- There is an independent set of finder files for each screen resolution. The "480" in the following filenames indicate they're for the 640x480 resolution, which is the only screen resolution I will be dealing with. The filenames with 200 and 400 deal with the 320x200 and 320x400 resolutions.

- The 3,600 byte "FI480.RAW", 60x60 pixels, is the O-ring of the finder, which is accompanied by an ".act" palette and an ".aai" anti-alias information file of the same name.

- The 72 byte "FI480GA.RAW", 12x6 pixels, is the Green Arrow.
- The 36 byte "FI480GD.RAW", 6x6 pixels, is the Green Dot.

- The 72 byte "FI480RA.RAW", 12x6 pixels, is the Red Arrow.
- The 36 byte "FI480RD.RAW", 6x6 pixels, is the Red Dot.

All five finder raw files are accompanied by .act palettes. The downloadable package contains all of the stock finder files (in the "stock" folders) along with GIF conversions of the raw/act pairs.

I have assembled a collection of information and materials that will enable you to create your own new finder from scratch or by using existing component parts. Get the complete package in a ZIP, which includes the text you are now reading as well as some descriptions of the parts and instructions for assembing them. Parts are for the 640x480 screen resolution only.

All finder parts must be named the same as the stock ones, as well as be the same dimensions as the stock ones. Replacement finder pods must be mounted above cockpit.pod in order to work.

All pure black pixels (those with a palette value of zero) are transparent, thus pure black serves as your background color when you paint. Whatever pixels you draw within the confines of the black images will be what you see on the display.

The "ring" doesn't have to be a ring of course, it can be anything you can imagine within 60x60 borders (a little steering wheel perhaps), but bear in mind that the checkpoint numbers are centered within it and must be readable. Also bear in mind that the arrow, if used, is placed under the apex of the ring, and that the dot will be rotating around the perimeter. Any custom "ring" will also require a custom ".aai" file to accompany it (the creation of which is covered on the .aai page).

The two "arrow" textures can be anything you can imagine within the 12x6 texture, bearing in mind that it lies in a fixed position below the apex of the ring. Note also that each arrow can be a different size, shape or color, which can create an animation as they flicker back and forth while targeting checkpoints.

The two "dot" textures can be anything you can imagine within the 6x6 texture (which isn't much to work with), and each can be a different size, shape or color to create an animation of sorts as they swap back and forth.

Any color palette may be assigned to the raw files used in each of the finder elements, but try to keep it simple, preferably using a 16 color palette at maximum. One compatible with the classic "metalcr2.act" would probably yield the best results in all tracks.

The finder elements cannot be repositioned. Also, at this point I've tried doubling the size of the ring texture and I tried a 60x60 graphic for the arrow, but neither would display correctly, I have not tried changing the size of the ball. It therefore appears that we are locked into always using raw files that match the stock dimensions.