HOW TO CREATE MAZ-O LEVELS
By Chris Tandiono (m1ss1ontomar2k4@yahoo.com)

Maz-O 0.3B supports external mazes (in case you haven't already noticed). These mazes are in the format of 0/1-defined matrices. For example:

0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000

is a valid (albeit very boring) 8x16 maze that can be used by Maz-O. Obviously, you are not going to make such a boring maze. NOTE: Maz-O only supports 1's and 0's in the matrix, and will function improperly with other matrices. However, it does check matrix size. In addition, mazes cannot have "borders," or a string of 1's around the edge to define an outer wall. Maz-O automatically compensates for this.

The only thing needed to create a maze is 1. a program that will add maze data to matrices (more on this later), and 2. a program that rewrites the maze data into memory (in the case of a RAM clear). These programs should not be deleted because obviously, people will want to play more than three mazes at once. Therefore, this kind of program and NOT the actual matrices containing maze data should be sent to the calculator. Here is a sample of the latter program:

1  :ClrHome
   :Disp "WARNING:","----------------","This prgm will","delete [A], [B]","and [C]."
   :Pause
   :Menu("Continue?       ","Yes",Y,"No",N)
5  :Lbl Y
   :DelVar [A]
   :Delvar [B]
   :Delvar [C]
   :*code for maze a goes here*->[A]
10 :*code for maze b goes here*->[B]
   :*code for maze c goes here*->[C]
   :Disp "Mazes installed!"
   :Lbl N
   :Output(8,16," ")

Line 2: Tells the user that this will delete any saved games/important data in slots being written to.

Line 4: Asks for confirmation.

Lines 6-8: Deletes [A], [B], and [C].

Lines 9-11: To incorporate maze data from matrices in your program, press [2nd][RCL][2nd][MTRX] and select the matrix you wish to incorporate. This pastes the code of whatever matrix you have selected into your program.

There are a variety of different ways to actually enter in maze data. One way is to use TIDataEditor (included with TIConnect) and type in the 1's and 0's. However, this requires a lot of squinting at the screen to see what your mazes will look like. Another way is to type in the maze data into the on-calc matrix editor, which is even harder and requires even more squinting. The easiest way is to draw your maze on the graph and use a Pic->Matrix utility to capture the image. Note that many Pic->Matrix utilities change the window settings upon use, so make sure to save your maze using StorePic first. I have not tried it yet, but Arthur Neuman's Graph to Matrix v1.0 looks promising. I plan to upload my own level editor soon, so just be patient.