SLX Studio - A new SLP and DRS mod tool. - Age of Kings Heaven Forums

Topic Subject: SLX Studio - A new SLP and DRS mod tool.

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Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 08-22-18 03:14 AM CT (US)

SLX Studio
SLX Studio is a mod program containing tools for creating and editing SMX, SLP and DRS files. I created SLX Studio as a dev tool for the Expanding Fronts mod for Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds,
but it can be used in all genie engine games, such as Galactic Battlegrounds, Age of Empires, and Age of Empires II.

Download SLX Studio v1.4.1 from the Blacksmith here.

Some highlight features of SLX Studio:
- Convert SLX to SLP or SMX / Extract SLP or SMX to SLX (and batch versions of these).
- Support for both 8-bit and 32-bit SLP versions with additional support for Terrain, AoE1, AoE1DE SLP, and AoE2DE SMX formats.
- Extract or Create DRS files for each game.
- Double-click graphic image for fast anchor/hotspot positioning. Also support for importing/exporting CSV files.
- Viewable selection boxes (including rectangular shaped) or selection rings.
- Generate Data Graphics tool with tolerance bars for shadows and player colors, creates outlines, auto-crops images, and can even split shadows into it's own SLX. This tool is necessary to convert from SLX to SLP or SMX formats.
- Color Palette Editor/Viewer that supports multiple formats (Jasc .pal, Microsoft .pal, Photoshop .act, GIMP .gpl, and even rendering as .png images). I've also embedded some palettes, including some commonly used ones.
- Terrain tools. Create terrain SLPs of any size (rows and columns). Includes conversion tools to create an isometric terrain map from a texture image.
- Graphics and DRS Viewer tools.
- File Association support to directly open SLX, SLP, SMX, SMP, DRS, DDS, PAL/PALX, and other formats.
- Animated GIF tool with transparency support.
- Play animation support for SLX with speed settings.
- Zoom image support for frames.
- FX Editor tool to draw various effects on frames such as various sparks, weapon fire effects, engine fire effects, transparency, holocrons, relics, and more!
- Delta Object Positioner tool to determine various object positions for things like snow and fire on buildings. Positions can be exported as CSV files to then manually imported into AGE.
- Adjust settings to your liking in the .ini configuration file.

You can view a guide for using SLX Studio here (WIP).

Video Tutorials:
1. Creating an Aircraft SLP in beta version 0.8
2. Creating a Building SLP in beta version 0.8

You can join the Discord and keep up to date with the latest builds and discussion with this link: https://discord.gg/qEGcVzK

Also, please let me know of any bugs you encounter or requests for new features. I've already had a couple afterthoughts to include.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 03-12-2020 @ 02:55 AM).]

Author

Replies:

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-05-18 00:38 AM CT (US) 1 / 62

Hey guys. I'm hoping to make my program more useful for AoK users. One area that it is perhaps lacking in is for FX in the FX Editor. I have several included for SWGB, but only 2 specifically for AoK: a relic and a gun smoke plume.

Are there any other particle effects or some sort of overlay animation that you'd find useful?

[Edit: Updated Jar Jar w/ relic gif]

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 09-11-2018 @ 10:28 AM).]

Fedemantoni94
Squire

posted 09-10-18 00:12 AM CT (US) 2 / 62

Hi bro. I have a small problem. I want to change the loading screen of AoE 2 HD but when loading the mod file the graphic appears in black in the game. What could be the reason?

#========{O}========#
-\\ Legendary Edition //-
Total conversion coming soon
Enhanced Interface Edition
Sounds of Empires
#========{O}========#

Kor
Busschof Happertesch
(id: Derfel Cadarn)

posted 09-10-18 06:44 AM CT (US) 3 / 62

I've not tested out your new software, which sounds cool and I'll definitely give it a look! I have some notes based on what you've posted here and which may or may not be applicable - as I've not tested it I can't verify if this really is a problem or not.

Based on the preview of the relic graphic in your first reply, it looks like it could use a little fine tuning. In some of the directions the shadow underneath the relic appears in the wrong spot. It looks as if the distance between the relic and its shadow is always the same but that this might not always be correct. It might be good if this distance could be set individually for each direction.
In addition, in AoK units (as opposed to buildings) have simple black shadows - not the semi-transparent ones. So the shadow underneath the relic would have to be black rather than the transparency colour. But perhaps you've already accounted for that.

