Setup

This page describes how to install Bullet Creator. Currently it only describes the procedure for Microsoft Windows95, but if you are using another operating system this desciptions should get you on your way in your operating system.

In Microsoft Windows95

Although Bullet Creator is a 16-bit MS-DOS application it works well in Microsoft Windows95 and is easy to use on the Desktop. Follow the next list of pointers to set up Bullet Creator on the Microsoft Windows95 Desktop.

Part I: Files

First you'll have to get the Files out of the archive in which the Bullet Creator application is stored and place them in a Folder on your harddisk.

Create the Folder you want to use Bullet Creator in and give it a name, i.e. Bullet Creator. (Right-click | New | Folder, Bullet Creator)
Unzip the downloaded File Bc203b.zip into this Folder.
Run Bullet Creator for the first time. (Double-click Bc203.exe)

When you run Bullet Creator you'll see something like this screen:

When both counters have reached 50, the sample image is fully calculated and the program terminates. You can then close the Finished Bc203 Window.

You should now have something like this Folder:

Bc.ini: Inputfile in text format
Bc203.exe: Application
Bc203.ico: Icon
Bc203: Shortcut to MS-DOS Program
File_id.diz: Info in text format
Sample.tga: Sample Image in True Vision Targa format

Part II: Shortcuts

After installing the files you'll probably want to create some shortcuts to have easy access to them on your Desktop.

Create the Folder you want to put the Shortcuts to Bullet Creator in and give it a name, i.e. Bullet Creator. (Right-click | New | Folder, Bullet Creator)
Create a Shortcut to Bc203.exe and give it a name, i.e. Bullet Creator 2.03B. (Right-click | New | Shortcut, path:Bullet Creator\Bc203.exe | Next | Bullet Creator 2.03B | Finish) It should automatically get the Bc203.ico Icon.
Create a Shortcut to Bc.ini and name it i.e. Bullet Creator Input. (Right-click | New | Shortcut, path:Bullet Creator\Bc.ini | Next | Bullet Creator Input | Finish)
Open My Computer and Select the Folder you installed Bullet Creator in.
With the right mouse-button, drag the Folder you installed Bullet Creator in into the Folder you already put the two Shortcuts in and choose 'Create Shortcut(s) Here' from the menu that pops up when you release the right mouse-button in the Bullet Creator Shortcuts Folder.

You should now have something like this on your Desktop:

A Shortcut that runs the program Bc203.exe
A Shortcut that lets you edit the inputfile Bc.ini
A Shortcut that lets you manage the files in the Bullet Creator Folder

This is all you need to do to use Bullet Creator in Microsoft Windows95. Double-click the Inputfile Shortcut to edit the input in Notepad, double-click the 203B Shortcut to run the program and process the input, double-click the Folder to get to the Files and Open, Copy, Rename, Move or Delete them. If you have got the Powertoys Contents Submenu installed you can right-click the Folder to pop-up a menu in which you can choose Contents and then pick the Image to Open in your favorite Image Viewer.

Part III: Batch-file for Commandline input

Bullet Creator doesn't use command-line parameters for input, but it can be convenient to use command-line parameters to have Bullet Creator proces input from any file. This can be done by implementing a batch-file based on the following batch-file and use it alongside Bullet Creator:

@echo off echo Starting Bullet Creator... if "%1"=="" goto default ren bc.ini bc.bak copy %1 bc.ini BC203 del bc.ini ren bc.bak bc.ini goto end :default BC203 goto end :endEven (especially) in Windows95 this makes sense because internally Windows95 still uses commandline parameters. In this way not only bc.ini can be used as input but any valid file can be used as input for this batch-file. This is especially convenient if you set up associations with this batchfile in your operating system for a file extention. For example: if you use the extention .bci for Bullet Creator input-files and associate this extention with the aforementioned batch-file, selecting it with the right mouse-button and choose the associated command (Windows95) will process the file directly.