Gimp and BMP Masks

[XB7]

I can't seem to make a compatible BMP Mask that Transcendence will except. I get an error saying that Transcendence can't read the bmp mask file. I've saved the mask in grayscale as well as 1 bit black & white index. No joy.

Is there a limit to the file size or anything else I should be aware of?

[digdug]

BMP must be 1bit or 8bit. I personally save in RGB Windows BMP and never gave me troubles.

Did you double check if you placed the files in the right folder and you used the correct path ?
Example:

Code: Select all

<Image UNID="&rsbigexplosions;"	bitmap="WE/bigexplosions.bmp"		bitmask="WE/bigexplosionsmask.bmp"/>

Transcendence accepts backward or forward slashes for subdirectories, I use forward ones as I've been told it keeps the compatibility with Linux version. (or was it with Wine ?)

[XB7]

Yeah, I'm in Wine on a Mac. I've tried saving the mask in a 1 bit b/w bmp - no dice. My directory info is correct as I'm not getting a load error for the JPG, unless the mask loads first?

<Image UNID="&OStarNebula;" bitmap="resources/OStarNebula01.jpg" bitmask="resources/magnitude10.bmp"/>

Both the files are 2048 x 2048, I wonder if that is the issue?

[XB7]

Solved...

When exporting to a BMP in Gimp 2.8, under the Compatibility Options you have to select "Do not write color space information".

[RPC]

This information is important o.O
I'll add it to the wiki somewhere...

[Vachtra]

I get this problem when using images sometimes in AutoCAD. I'm not sure exactly what happens but I always run images through whatever windows image editor is on the system like windows photo viewer or paint. This seems to fix problems with an image that has been through Gimp or Irfanview.
Running a windows program on a mac for graphics sounds like your first problem, that just seems wrong. Although I doubt you will get a consistant issue with it, I'm not suprised you did.
My guess is there is something a little different with these programs that makes a mostly working image but not quite whole.

[george moromisato]

Solved...

When exporting to a BMP in Gimp 2.8, under the Compatibility Options you have to select "Do not write color space information".

If someone can attach one an incompatible bitmap to a ticket in Trac, I can take a look...

[KaoS]

I don't really keep up with all the goings on around here. You guys tend to fix problems before I even have time to report them. That said, I'm interested in this masking issue. From the beginning of my modding trials, (back in 98b) I've always used GIMP. The post about it being windows ware doesn't quite fly with me because it's available for many platforms. However, the notion that it might do things in a non-windows-standard way does. Maybe I'm just already used to some of it's quirks when outputting the desired format, but I'd like to know what exactly the engine is looking for in terms of the formatting of the jpg and the bmp mask so if I'm having an off day, I have another point of reference to help me remember to make sure I save in a particular format.

Thanks

edit: I just realized my modding pretty much sticks to graphics that're already in the game. I seem to remember having to create a mask to go with the shield graphics, but this is no longer an issue. I can remember having to fiddle with something or other, but GIMP _and_ the game have changed since then, so I'm still at a loss to figure what's going on. I would suggest looking closely at the properties of the graphics in the source as this is what I did when I had those issues before.