Creating abg Files

The ABG server uses a file with the extension abg to store the locations of piece art files and their presentation on the screen. Use the ABG server interface to compose the abg file. Before beginning to add a game to a server, have the art files complete and available. It is easiest to create an abg file for all art files for all pieces at once.

After creating the abg file, make the game available on the server. See Making Games Available.

Adding Basic Pieces with Single Faces

For games where more than one piece is necessary, add the art file for that piece as many times as required for that game. For example, tic-tac-toe requires at least three pieces per side to indicate X or O. Therefore, add the art files for the X and O pieces three times. Another option for adding multiples of a single piece is cloning a piece after it has been added. See Cloning Pieces. To delete a piece permanently from the game, see Deleting Pieces.
  1. Access the ABG server. See Accessing ABG Servers.
  2. Choose anywhere in the browser window. A menu appears.
  3. From the menu, choose Add Piece. The Add a New Piece window appears.
  4. In the Add Piece window, in the Face URL field, do one of the following:
  1. In the Width field, enter the width in pixels the art file will be presented in the game.
  2. If appropriate, to use the art file as to shield a player's pieces, enable the Use piece as a player's hand shield check box.
  3. Choose the OK button. The art file appears in the Web browser window.

Adding Basic Pieces with Multiple Faces

For games where more than one piece is necessary, add the art file for that piece as many times as required for that game. For example, tic-tac-toe requires at least three pieces per side to indicate X or O. Therefore, add the art files for the X and O pieces three times. Another option for adding multiples of a single piece is cloning a piece after it has been added. See Cloning Pieces. To delete a piece permanently from the game, see Deleting Pieces.
  1. Access the ABG server. See Accessing ABG Servers.
  2. Choose anywhere in the browser window. A menu appears.
  3. From the menu, choose Add Piece. The Add a New Piece window appears.
  4. In the Add Piece window, in the Face URL field, do one of the following:
  1. Choose the Add Face button. Another Face URL field appears. Using that Face URL field, repeat steps 4 and 5 until art files of all faces are added.
Note: All faces have the same width.
  1. In the Width field, enter the width in pixels the art file will be presented in the game.
  2. Choose the OK button. The art file appears in the Web browser window.

Saving the Board

  1. When art files of all pieces have been added, arrange them in the browser window as they should appear at the start of a game.
  2. If the pieces include a board, do the following to ensure players cannot interact with the board piece during play:
    1. Choose the board piece. A menu appears.
    2. From the menu, choose Send to Back. The board piece appears behind all other pieces.
    3. Choose the board piece. A menu appears.
    4. From the menu, choose Lock. The board piece can no longer be moved, rotated, deleted, cloned, edited, or moved to front or back.
  3. Choose anywhere in the browser window. A menu appears.
  4. From the menu, choose Save Board. The program creates a file with the abg extension and prompts to download the file. Save the file to the appropriate location.
  5. Navigate to the abg file. Change the name of the abg file to something appropriate for the game.
  6. Upload the file to the ABG server and place it into the appropriate folder for the game.