Thanks for asking the community by the way, your support is really appreciated!

Sebastien
Dark Samurai

posted 09-10-18 10:59 AM CT (US) 4 / 62

This is a very cool tool and makes organising slp's and drs files a breeze.

It's also just really great to use, especially with the click to set anchor position and the batch tools available.

I haven't opened turtle pack since using slx studio.

�Sengoku Total Conversion��The Modding Guild�
�Stormwind Studios�

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-11-18 10:03 AM CT (US) 5 / 62

@Fedemantoni94 I would need more info to say. Which ID is this and can you post the image you're replacing it with? It'd be easier to help you on Discord if you log back on there.

@Kor The relic .gif was hastily done as a gag (hence Jar Jar) and is only off because I didn't put in the effort into positioning it well. I've actually since added in a distance and height modifier in the FX Editor when drawing from the anchor point which makes relics and holograms (GB) easier and precise.

As for shadows, yes I'm aware of that. Jar Jar uses transparent shadows in GB so I just set the shadow color to match his animation. You can choose the color of the shadows for FX objects that have them. You can even make them the background color so they don't appear, as I think is actually the case with AoK. Anyway, here's a quick gif I threw together in a couple minutes which better represents how the FX Editor currently handles relics (I used black shadows in this case):

And here's a couple others gifs I have from the FX Editor for SWGB FX:

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 09-11-2018 @ 10:16 AM).]

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-12-18 05:28 AM CT (US) 6 / 62

400 frame terrain SLPs are now a thing... (or any size)

Whopping 1.10MB, though.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 09-12-2018 @ 05:30 AM).]

chiruscan
Squire

posted 09-12-18 05:33 PM CT (US) 7 / 62

Tried running this in both Windows 7 and Ubuntu wouldnt work in either one.

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-12-18 11:43 PM CT (US) 8 / 62

I wouldn't know about Ubuntu, but it should be fine in Windows 7. Are you sure Windows didn't just block it because it's an unrecognized exe?

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

chiruscan
Squire

posted 09-13-18 01:20 AM CT (US) 9 / 62

No i tried to run it as administrator and it still wouldnt run.

In ubuntu it opens up but crashes shortly after.

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-13-18 05:57 AM CT (US) 10 / 62

You can try installing Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 available at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145

If that doesn't work, you can try opening the application from within Dependency Walker and see what it says you're missing.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

todler
Squire

posted 09-24-18 11:39 AM CT (US) 11 / 62

Great work! Can explain more on the terrain tool, maybe add an example map?

[This message has been edited by todler (edited 09-24-2018 @ 11:39 AM).]

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-24-18 08:12 PM CT (US) 12 / 62

Okay, let's say you have a seamless texture image. I pulled this one off of google images to demonstrate:

Now, in SLX Studio, go to Tools > "Create Terrain Map From Texture" and select the texture image.
Keep in mind the image will be rotated clockwise. This texture is rectangular, so I'm going to make the terrain map 4x6:

So here is the resulting terrain map:

Next, you go to Tools > "Terrain Builder" and select that terrain map. It will automatically determine the amount of rows and columns.
Then you save as a Terrain SLP file. Here is a preview of frame 1 (left corner) in the Terrain Builder:

In AGE, you set the terrain to have the amount of rows (4), columns (6), and number of frames (4 x 6 = 24).

Here's another one I tested before of a square texture at 100 frames (10x10):

And here was the result in game:

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 09-24-2018 @ 08:35 PM).]

todler
Squire

posted 09-25-18 04:05 AM CT (US) 13 / 62

Thank you! Tried it with your image and it worked, last time i got an error, maybe because they weren't png but jpg.

Edit: Ok, aoe1 uses rendered elevation and the tiles are smaller than aoe2. Also we need to set the palette for the slp to aoe1.

[This message has been edited by todler (edited 09-25-2018 @ 04:18 AM).]

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-25-18 05:04 AM CT (US) 14 / 62

Hmm, I took a look at an AoE1 terrain SLP and you're right. Tiles are a little smaller; 81x41 compared to AoK's and SWGB's 97x49. I'll add an option to change that.

