Using 64 colours when making png maps

[kevinman44]

Well, I'm seeing if I can make PNG maps, this is how I plan on doign it, but I'm gonna need some advice for a bit of it.

a) i plan on finding pics of internet, ie maybe for a city map, so id get skyscrapers etc, or maybe a friends house lol

b) i crop and paste images of whatever buildings I want into MS paint, then replace what I dont want in the foreground with pure black. (of course it follows dimensions and all other requirements)

Now, I do not want any reductions due to having colours. This is the step that has the problem.

From then, I want reduce the quality, like having a 64-colour bitmap.

One problem: I can only save as either a 16 colour bitmap or 256. 256 is too much, and 16 is really low quality.

Is there any setting, or maybe plugin for ms paint, that would allow me to reduce it to EXACTLY 64 colours? Any free program? Is there ANY possible way?!

Thanks :D

[evilworm2]

I recommend that you use the gimp (http://www.gimp.org) to make maps. It´s as good as Photoshop, but it is free and open source.

[bonz]

If you really need more colors, you can actually use 96 or 112 colors.
The game will then automatically remove backgrounds and animations though, leaving only black background.
•A map with more than 64 colours will be displayed perfectly, with none of the glitches that occurred in earlier versions. To accomplish this, the following things are also disabled: soil texture (which appears when land is destroyed); the background layer (scrolls in parallax behind the map); background debris (gets blown by wind). The soil outline colour will be grey (in a future version, the map will be able to define it, among other things).

•A map can have up to 112 colours. If it has more than 96 colours, the background gradient will be black. Note that as before, transparent black is not counted; you may have up to 113 colours including black.

[kevinman44]

heh, i like all the effects :D

plus, im not actually drawing the map, so i wont need more

well, i downloaded gimp, and although i dont really understand how to use photoshop much, i think it will come very useful sometime. Seems like a great program, free or not.

After panickingly searching for my corel photo-paint cd key, i finally found a working setting, using palette-mode colour.

In optimized palette mode, I can choose the colours, with one MAJOR improvement. Instead of getting 64 preset colours, it chooses the ones closest to the original :D so the problem is temporarily solved.

thanks :D

[Lex]

In optimized palette mode, I can choose the colours, with one MAJOR improvement. Instead of getting 64 preset colours, it chooses the ones closest to the original :D so the problem is temporarily solved.Yes. In Photoshop, there are many different colour-reduction algorithms to choose from, depending on the type of map you're making. If you're making a map with many gradients, a dithering algorithm will probably work best. With most other things, the other algorithm (I can't think of the name at the moment, am at work, and don't want to search the 'net to check.) would look best. Photoshop is wondrous. :D

[kevinman44]

Well, Corel Photo-Paint isn't even half of of what Photoshop is. At least i understand it though :D

Now I am stuck in the development stage of the map, which can be seen in the link below:

http://www.freewebs.com/kevinman4406/

2 questions:

1) how do i add water? is there a colour i have to use to make it recognized by the in-game editor, or do i actually create an object for the water from inside the editor itself?

2) i did an outline, like you see on the official maps. Was that necessary or is the game going to add ANOTHER one on top of that LOL

FTW i do not have the game yet, which I find VERY ironic, lol. It's being shipped, but I've played worms games on PS1 and I'm familiar with editing both maps and weapons aside from that.



Thanks!

[[UFP]Ghost]

Well, Corel Photo-Paint isn't even half of of what Photoshop is. At least i understand it though :D

Now I am stuck in the development stage of the map, which can be seen in the link below:

http://www.freewebs.com/kevinman4406/

2 questions:

1) how do i add water? is there a colour i have to use to make it recognized by the in-game editor, or do i actually create an object for the water from inside the editor itself?

2) i did an outline, like you see on the official maps. Was that necessary or is the game going to add ANOTHER one on top of that LOL

FTW i do not have the game yet, which I find VERY ironic, lol. It's being shipped, but I've played worms games on PS1 and I'm familiar with editing both maps and weapons aside from that.



Thanks!
1. int he editro tot he left of the maps is a bar in which u can drag moving water up and down to simulate the level wanted for in game (i'm not very good at describing but there u go :P)

2. if u mean an indestrucatble border so that worm can't go outside, then thats an option in the editor one of the buttons on the left side.

hope that helps,
BoggyPants

[kevinman44]

1) Perfect, ty :)

2) Is that response for question#2? Or general advice? By outline I mean the grey outline going around everyhting, which makes it look liek the official maps, because all their terrain is lined with a silver-grey outline. Was I supposed to add one or does it go on automatically, making me have to strip it off :P

But, your point about the indestructable objects is a good one, because I noticed you cannot fall of the very sides of the map. I'ill have to add a border that will keep worms off the edge of the map.

[[UFP]Ghost]

1) Perfect, ty :)

2) Is that response for question#2? Or general advice? By outline I mean the grey outline going around everyhting, which makes it look liek the official maps, because all their terrain is lined with a silver-grey outline. Was I supposed to add one or does it go on automatically, making me have to strip it off :P

But, your point about the indestructable objects is a good one, because I noticed you cannot fall of the very sides of the map. I'ill have to add a border that will keep worms off the edge of the map.

2. i have no clue what ur talkin about.

3. well now u kno how to get indestructable terain / borders = options ot he left

[kevinman44]

2) sorry, here's a screenshot. Also realize that the lining is usually a white-silver but int his case its a blue-grey:
EDIT: i believe the lining int he explosion comes automatically, but i was right in creating it around the objects?

3) A MAJOR problem: notice how my map, although of course 2dish, is 3d/perspective based? ie the platforms under the buildings and how the tank is closer? Is there ANY way I can get the water not to cover the buildings/platform/tank?! Or is the map now pretty much useless :P

thanks

[bonz]

That lining you are speaking of is just how the artists of the original maps created them.
It just adds to the cartoon style.

Only the outlines in explosion holes are created during the game. These depend on which terrain style you choose. (Like cheese, pirate, medieval,...)

[[UFP]Ghost]

if u mean what i think you mean that yes that map won't work right, if u don't mean what i think u mean that it might be ok.