Need help with graphics;

ModKeen mods Tiles and Sprites in all episodes of Commander Keen.
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najawa
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Need help with graphics;

Post by najawa »

I actually fell in love with the idea of the millions of graphics in Keen 4. I just encountered a problem when testing my arachnut:
Image
^4SPR0301^
Image
^4SPR0302^
Image
^4SPR0303^
Image
^4SPR0304^

I had to adjust it so that it would be a multiple of 24, my problem was trying to get each 3rd of the sprite to be equal with eachother, and overlap eachother perfectly; there is more grey that anything else:

Could someone help me please?

I'll keep trying, but I just keep failing.

-- NAJAWA --

Edit: This has been updated; the images are now the most recent.
Last edited by najawa on Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:28 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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XkyRauh
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well...

Post by XkyRauh »

Here's the way I do it, with good ol' MSPaint. Click the rectangle selection tool, and select just the black part of your image, where the color is. While holding down the mouse to draw the box, look in the lower right corner of the screen--you'll see some coordinates, saying something like "130x72," which is the dimensions of your selection.

Find out how big your black area is, then make sure your other sections are the same size, and finally make sure the whole image is divisible by 24.

The problem with your current image is that the black and grey sections are 130x72, while the white section is 124x72. Add 8 pixels to the white section, or take 8 pixels away from the black and grey sections.

Either way, that's pretty huge for a sprite in a Keen game. The default Arachnut is 40x40, a cute little box. Your sprite is nearly 4 times wider, and 2 times taller than that! It's a nice looking sprite, but I worry that you won't be able to have any other enemies in your levels (memory problems).
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najawa
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Good ole MS paint?

Post by najawa »

Good ole MS Paint? You treat it like only oldsters use it!!! That's the only I'm comfertable using. I didn't know that lasso trick you taught me, but I use the lasso a lot. I found the middle one was being cheated two pixels on each side. Here's the updated ones:


Image
^4SPR0301^
Image
^4SPR0302^
Image
^4SPR0303^
Image
^4SPR0304^


Now I'm sure they are okay... but when I imported them, Keen4e (Keen 4 1.4) wouldn't load anymore. It worked before... Is is *gulp* too large? Please say no... oh please! (Tell me the truth, but I sure hope the truth is that it is not too large; I love this sprite so far).

-- NAJAWA --

Edit: This has been updated; the pictures are now the most recent.
Last edited by najawa on Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

They're still not correct.. The widths are 128, 126, and 130. You should make them all 128..

Otherwise, nice work. :)
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najawa
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Really?

Post by najawa »

Really? Wow, I didn't notice that. I'll try to correct this.

-- NAJAWA --
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najawa
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Post by najawa »

I updated the grpahics (fixed them), but I still can't get them to work; I need help.

-- NAJAWA --
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MultiMania
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Post by MultiMania »

The red bit should be rectangular. The way the graphics format works is by storing 2 pairs of co-ordinates. x1,y1,x2 and y2. These can not descrive such intricate shapes. If you are still having trouble. Impor the graphics and then export them again. If that doesn't work, then modkeen is failing, otherwise, it's keen.
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najawa
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Oh...

Post by najawa »

Oh! I See!!!

This should help...

No time to test, though... I'm going to be late for school; I'll copy my work to my memory stick, and fiddle around during rescess.

-- NAJAWA --
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Post by KeenRush »

The red bit should be rectangular.
Aaaargh, yes! :) Modkeen requires that. For some reason I didn't notice that at all when seeing the pictures..
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grelphy
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Post by grelphy »

Um, yeah, and doesn't Modkeen require that the clipping boxes actually be done in a seperate text file?

(Or did Andy fix that and I missed it?)
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najawa
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New Links:

Post by najawa »

I was updating the pictures (Complete), and I noticed that my Keen4e just wouldn't work: I imported, and eported, and found that my clipping tile had been reduced to 32 x 36 pixle square; and I tried to fix it, but to no avail; please help me.

-- NAJAWA --
Last edited by najawa on Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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najawa
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...

Post by najawa »

Oh man... Just shoot me before I die of stupidity!!!

I didn't use the graphics loading patch before.

Now the game loads, but modkeen keeps changes my clipping block when I import it. I need help with this still.

-- NAJAWA --
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najawa
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4sprites.txt

Post by najawa »

I found a text file called 4Sprite.txt; and it had a bunch of values.

Code: Select all

301: [4, 4, 35, 39], [0, 0], 1
302: [4, 3, 35, 38], [0, 1], 1
303: [4, 3, 35, 38], [0, 1], 1
304: [4, 4, 35, 39], [0, 0], 1
Here are the ones which pertain to my sprites, and I was wondering if someone could tell me what they mean, and what I should do. It is not part of Modkeen (BTW - I'm using 2.0.1), and so I think it is what Keen4 uses to block off its sprites.

I don't know exactly what to do with these values, but I'll keep trying to figure them out; assistance would be nice.

-- NAJAWA --

Edit: I finnally got my new pictures uploaded
Edit: Grelphy; I think this would be the text box!!! I just re-read your post, and relized that; now, how do I munipulate this text to work with those clippin boxes?
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grelphy
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Post by grelphy »

The values are probably [top, left, height, width] or some rearrangement therof. I believe the second set is the origin (in relation to what, I forget) and the third one controls... something.

It's all well documented in the Modkeen 2 readme.
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najawa
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Um...

Post by najawa »

Um... the first part: Thanks for trying, but that really didn't help.

The second part: Thanks, now that was helpfull!!! I'll look into it when I'm not too lazy.

-- NAJAWA --
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