Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Some tools to solve LF2 related problems
#1
So I am pretty much posting this thread because of 1 crisis-solver I've wrote. The other 2 were just posted on the way.

So you all know this mod I am working on (namely OPAE). And you all (probably) know how much memory and time does it take for it to run. The main problem was because I had 100s of screen sized grids being loaded when you run the game, which may further result in the buffer overflowing and the appearance of the well-known, most annoying error in existence, THE KILLER "couldn't create art surface" error. The solution was to reduce the memory usage of the game, so I though about changing the color depth of the BMPS (from 24-bit colors to 256 colors. That would have reduced the quality of the sprites, but I cared having the game load successfully). Unfortunately, that didn't work at all. The only solution left was to rework the grids, having their squares exactly fit the sprites its holding, but that was very time consuming and modifying their whole .dat files' centers was required.. Imagine what working out 10 grids and reworking about 2000 x and y coordinates would be like; and that's just for one character's dat file which wasn't enough indeed...

tl;dr:

Ladies and gentle men, I present you all the A-Grid Clipper!! Just drag in your .dat file and the corresponding bitmaps mentioned at its "<bmp> part" and it will recreate your grids and place your sprites in the smallest possible grids you can make. It also changes your .dat coordinates accordingly.
1-The A-Grid Clipper:  
[Image: LNHlH09.png]
A simple test:
How to use (Click to View)
2-The A-Frame Excavator:
A very simple tool that looks for empty frames in your dat files. Very useful for characters with so many moves. Be economic ;D :
[Image: 82ku.png]
How to use (Click to View)

3-The A-Bitmap Mirrorer:
Another macros which can be said to be a simpler version of Someone else's sprite mirrorer program. Extremely simple to use.
[Image: 86ec.png]
How to use: (Click to View)
Advantages:
-Its very easy to use.
-Very portable that it can even be bundled with a mod; that is for when you don't want to mirror the sprites for the mod' size issues. The user who encounters the mirror bug can then be told to run it.
-It doesn't mirror mirrored or already mirrored Bitmaps.
-It doesn't need to read from a .dat file.

Disadvantages:
-It mirrors every Bitmap in its directory (including the faces bmps..etc).
-Its size (which kinda destroys its 2nd advantage.).


Download links:
The A-Grid Clipper:
1.0 (don't use) (Click to View)
The A-Frame Excavator: http://www.mediafire.com/?y0r70y9qov901x1
The A-Bitmap Mirrorer: http://www.mediafire.com/?kxuvb8ocnn9xfdz
[Image: signature.png]
A-Engine: A new beat em up game engine inspired by LF2. Coming soon

A-Engine Dev Blog - Update #8: Timeout

Reply
#2
i just have to ask y from the beginning u made 159x159 grids for that small sprite? 0-0
[Image: p45mycA.png]
Reply
Thanks given by:
#3
(08-21-2013, 12:50 AM)DesignHeaven Wrote:  i just have to ask y from the beginning u made 159x159 grids for that small sprite? 0-0
HAH! There was a 1200x3012 one in my sprite/sys folder (but that was manually spitted long time ago).
Well as beginners, we all do mistakes =D. Actually its because I had this base .dat which used that 800x800 grid, and I was too lazy to modify it.. I never after made any of that size though, I just showed that to show how effective the A-Grid Clipper can be ;D.
[Image: signature.png]
A-Engine: A new beat em up game engine inspired by LF2. Coming soon

A-Engine Dev Blog - Update #8: Timeout

Reply
Thanks given by: Ariel
#4
I am giving you thanks because you put effort in your program.
but whats the point of it?

Quote:The A-Grid Clipper:
just do it from start. its not much job.
Also
Quote:which used that 800x800 grid,
you mean 800x800 per one frame?

Quote:he A-Frame Excavator:
maybe one good thing is that you can see unused frames but its not realy helpful for me actualy.

Quote:3-The A-Bitmap Mirrorer:
maybe someone would like it. but I dont. sorry. Maybe others need.




Some problems are because with these mods. People overdoing everything.
They putting many characters.
too much effects.
just too much files.
and maybe when you packing everything in exe. that can cause it too.
Useful
Reply
Thanks given by:
#5
(08-21-2013, 08:29 AM)EXG9 Wrote:  I am giving you thanks because you put effort in your program.
but whats the point of it?

