Palette Tutorial Feeback

[Digital Brilliance Hour]

Hi guys,

So I've been attempting to make easy to digest tutorials for our class and interns who want to learn OpenBOR and software engineering. It's geared towards teens and college students, and people with no engineering experience at all.

This tutorial is about Palette File Creation, which I feel is the first thing one should know about when creating OpenBOR games, especially if you want to create your own game objects using image assets.

I tried to use tools that were open source as well:
GIMP
Fighter Factory

Would love to get your guys input on this. Is it missing anything? Keep in mind this is just the process of how to create a palette file from a spritesheet asset you want to create a game object from:

 

[DCurrent]

...

Digital Brilliance Hour

I really like your style, but I do see a couple of things. First, you say Pink is a requirement and make a pretty big deal out of it, but that's not true at all. OpenBOR doesn't give two spits what the RGB value of your transparent color is. The ONLY thing that matters is color table position. For .pcx images, the very last table entry is the transparent color. For all other formats (and you should be using .png), it's the first.

Pink is a common choice, but only for human use. It's a nice high contrast color that usually doesn't conflict with other parts of a sprite, but again the engine just doesn't care. Point of fact, some authors prefer a bright aqua blue instead.

The next thing is choice of tools. You should really look into PalApply tool. Adding this to your repertoire is life changing, lol. Even when you have access to image editors with batch automation like Photoshop, PalApply is still far and away faster (and produces more optimal files).

 

[Digital Brilliance Hour]

Damon Caskey

Definitely makes sense about the first color in the palette. I can add that part in there.

As far as PalApply, I'm using that in the next part, when it  comes to now applying that palette file to the object. Should I not do that?

I simply just made it about taking a spritesheet or image full of different sprites/.etc and making a palette file out of it.

I was going to talk about what to do with that palette file in another video(i.e. using PalApply to apply it frames that were exported with ASU and other common images to use the palette).

 

[Plombo]

I watched your video. The only big thing I'd raise is what Damon already said about how the transparent color doesn't have to be pink.

A smaller thing: I don't understand where you're going with the part where you create a .act in Fighter Factory. If you're just going to use PalApply, it can use the indexed .png you exported from GIMP as a palette. Unless you're using the .act for something else that I haven't predicted here.

An even smaller thing: if PalApply is in your next video, make sure it's PalApply v2 so that no one has to install a Java runtime here in the year 2020.

 

[Digital Brilliance Hour]

Plombo 

What's funny is I JUST realized that today about PalApply. I thought you had to use .pal files to apply to others. But I wanted to keep that .pal creation in there, just in case, because there were times that even though I had an indexed file, I still had to use PalApply to apply the .pal sometimes. So I at least wanted them to know how to create their own files, but I'll stress it's not necessary, but good to know.

PalApply V2 is out?? Awesome, I'll update our git repo with new tool!


Thanks a lot!

 

[m0nko]

Plombo 

What's funny is I JUST realized that today about PalApply. I thought you had to use .pal files to apply to others. But I wanted to keep that .pal creation in there, just in case, because there were times that even though I had an indexed file, I still had to use PalApply to apply the .pal sometimes. So I at least wanted them to know how to create their own files, but I'll stress it's not necessary, but good to know.

PalApply V2 is out?? Awesome, I'll update our git repo with new tool!


Thanks a lot!

In addition to the helpfulness of the tutorials, you have the most pleasant voice to listen to of any of the related tutorials I have listened to!

Do you know if it is possible to transfer a move and its related animation to another character? For example, if I am making a videogame that is influenced by Mortal Kombat OpenBOR, can I use Sonya's character outline and related fighting stances and normal moves but transfer Sub-Zero's freeze attack or Scorpion's teleport and its related components?

 

[Digital Brilliance Hour]

Plombo 

What's funny is I JUST realized that today about PalApply. I thought you had to use .pal files to apply to others. But I wanted to keep that .pal creation in there, just in case, because there were times that even though I had an indexed file, I still had to use PalApply to apply the .pal sometimes. So I at least wanted them to know how to create their own files, but I'll stress it's not necessary, but good to know.

PalApply V2 is out?? Awesome, I'll update our git repo with new tool!


Thanks a lot!

In addition to the helpfulness of the tutorials, you have the most pleasant voice to listen to of any of the related tutorials I have listened to!

Do you know if it is possible to transfer a move and its related animation to another character? For example, if I am making a videogame that is influenced by Mortal Kombat OpenBOR, can I use Sonya's character outline and related fighting stances and normal moves but transfer Sub-Zero's freeze attack or Scorpion's teleport and its related components?

Thanks so much! I've learned a lot from this tool actually and will be making an announcement soon on full courses I plan to upload soon.

So in this scenario, will Sonya be the one doing the freeze attack, or would she change shapes into Sub-Zero to do the freeze attack?