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#4559558 - 03/12/21 03:44 AM BMP PCX TPX issue  
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Crashin' Jack Offline
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I am trying to set up a V.3dz with the tpc, pcx and 24 bit bmp 512x512 combo and I keep getting a "pic wrong resolution " error. I have made sure it was 24 bit, 512x512, made a tpc using picpac. It works fine in the X'3dz, but not the V. I have even tried copying over the X.3dz, but it won't go. I've tried several copies of the 1.28e install, all to no avail. What am I missing?


"Blasts from clustered R4M quartets in my snout
And see these English planes go burn...." Blue Oyster Cult

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#4559568 - 03/12/21 08:11 AM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Are looking for answer from a .3dz maker?
I am not, but since you mention 1.28e in case you stuck and none answer soon;

you can't use picpac to compress .bmp and so I assume you are saying you make a .pcx then picpac -p it to compress it for the game.

I doubt picpac would do 512, nor the game uncompress it. so it should be 256 x 256 or 128 x 128 depending on your needs (LR or HR view) in some cases you have an airfield

The .bmp is never compressed.
Just make sure you save the textures as 24bit colour, OS/2 BMP. File size will be 192kb for a standard 256x256 texture.

The .bmp doesn't work in glide unless you have a custom .exe (last work was by sydbod AFAIK)

Whether or not the 512 x 512 works on 1.28e - not to my knowledge, it was only some people tried for terrains and did not work on most pcs at the time.

I think if you are trying to make experiment for a hi res overlay you would use the normal picpac size 24 bit pcx 256 x 256 or less then the .bmp if you trying to overlay just 512 x 512 but as I said there is not to my knowledge code in 1.28e that would specificlly allow larger size but you could try it.

So in other words don't resize the .pcx / .tpc version. Also beware of 32 bit versions they don't work neither the .pcx nor the .bmp

the only other thing I could suggest is your game config settings, on some video cards there is a difference between the textures used for med res. and high so when testing reset you game resolution settings to test both.

#4559578 - 03/12/21 11:28 AM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Rotton50 Offline
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Only thing comes to mind is that when using the BMP's, the corresponding TPC file must be "empty".

Travel on over to the 1.6 inventory to ETO B26B-10(Multi) and use any one of the TPC files such as PLANE01BX.TPC. Rename as you please.

If you don't have 1.6(THE HORROR!!!!!), I can either e-mail you a file or drop it in your folder at the GEN.


Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
#4559581 - 03/12/21 11:41 AM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Roy there is no need for you to make comments that do not help the person with the problem. It is a waste of space.

I have just checked the texture mapping, and in 160 the "V.tpc" is mapped to the "VTR.tpc".
I think that this is the case in 1.28e too.
You may need a "VTR.tpc" that is 512*512.

I have just checked the 1.28e source code with the hard coded mapping:

{ "pp38hv.tpc", "pp38hvtr.tpc",1}

{ "pp38hy.tpc", "pp38hytr.tpc",1}


This was just for the p38h but the other slots are the same.
I note also that the "y.tpc" has a mapping to the "ytr.tpc"

If the TPC file is 512x512 then the corresponding transparency must be 512x512 too wink


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Mark 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.

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#4559587 - 03/12/21 01:09 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Rotton50 Offline
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Originally Posted by MrJelly
Roy there is no need for you to make comments that do not help the person with the problem. It is a waste of space.


thumbsup

Originally Posted by MrJelly
I have just checked the texture mapping, and in 160 the "V.tpc" is mapped to the "VTR.tpc".
I think that this is the case in 1.28e too.You may need a "VTR.tpc" that is 512*512..


I was curious about the relationship between the tra files and the BMP/TPC set so I opened the files in the ETO Mosquito 6 305 SQ(multi) set. It is one of the few unmolested graphic sets in the inventory. Most other sets don't use BMP's except for nose art because many of the original BMP sets I've appropriated had problems in EAW, mainly showing up as a totally black skin or the "pic wrong res" error, so I converted them back to the PCX/TPC format.

Personally, I find there's very little difference in detail for the skins except for things that can use the extra detail, such as the aforementioned nose art. And let's face it, while playing the game who's noticing whether the walk up to the cockpit has footprints or not?

The cockpits are a different matter considering all the time a player spends there vs a quick walk around before take off admiring his mount. So, setting up BMP cockpits along with improved gauges and moving bits seems a very worthwhile effort.

Anyhow, what I found was the BMP files in this set are 256 x 256 and 16 million colors deep but the transparency files are 256 x256 but only 256 colors deep and the accompanying TPC file is also 256 x 256 and 256 color depth, but there are no textures in the file, it is a blank pallet.

So I conjecture that you can build a 256 x 256 BMP mapped V.3dz but use an existing VTR.tpc and then see what happens when you increase the BMP to 512 x 512.


BTW, the V has always been mapped to the VTR going back the the original.


Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
#4559591 - 03/12/21 02:05 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Crashin' Jack Offline
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Yay ! Mr. Jelly wins he contest! I forgot about the relationship of the tra files. Roy, thanks for your comments, but 512x512 DOES work in D3D for 1.28e, I helped bring it about. Also, the tpc does not need to be blank, in fact the one I am using for the gauges, the Xtpc, is the default Spit 1 gauges tpc. Works fine. The combo was wrong because the transparency file was the wrong size. All good, thanks for the comments everyone.


