Importantence of .jpg files
Importantence of .jpg files
I went to canada and allthe skin files where .bmp and 1 files was 3.00 M Those files take forever to DOWNLOAD! please can some1 express why people should use .jpg files here on this forum...Please give example of what I'm trying to say...I can't explain it very well but what I have stated above.
I barely understand 10% of anything you write, but in this case I think what you're looking for is something like the following. I'm no expert on the ins and outs of various file formats, but this is the general advice I'd give...
Texture advice for world owners
Don't use bitmaps for texture files when you can use more efficient file formats like jpeg. If you fill your world with big bitmap textures it'll take ages for players to download them, and put unnecessary strain on your connection (causing increased lag for players already playing).
The game supports a number of file formats:
bmp: standard bitmap files with RGB encoding are easiest to create. They let you use transparencies in a texture (using pure blue for the transparent bits). They are least efficient, however. Only use bitmap when you have to - a large bitmap file with 16 million colours can be several megabytes, and isn't suitable for a dynamic game like this (that is, one where textures are downloaded as you need them)
indexed bmp: same as bitmap but with RLE (run length encoding) compression applied - sometimes known as a compressed bitmap. These let you use transparencies but at a cost of colour detail: RLE bitmaps are 256 colours, not 16 million colours.
jpeg/jpg: also easy to create with most art programs. Jpeg is a compressed format, and it uses a 'lossy' compression. That means you lose some information when you save a graphics file as jpeg. You get 16 million colours but the compression will change the appearance of the final texture. For general gaming use that doesn't matter unless you're really picky about detail (and any good art program will let you choose between high compression and high quality, so you can play about with it anyway to get the effect you want). One important thing to remember, though, is that this change will screw up any texture transparencies you had in your original bitmap (for example) file.
tga: I don't know a great deal about tga files except they're a compressed format that uses lossless compression. In theory that means you can use texture transparencies and preserve the full detail of a texture file and reduce the file size at the same time. In practice we've had all sorts of trouble creating working tga files - you need a good understanding of how to use a proper art package like Photoshop in order to make em work. Well I can't make em work anyway :)
dds: Direct Draw Surfaces. I have no idea what these are but the game does support them, I believe.
In short: always use jpeg unless you need transparencies or the compression messes up your texture in some other way, in which case use indexed bitmap. If you need transparencies and can't live with 256 colour, try using tga. If all else fails, use full-strength bitmaps but don't be surprised if people just give up before the download's finished :)
Finally: stop using MS Paint. That isn't a proper art program... it's definitely worthwhile switching to something more powerful in order to have full control over the quality, size and format of your texture files. See the art pages http://theuniversal.net/artsection.php?page=artlinks for a list of progs you might use - some of them are free.
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Texture advice for world owners
Don't use bitmaps for texture files when you can use more efficient file formats like jpeg. If you fill your world with big bitmap textures it'll take ages for players to download them, and put unnecessary strain on your connection (causing increased lag for players already playing).
The game supports a number of file formats:
bmp: standard bitmap files with RGB encoding are easiest to create. They let you use transparencies in a texture (using pure blue for the transparent bits). They are least efficient, however. Only use bitmap when you have to - a large bitmap file with 16 million colours can be several megabytes, and isn't suitable for a dynamic game like this (that is, one where textures are downloaded as you need them)
indexed bmp: same as bitmap but with RLE (run length encoding) compression applied - sometimes known as a compressed bitmap. These let you use transparencies but at a cost of colour detail: RLE bitmaps are 256 colours, not 16 million colours.
jpeg/jpg: also easy to create with most art programs. Jpeg is a compressed format, and it uses a 'lossy' compression. That means you lose some information when you save a graphics file as jpeg. You get 16 million colours but the compression will change the appearance of the final texture. For general gaming use that doesn't matter unless you're really picky about detail (and any good art program will let you choose between high compression and high quality, so you can play about with it anyway to get the effect you want). One important thing to remember, though, is that this change will screw up any texture transparencies you had in your original bitmap (for example) file.
tga: I don't know a great deal about tga files except they're a compressed format that uses lossless compression. In theory that means you can use texture transparencies and preserve the full detail of a texture file and reduce the file size at the same time. In practice we've had all sorts of trouble creating working tga files - you need a good understanding of how to use a proper art package like Photoshop in order to make em work. Well I can't make em work anyway :)
dds: Direct Draw Surfaces. I have no idea what these are but the game does support them, I believe.
