Help making overlay textures using FishMan

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

ok since DatGen is not working right now to make overlay textures. Can someone tell me how to make overlay textures using FishMan?

 

I really need to know how to do this so I can finish my steams kit. Can someone help?

 

pmiller

 

[deadwoods 542]

Have a look at the compendium (last link in my sig). There's some info on using fishman linked to in the thread.

[cerulean 15]

I really think it would be easier to work through the problems with DatGen than to use FiSHMan again...but basically it works similarly, you just have to save each zoom level as a separate file which really isnt that hard I guess. I think also that you will have to do a lot of TGI editng cuz if I remeber right it's not setup too well for the automation the way DatGen is...I really wish he would just release it...I was able to work through all the problems I had with your files, and imagine I can do so with the overlays as well...

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

Date:6/1/2004 8:47:07 PM
Author:cerulean

I really think it would be easier to work through the problems with DatGen than to use FiSHMan again...but basically it works similarly, you just have to save each zoom level as a separate file which really isnt that hard I guess. I think also that you will have to do a lot of TGI editng cuz if I remeber right it's not setup too well for the automation the way DatGen is...I really wish he would just release it...I was able to work through all the problems I had with your files, and imagine I can do so with the overlays as well...

quote>

i'll look though my files and see if he sent me something, I think he may have sent me something to test before he stoped working on it. Let me look and see what I have. I'll check the dates.

I can get it to work somewhat but not with all the files. I did what he told me to do but I may have not gotton it all right either. let me post what he told me to do and then look for an update I may have on here.

go to the select menu, and say select all
hit CTRL-X
in the layers panel
at the bottom there are lots of buttons
click the that says create a new layer
(hover over the buttons to see what they do)
press CTRL-V
in the actuall list of layers
click the eye next to the layer that says background to turn it off
when you erase
well, next
select the new layer you created
when you erase, you'll see a checkered background
the checkered part is transparent
or, black in the alpha map
erase around the river part of your image
leaving a little bit of grass around the edges
save as a new .png file
not interlaced

here is a transcript of the directions he gave me.

do you want me to e-mail you the update if I have it?

looks like he might have sent me the update on the 25 will have to check.

pmiller

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

yes I have a zip from him on the 24th . do you want me to e-mail it?

[cerulean 15]

yeah if I can get it to work, the version you're gonna email me, then we should have no problems. From what he said, it works, it's just the 0s thing that is holding it back.

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

I cant seem to e-mail it. its a 3 meg file... My virus scanner wont let it go through.

[cerulean 15]

try uncompressing and the compressing it

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

if you get it working I will post the textures in my thread. Thanks

[cerulean 15]

its not working for me. My alpha channels are not coming in right. It doesnt look like they are coming in at all.

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

o well. Looks like I try to figure out fishman

[cerulean 15]

were you able to get alpha channels that were not all white?

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

i had them all but one when he and I last tested.

[cerulean 15]

can you zip a file with an alpha channel in and attach it? or upload an alpha channel file?

 

so the alpha channels as I know them are supposed to be black and white images right?

How does the filter work that says search for alpha files?

I am just not getting any alpha channels in

Also he said you could save the pngs with alpha channels in them...how do you do that? Do you know? I know how to make an alpha channel in my image but it wont save as a png with the alpha channel in it??

[Mary Maurine Mayo 984]

the directions in one of the prev posts tells you how to make it with it in it. thats the type of file i used.

 

give me a few min packing up stuff for the flea market

 

[Tropod 144]

Texture Editing for Networks

That may, or may not, be of some help. That was written some time ago, and was done in response to editing network textures, so some parts of the explanations may/will not be applicable.

 

As for the TGI aspect of the files [where several/multiple FSH files are made], here is what I would personally do;

Let Fshman generate the Texture/FSH files you want, however many files there may be. Just make sure the Instance IDs (or the last four values of the Instance ID) is right [or what you want], & don't worry about the rest [just make sure each/any Batch has a different starting IID value].

Import them into the Reader and use the TGI Editor to change any/all files TG [& part of the IID if need be]. I find doing it this was removes a lot of headaches for this sort of thing, especially when a lot of files are involved.

 

 

deadwoods;

As for your instructions;

[the following is an extract from your Bat Lot Development thread]

Build textures in graphics program (e.g. Photoshop) at sizes 128x128, 64x64, 32x32, 16x16 and 8x8. Save as Windows bitmaps (24/32bit). Save alpha's for overlay textures as bitmaps also.

I personally don't/can't see any reason why you would make the texture(s) manually at each of the different zoom levels. I'd let FSHman handle that, you should only need to make a BMP file for 128x128.

[cerulean 15]

well i gotta go...i've tried everything I can imagine with these files but I cannot get the alpha channels to come in using datgen...I will mess around with it tonight I guess...

[6459978. 106]

I've searched everywhere on the forums, but I could not find an acceptable solution to my problem, so I've decided to resurrect this thread from the dead. My problem is this:

I'm attempting to make custom overlay textures using FiSHman, however, the FSH files I am creating do not retain the alpha map. In other words, when I try to insert a new bitmap into a new FSH file along with an alpha map, at first the alpha map and alpha blended pics show up fine, just like they should; however, when I save it as a FSH and then reopen the file, the alpha map seems to have disappeared and I am left with only the original base texture.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I've tried several different file formats for the alpha map but nothing works.

Help!

[smoncrie 43]

6459978. When you insert a new bitmap, FiSHman asks for a FSH Bitmap type. To include the alpha map you specified, you should select DXT3 Compressed, with Alpha

[6459978. 106]

Ah! How did I miss that! So simple. sigh... Thanks a million Smoncrie.