Hey all, I am currently developing an old school (AKA: old skoo) PC-RPG and am currently running into problems displaying the graphics correctly. I am using 256 (8bit) colors for the graphics, and using Paint Shop Pro (setting the color level to 256). I run at a 16bit desktop. Should I change the desktop to 8-bit? -Snake

No.
Simply use a software that allow you to create and use a é(- colours palette. And work with that.
For instance in Photoshop, you can work in 8bit mode using a palette that you have previously created.
Obviously, all the graphics that should appear simultaneously onscreen should share the same palette. Oh and it doesnt mean you wont be able to do transparency, jsut look at Quake2 to convince yourself.

I''d recommend a software called GFX2, by Sunset Design, a French demo group.

youpla :-P

But that is the problem. Using a 16 bit desktop, and 8bit color mode with Paint Shop Pro, the pictures don't display right. They, of course, are displayed right inside PSP, but not elsewhere. For instances, I have made a web page for the game, and have posted some pictures of them, but they look totally wrong (at least, in Netscape, in I.E they display right). And also, in 8bit graphics mode, the colors don't display right either. I have made a simple program to display a single bitmap in 8bit mode, and the colors are again, totally wrong. Maybe I should change editors?

-Snake

Edited by - Nick Spolec on August 1, 2001 5:25:57 PM

quote:Original post by Nick Spolec
But that is the problem. Using a 16 bit desktop, and 8bit color mode with Paint Shop Pro, the pictures don''t display right. They, of course, are displayed right inside PSP, but not elsewhere. For instances, I have made a web page for the game, and have posted some pictures of them, but they look totally wrong (at least, in Netscape, in I.E they display right). And also, in 8bit graphics mode, the colors don''t display right either. I have made a simple program to display a single bitmap in 8bit mode, and the colors are again, totally wrong. Maybe I should change editors?
-Snake

OK, I see two problems here. If they look screwed with Netscape but not IE, I bet you it''s a "web safe" palette problem. Not much you can do there.

Now for your "I made a program and it displays them screwed", I thnk I know your problem. If I am correct, YOU made the program, right ? So you read your PCX (''cause I am sure it''s PCX, isn''t it), and you try to display. The problem is that when you read your PCX palette data, you have a slight problem. The VGA mode only wants 262144 colours, that''s 2^(3*6), that''s to say that your R G B values are on 6 bits, not 8. So when you read your bytes, you must shift them by 2 as in R=R>>2;
Now you should see the colours you intended to see.

If you mean you can''t see the proper colours when your Windows desktop is in 8 bit mode, that''s normal too. Windows uses the palette of the running program to make the display. All othe programs are dithered and displayed using the current process'' palette. BUT Windows reserves the first 16 colours of the palette for the System colours (IIRC), which might create problems.

If that''s not it, try to be more precise in the nature of your problems.

Well, let me describe where I discovered the problem with displaying the graphics in 8-bit that I created using a 16 bit desktop, but using 8-bit color mode in PSP.

I have two programs I have been using to do the graphics. Since it is a throw back to the early 90''s PC RPG''s, I am doing it in both NeoPaint (DOS) and Paint Shop Pro (4, and 5). I made several dozen graphics in PSP. I then went to check how the graphics would, eventually, be displayed using NeoPaint. When I used 8-bit mode in NeoPaint, all the colors were slightly off and wrong from what I had created in PSP. I then decided to check to see if it was only NeoPaint. I changed my desktop to 8-bit mode, low and behold, the same problem. I have been using .bmp''s for the graphics. I then wrote up the simple program to use 8 bit colors and display a graphic. The same problem resulted.

I figured that since in the end, the game will use 8 bit mode and not 16 bit mode (I want to keep it all vintage), that this would be a problem.

Wow, I am not sure here... maybe someone else has had the experience, my previous answer was from experience.
There is one thing I could maybe think of, although it doesnt make sense... could htere be a problem of version of the BMP file format ? Did you try to use something else like PCX (it''s a pretty old format who hasnt been upgraded in a while, unlike BMP who now supports more than 8bit IIRC) to see the result ? ''cause Neopaint is a pretty old software and I dunno if they support the same BMP than PSP...

very strange indeed

good luck !

Also, you need to set up your pallete once you start your porgram

Actually, Neopaint brings up the right palette..

Another strange thing. I made several pictures in 8 bit desktop with the same palette, and in Neopaint they appeared the same way that I made them. Only problem, when I change back to 16 bit, they look messed up (similar to 256 color graphics made under 16-bit, then displaying them at 8 bit).