Display Settings - [EBP Help Contents]

Many aspects of the main EBP display can be adjusted to suit your preferences. From the File menu, choose Display Settings. You can adjust:

....the map's background image

....zoom operation

....map symbol colors

....text fonts and font size

....and more

BACKGROUND IMAGE

The background image is that displayed on the map behind the track, mileposts and cities. If you find the image distracting, or if you receive a "StretchBlt failed" message from Windows, try disabling the background image by toggling if via the Show, Bgnd Image pull-down menu. Also, note that some maps come with alternate background images; if so, you can select the image of your choice from the nearby dropdown list in the Display Settings window

Map background images are named xxxBGND* (usually .JPG), for example USABGND.JPG. Feel free to create your own alternate images with your preferred graphics editor; for example, you might name such an image USABGNDMINE.JPG.

ZOOM: AUTOMATIC

With this enabled, during game play EBP automatically zooms the map to your train.

ZOOM: ANIMATED

With this enabled, EBP animates the map background when you scroll or zoom. For faster map operation, turn this feature off.

MOUSE WHEEL

Choose your preferred direction of zoom when you rotate the mouse wheel upon the map.

THUMBNAIL

Choose your preferred location for the thumbnail mini-map, or hide it entirely. If you select a map corner, EBP will prompt you to specify the thumbnail's desired size.

ICONS

Most maps come with one or more sets of icons to depict loads. The icon storage files are named xxxICON* (usually .GIF), for example USAICONS.GIF. If more than one set of icons is available, you can choose among them via the Load Icons drop down.

FONTS

EBP shows a list of text fonts available on your device. Choose the one you wish, as well as the size. Note that if you pick something very large, it may not fit within the room allocated in various places, causing the text there to wrap or get cut off from display.

AUTOBUILD

Enable this to allow EBP to suggest a track build route when you click a distant milepost. While the feature is disabled, you can access similar via the right-click pop up menu's "Build to" selection.

REVERSE BGND COLOR

Enable this option to inverse (reverse) the map's background color. Try this if you have trouble seeing the track because of limited contrast with the normal background.

HELP

EBP's in-game help is offered in a variety of formats. Choose from:

....No help - turns off EBP's help system; not recommended

....(WinHelp - no longer available)

....Browser - to have EBP invoke your browser and display EBP's .htm help topics within it

....Internal - EBP's own built-in help display system; the default option

....RGFHelp - requires ICI's rgfhelp.exe program installed in the same directory with ebp.exe; good for those who want to leave the help window open while the game proceeds. Rgfhelp.exe comes with the EBPEdit map editor.

If EBP detects a problem with the help option you choose, it will try to switch to a different help display method. If No help is the only option offered, EBP was unable to find the ebp.hhp help file in the directory containing your ebp.exe game program.

AVATARS

Avatars are images displayed near each player's load circles in the contract box. Toggle off this checkbox to turn off the loading and display of such avatars.

PLAY BY EMAIL

To automate Pbem, EBP emails the game to the next player. If you do not have access to a game-compatible email system, you can instead choose one of the manual modes as described below.

NOTE: If you do not know what to enter for the following fields, contact tech support at your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or your Email Service Provider (ESP). An example follows the details below.

My Email Address(es): enter your email address in the form abc@xyz.com This will be the outbound email address displayed to others as well as the default one at which you receive Play by Email matches from your opponents. If your receipt address for email is different than your sending address, the person setting up a Pbem match should enter your receipt address when prompted by EBP for your email address.

SMTP Mail Server: enter the name of your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server for outgoing (sending) email. This is usually the name of your ISP prefixed by smtp, for example smtp.comcast.net, but sometimes varies, for example outgoing.verizon.net. Even if the address you enter in the email field contains an ESP like Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo, in the server field most people enter the server name of their ISP. As of this writing, a list of common mail server names appears at https://www.realifewebdesigns.com/web-resources/pop3-smtp.html. When using a manual mode, you can leave this field empty.

Username: leave this field empty unless your service provider requires email authentication or SSL, in which case fill in your login or mail user name (often something like myname@myisp.com). To employ email authentication with EBP, your provider must offer outbound email via Auth Login or SSL. For the latest info, see the FAQ at RailGameFans.com. When using a manual mode, you can leave this field empty.

