prob w/loading screen

hogleg · Post by **hogleg** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:17 pm

I've got everything setup correctly but when my loading screen loads it shows everything but the pic.
I resized the pic to 512 x 512 but can't seem to produce the ALPHA layer!!

I read in Scripts\loading screens de-mystified and where he says to go to the channels and select red, green, or blue.........He's using Photoshop and I get lost about right here.

Im using Paint Shop Pro 8, any help would be greatly appreciated.
I could send the pic to someone to edit but need to learn how this is done.

Thx

I found in layers where to choose red green and blue and i choose green and then selected duplicate..... still no Alpha layer!

One more thing, Im saving it as a .tga but where is the option to save as a 32 bit tga ???? Cause I think its saving it as a 24bit tga and the shader is calling for a 32bit.

panTera · Post by **panTera** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 8:29 pm

Hm, looks like you didn't really make/store an alpha masked layer.
By the way, only play with tga/alpha load screens if you actually do something with the alpha layer and want the same (white blend) effect as in the original screens. Otherwise use a jpg image and edit the shader like described in that thread.

Okay I've just installed PaintShopPro (free trial:) to see how much it differs from Photoshop. I'll post a step by step description in a moment.

panTera · Post by **panTera** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 9:45 pm

- Open your TGA screenshot (press f8 to get the Layer palette) You'll notice that it's automatically called "Raster 1". (The screenshot image is just one layer, the one you start with.)
- Go to: Image> -Split Channel> -Split to RGB (you'll get 3 seperate greyscale images)
- Pick one of those images to use and press Ctrl+A to select the whole canvas, then press Ctrl+C
- Now select your TGA screenshot again and choose Edit> -Paste> -Paste as new layer, Ctrl+L. (pic 1)
- Then, in the Layer palette make sure this new layer (Raster 2) is active and click the little mask icon (Show All) (pic 2). You can also go to: Layers> -New mask layer> -Show All.
- Arrange the layers so the coloured screenshot (Raster 1) is on top. This can be done by dragging or Layers> -Arrange> -Bring to top. (pic 3)

First save the image as PaintShopPro Image (.pspimage) to make sure all layers are saved if you want to edit it further.
Then save as TGA, you'll be prompted with the message that only one alpha will be saved in a TGA.

tltrude · Post by **tltrude** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 11:02 pm

Find another tga image in the game and copy/rename it. Then try it in your loading screen. if it works, open it in your paint program and past your image on top of it, and save.

You might try taking out the blendfunc line from the shader--if your new image has a ghost of the old image.
Also, some people use jpg images by taking out the "force32bit" line.

hogleg · Post by **hogleg** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 4:31 pm

Im just now getting back to my loadingscreen!
I'll try that Pantera, thx alot.

OK, I split the channels and select the green one cut & paste it onto my pic but when I check the pic info it still says no alpha layer and when i try to adjust layers none of the commands are highlighted....

I been messin with this for probly 8 hours, will some1 just do it for me

I'll mail it to ya.

hogleg · Post by **hogleg** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:16 pm

just pullin this back to the top

really am waiting on this screen to release my map.

tltrude · Post by **tltrude** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:34 pm

Do you have MSN messenger? My contact name is "tltrude".

panTera · Post by **panTera** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:40 pm

Hm, just forget about that 'pic info' because it won't be named alpha layer anyway. Have you followed the steps one by one and tested it again?

I really don't understand what could possibly go wrong. After pasting the new raster/layer all you need to do is click the mask icon (pic 1) rightaway and then arrange the original screenshot ontop. Then save it.
(as a test it I opened a tga with photoshop that I made in psp and the alpha was there, no doubt.)

But feel free to send me a PM and I'll give you my email.

hogleg · Post by **hogleg** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:48 pm

Thx Pantera, I allready sent it to Tom.

I don't have that much experience w/PSP or just a little dense

hogleg · Post by **hogleg** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:41 pm

Yahoooooo

Thx alot again to TLT & Pantera

panTera · Post by **panTera** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:21 pm

hehe in the end it all works out

btw, that looks like an incorrect/pointless alpha to me. The way it is now you should just use a jpg since the $whitemap isn't used (at least that's how it looks.)

Golden-Hammer · Post by **Golden-Hammer** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:28 pm

What type of image did you use?

echo_rancid · Post by **echo_rancid** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:42 am

I tryed messing with the alpha layers and .tga my first load screen and got the same exact outcome. Then all I did was made a simple 512x512 .jpg picture and it was fine.

hogleg · Post by **hogleg** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:19 pm

I'll probly use a jpg next time.
I used a .tga file.