ui map help

Terrain / Theater editing

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toonces
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ui map help

Post by toonces » 2011-03-29 10:31:15

Hello all. The following is for FF5.5

Search isn't pulling up the info I can use.

I'm trying to create a new background image in the main theater screen. The files are uimainbg.rsc and uimainbg.idx.

I figured out how to use the perl scripts to compile an .rsc and .idx files from a .tga. The problem I'm running into is configuring the .tga so that the perl script will create the right size image- my investigating in Panama and ITO2 shows it should come out to 1537kb which corresponds to a 1024x768 16-bit RGB image. However, perl fails to compile the image unless it's "indexed color" which then renders files that are too small.

I've been wasting stupid amounts of time on this.

What size/format do I need to put my .tga in to get it to configure properly in perl? Or is there a better way?

Malc even put a 1024x768 .tga into his Panama theater, and I can't get perl to compile that image into working .rsc and .idx files!

toonces
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Re: ui map help

Post by toonces » 2011-03-29 13:24:48

This is a post I wrote on another forum, seeking info on this. The wiki just doesn't explain how to get to 8-bit .tga.

This is going to be more info that you want to know, but here goes in the hope that somehow somebody finds the magic solution.

I'm trying to create a theater background image in Freefalcon 5.5. FF5 reads the background image as two files: uimainbg.rsc and uimainbg.idx.

I have a perl script that will convert a .tga image into the .rsc and .idx files. However, the .tga must be 1024x768 8-bit RGB to compile properly.

Put another way: a "correct" .tga and .rsc file will be exactly 1537kb. To acheive a 1537kb .tga from my testing, the .tga must be 1024x768 16-bit RGB. Using "indexed color" leads to a .tga/.rsc that is about half sized at around 750kb.

I have started with .jpg, .tiff, and .bmp files. No matter which of the three I import to Photoshop, the "8-bit" mode is grayed out. One of my google hits indicated that a .tiff image would be able to be 8-bit converted, but sadly that didn't work for me (ie. converting .jpg to .tiff, then opening in PS and attempting to 8-bit convert).

If I run the perl script on a 16-bit .tga, the script errors out in the compile phase, leaving me with a 1537kb .tga, but a 0kb .rsc/idx.

So, that is where I stand now. The only thing I haven't tried that I thought of last night is converting the .jpg to a .dds file because I seem to remember various compression modes available for .dds. I could convert to .dds, then reconvert to .tga and see if that works...

Snake Man
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Re: ui map help

Post by Snake Man » 2011-03-29 16:06:44

I've never done even RV background image, only campaign and intel maps so I don't know if there is a difference (I assume not). I cannot remember the precise method I used in Photoshop CS3 to save it properly, but I have always worked with BMP files because that is what Terrainview saves when I do the source images.
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Re: ui map help

Post by Sherlock » 2011-03-29 20:07:46

toonces,

Try these recource file compressor and uncompressor tools: http://www.mediafire.com/?t5qh5a453gbox9v

They were developed by Malc so he should get the credit. I think they will compress higher than 8-bit images but as to what exact process gets them where they will display properly in the UI, that is another question I don't know the answer to.
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demer928
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Re: ui map help

Post by demer928 » 2011-03-29 20:39:16

Also toonce's,
You may find these helpful:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/c4z5d869w0v3hd1/PERL.zip

Please, nevermind the date's on them, as I stated in my PM response to you.It has been a loooong time since I used PERL in Falcon.............HAHAHAAHA!!!!!!

demer

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