We're back

[aquaMat]

Hi Joe,

how good to hear you and Matt are coming back on the boards !!

I'm a big fan of your mansions (and so are probably all other members >>see our ecent

unofficial poll

), and this new stuff of yours looks really really interesting !! I'm really looking forward to it.....

Thanks for the tip with the platform, too ...in my modest little attempts with custpom graphics (for my forthcoming mansion) I never dared to go too far away from the original size and look of sprites, 'cause I feared it would stop them from working.

I did make some larger things when replacing

non-moving sprites

(e.g. that knight, or the angel figure), but I came across some problems at times. For example, I wanted to include a (static) character instead of the knight, and even though I outlined / contoured the character properly, it always showed up in the game somewhat

frayed

at the edges.

What program do you use to design your new sprites (in) ??

[joeb]

Well folks like you are one of the reasons we've come back. I don't know what happened to the graphics tutorial I wrote but I'll see if I can find it for you. Here's what I use and why and how:

Photoshop is the main graphics application I use because I've been using it for a LONG time and it's the best although you can definitely get by with one of the Corel products or Adobe Elements. Edges can be a REAL pain. What I do is get the object core (described below) to a certain state and then use the PS selection tools to:
1. Get rid of all the pixels outside the object and replace them with pure white (255,255,255) or pure aqua (0,255,266) which is what Vern uses to create a transparency map.
2. Invert the selection from 1 and use the Modify Selection->Border... and create a 1 pixel border around the graphic. You don't neccessarily have to use black and sometimes, like on a light background, it makes the graphic look blocky. If it's a level 0 graphic I will use black because that' what sets the transparency with those objects.
3. Use Image->Adjustments->Hue/Saturation... to get an edge that's much darker than the object but still works for your target background. Of all the issues that you have with graphics in MM this is THE toughest to master. Just takes a lot of playing with.

DAZ Studio (www.daz3D.com) is what I use to generate my source graphics. Good news here is it's FREE and there are a TON of free/very cheap object meshes that you can get. JAC is the DAZ Chomper character. I pick an object and get it in the pose I want. I then use the Cartoon Shader to put a dark edge around the object. I play with the background (using white, aqua, black) and the size of the object until it looks good. Then I do the post work in PS as described above. The stormtroopers, probe droids, hover droids, frog droids, turbo lasers, ships and a LOT of the graphics throughout Dominator were all created this way.

I use Bryce for backgrounds and bricks. DAZ bought out Bryce and at one point in time sold Bryce 6 for $6. Yes that's right SIX dollars. As with DAZ Studio you can find tons of content.

I now use 2 resource editors. For graphics I use Resourcerer and Rezilla for sound.

Hope this helps. I'll provide further tips down the road as I have time and questions come my way.

Later

Joe B

[suztours]

Ah, Joe - suggest you don't go to Minneapolis until the Spring Thaw! I have a friend who works up there Mon-Thu and says it's about -30F just now... and that's on the warm days!

Meanwhile - I'm looking forward to trying out Dominator, so if you do have to brave the frozen north, here's hoping you warm up quickly once you're back in AZ!

suzanne

[aquaMat]

Joe, thank you very much for that detailed information.

Until now, I have used Photoshop and for some things Adobe Illustrator (which is of course not very good for these kind of jobs)....
So, DAZStudio is a really good tip, I just downloaded it !!

I use Rezilla, too.

Especially your tips concerning those edges were very helpful..... I might be able to

repair

all those graphics I haven't been satisfied until now.....

Makes me think even more about how much work the creation of Mummy's must have been....

I'm looking forward to cheking out DAZ Studio tonight... Thanks again.

[Semi-Native]

Welcome back, Joe and Matt. Can't wait for your new mansion.
;D