Lvz and Graphics problems.

[Ghetto D]

Some players have reported graphics problems with the Lvz. Such as shipsets having black boxes around them, or lvz that should be transparent having gray boxes around them and such.

 

I don't see the problem, most players have normal play. I am just curious could this be something I did wrong when I made the lvz files, or is a user-end problem.

 

any help or feedback is appreciated.

 

here is a screenshot sent from a player with the problem

 

http://starwars.sshq.net/images/screenshot4.JPG

[Hakaku]

Reminds me about LC's problem here, in which he reported the same bug before. His problem had something to do with the order his optional lvz files were placed in. However, without knowing what your .lvz files look like (code-wise) or how you added them, it's hard to be of much help.

 

Anyhow, moving to General Development for more relevancy (reason).

[Ghetto D]

Tried to change the order of the lvz. That didn't work.

 

here is the lvz code.

 

Outfile=sw_ships.lvz

 

File=ships.bm2

; Compression Info: FullSize: 415798 Compressed Size: 80213 Compression Percent: .7%

; Bytes Saved in Compression: 335,585

; File Compression Percent: .7%

 

Seems the problem only exists in Windowed mode. I dunno it that helps?

[»Purge]

this usually happens when you save the image as a JPG. did you originally have the ships in JPG then cut and paste them into one bmp (or bm2, as you have it)? if so, you should ensure that the background is in full, real black since that is what will make it transparent, so the players won't see the black spots around the ships anymore.

 

also, save it as a 16-bit BMP (you don't need to use .bm2, by the way) once you completely blackened the background. then just build the LVZ as usual.

[Bak]

first do what purge said then try using all the different color depths to see if you can get it to appear

[Samapico]

You are probably using a 256 colors (8bits) color depth in Continuum. So if your background isn't totally black (0,0,1 for example) it won't be noticed by you because the color will be "rounded" to full-black. But alot of people use 16bits so it won't be fully black for them, therefore not transparent.

[grazzhoppa]

You are probably using a 256 colors (8bits) color depth in Continuum. So if your background isn't totally black (0,0,1 for example) it won't be noticed by you because the color will be "rounded" to full-black. But alot of people use 16bits so it won't be fully black for them, therefore not transparent.

I second this diagnosis, if your source images were JPG. I see that the file in your lvz is .bmp but have you altered a image that was originally a .JPG and resaved it as .BMP?

 

I suspect exactly what Samapico said - the "black" around the ships might have been turned into a very dark color that is not computer-precise black, RGB (0,0,0), which is what Continuum turns into transparency.

 

Figure out if your image's black pixels are in fact RGB(0,0,0). If so then

Try obtaining your source images as a one of these image types: .PNG, .BMP, .GIF,
or
Open the BMP and manually place RGB(0,0,0) pixels where black is supposed to be.

Working with JPG risks altering all colors in the image in the name of saving disk space. JPG is nice because it alters the colors in a way that's practically imperceptible to people, but the color as the computer sees it can be different from the original image source.

Edited December 3, 2007 by grazzhoppa

[ThunderJam]

Changing the extension should not have to be the only answer. As others said, continuum interprets pure black(0,0,0 red/green/blue values) as transparent. So all the repel, ships, and w/e images have black backgrounds so they are transpartent in game. If they see black around something it is cuz the background in ur image is not 0,0,0 black, its a slightly lighter color, a very very very dark gray. In most graphic programs you should be able to select all of that color in the image, and then change it to a true black. The extension just rounds the colors a lil in different directions, so make sure after you save it however you want, that the background is 0,0,0 and if not, make it that. The reason some ppl may see it and other don't depends on whether their playing with 8,16,or 32bit color. Thats becuz the depth they are viewing in is different then your images color depth, and again it has to round it.

[Ghetto D]

Thanks for the help guys, I will take a look and see if I can fix them. I actually downloaded the shipset from SSdownloads, I didn't make them, but I will open photoshop and see what I can find.

 

They are perfectly transparent in Full screen mode, its in Windowed mode that people are having the problem, I went to windowed mode myself and sure enough.

 

Shouldn't they be the same transparent in both modes?

[»Purge]

yes they should unless the resolution is causing the problem. does the problem still occur after changing resolutions, too?

[Samapico]

Thanks for the help guys, I will take a look and see if I can fix them. I actually downloaded the shipset from SSdownloads, I didn't make them, but I will open photoshop and see what I can find.

 

They are perfectly transparent in Full screen mode, its in Windowed mode that people are having the problem, I went to windowed mode myself and sure enough.

 

Shouldn't they be the same transparent in both modes?

In windowed mode, Continuum will most likely use 16bit/32bit colors (same as your desktop)

 

Go in your display options, change the color depth to more than 8bits, and try it in full screen again, I'm convinced the "black" parts won't be totally black.

 

You can upload one of the bitmaps here, we'll tell you right away what the problem is