MATR Help
Starting up
To run MATR, you need the following:
- Java installed on your computer. Launch Terminal, cmd.exe, or the equivalent to get a command line; then type java -version to see what's there. If you get no response, or the version is less than 1.7, then search Oracle.com for the Java SE download for your system.
- The MATR application: download matr.jar.
To start MATR, type java -jar matr.jar on the command line.
When MATR starts up, you'll get a small control panel. Press Create to create a new island. When the island's ready, the other buttons will be enabled. If you want to start over, press Create again; Matr will close any window and give you a new island.
Map
This window contains a road map of your island. Press + to zoom in 2X, or - to zoom out 2X. The practical limits to zooming are legibility. If you zoom in too much, however (so only one grid square is visible) route markers won't appear. Use "zoom to fit" to resize the map to fill the window as best as it can (the map will always keep a 1:1 aspect ratio, so part of your window will usually be left blank).
If you click on the map, one of several things can happen. You control this on the window's "Mouse Click" selector.
- do Nothing: a click just brings the window to the front.
- center: centers the map on the place you clicked
- center and zoom in: just like on online map web sites, this provides a convenient way to zoom in on the town.
- show coordinates: the map will highligh the square you click on, and will show its x,y coordinates.
- move viewer: click on the map to move the intersection viewer to that point.
- Pave: open the Pave tool where you can draw new roads directly on the map.
You'll see the map is pretty smart about route markers, placing them only where needed, omitting them only if the section marked is zoomed out too far. It doesn't do street names yet (that's more difficult than route numbers).
Log
This is the highway log: an inventory of your numbered highways, with a mileposted list of town line crossings and intersections with other highways. Most real-life state DOT's have a document like this. If you've made changes to the highway system, press "Refresh" to see them on the log.
View
This gives you a 3-D perspective view of any intersection. It's very rudimentary at this point, showing only grass, sky, pavement and signs.
To move to a new place, set the map to "Move Viewer" mode and click on the map. If the intersection doesn't seem to agree with the map -- are you assuming you're facing north?
Pave
The most powerful and complicated of all the tools, the Paver lets you pave new roads, tear up existing ones, or decommission highways. It's still fairly easy to hose yourself with this tool; don't try creating roads that cross themselves, go in loops, and so on.
With the Paver, make sure you pave the road first (select a road type), and then also apply a route number or street name.