"Blasts from clustered R4M quartets in my snout
And see these English planes go burn...." Blue Oyster Cult

#4559592 - 03/12/21 02:18 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Rotton50 Offline
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"the tpc does not need to be blank"

Then how does the exec determine whether to display the BMP or the TPC?



"The combo was wrong because the transparency file was the wrong size"

Did you simply double it to 512 x 512?
Did you also have to change the resolution to 16 million colors?


Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
#4559595 - 03/12/21 02:27 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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MrJelly Online tunes
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Quote
Then how does the exec determine whether to display the BMP or the TPC?


Simple:
If there is a BMP it is used for the texture in preference to the TPC. If not the TPC is used for the texture smile
The exe gets the size from the TPC- that's why it is needed, but it can be blank or otherwise. The BMP must be the same size as the TPC and it must be 24-bit.

Last edited by MrJelly; 03/12/21 02:32 PM.

Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger Site

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Mark 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
#4559598 - 03/12/21 02:44 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: MrJelly]  
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Rotton50 Offline
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Originally Posted by MrJelly
If there is a BMP it is used for the texture in preference to the TPC. If not the TPC is used for the texture smile The exe gets the size from the TPC- that's why it is needed, but it can be blank or otherwise. The BMP must be the same size as the TPC and it must be 24-bit.


Ok, thanks. That must be why I experienced those "wrong res" errors when I used the aircraft I D/L'd from Talley-ho.

I'm still not sure why anyone went to the trouble of making blank TPC's to include in the packages. Kinda threw me off.


Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
#4559600 - 03/12/21 03:03 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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MrJelly Online tunes
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Quote
I'm still not sure why anyone went to the trouble of making blank TPC's to include in the packages


If there is a BMP then the blank TPC of the same size can be used. That means a blank TPC can be copied, pasted and re-named, without new ones being made. Effectively you only need three, a 128x128, a 256x256 and a 512x512 wink

Last edited by MrJelly; 03/12/21 03:05 PM.

Fly EAW online at GameRanger: GameRanger Site

FaceBook Pages
UAW 160 downloads
EAW Club

Mark 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
#4559614 - 03/12/21 04:51 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Crashin' Jack Offline
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I use Paint Shop Pro. I convert the tpc to pcx, open it in PSP, save it as a bmp. The default is 24 bit, 16 million colors, I guess, at least that is what mine is set to, don't recall changing it.

By the way, I have made a pretty cool discovery this morning. I am now able to get very brightly lit lights for the sprites. If you open the cpt file, there is a 4 byte header. Then there are 3 palettes, 204 bytes each. The first is the day fade palette, then the night palette, then the lamp palette. The Cockpit Editor has these three palettes as separate files, and the three nationalities each have their own set. After dumping a sprite with WSDUMP, and opening it in PSP, I select the area I want to change the color of, and then open the palette, selcet the area in the raw image with the eye dropper. This highlights the spot in the raw palette (which is grey scale), and I take note of it's position. I open the X.bmp, and choose to EDIT the palette. I look at the same position noted earlier, and jot down the three bytes showing me the color in hex. Then I click on that color in the palette with the eye dropper which brings up a option to change the color. I find a bright color I like, BUT DON'T CHANGE IT HERE. Jot down the color, in hex. Now go back to the cpt file, search for the color string you wrote down first, replace it with the color you wrote down second, and you should now see those colors in the cockpit !

Here is the Mossie on the runway, with one engine started as shown by the ignition light. The brakes are on, and the gear is down and locked:

[Linked Image]

No where is the Mossie in flight, both engines running, gear up, and brakes off: (actually still have to sort out the brake light, it only uses a bit of the color needed)

[Linked Image]

I am a happy man!

Now to sort out the rest of the cockpit!

Cheers,

CJ


"Blasts from clustered R4M quartets in my snout
And see these English planes go burn...." Blue Oyster Cult

#4559645 - 03/12/21 08:07 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: MrJelly]  
Joined: Feb 2006
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Rotton50 Offline
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Rotton50  Offline
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Cape Charles, Virginia, USA
Originally Posted by MrJelly
If there is a BMP then the blank TPC of the same size can be used. That means a blank TPC can be copied, pasted and re-named, without new ones being made. Effectively you only need three, a 128x128, a 256x256 and a 512x512 wink


Still wondering why anyone bothered to make blank TPC's for the 128 and 256 sizes. If I understand, all the skinners had to do was drop correct size BMP's in the folder with the existing TPC's and the exec would read them rather than the TPC's.

The only extra work involved would be to make 512 sized TPC's from the existing ones. They wouldn't even need to look great, which is usually the case when you double the size of these textures, they'd just have to be the correct pixel count.

Or am I still missing something?


Heck, even paranoids have enemies.
#4559651 - 03/12/21 08:53 PM Re: BMP PCX TPX issue [Re: Crashin' Jack]  
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Crashin' Jack Offline
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I think think it may have to do with the bmp files only working with D3D? Not sure if that was ever fixed, but Glide still needed the old file system, at least during 1.28e.


"Blasts from clustered R4M quartets in my snout
And see these English planes go burn...." Blue Oyster Cult


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