You can also read the tip below to do make PCX files smaller
This should now decode the file, wait till it is finished and then close it.
Decoding tips
When using i.mage, you'l; notice you have 2 windows, 1 zoomed in and one at 1:1, it would be handy that you use a good width to fit this, also when you have big files like trg1r.grf, you'le get enourmous files, these are un-easy to edit and not recommended.
Recommandation for this in GRFWizard:
There are boxes for alternate width and height, fill in 500 for width and 2000 for the height and you'll get them nice and small, PCX files will all be very efficient to handle...
Reccomandation for this doing manually:
The following code will do the same as above:
Find the Sprites
After the decoding process, you'll need to edit the graphics. I presume you'll be using either. The first thing you need to do is find the sprite, the PCX files are decoded in the \sprites directory. You'll see a .NFO file and one or more .PCX files which have the same name as the .GRF file you've decoded. Open the .PCX file(s) to find the sprite(s) you want to change.
Very Important: Write down the numbers off the sprites you are changing, you WILL need them later on.
This should now encode the file, wait till it is finished and close it.
Remember that this doesn't delete the .NFO or .PCX file, which you can still edit after the encoding.
Testing in TTD
You should now try to test it in TTD. Do the colors look good Is the scale alright etc, etc... If something isn't right, edit the files again (no need to decode again) and make the necessary corrections.
If you think you're creation is okay, head on to the next section...
Submitting your Creations
If it is correct, you should have a list off the sprites you changed, get them in front off you. We are now going to make a .exe file now. Please read these things carefully if you wan't to get good results...
Using GRFWizard
Start the Wizard and Click "Generate Graphics with the modified Graphics", next
Select the directory where TTD is located, next
Click the file you wan't to give the update for, next
Check the box before "Instead of search for new sprites, use these" box
Now type in the sprites you changed, always use two numbers with a - between them even if there is only one sprite in the range...
f.e: 1234-5607, 5609-5609
Type the name off the EXE in the box
Press Next and wait till the box isfinished/disapeared
Change the xxxx parts for your spritenumbers, always use two numbers with a - between them even if there is only one sprite in the range...
f.e: 1234-5607, 5609-5609
Offcourse Change grffile.grf and grffile.bak into the right values
This should now make a .exe file, wait till it is finished and close it.
Uploading the files, and getting them on my site
This is not relevent to the Tutorial, but I'll just post it here.
Follow the following steps/rules for doing this:
Make a topic in this forum containing the Graphics + Discription
Register on my site
Contact me abouit it
That was it, this is enough to get it added...
Convert it from WIN -> DOS, or vice versa
I am not going to include it here, but Marcel made a excellent guide for it here.
Message from Dinges: I hope you had much fun reading this tutorial as I had with making this for you, and I hope you could do something with it, feel free to leave a message here. Also, I wish you happy Graphics making.
SHADOW-XIII: added "How to draw TTD graphic?"
Last edited by Dinges on 06 Dec 2004 16:35, edited 31 times in total.
Dinges wrote:
Testing in TTD
You should now try to test it in TTD, do the colors look good Is the scale aalright etc. etc. When this is not okay, edit the files again (no need to decode again) to make them the way you wan't
Best is to make sure that the colours look o.k. when you only use colours which can be found in the decoded pcx - file (this is VERY important for a conversion). Copy them simply out of other sprites. There are 256 colours, and this should be enough. Other colours could have blinking dots as a result. Make a conversion of Chulios Stadium, you will see what I mean.
Dinges wrote:
Testing in TTD
You should now try to test it in TTD, do the colors look good Is the scale aalright etc. etc. When this is not okay, edit the files again (no need to decode again) to make them the way you wan't
Best is to make sure that the colours look o.k. when you only use colours which can be found in the decoded pcx - file (this is VERY important for a conversion). Copy them simply out of other sprites. There are 256 colours, and this should be enough. Other colours could have blinking dots as a result. Make a conversion of Chulios Stadium, you will see what I mean.
hmmm, I dunnow, I'm going to cover the pallete in the colors section, hope that be enough for our drawers...
And don't forget to save your hard work before you decode your grf file again, it could happen that there are some mistakes and you will overwrite your work with false sprites
Damn, why does GRFWizard HAVE TO ASSUME THAT THE GRFCODEC FILES ARE IN THE SAME FOLDER AS TTD? THIS ISN'T DOS YOU KNOW! PEOPLE DO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES AND PUT STUFF IN FOLDERS!!!!!!!!
grfdiff with -l for a single sprite works fine from version 0.9.5 and above (in "submitting... doing it manually")
It would be useful to have a list of the colours that are special, for example which ones are blinking, and which ones are company colours, and which ones are invalid to use (it think that's obvious because they're an ugly pink). I think there are also colours that work in the DOS version but not the Windows one (when converting graphics from DOS->Win), but I don't know which ones. Maybe it was Win->DOS...
Little Tip:
