Rokko Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Hi, can anyone give me a quick answer on how to save modded .bmp files to get them to work with Combat Mission? Im using GIMP and whatever settings I use either the alpha textures are not recognized (and instead shown) or some other oddity occurs. It seems that there are graphics with 24 Bit-depth which I can save just fine and then there are some with 32 Bit-depth which cause me trouble. Saving them as 32 Bit A8 R8 G8 B8 in GIMP somehow isn't possible and I suspect this is what I should be doing but can't. Any ideas? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I use PSP 9 and have exactly the same problem because there is no PSP 9 support for 32 bit-depth files. Game graphic studio is a modder's graphic tool that will read 24 bit-depth and save as 32, but there remains the problem of inserting the right hex numbers. My solution was to write a script for a hex editor which writes the required alpha bytes into the file following 32 bit-depth conversion. Therefore, if your query specifially regards 32x32 floating icon files I might be able to help you since I have a number of self-prepared scripts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokko Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 I'm trying to change some editor graphics which include transparency. But I'd like to try your scripts. I have already made all the changes I wanted to do, but I can't save them properly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 To do this, I think it would be easier for me if you uploaded or sent me a greyscale of the alpha. black 0 0 0 being no transparency and white 255 255 255 being full transparency. The more complex the alpha the longer it will take to produce a script. my email is d dot brackenburygreen at hotmail dot co dot uk Do you have a Hex XVI32? My scripts are written for this tool. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokko Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 It's really just 9 files like the one attached. The transparancy seems binary to me, the dark green color stands for 100% transparant. Would your script work for that?editor tile tree h3.bmp 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 OK, how'z that? I think you meant 0 transparency though not 100% - well that's what I assumed. If the dark green does need some transparency you need to tell me what value, I could do anything you like. If this works for you, send me the other files and I will do the lot for you.editor tile tree h3.bmp 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokko Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Thanks for the offer. I've sent you a PM. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 When I view the alpha on the original example in Game Graphic Studio, I can see that there is variable transparency on the tree edging (for a shading effect) which gives it that less crisp look. I would say these pixels vary between 20% transparency to around 50% transparency but they are across that spectrum. My conclusion is that to get that scale of effect with your files (without hex-editing each pixel) you will need art software with 32 bit-depth capability. Perhaps someone else on the fourms with Photoshop can help you improve on these now for you?!!? I have converted the ones you sent me into (trans on or off only) though; find attached.foliage tiles trans added.zip 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokko Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Awesome, thanks! It's not perfect but it will do. I've uploaded the "mod" to the Repository, don't know if there is actual demand for this, but I think map makers will deem it useful. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I have used PhotoShop for this kind of thing but I don't like editing icons with transparency in PhotoShop at least I have not figured out an efficent way to do it. My light weight graphic editor Paint.Net does not handle 32bit bmp files well at all. But then I found Greenfish Icon Editor. It handles transparency seamlessly (no editing an image layer and then separately an transparency layer) and it is nice and light weight too. I did my icon mod with it. Very happy with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Thanks for that tip, Ian. Transparencies always give me fits...initially it was hard to get my head around the concept and procedure, and my Corel Paint Shop Pro limitations require saving/converting in Gimp...at least that's how I remember it. Greenfish sounds like the way to go. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Try it out and see what you think. The only thing I do not like is that if you set a colour with transparency and paint with it it does not replace the pixels already there but instead combines them. This can create opportunities for cool effects but I find I usually mutter under my breath "oh yeah I forgot it does that, will I ever remember" before erasing the pixels and painting again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Greenfish - I shall give it a go also. Thanks for the tip Ian. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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