Q about ship graphics

I'm going to be flamed for not searching

So I'm a bit new at making ships images. And it should be noted that I don't have 3d modeling software, so I'm doing it all via photoshop. (Please don't tell me about the free ones I can use, I know).

I make an image, import it, all seems fine and dandy. But the background color still shows up in game. How do I fix this problem?

Did you make a black-and-white mask to go along with the image?

UE_Research & Development, on Sep 6 2004, 07:28 PM, said:

Did you make a black-and-white mask to go along with the image?
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To give you a better idea, here's a sample:

The sprite image, you should have this already:

The mask image:

Hope that helps

I've got a mask. And I tried several variations of things to see if I could make it work, but no dice. Any other suggestions? Or would someone with EVNew be willing to look at it and see if I missed something? I'd appreciate it...

Maybe if you posted your images so we could more easily tell what you're trying to do...

Matrix

OK here they are:

Mask
Sprites

If you could use a browser-friendly compression like .jpg or .gif, that'd be really great. I don't like to download images that I can't view online first.

Matrix

Any chance the white part of your mask is on another layer.

Sounds like you are copying one layer and not the other..

Try flattening the image.

The only thing i can think of that will cause such behaviour..

We don't flame people here. It's nice if you search first, because your answer is often already available, but we're a friendly, helpful bunch.

You've got some gray in your mask -- it should be EXACT white, EXACT black, and nothing else. Have you tried using the original mask for the Enterprise with your modified sprite?

Edit: When you say you see the background color, do you mean that there are little bits of it showing around the edge of the sprite, or that your ship is flying around the game in the middle of a big square of background?

This post has been edited by Dr. Trowel : 12 September 2004 - 12:10 PM

Dr. Trowel, on Sep 12 2004, 05:05 PM, said:

You've got some gray in your mask -- it should be EXACT white, EXACT black, and nothing else. Have you tried using the original mask for the Enterprise with your modified sprite?

Edit: When you say you see the background color, do you mean that there are little bits of it showing around the edge of the sprite, or that your ship is flying around the game in the middle of a big square of background?
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Actually, I tried exact black and white, and tried the original mask. Didn't work. And I mean there's a gray square around my ship.

Does the format of the imported image matter? I've been working with bitmaps for the sake of precision...

Um, this is the voice of inexperience talking here, but couldn't you just fill the background on the sprite in black?

Then there'd be a black square over everything. Over spobs, other ships, etc. Not good.

I just meant to post your images with web-friendly compression. I tend to work with .tif at home, and only compress it with .jpg if I want to upload it, but I always keep the .tif version.

Matrix

Arright here they are in jpg.

You have large blocks of non-pure black around the ship in the mask. It is easily seen using a 'fill' of another color. This is the problem... see attachment.

Edit: attachment removed

This post has been edited by slouch : 13 September 2004 - 09:10 PM

Uninformed guest, on Sep 12 2004, 11:44 PM, said:

Then there'd be a black square over everything. Over spobs, other ships, etc. Not good.

That's not the point. It's masked, so you won't see the black in-game. You could make it bright purple, and the engine couldn't care less.Sigh

slouch, on Sep 13 2004, 04:28 PM, said:

You have large blocks of non-pure black around the ship in the mask. It is easily seen using a 'fill' of another color. This is the problem... see attachment.
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Those blocks look like JPG artifacts to me, so they may not be in the original BMP image.

Guest, on Sep 13 2004, 06:33 PM, said:

Those blocks look like JPG artifacts to me, so they may not be in the original BMP image.
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I... think you're right about that. My mistake.

Raventhief: Are you importing the mask into the same rled as the image? Or seperately? I think Nova ignores the mask field in the shan if the image is an rled/8.

orcaloverbri9, on Sep 13 2004, 09:29 PM, said:

That's not the point. It's masked, so you won't see the black in-game. You could make it bright purple, and the engine couldn't care less.Sigh
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If you read that carefully you'd see he's replying to the previous post by pp0u20e8.

Raventhief: Have you double checked the shan to make sure it's pointing to the right files?
Novatools allows you to view the sprite right in the shan editor so you can see if your mask works or not without launching Nova. Does EVNEW have that ability?