KeenGrout - A Keen Day Release
- ckguy
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KeenGrout - A Keen Day Release
In my time zone it's not Keen Day yet, but it is in some places, and I'm not 100% positive that I'll have access to the internet tomorrow, so ...
Introducing ...
K e e n G r o u t
Every time I set down to make a couple of tiles, especially for Keens 4-6, I was always set back by having to count, multiply by 16, divide by 16, and fiddle around to make sure I was creating tiles actually on 16-tile boundaries ... and most of the time I messed up the first time anyway. Making Keen 4-6 foreground tiles is even worse, with the 'masking' half of the tile image to worry about.
So a few days ago, when I realized that Keen Day was coming up and I didn't have anything for it, so I wrote a program that I had wanted for quite a while.
KeenGrout
Put this program in the same folder as your tile image(s). Run it, and press the 'En-grout' button to create a version of your tileset with the tiles delimited by grid lines every 17 pixels (so that there are 16 pixels in between in each one). In Keens 4-6, it also handles the masking plane, and makes all parts of the tile image that are 'see through' a different color. After editing the grouted version, press 'De-grout' and import with ModKeen. See the docs for more information.
Enjoy, guys! And have a great Keen Day!
Introducing ...
K e e n G r o u t
Every time I set down to make a couple of tiles, especially for Keens 4-6, I was always set back by having to count, multiply by 16, divide by 16, and fiddle around to make sure I was creating tiles actually on 16-tile boundaries ... and most of the time I messed up the first time anyway. Making Keen 4-6 foreground tiles is even worse, with the 'masking' half of the tile image to worry about.
So a few days ago, when I realized that Keen Day was coming up and I didn't have anything for it, so I wrote a program that I had wanted for quite a while.
KeenGrout
Put this program in the same folder as your tile image(s). Run it, and press the 'En-grout' button to create a version of your tileset with the tiles delimited by grid lines every 17 pixels (so that there are 16 pixels in between in each one). In Keens 4-6, it also handles the masking plane, and makes all parts of the tile image that are 'see through' a different color. After editing the grouted version, press 'De-grout' and import with ModKeen. See the docs for more information.
Enjoy, guys! And have a great Keen Day!
- Commander Spleen
- Lord of the Foobs
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Pretty much agree with everything Spleen said. (Except the part about Keen Day having been here for half an hour already.) It's a cool idea and an useful tool. Now I'd only need to do some modding to have use for it... But I'll get to that again at some point.
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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- Lord of the Shikadi
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- ckguy
- Bipship Engineer
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Not all of us are that cool, apparently.Shadow Master wrote:And I had been using The GIMP's grid option all this time (with a size of 16x16, with bright grid lines so that I couldn't miss them).
I'm willing to bet that GIMP doesn't handle the masking image thing on Keen 4-6 foreground tiles, though.
---
I've been thinking about ways to improve this program. One was to also manipulate the sprite image files, doing the same sort of thing with the masking panel. Also, I think I would make one magic, universal "SYNC" button that looks at each tile and sprite image individually and either en-grouts or de-grouts according to the timestamps on the regular and grouted versions.
Alright, chief.CK Guy wrote:Now we need to get some people who weren't betatesters into this thread.
Anyways, GIMP sucks, I'd never use it. This is much better. And to do a simple trick people aren't interested in downloading, installing, and using heavy software like GIMP...
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
- entropicdecay
- Mad Mushroom
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- jimmyjames
- Vortininja
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This is a wonderful tool! I especially like how the masking half is handled automatically. This will greatly speed up the tile editing that I am doing for my Keen 4 level pack, considering I always had trouble figuring out where one tile ends and another begins. Thanks for such a great program, CK Guy.
- ckguy
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Hi guys, long time no see!
I made a new tentative version of the program several days ago but have had no internet. Here it is: http://theckguy.googlepages.com/keengrout5.exe
The most important new feature is it does the same 'masking' thing to sprites as it does to the foreground tiles in Keens 4-6. Also, there is only one 'sync' button now, instead of en-grout and de-grout. This looks at the dates on the files and sees which one is newer in order to decide whether to en- or de-grout. (And it makes the output file have the same date as the input file.) It also now grouts/masks the 8x8 tiles and the masked bitmaps in Keens 4-6.
Let me know what you think, and what should be changed, etc., before I re-write the docs!
I made a new tentative version of the program several days ago but have had no internet. Here it is: http://theckguy.googlepages.com/keengrout5.exe
The most important new feature is it does the same 'masking' thing to sprites as it does to the foreground tiles in Keens 4-6. Also, there is only one 'sync' button now, instead of en-grout and de-grout. This looks at the dates on the files and sees which one is newer in order to decide whether to en- or de-grout. (And it makes the output file have the same date as the input file.) It also now grouts/masks the 8x8 tiles and the masked bitmaps in Keens 4-6.
Let me know what you think, and what should be changed, etc., before I re-write the docs!
Hold your gargs! This new version is too simple for me! And I can't get it working either -- it made the unmasked pictures nicely, but when I edited an unmasked sprite, it didn't get it back to game when I pressed that button. (And what if someone is using coloured masks, how will it get those back to game from unmasked pics? Or are you using other RGB values for their colours?) And yeah, it's been quiet.
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
- Malvineous
- Shikadi Webmaster
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You only gave it a day though :-P This place isn't dying, it's just slow paced, has been for years. You need to give it maybe a week before everyone has had a chance to see your post.
Also some screenshots would be nice for those of us who can't run it, and thus aren't entirely sure what it does...
Also some screenshots would be nice for those of us who can't run it, and thus aren't entirely sure what it does...
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- StupidBunny
- format c:
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This forum has always had intermittent busy and slow periods. It has never meant that the forum is dying, and probably won't continue to.
Anyway, about the program...I haven't had a chance to test it out since I don't have any fleshed-out plans for a Keen 4-6 mod, but I must say now that it's a brilliant idea. When I come around to it one day, I WILL be using it; it will make the process much more efficient.
And the sprite change is very convenient too. Usually, when editing sprites with the built-in masks and stuff, I've had to find little tricks to keep track of where the edge is.
Anyway, about the program...I haven't had a chance to test it out since I don't have any fleshed-out plans for a Keen 4-6 mod, but I must say now that it's a brilliant idea. When I come around to it one day, I WILL be using it; it will make the process much more efficient.
And the sprite change is very convenient too. Usually, when editing sprites with the built-in masks and stuff, I've had to find little tricks to keep track of where the edge is.