As we need minipics for the 1.3 planesets Ray kindly sent us some for the DAW planes.
They are a stop gap set, with just the names, not the pictures, but that's fine for the time being.
However, there were some problems.
First of all they were pure RAW files, 148x100 in size.
To display them in the RAW file reader a four byte header needs to be added to each of the 100 lines.
They were also too small, as they were the same size as the 1.2 minipics for 640x80 screens, but we have been using 1024x768 screens for a while.
So I grabbed bits and pieces from earlier editors and here is the result:

First I selected a border colour from the palette, and then the A20C.raw file.
The picture is scrambled, because there is no header.
The file size is 14800 so this confirms that it is a 148x100 file.


So I click "OK Convert", and that makes me a 240x160 "ConA20C.raw" file, with headers.
Selecting it shows a correct display.


As it was OK I clicked "Make .wsp". If did, and there is now a "ConA20C.wsp" file in the directory


I copied the "ConA20C.wsp" file, pasted it into my EAW 1.3 folder, and renamed it as "fsmplane.wsp" so that the exe can use it.
It did


Jel

Here I have used a RAW file extracted from the Malta fsmplane.wsp (30 plane set).
Each line has a four byte header, and that's why the file size is 15200.
So I set it to the right size (152x100), ticked the checkbox to indicate that there is a header, and made the bigger version.
Then I made the new wsp file, and tested it in the game:





This is how we can easily convert existing minipics

Jel

Nice utility Tony, but what's wrong with using the default pic size?

They are too small on the 1024x768 screen.



We have used a number of larger ones since 1.28E.



Now, if anyone makes a 240x160 raw file with the FSM_Back.act palette we can convert it in a couple of mouseclicks.

Jel

Well. while I'm stuck in bed most of the time, they look easy enough to knock out. Apart from the size, what else is there to know?

Just the palette, and we need a RAF Gladiator

FSM_Back.act palette?

Yes

That looks useful Jel. Where can I get it?



Moggy DCM

Here

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41230226/EAW/NewMiniPicV2.exe

Tony, what about this pallet? Where do I get it from in PSP 7.0 format?

The ".act" version is in the download. I am not sure if that is OK for PSP as I do not use it.
One possibility might be to load the PCX version of the mission parameters screen, and save the palette from it.

Jel

Obliged



Moggy DCM

Hi Tony.

I made a screen shot as suggested, and produced a palette, which is almost the same as yours except for the first 12 colours.

I've tried saving my Gladiator pic to RAW, in 240x160 format, with the new palette applied, but when I try saving it I get a corrupt visual output!

Is this correct???

When you did the conversion you did not tell the program the size of the picture you are using.
The small remains at the default 148x100 for converting small pics, but your original is 38400 bytes which is 240x160.
In this case the sizes should both be 240x160 as you are starting with a larger picture.

Jel

John! Did you miss my last post????
I would like to know if you tried the conversion again with the correct size values entered, and have been waiting for a response.

No luck here Tony.

Not feeling too good, but if you want I'll send you my results.

Thanks
I had a problem with your file too, because previously I had not been able to check the conversion of a full size raw image, because all of mine already have headers. There was a bug in the calculation which centres the small 148x100 image when it converts to 240x160. This was not apparent with the small ones, but it emerged when the full size one which did not need to be centred. I have fixed the error and will post a corrected version of the exe tomorrow

In the screenie I had the wsp file in the root so every plane gets the same picture. However, it gives me chance to see it in all four places

Jel

It was driving me a bit crazy.

With this slot less system, what is the naming convention for these files?

For 1.3 they are named "fsmplane.wsp". Each goes into the individual skin or FM folder of the plane when Ralf or I pack the new "Planes" folder.
At the moment they can be saved as the utility names them, then they are easy to find when needed. I will assemble a library of them. This little program has already been extended so that it can read and display the wsp file, and it could be extended further to save a loaded wsp into a selected folder as "fsmplane.wsp". I will upload the new version when I have done that.


Jel

The new version is here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41230226/EAW/NewMiniPicV2.exe

I also replaced the link in the original post.

Jel