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----------------------------------------------------------------- FCE Viewer -
Version 0.2                                                 By Chris Barnard
30th January 1999

I made this program to test the possibility of using DirectX (especially
Direct3D) within Visual Basic. The code used is based on VB code available at
'www.chez.com/scribe' - the homepage of Patrice Scribe, who made it possible
to use DirectX in VB.

The actual program itself is very simple - it displays a 3D, texture mapped
picture of an FCE file. You can use it to quickly see how a car will look in
game, without having to load 'CarTool', or NFS3.

What's New
==========
v0.2 now allows TGA loading - this is only really a quick hack, and the TGA
files have to be in the correct format (32bit colour - basically the same
format as NFSIII uses).
There's a reload button on the menu - you can now quickly reload FCE files 
just by clicking on the button (useful if you're editing cars...).
Fixed the 'Unknown Error' bug (I think).

Requirements
============
MSVBVM50.DLL and COMDLG32.OCX are required to run this program.
You will also need DirectX v6 installed (get it from microsoft...)

Please NOTE: If the program doesn't work, and just says 'Unexpected Error' -
             then I probably know about this bug (it's connected to the
             version of Comdlg32.ocx - my version is older). I'm working on
             it, although it seems that my version of Visual Basic is a bit
             messed up (I think I'll have to reinstall...) - and that is
             what's causing the error.

Usage
=====
Just a quick step by step guide...
  - Run 'FCEView.EXE'
  - You will be prompted for an FCE file to load.
  - Then a dialog box will appear for a texture map file.
  - If all goes well, you will now see a 3D view of the car.
  - Click on the window and move the mouse to rotate the car.
  - Select which parts are displayed by selecting parts from the list.
  - If you edit a car with CarCAD, save the changes and then hit the 'Reload'
    option to load the changes into the FCE Viewer.
  - Press the ESC key to quit.

The basic reason for writing this program is to see how easy it would be to
make a 'proper' 3D view in CarCAD - from what I've done so far, it should be
simple! However, I've only tested this program on my computer - I have no
idea how it will react on other machines, so if you run into any bugs, email
me at 'bitsandpieces@btinternet.com', with the subject 'FCE Viewer bug' and
tell me exactly what happened. This way, I can sort out any problems before
I implement the code into CarCAD.

The very latest version of Car CAD is available from:

        www.btinternet.com/~bitsandpieces/nfs3

History
=======
v0.2 30th January 1999
    - 'Reload' menu option
    - TGA file loading implemented
v0.1 25th January 1999
    - Initial release

Things to do
============
    - Add light sources/lighting effects
    - Chrome effect? (don't know how to do this...)
    - Alpha channel (for masked areas)
    - Implement into CarCAD

Disclaimer
==========
Use this program entirely at your own risk. I will not be held responsible
for any damage it causes.
==========
