#4451754 - 12/04/18 06:55 AM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 12,497
MrJelly
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Montagnac, L'Herault, France
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Is it safe to assume that the last colour (or first depending on which way you are counting) on the PCX palette is the transparency? If so I can write an editor which will make it FF 00 FF which works on the spitfire files I have been working with. Then I could use my freeware PCX to BMP converter and not photoshop, make a 8-bit BMP and convert it to a 24-bit BMP with MSPaint. That way a player could make 24-bit BMP files to play with, without the need for expensive software
Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger SiteFaceBook Pages UAW 160 downloadsEAW ClubMark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
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#4451798 - 12/04/18 02:38 PM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,859
Rotton50
3DZ / campaign designer
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3DZ / campaign designer
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,859
Cape Charles, Virginia, USA
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Well, I managed to get the mapping done properly on the nose art without a 3dz editor that does BMP's. It just took prior experience working with textures and some guess work.(And more than a few in game tests) You can see how much sharper the image is: Now that I have the "B.3dz" set up I can use the same process to make very hi-res nose art for the rest of the squadron. Once that's done we still need to figure out why the wingviews won't change from plane to plane but one step at a time.
Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
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#4451829 - 12/04/18 05:02 PM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 12,497
MrJelly
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Ray I just checked Mike B-17 multiskins I jumped to the fourth plane which is brown to check the wing views The port wing is brown despite the green engines: The starboard wing appears to be silver: I cannot be certain if this is a fault in the skin files or a problem with the exe.
Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger SiteFaceBook Pages UAW 160 downloadsEAW ClubMark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
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#4451906 - 12/05/18 06:39 AM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,267
iron mike
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Maryland, USA
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Look for the b17mex.bmp/tpc, it should be the old tex I did not expect to have these skins flown so I used the files that Chompy created. I didn't do much just threw together a basic copy of the original mex.pcx for the silver planes. This was primarily for the distance view, not a pilot view. I did do a wee bit more for the green forts. I did do a wee bit more for the green forts.
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#4451910 - 12/05/18 08:12 AM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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MrJelly
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I made a BMP of the Plane01 "m" texture, flew a mission and jumped from the lead plane to plane01 The BMP I can see the blue text Still silver It looks to me as though there is no texture area for the starboard wing in the BMP. The textures appear to show the upper and lower sides of the port wing and port tailplane. I do not know if this is part of the problem. I would guess that maybe another file would be involved.
Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger SiteFaceBook Pages UAW 160 downloadsEAW ClubMark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
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#4451924 - 12/05/18 11:13 AM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Apr 2002
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MrJelly
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No real luck. On the Y texture for this plane I changed the text colour to red, and saw it on both port and starboard views, so for this plane the M was not used for wingviews. However, if we cannot crack this it is of minor importance because flying a four engined bomber is of little fun in EAW when all you can do is drop bombs with very limited accuracy, and hope that your gunners and your escorts can keep you safe. For AI bombers the cockpit view is not needed.
Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger SiteFaceBook Pages UAW 160 downloadsEAW ClubMark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
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#4451940 - 12/05/18 01:58 PM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,859
Rotton50
3DZ / campaign designer
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3DZ / campaign designer
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,859
Cape Charles, Virginia, USA
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Upon further research at least one other linkage in the multiskins is not working.
In the B-26 package PLANEA.3dz points to PLANESEX.pcx because it needs the transparency file PLANESRA.pcx for the rear and upper turret glass.
This works but the next plane in line, which points to PLANE01SX.pcx, does not link to the PLANE01SRA.pcx so the turrets are opaque. And of course we also have the problem that PLANE01SRA has one more digit that PLANE01SX, thus complicating the file conversion routines you are working on for the new utility.
By extension I think it's probable that ALL the multiplane linkages are not set up correctly. That would be PX.tpc, MX.tpc, SX.tpc, TX.tpc, YX.tpc and ZX.tpc.
I will point out that the PX.tpc is not actually necessary if the props are left off the secondary aircraft. The game will use the props from the primary aircraft. Same for the ZX.tpc as the gunsight from the primary will be used if the secondary ones are left out.
So really, it comes down to the MX, SX, TX and YX that need to be fixed because, as presently configured, we can't have multiskin twin engine aircraft that use the extended transparency files. (Planes like the P-38 and Mosquito are OK as their multiskins don't require transparencies other than the cockpit and props.)
Also, if you're going to fix this might as well do it correctly and fix the digit issue by making the transparency files have the same number of digits as their comparable texture files. For instance, PLANE01SX.tpc should link to PLANE01SR.tpc, not PLANE01SRA.tpc. And PLANE01YX should link to PLANE01YR, not PLANE01YTR. I think this last one will fix the wingview issue as well.
Far as I can tell this wouldn't affect Mike's multiskins since they are mostly single engine aircraft.
Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
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#4451943 - 12/05/18 02:27 PM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 12,497
MrJelly
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I re-did the linkages and I will put the two files in your folder. I will also put the exe I made this morning with the m.3dz loading again. I just need to change drives from W7 to W10 again. Edit: It is there now "Good tex link 021218.zip" It has the "EAW Versions" folder with the new exe and my "EAWTM2" folder with the two texture link files, plus the text versions
Last edited by MrJelly; 12/05/18 02:46 PM.
Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger SiteFaceBook Pages UAW 160 downloadsEAW ClubMark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
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#4451981 - 12/05/18 07:51 PM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 12,497
MrJelly
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Mike your pictures do not relate to the problem They are external views, and we get the same in 160 with no problems. Fly the B17, and hit J to jump to the next plane so that you are in a brown one. Use your mouse to see the pilot's view of the starboard wing and the port wing. Are both wings brown? We see the starboard one as silver.
Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger SiteFaceBook Pages UAW 160 downloadsEAW ClubMark Twain: I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.I am now of an age at which I no longer need to suffer fools gladly
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#4451983 - 12/05/18 08:09 PM
Re: Bitmap juggling
[Re: MrJelly]
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,859
Rotton50
3DZ / campaign designer
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3DZ / campaign designer
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Posts: 4,859
Cape Charles, Virginia, USA
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But there is a problem with the external views too, just not on these models.
Amy model that uses one of the new transparency links, PRA, MRA and SRA does not work in multiskin mode even with the new exec you sent me.
Something very basic is wrong here.
Take this as you will since I'm NOT a code guy, but I'd suggest going back and seeing how the TEX/TRA, Y/YTR, V/VTR and Z/ZTR links work. Then figure out how to make them work not only for PRA, MRA and SRA but also with PLANE01PX, PLANE01MX, PLANE01SX and PLANE01Y. This last one is a PITA because it doesn't adhere to the new *EX naming standard.
Edit:
I forgot to mention that there is a problem with the middle distance models too.
Load Mike's 100th Bomb Group B-17G multiskins. The one with the silver, brown and green aircraft.
Line the whole 16 of them up on the runway and zoom out. Then pan side to side and watch the planes blink from silver to brown or green depending on the angle.
I got rid of the problem by editing the view distances in the plane.dat file, extending the views out by about another 50% but that's not a proper fix.
Last edited by Rotton50; 12/05/18 08:37 PM.
Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
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Exodus
by RedOneAlpha. 04/18/24 05:46 PM
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