Problems in EVNEW

@krugeruwsp, on Jan 12 2009, 12:46 PM, said in Problems in EVNEW:

I'm somewhat perplexed that the pixels in the GIMP aren't corresponding with Nova's pixel count. Are you saving the image as a resized image? How are you getting the pixel count in the GIMP? Remember as well that the pixel distance is figured from the 0,0 point of each sprite.

Is there any possibility that the image’s DPI count isn’t set to screen resolution? (On a Macintosh, this is 72; I don’t know whether EVNEW sticks to this, or imports images at Windows’s native resolution of 96.)

Well, that could be the case. In my experience with image manipulation so far, the pixel-to-pixel should be the same. That's why I asked how he was getting the pixel count from the GIMP. If he was measuring by anything other than pixels in the GIMP, that would explain the problem (unless the image was set to 100% zoom and he absolutely knew the pixel resolution per unit of measurement.)

I use PaintShopPro, not the GIMP, so I couldn't say for certain how to change the rulers in the program to pixels, picas, or anything else, for that matter. Generally, what I have been doing is importing individual renders into a Microsoft Publisher document I've set up with a grid of guides set to certain pixel lengths, crop as necessary, expand to individual cells, and export as a PNG at maximum resolution. Then I bring it up in PaintShop, mask it, and resize it to the appropriate size and I make sure that I do that in pixels, not in any other unit of measurement. So far, that's worked out well for me. I think the last step is the crucial one.

Here's where I'm fuzzy: if the ship is importing into EVNEW at the size you are specifying it at, you need to know already the pixel count of the whole image and the individual sprites. So, you already know how big the image is in pixels. You should be able to get a clear pixel radius from that, and at least be able to guesstimate within close reason where your weapon exit points should be.

Hope that clears anything up!

The problem was that it needed to start the count at 0,0 in the middle of the picture and I didn't know how to do that. Now I just flip it upside down and cut 3/4 off and use that 1/4 to set the exit points. That way it reads 0,0 as the middle of the sprite and corner of the 1/4.

From this
GarCorv.png (9.47K)
Number of downloads: 8

I get this
GarCorv1.png (2.04K)
Number of downloads: 2
and I can work out the pixels

Well, if it works for you, it works for you. I just do a mental math calculation and guess/check. Take the number of pixels wide, divide by two, and you got the middle line. Do again for the length, and you have your middle line that way and your center point. If it helps you, you could add a raster layer in the GIMP, draw two lines down the middles of both axis, then use the equivalent of the angular distance tool to tell you how far away a point is.

By the by, that last ship you posted is much cooler-looking than the first one you did. Nice job!

That ship is not mine. It belongs in Weird Worlds. I just grabbed it to test how it would look in nova.

Oh, my bad. Still, cool looking ship.

Is there a way to import a sprite for a beam and have it show up? Is the lightning of the triphammer a sprite? I noticed that in EVNEW the triphammer has -3 in the graphic box. The Vellos weapons have similar numbers. What does that mean?I want to make a beam that looks like this:
Beam2.png (2.61K)
Number of downloads: 0

I looked in the Nova hacks and beam thread but it didn't have anything about using custom sprites as beams.

This post has been edited by rafy23 : 25 January 2009 - 03:07 PM

Beams never use sprites. I'm not sure why those weapons have values in the sprite field.

Beams like the TripHammer, Winter Tempest, and Polaron Cannon are lightning beams. To make a lightning beam, simply put positive values into the zig-zag number and amplitude fields. The fields themselves are self-explanatory, but the one thing to keep in mind is that Corona Color/Falloff are ignored for lightning beams. Beam Width also functions slightly differently, as it actually means beam width for lightning beams rather than distance of the corona from the center beam.

@archon, on Jan 25 2009, 03:39 PM, said in Problems in EVNEW:

Beams never use sprites. I'm not sure why those weapons have values in the sprite field.

In the previous games, the Graphic field controlled the beam’s colour, before the field allowing you to select any colour you like was added.

@david-arthur, on Jan 26 2009, 02:41 PM, said in Problems in EVNEW:

In the previous games, the Graphic field controlled the beam’s colour, before the field allowing you to select any colour you like was added.

True, but I'm speaking in Nova terms here.

I think any negative number in that field is just ignored or treated as -1, yes?

I think as far as beams are concerned, any number in the sprite field is treated as -1.

Thats a shame. I guess there is no way around it.

Oh, I don't know about that. Play around with the lightning beam settings and see what you come up with. It may not be an exact replica of what you're going for, but it might be close.

@archon, on Jan 26 2009, 05:05 PM, said in Problems in EVNEW:

True, but I'm speaking in Nova terms here.

Nova terms don't explain the issue around which you expressed doubt. Nova started as a plug-in for EV Override , before it was picked up by Ambrosia and got its own engine, so some aspects of the game still reflect this. That’s why hypergates are mostly part of the back-story, for example, and why the ability to attack planets went unused.

Ah, gotcha!