And yes, always make sure you use the AoE_Graphics palette for AoE1 SLPs. If you are an AoE1 modder, it would be a good idea to make a configuration file (.ini) using "Ctrl + Shift + I" and set the defaults to AoE1, such as:

SlpExportSaveIndex=3
MaskColor=255,0,247 (Or maybe 255,0,163.)
SlpMaskColor=255,0,247 (Or maybe 255,0,163.)
SlpPaletteIndex=12
PaletteIndex=12
TerrainTileSize=81x41 (I'll add this one in the next update.)

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 09-25-2018 @ 05:16 AM).]

todler
Squire

posted 09-25-18 05:26 AM CT (US) 15 / 62

Awesome! Can you also do the sloped tiles(they are taller)?

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-25-18 05:47 AM CT (US) 16 / 62

Those should be dynamically generated by the game, unless that's not how terrains work in AoE1. Are you saying there are separate SLPs for terrain elevation?

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

Jan dc
Squire
(id: Den cekke)

posted 09-25-18 06:29 AM CT (US) 17 / 62

In aoe1 they're indeed not generated.

https://gph.is/2DtCTek

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-25-18 07:37 AM CT (US) 18 / 62

Well, that's unfortunate. So are those elevation frames in the same SLP file, or a separate SLP? The SLP I have isn't like that, but it's actually pulled from AoeDE as I don't have the original game installed anymore, so it may have been altered from the original. It'd be helpful for me to have an actual AoE1 terrain SLP if someone could send one (perhaps on the Discord).

It may be beyond my skills to create a generator for those though, but maybe later if I figure it out for a future release. If those frames are in the same SLP, then in the meantime, create a terrain SLX instead of SLP in the Terrain Builder, then create the elevation frames in Photoshop and manually add the frames into the SLX, and then export the SLX to a Terrain SLP.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

todler
Squire

posted 09-25-18 09:45 AM CT (US) 19 / 62

It's in the same slp.

PhatFish
Mr. Beta

posted 09-28-18 07:07 AM CT (US) 20 / 62

Holy F this can edit 32 bit slp files? I'd love to take a peek at DE'S slps. Amazing stuff! Be sure to upload this to AoEH as well once the testing phase is done.

The Heavenly Escort � Night of the Dragon � Corlis (DE) � Dark Forest 2v2 (DE) � New Random Maps � Night Mode � Lengthen Combat Mode � The Big Hill � 512x512, 768x768, 1024x1024 map sizes � All Map Sizes � All Map Sizes (AoK) � BTI Soundtrack

chiruscan
Squire

posted 09-28-18 03:33 PM CT (US) 21 / 62

@ tevious

Can i contact you over email? Im having problems getting slx studio to work.

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 09-30-18 01:07 AM CT (US) 22 / 62

@chiruscan You seem to be missing some dependencies on your Windows 7 machine. If my previous suggestions did not work, try installing this. If that still doesn't do it for you, then I don't really know what else to tell you. I'd recommend that you join the Discord server, since there's a guy there that knows more about troubleshooting these kinds of things than I do.

@PhatFish Yes, it can edit 32-bit SLPs. AoeDE actually only uses some 32-bit SLPs. I've really only noticed cliffs and fish (for transparency) so far. Most of the SLPs are actually 8-bit. The difference being that they use about a dozen different color palettes and then an additional 9 half-palettes (127 colors) for each player color.

Here's a stable viewed from my app. It references 2 different color palettes. One of the palettes is used for all Stone and Tool age buildings, and the other is for player color blues.

And yeah, I'll be uploading it to SWGBH, AoKH, and AoEH. I'm not too familiar with where else the communities are these days for these games (I'm an oldie here from the golden days), so if people have other recommendations on where I should upload, let me know.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 09-30-2018 @ 01:14 AM).]

Soldiers_TODD
Squire

posted 10-01-18 05:28 AM CT (US) 23 / 62

I have a question for the author of this program.
Is it possible to pack with such a shadow mask?

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 10-01-18 08:50 AM CT (US) 24 / 62

That data graphic has the wrong colors and won't work. I had an issue a while back where the colors weren't forced and I see that you're on version 0.8.4.2. The current version is 0.8.5.5 and that's since been fixed. For clarification, the actual sprite can use whichever colors you want, but the data graphic MUST use these colors:

Background: Magenta (255, 0, 255)
Normal pixels: White (255, 255, 255)
Shadows: Red (255, 0, 0)
Player Color outline: Blue (0, 0, 255)
Shield outline: Yellow (255, 255, 0)

Also, shadows are only read from the data graphic image, so as long as the colors are correct, it should be fine to omit them from the actual sprite like you did there.