In short: always use jpeg unless you need transparencies or the compression messes up your texture in some other way, in which case use indexed bitmap. If you need transparencies and can't live with 256 colour, try using tga. If all else fails, use full-strength bitmaps but don't be surprised if people just give up before the download's finished :)
Finally: stop using MS Paint. That isn't a proper art program... it's definitely worthwhile switching to something more powerful in order to have full control over the quality, size and format of your texture files. See the art pages http://theuniversal.net/artsection.php?page=artlinks for a list of progs you might use - some of them are free.
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yea sry
canada is my planet , and most of it is bmp, il get alot of em to jpeg to see if that helps, the 3mb file was a billboard, but i think you musnt go crazy cause it takes a while to dowload, cause once you download , you usualy dont have to download much after that uunless new things are added 
Actually it's excessive on DSL too if the texture files are hosted locally on a world owner's PC: the file transfer rate is capped for various reasons, and it'd take ages to download it even you have a T1 or something. Just don't use stupidly large texture files, would be my advice... and if you absolutely must, for goodness' sake host them on a website somewhere :)
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Re: hmm
You can use a web server to host your models and textures, though the world itself stays on your PC.bijou666 wrote:hosting my planet on a website would be better than my pc?, my pc isnt that bad , and i can cut out large files
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ms paint isen't proper? pfft. you silly developers and saying some stuff isen't proper just cause its not all high tech and complex 
ms paint is perfectly fine and alot easier to learn and use then paint shop pro or any other drawing program. if you need pics converted, you can always use a free small program called XnView. it's a free graphics convertor that supports TONS of formats. hell, if i recall from when useing paint shop pro, it supports em better then psp did.
sure as hell beats buying 'proper' art programs like your paint shop pro
ms paint is perfectly fine and alot easier to learn and use then paint shop pro or any other drawing program. if you need pics converted, you can always use a free small program called XnView. it's a free graphics convertor that supports TONS of formats. hell, if i recall from when useing paint shop pro, it supports em better then psp did.
sure as hell beats buying 'proper' art programs like your paint shop pro
Last edited by zaroba on Fri Mar 03, 2006 12:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: hmm
hmm, maybe later but for now il stick to my comp, my worlds always on here, and dont you have to pay for web servs to host stuff for you?Fooli wrote:
You can use a web server to host your models and textures, though the world itself stays on your PC.
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could always get a free site somewhere.
like http://www.yahoo.com
like http://www.yahoo.com
well il see how my world goeszaroba wrote:could always get a free site somewhere.
like http://www.yahoo.com
Pff, not that argument again. It's not about using the most complex thing possible, just for the sake of it: that's why I use PSP, not Photoshop, cos PSP is so easy even I understand it (tip: stick to versions earlier than X, though).zaroba wrote:ms paint isen't proper? pfft. you silly developers and saying some stuff isen't proper just cause its not all high tech and complex
The reason MS Paint is rubbish for anything other than the simplest graphics is that it doesn't provide any tools for absolutely essential things like smoothing, shadows, burning, embossing; pattern fills, gradient fills; and about a zillion other things that you need to create images that don't look like they were made by a 4-year old. Add to that the lack of native jpeg support and - free converters or otherwise - it's about the worst possible tool you could ever hope for as far as game art is concerned.
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Magicfinger
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Yeh, hedge said it was quite interesting: it's at http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/ if anyone's interested. Meanwhile let's leave the ignorant to continue in their wilful pursuit of mediocrity :]
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yea
i was using ms paint and it was ok liked it, il try that paint.net thing see if it helps me make better stuff , but by using the paint.net are the files going to be bigger cause of the more details since to my knowlege, the more detail there is the bigger the file is and if yes then ms paint would be better due to file sizes?
, but by using the paint.net are the files going to be bigger cause of the more details since to my knowlege, the more detail there is the bigger the file is and if yes then ms paint would be better due to file sizes?