21 replies to this topic

[Guitar]

Ok so FMEf is now really getting to the stage where I need to make some design tools that are both functional, but also do everything the emulator can do.

Everyone I speak to has said make it close to MFME / JPeMu. So I propose to do it similar to MFME but you must add transparency to every lamp. That allows me to adjust lamp brightness to do dimmed lamping later on, you can also mix colours still if required to give a glowing effect.

Or something similar to that, however its not set in stone, so I'm throwing it open for comments and suggestions, what would you like it to do. And how do you want to interact with it.

There are restrictions but the more people who like it, the better. So, over to you.

[kriss]

Zoom fuction when lamping....in the emulator of course

[Matty.N]

ability to choose which colour we copy when we choose to copy colour (usually copies the top one of the list in mfme but not the one that i want)

[mattyballs]

ability to choose which colour we copy when we choose to copy colour (usually copies the top one of the list in mfme but not the one that i want)

ARE YOU RESPONDING TO THE RIGHT POST MATTY N !!!


(only jesting dude:kiss:..as always)....keep yer pecker up...you,ll create a monster one day

A++

[brucegeorge]

silly little things this but when you load up the lamps matrix can they be red lamps not yellow cos its hard to see them when you do the lamping i know it aint a big thing but it would help in my eyes a colour that is more strong other than thaT maybe a way to turn the sound up and down on the machine cos if your watchin a dvd and playin the machine it hard to get the sound right silly things i know lol

[Matty.N]

abiltiy to set the default file location & not where the executable is stored

(i.e you can change it to look for file on the desktop as default)

[Dr DX]

possable to add .gifs (animated side art) or linkable images to the like of FE.

Brian

[Pook]

Avoid most masking issues completely by allowing us to cut lamps out freehand, like the lasso tool in photshop.

I like the gif idea also.

[Guitar]

Avoid most masking issues completely by allowing us to cut lamps out freehand, like the lasso tool in photshop.

I like the gif idea also.

Can you elaborate on the freehand thing please. You want to cut round the lamps within the emu? That sounds increadibly complex, and probably wont result in a good image, but that might not be what you mean.

Yeah the gif Idea is good but not doable as the directx just loads over the top of it. In one of the downloadable layouts there is a small fireworks gif that i forgot to delete which was a test.

However making an animation panal that can sit beside the machines but run in directx, that is possible.

[Dr DX]

Can you elaborate on the freehand thing please. You want to cut round the lamps within the emu? That sounds increadibly complex, and probably wont result in a good image, but that might not be what you mean.

Yeah the gif Idea is good but not doable as the directx just loads over the top of it. In one of the downloadable layouts there is a small fireworks gif that i forgot to delete which was a test.

However making an animation panal that can sit beside the machines but run in directx, that is possible.

Yes that would be great but would it be possable to make the .GIF animation panel scalable so that it could be made into side art if that is possable?

[Geddy]

For me like I explained in MSN it is quite simple.

You have to try to get the tools as close as possible to mfme/jpemu. BFemu did not and that suffered because of that.
Start with a blank canvas and give the user the opportunity to pick from the tool box what they want to add, eg lamps, reels, buttons. Give each component a right click properties panel to which you can customise what the componet can do eg give the basic lamp its on off colours and lamp number.

I honestly believe the initial set of tools should be designed with making classics a priority. I think making the emulator all fancy with dimmed lamps, toned segs and alphas are not a critical first step. Get the thing working and working well so that loads of folk can pick it up out of the box and give it a go. Once folk are more comfotable with it add the various asthetic things to start making it look good.

[cardie]

cake will solve this problem

[Pook]

Can you elaborate on the freehand thing please. You want to cut round the lamps within the emu? That sounds increadibly complex, and probably wont result in a good image, but that might not be what you mean.

Yeah the gif Idea is good but not doable as the directx just loads over the top of it. In one of the downloadable layouts there is a small fireworks gif that i forgot to delete which was a test.

However making an animation panal that can sit beside the machines but run in directx, that is possible.

Thats's pretty much what I mean, MFME & JPeMu only have rectangular graphical lamps. If we could cut out the lamps manually it would avoid masking unwanted areas altogether. See attatched pics...

Attached Files

•  Clipboard01.jpg   150.83KB   38 downloads
•  Clipboard02.jpg   158.69KB   39 downloads

[Pook]

Hi mate, long time no see. Hope everything is OK

Any chance you can get to work on those WIPs on your site? A Pook DX is long overdue


FAO: Guitar How's the fix for Vista coming along, any progress?

Yeah I know, 'must, try, harder'

The Vista issue is one of the main issues, you know the era machine I do, f***ed sound makes me uninterested in about 2mins.

[Guitar]

The Vista issue is one of the main issues, you know the era machine I do, f***ed sound makes me uninterested in about 2mins.

Are you using Vista and have it working?

The sound fix is in progress, lots to do to reimplement Directsound, should be a few days work.

[Guitar]

Thats's pretty much what I mean, MFME & JPeMu only have rectangular graphical lamps. If we could cut out the lamps manually it would avoid masking unwanted areas altogether. See attatched pics...

That would be really really hard to do. And not only that would probably be very inferior to the tools in photoshop.

Also computer graphics is rendered in squares, So to render odd shapes in real time would take massive amounts of GPU power that just isnt available.

However what you could do is place the lamp square over a lamp and then draw round something, and it would create the square with the transparency automatically.

Thats about as close as I can get. And even that will probably be a struggle to get it to work well.

[Pook]

That would be really really hard to do. And not only that would probably be very inferior to the tools in photoshop.

Also computer graphics is rendered in squares, So to render odd shapes in real time would take massive amounts of GPU power that just isnt available.

However what you could do is place the lamp square over a lamp and then draw round something, and it would create the square with the transparency automatically.

Thats about as close as I can get. And even that will probably be a struggle to get it to work well.

Yeah I was just talking from an ease angle without knowing the ins and out of programming etc. If it unfeasable they it's no biggie, we've managed this far haven't we.

[gembryn]

Thats's pretty much what I mean, MFME & JPeMu only have rectangular graphical lamps. If we could cut out the lamps manually it would avoid masking unwanted areas altogether. See attatched pics...

Could you not implement png support? You'd get an alpha channel instead of the pink area, so when loaded into your editor you only see the visible part of the image that you need (so no more masking).
Further to this, you let the users continue using programs like photoshop/G.I.M.P for the majority of the designing work so should only need to offer simple placement tools for your editor.

You can also perform simple alpha blending between lamp sprite and covering image, so one sprite acting as a lamp will conrtibute brightness to any sprites covering it (as it should).

bitmask

[Guitar]

Could you not implement png support? You'd get an alpha channel instead of the pink area, so when loaded into your editor you only see the visible part of the image that you need (so no more masking).
Further to this, you let the users continue using programs like photoshop/G.I.M.P for the majority of the designing work so should only need to offer simple placement tools for your editor.

You can also perform simple alpha blending between lamp sprite and covering image, so one sprite acting as a lamp will conrtibute brightness to any sprites covering it (as it should).

bitmask

Ah, Bryn, just the man. All the alpha channel stuff is implemented already, I take it they actually work on png files then as bmp's dont seem to hold the alpha channel properly and I got nowhere.

Are you able to help out a little?