You can download the latest build with the same download link. I usually update once or twice a week, but the final release should be pretty soon.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 10-01-2018 @ 08:59 AM).]

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 10-05-18 04:13 PM CT (US) 25 / 62

I released SLX Studio to the blacksmith.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 10-06-2018 @ 11:25 PM).]

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 10-18-18 08:07 AM CT (US) 26 / 62

Updated SLX Studio to version 1.1! You can download it from the Blacksmith or the Discord server.

Change Log:
- Overhauled player color detection in the Data Graphics tools. Now you can choose to use a preset color array and/or up to 3 different colors to detect player colors in graphics.
- Added radius option for Omit Grays in Data Graphics tools.
- Added CSV support for custom DRS lists in the DRS Viewer. CSV files must be at the same location and named the same as the DRS file.
- Added CSV support for building DRS files. This allows you to keep resource files with alphanumeric names and assign ID numbers with a CSV file.
- Added auto-positioning when opening SLPs in the SLP or DRS Viewers.
- Terrain Builder now properly uses the selected color palette for SLPs without needing to also set the palette in SLP Color Settings.
- Added "PlayerColorSetIndex", "PlayerColorGroup", "PlayerColor2", "PlayerColor3", "GrayRadius", and renamed "PlayerColor" to "PlayerColor1" in the .ini configuration settings file.
- Fixed an issue with SLPs having partially broken lines in some rare cases.
- Other fixes and improvements.

DRS CSV files must be in this format (without brackets) with the last 2 values being optional: [ID Number], [Extension], [Custom Name], [Directory Path]
Example line: 15055, .slp, Grass 4

When building a DRS with a CSV file, it will search for the file within the CSV file's folder path unless another directory path is provided.
Example line: 15055, .slp, Grass 4, C:\Users\My Name\Documents\SLP\

----------------------------

SLX Studio (v1.1a) hotfix changes:
- Fixed an issue with AoE1 terrain elevation frames being drawn incorrectly on PCs with high DPI settings.
- Fixed shadows for AoE1 SLPs.
- Added Batch Replace SLP Colors tool to the SLP menu. Changes all instances of a color index to another index and exports all altered SLPs to a destination folder.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 10-21-2018 @ 09:26 AM).]

Bala Arizalu
Squire

posted 11-18-18 05:17 AM CT (US) 27 / 62

Finally, a new SLP reader.
Thank you Tev,

a little question, how to add new custom colour pallete (.pal)?

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 11-20-18 00:21 AM CT (US) 28 / 62

@Bala Arizalu From any of the palette combo-box lists for various tools or from the Color Palette Editor, you can load a single custom palette that you can use until you close the program. Additionally, you also have the option to replace and customize any of the embedded palettes from the .ini configuration settings. Use the "Palette#Name" and "Palette#Path=" entries to do that.

Settings > Create Configuration File to make an .ini file.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 11-20-2018 @ 02:35 AM).]

Soldiers_TODD
Squire

posted 12-04-18 07:27 AM CT (US) 29 / 62

I want to give an example of packing sprites of the game American Conquest (Cossacks). Maybe this will help you in further development.

There are two ways to pack.
The first way.
Render sprite with a green background (without smoothing).

The second method is for effects.
Sprite with shadow mask (antialiasing).

Also in this way you can pack units.

In this case, the extreme pixel of the image becomes translucent.

But, the image of the unit will be clearer if the render of the sprite with a 2-fold resolution, and during the packaging specify the scale 1/2.

Here are three ways to compare:

P.S. Sorry, I can not find on the forum [spoiler].

-------------------------------------------------
This is how the crossbowman looks in the game:
https://vk.com/video134667497_456239032

[This message has been edited by Soldiers_TODD (edited 12-04-2018 @ 07:31 AM).]

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 12-05-18 01:36 AM CT (US) 30 / 62

@Soldiers_TODD Sorry, I'm not exactly understanding what you're trying to explain to me or why you're showing me examples of how sprites work with a Cossacks game.

