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	Re: To pick up November sometime
	Posted By: Forrest of B.org	Date: 5/7/07 11:28 p.m.
	In Response To: To pick up November sometime (Tyler) : I need to know: - If I make a map in Forge on OS9, how can I convert it so it : can play on OSX? : - How would I be able to convert all my files from OS9 to OSX? Would I even : need to? No conversion necessary. Anything that will play on OS9 will also play on OSX. What matters is what version of Aleph you're running, not what OS you're running on. Though for maximum compatibility, meaning Windows and Linux users too, you run your Map and Images file through a MacBinary program, delete the .bin from their filenames, and append the appropriate suffixes to all of the file names: Maps end in .sceA; Shapes end in .shpA; sounds end in .sndA; images end in .imgA; and music (and, if present, movie files) should end in the suffix of the appropriate filetype, e.g. .mp3, .aif, .mov, etc. You'll have to make sure to change the appropriate strings via MML to point to the new files, i.e. there's a list of filenames that Marathon/Aleph looks for when starting up, originally stored in a STR# resource; and you can change those STR# values are, and thus what names it looks, for via MML. See: http://source.bungie.org/content/engine_extentions/mml/MML.html#stringset Also, there's a comprehensive "Unimap" guide somewhere that Gregory wrote that covers this in even more detail, and with better formatting than a forum post... he can link you to it. : - How would I be able to edit the audio, shapes and images files from OSX? Hmm... Wail for sounds, probably ShapeFusion for shapes... and some resource editor or another for Images. I still do all my editing in Classic, so I'm not so sure about that. Not sure where to find such things, but FileBall would be a good starting place to look, as would source.bungie.org. : - What are the graphical limits for things such as terminal graphics, chapter : screens and the main menu in OSX and OS9? The main menu is still limted to 640x480 images, AFAIK. There's up to three splash screens, a main screen with buttons up and another with it down, and two credit screens. As for term pics and chapter screens, you're limited only by the maximum size of a resource fork... which isn't huge, though I'm not sure what it is exactly. You can use graphics of whatever quality you like, but lower-quality (e.g. 8-bit) images will be smaller and thus leave you more room for more graphics. Term picts have a maximum usable size... all of mine are 306x256 so I think it's close to that, though I don't know if that's precisely it. : - I noticed that audio doesn't play on Aleph One when you're at the main menu : or viewing a chapter screen during gameplay (or is that just my really bad : comp?). How do you make it so it does? Sounds like something peculiar to your system. Gregory can probably help you better here. : - If Aleph One runs on OSX, does it matter if you have a G4, G5 or Intel : processor? Do the audio and map files and such need to be modified : specially to run under certain processors, or does it all depend on the : version of Aleph One? OS and processor shouldn't matter, if the requisite version of Aleph One runs on it. (The exception being all that unimapping stuff for Windows and Linux users we talked about above). : - How would one go about rearranging the button locations on the main menu? You play with the interface RECTs via MML, which lets you specify the corners of the rectangles which define each button's location on the screen. You can also rearrange the in-game HUD elements this way. See here for complete details: http://source.bungie.org/content/engine_extentions/mml/MML.html#interface I can also share the Eternal MML file (or you can download Alpha 4 and take a look yourself), which has extensive modification of the HUD and main screen buttons with decent commenting, so it could help you grok what does what. : - What are the limits to the alterations can one make to the ingame computer : terminals? You can change the text strings that appear in the corners of each screen (login, page, logoff) via the first link I gave you, about changing STR#s via MML. You can also change the color of the terminals via COLOR tags within the INTERFACE tag; see the last link I just gave you. You can change the sounds it makes by editing the Sounds file. And you can, of course, change the text and graphics of a terminal to your heart's content. Apparently there's some way of making full-width term PICTS, but I