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Advanced Sidewalls |
  
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Advanced Sidewalls |
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The basics of applying sidewalls to tents created with the Tent Wizard are described here. Below we add to the basics by explaining some advanced techniques -- Editing the Sidewall Elements List and Making Custom Sidewalls.
Editing the Elements List
If you click on the Edit button at the bottom of the Sidewall elements list and then click OK, a text document similar to the one below will appear. You can edit this to customize the default sidewalls that come with PartyCAD:
*** Erase all lines below to return to defaults
*** Do not erase, change or move the next two lines
Open: Open *
Closed: Wall *
Window: Window *,5',2'
Cathedral: Wall *;Cathedral 4',6',1';Wall *
2 Cathedral: Wall *;Cathedral 4',6',1';Wall *;Wall *;Cathedral 4',6',1';Wall *
Door Open: Wall *;DoorOpen 6',80;Wall *
Door Closed: Wall *;DoorClosed 6',80;Wall *
Mesh: Mesh *
Each line of this file contains the definition of one element of the Sidewalls elements list. Changing the definition changes the behaviour of that list element. You should never change the definition for Open or Closed, which just indicate that the entire distance between two poles is to be left open or closed off with a single wall of appropriate width. You can, however, fiddle with the other definitions if you so desire:
The stars (*) in the the definitions are the only part of this procedure that is likely to cause any confusion. In processing the commands for an element, PartyCAD counts the stars and then divides any remaining space after the other parts of the list have been processed between them. Read on to see an example.
Window: Window *,5',2' says to add an element called Window which adds a Window piece as wide as the distance between the poles (that's what the * means) and 5 feet high, positioned 2 feet off the ground.
Cathedral: Wall *;Cathedral 4',6',1';Wall * says to add an element called Cathedral to the list. Clicking this will generate a Wall, a Cathedral piece 4' wide, 6' high and 1' off the ground, and then another Wall piece. The stars (*) in the Wall parts of the command indicate that the walls are to have any remaining space split between them. For instance, suppose the poles are 10' apart. The Cathedral, as defined, will take 4' of that space, leaving 6' to be split between the two walls involved in the element, so there will be a 3' wall on either side of the cathedral window.
The parts available for use in building sidewalls are: Open, Closed, Cathedral, DoorOpen, DoorClosed and Mesh. In addition, you can build your own Sidewall parts. The procedure for doing this is described in the Tents and Sidewalls online PDF document. Making your own parts will require a great deal of dedication.
You may want to add your own elements to the list rather than changing those already present. Thus you could add a line that read: My Cathedral: Wall *;Cathedral 3',5',1':Wall * When you save the file and return to PartyCAD, My Cathedral would appear in the list of Sidewall elements. Look hard at the colon (:) after the element name and the semicolons (;) between successive parts. These are important. Do not forget them.
Should you totally mess up the definitions, just erase all the lines in the file and save it. The next time you run the Tent Wizard, the original definitions will be regenerated.
To create custom sidewalls, it is best to begin by getting as close as possible to what you need using the simple Sidewalls elements in the upper half of the Sidewalls menu. This will save you some time in doing your customization.
Once you are set, click on the Make Custom Sidewalls button at the bottom of the Sidewalls menu, then click the side of the tent you want to work on. Once you have done this, click the Make Custom Sidewalls for Side x button and then click OK. A text document similar to the one just below will appear:
Allowed commands:
OPEN w; (where w is the width of the open area)
WALL w;
MESH w;
DOOROPEN w,h; (where h is the height of the door)
DOORCLOSED w,h;
WINDOW w,h,fh; (where fh the height above the ground)
CATHEDRAL w,h,fh;
<anyvalidpart> w,h,fh; (see Help)
The last command can have a * instead of a width. This
indicates the width should be calculated to finish the side.
Semicolons(;) are used to separate multiple commands on
a line. The last semicolon on a line can be omitted.
******* Commands Follow - do not remove this line ********
Mesh 10';
Wall 3';Cathedral 4',6',1';Wall 3';
Wall 3';Cathedral 4',6',1';Wall 3';
Wall 2';DoorOpen 6',80;Wall *;
After some helpful information, below the line that begins with stars, you will see the commands PartyCAD is currently using to create the sidewalls for the side of the tent you have selected. You can edit these commands to create customized sidewalls for that entire side of the tent. Each command should be separated from the next by a semicolon (;). You can arrange the commands onto lines in any way you like. By default, PartyCAD puts the commands for each space between poles on a single line, but you can adopt any system you wish, and you can forget the idea of poles being associated with the sidewalls. Poles are ignored when you supply customization data.
If the last command in the list ends with a width of *, PartyCAD will calculate how wide it must be to finish off the side of the tent.
You are limited in the sidewall elements you can use to the list supplied with PartyCAD and to any sidewall parts you have created yourself. So, to start you can only use: Open, Closed, Cathedral, Window, DoorOpen, DoorClosed and Mesh. However, you can build additional Sidewall parts if you want to take the time. The procedure for doing this is described in the Tents and Sidewalls online PDF document. Making your own parts will require a great deal of dedication.