MTM2.com

Ok im gonna swallow some pride (not much to swallow) here and ask this simple question of you master editors. I should know this by now but Ive never really made a truck or anything so i need some help here. I made a driver checkin screen and Im stuck on the lst file part I have the driver.bmp all ready to go and I made a lst file in notepad and named it dogcheckin.lst and put it in the same folder as the driver.bmp. I open WinPod and select response file (*.lst)and go to the folder i have the lst file in and i get nothing. What am i not doing or doing totaly wrong here??

1. in windows folder options, make sure you uncheck "hide file extensions for known file types" (that thing causes more trouble than I don't know what).

2. check that the LST extension is the only extension the file has. ie., the hiding thing can cause dogcheckin.lst.txt.

3. the bmp has to be in the ui folder which must be a sub folder of where the lst file is. So, for example, you make a temp folder

\Temp

the LST file will be in the temp folder. The bitmap on the other hand, must be in a subfolder of the temp called ui. For example

\Temp\UI

Winpod reads the location relative to where you have the lst file.

Hope this helps.

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- Phineus

Thanks Phineus..I was just coming back here to say I had "hide file extensions for known file types" checked and when i unchecked it I found my lst file was actually dogcheckin.lst.txt..so that was it and the pod is made and it actually works. Problem is now the buttons are all a funky green color. I think there is mention of this in the tutorial tho so ill play around a little more...thanks again

Well here's what Ive got but the buttons are messed up:

HERE

looks like they're picking up her shirt colors

[This message has been edited by SolarDog (edited 24-05-2000).]

This one looks a little better..I made the boxes more 3D and the buttons look a little better but I dont know why:

HERE



[This message has been edited by SolarDog (edited 24-05-2000).]

The trick I found to work was using the stock PAL files. Starting with the pic the way you want it in 16bit color, open one of the color palettes. The pic will be reduced to 256 colors and you'll see whether or not you like the effect on your image. If yes, then save. If no, undo and try the next palette. Don't just open the next palette, the effect is not usually good. Use undo first. This worked very well for this pic.
<center>
<IMG SRC="http://mtm2.com/~bbs/xDriver.jpg" border=0>
</center>

thanks Phineus..are you talking about the PAL files from the Nrrivas tutorial? I got those and tried them and my image gets pretty bad looking after I apply them. What setting do you use in PSP (if thats what you're using)after you hit load palette.."nearest color matching" or "error diffusion dithering"? Hope Im not bugging you about this...once I get started on something it bothers me if its not just right..I mean Im probably not even going to use this screen, I just want to know I can do it. Thanks Winterkill..I guess this image is offending the purists, but Im just messing around..for a Lara Croft image I thought this was a good tame one to use and it lined up so perfectly between the boxes.

Yes, I meant the pals from the tutorial page, and, yep, they can mess with the pic pretty bad. I've been using the "nearest color matching" but sometimes (rarely) the others can work too. I've been messing with a different other pic but haven't been able to get it to work out at all. The trouble, of course, is that we're stuck with 256 colors, and things like color gradients or a lot of different colors exhausts that number very quickly. The only other way to make this work out would be to edit the palette itself, and I don't think psp lets you do that. I, myself, haven't tried in photoshop - you'd only need to add the button colors rather than the entire palette. Any photoshop users out there want to take a stab at this?

Um, here's a long shot. Crop the image so you only have the lower 1/4 or so. Add the full line of buttons (any old place). Save the palette from it. Now open the full pic again, and call in the palette you just created. The aim here would be to gain the button colors in the palette but not have them relegated to a lesser place (ie. bumped out from the predominance of the gradient or other colors). Like I say, that's a long shot, but might offer enough for satisfactory results.

>>and it lined up so perfectly between the boxes.

You have a way with words, lol. Anyway, as for using the image, I see no reason why not. A little cross-platform biz doesn't seem to be hurting 4x4 enthusiasm.



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- Phineus

I think you broke the code, Phineus. I tried your long shot method and it got it pretty dang close with minimal degradation of the image. I lost some red in the letering and its a bit grainy but its not bad. The one thing tho is I still dont have the mouse over color showing blue on the button leters and green on the go button but I guess thats because those colors werent in the palette..I wont post the picture again but heres a link to it
again with Lara

2 t's in letters..I know that

Did you include the blue and green as part of the buttons in your image? I don't think this has anything to do with it though. Can you post a jpg of your pic before it goes in the game to see what's under all those spots?

Btw, links to pics are fine by me.

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- Phineus

No i didnt include the blue and green part..doh..not thinkin. That might do it. heres a link to the pic before going into game:

out of game

thanks for the help, Phineus..Im learnin stuff

Ok i just tried this once more with a palette I made including the blue and green colors on the buttons and it looks like this is just one that will never look quite right. In game the blue and green are there now but the buttons dont look too good. I guess there's too many colors in this image and its making a trade off. Heres a link to the palette image and in game after I used that palette.

=?P

Okay, I just tried a couple things. Have a look at this. The buttoms are good, but the background gradient loses just a tad, especially in the lighter area near the top.
<center>
Here's the pic
</center>

Hmmm..that doesnt look too bad and the buttons do look perfect. Did you use 'nearest color matching' or 'error diffusion dithering'in the load palette window? Ive been using 'error diffusion dithering' because it doesnt mess with the image as much (at least on this image)..but maybe thats why the buttons look bad in mine.

Okay, I have an even better one for you. Take a look at this pic, save it and call it into psp. Reduce colors to 256 and save the palette. You know the rest. Call in your basic pic jpg (no buttons required) and open up the palette. Save as bitmap and repod it. It's the best I could get.

<center>
See it here </center>

I can explain the logic behind this if you need it. Don't mind the upside down buttons, too many rotates ;-)

Oh, I used nearest color, but you can try anything you like - especially if it works.

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- Phineus

edit: a suggestion about slow page loads. You could, if you cared to, go back and change those large pics to links. Myself, I have no cares since my hookup is timely. But this board allows you to edit your posts if that's something you want.

[This message has been edited by Phineus (edited 24-05-2000).]

Thanks Phineus..I try that now.

You solved it Phineus. That palette you made did the trick. Check it out:
PIC
this jpeg is compresed buy 25% so it looks even better than that.

I zipped up the pod and that other stupid one I made so you can see if it looks as good as the one you made in game:

Finished Check-in Zip

I can see now why you guys get so into editing this game...its pretty dang fun and you learn a lot..thanks!

Just checked them out, and they both look fine to me. Time to post on the main

My only strategy was to increase the amount of exposure the gradient got, trying to eliminate as much black as possible (leaving it only for the buttons), and of course keep lara's colors. Then crop the total size so the palette would have less to choose from. The appearance in the image didn't really matter since we were aiming to create a palette to use in the original pic. That's all there was to it.

I'll have to try and remember this for future reference. Seems like a nifty trick.

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- Phineus

Cool. Ill copy that strategy to notepad and save it on my tweaks and junk disk so I dont forget it. Thanks for your help. Guess what.. I think I might try a track. I even grabbed Traxx. Ive messed around with a track or 2 over the years but always run out of patience and/or time. Ill read through all the great info here and who knows...?