated by commas For each new topic you will need to make a copy of the original directory and replace the words.txt file with a new word list. The following instructions will guide you through this easy process. ************************************************************************************************** Step 1 – Make a copy of the original directory Step 2 - Rename this new directory with an appropriate name e.g. BodyVocab Step3 – Open your text editing program e.g. Notepad™ and start a new file Step 4 – On the first line type in your target language and the name of the vocabulary list separated by a single comma. e.g. Spanish,The body Step 5 – Now type in your vocabulary list. One pair of words/phrases on each line separated by a comma. e.g. la cabeza,head la oreja,ear el ojo,eye la cara,face etc. Notes (i) In this version the letter limit for each word/phrase is about 25 characters (ii) You will need to have a least ten word/phrase pairs (iii) You can cut and paste text from other lists you may have (iv) For EFL,ESL,EAL etc. work you should have the English words first Step 6 – Check through your list for any mistakes. It is important that there are no blank lines in the list or at the end of the file Step 7 – Save the text file. There are three very important points here; • The file must be called words.txt • It must be saved in your newly created directory • It must be saved with Unicode encoding Don’t worry if this last part sounds rather technical it is very easy to do. Most text editors allow you to change the encoding when saving a file and many are very similar to Notepad™ on the PC. all you have to do is chose Unicode from the encoding drop down when you save the file. That is it. Now you can run your games simply by clicking on any of the html files (or load the new directory onto your intra/internet site) ************************************************************************************************** FAQs Q. The games won’t run ? A. Have you got the Flash version 7 player installed?. Have you saved the words.txt file correctly? – Correct name , Unicode encoding Q. The games run but some the text says “undefined” A. You have some blank lines and/or missing words in the words.txt file. Re-edit the file to remove these. Q. The games run but some/all of the letters are replaced by squares A. Usually this means that you have not saved the text with Unicode encoding Re-save the words.txt file using the correct encoding. Sometimes it is an Operating System problem The computer/operating system you are using needs to support Unicode text fonts. Most modern machines do. Check on the web site of your operating system supplier. Some versions of Linux™ do need extra fonts loaded particularly for Japanese character sets. Q. I can’t get games using Hindi, Hebrew…. to work . A. Neither can we. This is a priority area of work and we hope to fix this problem very soon. In our defence, this is a problem with the player/OS rather than the games. Q Can I add/delete/amend items in words.txt file once I have created it.? A. Yes, just edit the file and resave – make sure that you name it and encode it correctly Q. Can I mix languages in the words.txt file?. A. Yes, usually. Q. How long can the words.txt file be? A. Very long files will probably cause problems but we have successfully loaded 1000 word files over the ‘net. Q. Can I use the games as a part of a commercial/for profit venture? A Possibly, you will need to contact spellmaster.com to arrange an appropriate licence Q Can you provided branded versions to go with our text book/course? A. Yes, contact Spellmaster.com for details of fees. Q. Can I distribute the files I downloaded from Spellmaster.com?. A. Yes, all games materials on the may be freely distribute in electronic form. Provided that you do not charge for them in any way..