don't know how to do that. Blayne? : - How would one impliment hi-res renders to replace the low-res bitmaps? Read about the TEXTURE tag here: http://source.bungie.org/content/engine_extentions/mml/MML.html#opengl : - Is there an efficient, user friendly map editor for OSX? Not yet... I think? I still work in Classic mode for Marathon stuff, so I'm not sure, but I haven't heard of one yet. : - Is there an efficient, user friendly shapes editor for OSX? There's ShapeFusion, though I don't know how good it is, as I don't use it much myself. : - Is it possible to have a network game if both linked computers have : different processors? (An Intel iMac playing a game with a G4 iMac, or a : G4 iMac playing a game with a G3 iMac, for example) Yep. So long as the versions of Aleph One are compatible, and all players have the same data files, it should work fine. : - How would one create and edit terminal text in OSX? You can always do it as God intended, via editing term scripts with their hash-tags in a plain text editor... but if you want an OSX-native WYSIWYG terminal editor, I think your best bet would be Cranberry. Cranberry also helps with MML editing somewhat, though I prefer the plain-text method using BBEdit as my text editor. : - Not really about map making or AO tech, but what would be the best way to : make hi-res textures via Photoshop? Anyone got any pointers? Useful Photoshop concepts you should know, if you don't already: Layers - allow you to build textures out of multiple layers in "3D" (kinda), rather than pushing around pixels in a single 2D space. Something like how old cartoon animation used cellophane; you paint a backdrop and then you can put whatever you want over it on a transparent layer, put more things on top of that, etc. Blending modes - make layers blend into each other. So, a radial gradiant from white to transparent, set to "color dodge" mode (and something like 50 or 75% transparency), suddenly becomes a spotlight on your texture (instead of a white blob), and your texture takes on a metallic sheen in the light. There's lots of different blending modes. Play with them, and see what they do. Groups ("clipping masks") - if you group one layer to another, the lower layer becomes a "clipping mask" for the upper one; i.e. you only see the parts of the upper one that overlap the lower one. I like to draw figures in plain old solid colors and then group fancy textures to them in order to texture those shapes. But there's lots of other uses of this. Layer masks - like clipping masks that you can paint on yourself, and permanently attached to that layer. Create a layer mask for a layer, and then paint a black line on the layer mask, and that layer will become invisible where you painted. Paint it white again and it becomes visible again. You can guess what shades of grey do. Layer effects (aka "layer styles", depending on your version) - Allow you do do all kinds of fancy things like bevels and embossing, drop shadows, inner and outer glows (which can also be shadows, depending on what blending mode and color you use), etc. Knowledge of blending modes comes in real handy here, e.g. a bevel with it's highlight using Screen mode will look plasticky or glossy, while one using Overlay will look more matte, and one using Color Dodge will look metallic. Learn these aspects of Photoshop and you can create almost anything. Witness, made from 100% pure Photoshop alone (plus two stock photos from NASA, see if you can spot them): http://www.west.net/~forrest/art/earthset.jpg That particular image uses 48 layers and a bunch of different styles and blends and masks. It's not exactly a texture... but it's a great example (IMNSHO) of what you can do with Photoshop. Aside from that, basic artistic concepts like contrast, complementary and supplementary colors, etc, will do you good; and besides that, it's all creativity. Play and see what works. So, about those nifty black player graphics... what do you say?

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Replies:

	To pick up November sometime	Tyler	5/7/07 2:33 p.m.
	Re: To pick up November sometime	Forrest of B.org	5/7/07 3:35 p.m.
	I am that guy, yes *NM*	Tyler	5/7/07 4:21 p.m.
	Re: To pick up November sometime	Forrest of B.org	5/7/07 3:40 p.m.
	Re: To pick up November sometime	treellama	5/7/07 4:47 p.m.
	Re: To pick up November sometime	ukimalefu	5/7/07 5:50 p.m.
	Re: To pick up November sometime	Forrest of B.org	5/7/07 11:28 p.m.
	Re: To pick up November sometime	treellama	5/8/07 4:48 a.m.

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