Regardless, if you're trying to import a unit like that into AoK as a SLP with transparent shadows, then that's possible, yes. Galactic Battlegrounds also does this for many units. You will want to have your data graphics (right image) in SLX Studio to look something like this:

(I scaled at 4x size for better visibility)

You can use whatever background and shadow colors you want, but they should be unique colors not part of the unit. Defaults are magenta for the background and red for shadows. Using the Data Graphics tool, it will generate the data graphics from your sprites, which are color coded as I stated before and are necessary to convert to SLP format. So in the pictures I showed, every pixel that is red in the data graphic (right image) will appear as a transparent shadow.

@)₪₪₪₪ ŤΣVỊỜŮS ₪₪₪₪(@
|| ��OŢỆ .◊ ŤΡМ ◊. SLX� ||
|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
@)₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪(@

[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 12-05-2018 @ 04:01 AM).]

Soldiers_TODD
Squire

posted 12-05-18 06:45 AM CT (US) 31 / 62

According to the examples given, I had two questions.
1. Does the AoE engine support translucent pixels?
To the extreme edges of the unit were translucent.

(I scaled at 5x size for better visibility)

2. Could you add an opportunity for SLX Studio to reduce the sprite when packing in SLP?
To increase clarity while reducing the sprite.
As it happens in American Conquest.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

(I scaled at 5x size for better visibility)

Sebastien
Dark Samurai

posted 12-05-18 10:08 AM CT (US) 32 / 62

1. Does the AoE engine support translucent pixels?
To the extreme edges of the unit were translucent.

No, you'll have to set the background colour to 255,0,255 (the default) and ensure all edges have no anti-aliasing, otherwise, you'll get white pixels or whatever around the outsides.

You'll also need to convert them to the AOK colour palette.

2. Could you add an opportunity for SLX Studio to reduce the sprite when packing in SLP?

Could be useful. But for now you can do this with GIMP or Photoshop or whatever?

�Sengoku Total Conversion��The Modding Guild�
�Stormwind Studios�

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 12-05-18 04:55 PM CT (US) 33 / 62

By the way, all AoK infantry units use black shadows, so if you wanted parity with other units, you may want to just go with black for shadows. Unless maybe you're planning a total conversion mod.

1. Does the AoE engine support translucent pixels?
To the extreme edges of the unit were translucent.

Only AoKHD supports (translucent) alpha values in pixels with 32-bit SLPs. However, there are no units (infantry) in the game that actually use 32-bit that I'm aware of. (I guess since player colors aren't supported with 32-bit.) AoK was originally designed with 8-bit graphics requiring the use of a 256 color palette, which does not support alpha values. As Sebastien said, you will need to remove any anti-aliasing from the sprites or you could have discolored pixels surrounding the unit when applying the color palette.

2. Could you add an opportunity for SLX Studio to reduce the sprite when packing in SLP?
To increase clarity while reducing the sprite.

There is a "Resize Image" tool, but it currently only handles 1 image at a time and doesn't do percentages yet. You might get better results just using Photoshop or something, though.

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[This message has been edited by Tevious (edited 12-05-2018 @ 06:01 PM).]

Soldiers_TODD
Squire

posted 12-06-18 06:07 AM CT (US) 34 / 62

Only AoKHD supports (translucent) alpha values in pixels with 32-bit SLPs.

What are these files? Can I view these files using SLX Studio?

(I guess since player colors aren't supported with 32-bit.) AoK was originally designed with 8-bit graphics requiring the use of a 256 color palette, which does not support alpha values.

By the way, American Conquest also has its 256 color palette. And also when packing with translucent pixels, the color of the player is lost.

Tevious
Squire
(id: The Vampire Slayer)

posted 12-06-18 11:11 PM CT (US) 35 / 62

You can view all SLP files with SLX Studio, yes. In AoK:HD, you can find many 32-bit SLPs in the game's resources/_common/slp folder. They are mostly just menus and logos.

32-bit SLPs aren't used in units that have player colors, so that's not going to be an option for you, unless you were going to make animals, plants, rocks, or something that doesn't use player colors. You will need to do some cleaning of the sprites to get rid of anti-aliasing. There are some color replace tools in SLX Studio that may help a bit with that process.

The reason player colors only work with 256 colors is because the color palette has designated indices (placement within the palette) for player colors. 16-23 is blue, 32-39 is red, and so on for each line as you can see here:

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|| �ŘĿŦŔ .◊ ŦŚŤĮ ◊. ĶǾŤ ||
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