Password: leave this field empty unless your service provider requires email authentication or SSL, in which case fill in your mail user password. EBP will save this password in encrypted form between sessions; if you prefer EBP not do that, leave this field empty and EBP will instead prompt you for the password once each session you send Pbem. When using a manual mode, you can leave this field empty.

SMTP Port # or manual mode: enter your service provider's port number for outgoing email, or a manual mode. Many use 587 if they require authentication, 465 if they employ SSL, or 25 if neither. If you do not have access to a game-compatible, automatic email sending system, you can still pbem by choosing one of these manual modes:

tbird - (semi-automatic) If you use Thunderbird (or compatible) for email, choose tbird to tell EBP to employ it. During pbem, EBP will invoke that program, and compose an outgoing email for the match, at which point you will simply need to click Send within it. If you have multiple email identities in Thunderbird, EBP uses the default one for sending; if you wish to change that default, search for instructions online. When you choose tbird, EBP will prompt you for the Thunderbird folder and program file name, which you can find by right clicking on Thunderbird's desktop icon and choosing Properties, it should resemble C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird . To employ a compatible program, include .exe, for example, C:\EmailClone\birdmail.exe . To work with EBP, compatible programs need to employ Thunderbird's command line -compose format.

mailto - (semi-automatic) Choose this to tell EBP to prepare an outgoing email for the match, plus invoke your email program as if you had clicked a mailto link on a Web page. A drawback to mailto is it does not support setting a file attachment, so you must do that step manually. Once EBP has prepped an outgoing email, before you send that email, remember to attach the pbem saved game file otherwise the next player will not be able to take their turn! EBP puts the name of that file in your Clipboard, so you can paste it into the email's attachment field via Ctrl+V, then send the email. To set or change the program that is invoked by mailto, search online for how to "change default mailto" of your operating system.

manual - (full manual) If you do not have a local email program (i.e. if tbird and mailto do not work), choose manual. When it is the next player's turn, EBP will display the Pbem Control Window and populate it with the information you need to send the match to the next player. That information is the outgoing email's To address, Subject, Attachment, and Body. Click on those one by one to copy them to the Clipboard, then paste (Ctrl+V) them into whatever email sending system you wish. Though not as convenient as the other sending options, this full manual mode has the benefit of functioning with all known email systems.

Use SSL: enable this if your service provider employs Secure Sockets Layer for email. With SSL, you must also enter a Username and Password. Note that this SSL capability operates via Microsoft's Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) which are usually found on computers with Windows XP and later, or can be added (search online if details needed). When using a manual mode, you can ignore this field.

Turn notify: enable the Turn notify checkbox if you want to receive emailed notice that another player in the match has completed his turn and sent the match to yet another player. Via notification, you can track the progress of your opponents, and know whose turn is pending. No notices are sent unless there are at least three humans participating in the match. If you change the setting while a Pbem match is in progress, it will take effect after you complete your (next) turn. The notify feature is not available from players who use one of the manual email modes.

Avatar URL: for Pbem and Web matches, to display an avatar with your locomotive, enter the full URL (starting with http:// or https://) of the desired JPG, non-animated GIF or BMP picture file online. You are welcome to use any of the images at http://www.railgamefans.com/avatars/ . Avoid using images that are a large file size as they are slow to load. To paste text (such as a copied URL) from your clipboard into the field, move the cursor to the field and press Ctrl+V. For non-Web or Pbem matches, you can also employ an image file stored on your local device.

PLAY BY EMAIL EXAMPLE

Here are example settings that as of this writing work with Yahoo:

....My Email Address(es): [YourEmailName]@yahoo.com

....SMTP Mail Server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com

....Username: [YourEmailName]@yahoo.com

....Password: [YourPassword]

....SMTP Port Number: 465

....Use SSL: (enable this checkbox)

For [YourEmailName] substitute your Yahoo account name, and omit the [ ]. Do similar for [YourPassword].

Though Gmail's 2022 service reduction rendered it incompatible for automatically sending pbem, you can still manually send pbem email, as well as receive pbem email there. Use your Gmail address as the player's email address when setting up a pbem match, but for pbem email sending purposes use a different address in the fields here, one that passes the email self-test .