Quote:The A-Grid Clipper:
just do it from start. its not much job.
Well sometimes you might start a project when you don't know you're gonna have 20+ characters later in the game, ergo start caring less about having perfect dimensions of the grid for you sprites. Plus people who work on mods usually have this 1 base where they start doing their characters from (to avoid dcing the basic actions every time). Now say your game is having different sized characters when even some of these tiny characters can have a move where his size increase of there with an effect attached to his body increasing the sprite's size. Now there is where you consider deciding "I will just use only 1 base for everything".

(08-21-2013, 08:29 AM)EXG9 Wrote:  Also
Quote:which used that 800x800 grid,
you mean 800x800 per one frame?
.. 800x800 per a grid (not a square, a whole grid; a bmp).

(08-21-2013, 08:29 AM)EXG9 Wrote:  
Quote:he A-Frame Excavator:
maybe one good thing is that you can see unused frames but its not realy helpful for me actualy.
Well, "there is a time and a place for everything" ~ Professor Oak- Pokemon. It depends on what you are working on.. How many people are there do you think they are looking for that 799 frames exe because of their lack of frames? 399 frames is most likely enough, but its just that people don't use them all, simply because they are always looking for sequenced frame numbers. The other frames can be used as well, but they are just hard to find in a 2000 lined .dat. Now that's what the A-Frame Excavator is for.

(08-21-2013, 08:29 AM)EXG9 Wrote:  Some problems are because with these mods. People overdoing everything.
They putting many characters.
When you are working on a mod which represent a story (mainly an anime), you will always be asked for new characters which are there in that story/anime.

(08-21-2013, 08:29 AM)EXG9 Wrote:  too much effects.
just too much files.
and maybe when you packing everything in exe. that can cause it too.
Needed for the graphical quality. Required for characters to work. And if you were talking about the A-Bitmap mirrorer in your last point, then no. It doesn't cause any problems other than increasing the mod's overall size.


[Image: signature.png]
A-Engine: A new beat em up game engine inspired by LF2. Coming soon

A-Engine Dev Blog - Update #8: Timeout

Reply
Thanks given by:
#6
You got a problem there mate:
after Wrote:x: -5-3200
Reply
Thanks given by: Gespenst , A-Man
#7
Facepalm.. I forgot to add "-" as an exception when parsing args from a frame line. Fixed it now. Updated the first post.
[Image: signature.png]
A-Engine: A new beat em up game engine inspired by LF2. Coming soon

A-Engine Dev Blog - Update #8: Timeout

Reply
Thanks given by:
#8
the empty frame one can be useful, its annoying to do ctrl+M, random frame no. typing etc.. great job
and the gridder is the besT!!!!!!!!!!
it even fixes the dirty pixel problems if we face some and SIZE babay! its reduced! +thank man
the mirror one is useful to me, but I wanna ask, what if I already have some (quite a lot) of )mirror already? will it mirror those and make another _mirror??

btw "Well, "there is a time and a place for everything" ~ Professor Oak- Pokemon" xD LOL
Reply
Thanks given by: A-Man
#9
(08-21-2013, 10:15 AM)rhino.freak Wrote:  the empty frame one can be useful, its annoying to do ctrl+M, random frame no. typing etc.. great job
and the gridder is the besT!!!!!!!!!!
it even fixes the dirty pixel problems if we face some and SIZE babay! its reduced! +thank man
Hmph, I can't get what did you mean by "fixes the dirty pixel problems", but the A-Grid Clipper does a per pixel check on each square to find the height and the width of a sprite. So this means if it happens to meet a foreign pixel before reaching the actual top of the sprite, it will consider that as its top.

(08-21-2013, 10:15 AM)rhino.freak Wrote:  the mirror one is useful to me, but I wanna ask, what if I already have some (quite a lot) of )mirror already? will it mirror those and make another _mirror??
btw "Well, "there is a time and a place for everything" ~ Professor Oak- Pokemon" xD LOL
(08-21-2013, 10:15 AM)A-MAN Wrote:  Advantages:
-Its very easy to use.
-Very portable that it can even be bundled with a mod; that is for when you don't want to mirror the sprites for the mod' size issues. The user who encounters the mirror bug can then be told to run it.
-It doesn't mirror mirrored or already mirrored Bitmaps.
-It doesn't need to read from a .dat file.
So yes! It won't mirror the one which already has its mirror file! (and thanks for correcting the quote ;D).
[Image: signature.png]
A-Engine: A new beat em up game engine inspired by LF2. Coming soon

A-Engine Dev Blog - Update #8: Timeout

Reply
Thanks given by: Rhino.Freak
#10
ooh! thanks a lot man :)
Reply
Thanks given by:




Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)