Unit32 and palette

[Steph]

Then I will finish copy & pasting every unit32 from Sandris in a true colour image, reduce the colour, then edit the palette to be sure the indexes for civ colour are not used. I thing I should get almost all the colour this way.

Apparently, there's a difference from regular units: there is no shadow nor smoke?

BTW, does anyone as at least the slightest idea why the hell they used this strange distribution of civ colours?

 

[Vuldacon]

BTW, does anyone as at least the slightest idea why the hell they used this strange distribution of civ colours?

Steph... We can only guess but the Pattern of the Colors that do Change for each Civ is an indicator. The other Colors within the Civ Specific Color area on the palette basically remain the same. See the Blocked Out Civ Colors where I used Green to Block them out, Post #10. Those are the Only Colors that Really Change withing the Civ Specific Colors Area on the Palette.

 

[Steph]

I know, but why did they use only one colour every two colours for row 2-4 instead of for instance making two full rows of civ colours??

 

[Vuldacon]

I know, but why did they use only one colour every two colours for row 2-4 instead of for instance making two full rows of civ colours??

No doubt it is their method of programing the palette for use. Perhaps the method they used was a simple method for whom ever programed it

 

[Steph]

That would imply that
1- they had programmers,
2- they followed some kind of method.

 

[Steph]

What is the best way to reduce the colours to let say 200 with PSP?

If I just use "reduce color depth / X colours", I end with a very large number of magenta / pink shades, but I have very few green.

 

[Vuldacon]

Steph... First you have to remove all of the Magenta and any other Colors not wanted such as Purples and Dark Reds. Use the Color Replacement Tool and change the Colors you do not want to Black.
Then Reduce.
I first Reduce to 256 colors so I can see any other Magenta Colors I missed. After selecting a color I do not want, I then use the Back Arrow to go back to 16 million colors and using the Color Replacer Tool, I remove that color by replacing it with Black. I Reduce again to 256 colors and repeat this process until I have a 256 Color Palette with Only the Good Colors I want on it. Then I Reduce to x Colors as desired.

This provides the Best Representation of all Colors wanted in the unit no matter what number of colors can be used in a Finished 256 Color Palette.

Edit: The Reason for this procedure when Reducing Colors is to prevent the omission of Good Unit Colors that would be replaced with Magenta, Purple and Red Shades because there are so many of them. By Going back to 16 Million Colors after reducing to 256 and selecting a color on the palette that I do NOT want... that allows me to return to the Storyboard before I Reduced it so I can Remove the Unwanted Colors Before reducing again.
Hope this Makes Sense

Steph... Here is an Old Farm Truck I am working on for the Farmers in EFZI2 Complete. In the Zip. #1 Image is as Rendered, #2 Image is Reduced to 256 Colors and shows all of the Unwanted Magenta and Purple Colors. #3 was Reduced to 256 colors After Removing the Unwanted Colors.
You can see that #3 could now be reduced to 200 or 160, etc... colors and at least keep the most important Representation of the Unit Colors.

 

[Steph]

I did what you suggest, I didn't realize there were so many non standard magenta in the background of the unit32 provided by the artists

 

[Vuldacon]

Steph... Well it is a lack of understanding palettes and methods for dealing correctly with them.
Other than that, by the time artists learn what is necessary to make a unit, they don't bother with the many other factors Related to specific Game files.

When Reducing Colors, it is also a Judgement decision many times because of the colors that tend to not look good in the Civ Game such as the Dark Reds, Purples and Ranges of Magenta colors. That and the limitation of colors for the units.

General Guide lines are good to start with but a real understanding of all of the factors involved for what we are doing is most helpful because there is no Panacea method that will cover all situations.

 

[Plotinus]

I find the unit_32.pcx to be the single most annoying and time-consuming part of making a unit. It's not simply a matter of getting the colours right, it's also a matter of manually editing the image to make sure it looks good at that scale. Usually, simply shrinking down the animation frame to the correct size doesn't look very good, and it requires a lot of tweaking. Plus you have to remove the shadow. Unfortunately it has to be done. A unit without a proper unit_32.pcx just isn't complete!

 

[Vuldacon]

I did what you suggest, I didn't realize there were so many non standard magenta in the background of the unit32 provided by the artists

Steph... Yes indeed. That is due to Rendering with Anti-Aliasing and having16 Million Colors. There is a Plethora of Magenta and Purple Shades in the Rendered Images.

This is why we need to First Remove them BEFORE Reducing colors to make a Unit Palette.

Plotinus... There are methods that Help accomplish making units_32.pcx images easier.
One thing that helps is to Reduce the Size of the Image on the Screen First so it is exactly the same size as a Finished units_32 Image ( 32 x 32 ).

You can Use a 128 x 128 Civilopedia Image for example. Open it in PSP and using the Zoom, Reduce the magnification to 25%. The Image as seen on the Screen will be exactly 32 x 32 size so you can press Print Screen to take a Screen Shot then Ctrl+V to paste the Screen. You then Magnify the Image so you can see exactly the small image on it and use the Square Selection Tool to Select the Image, Copy it Ctrl+C, then Paste it Ctrl+V. You then have a 32 x 32 image.

You can adjust the small image using Sharpen and or Brightness and Contrast.
This helps make the Small Civilopedia Images easier as well.

I generally first make the Large and Small Civilopedia Images so it is simple to use the Small Image to make the units_32.pcx from it.


I do agree that some units_32 images can be a chore and do require time to make look Good but generally it only takes a few minutes to make Good units_32 images

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

The method to my madness for creating units_32.pcx images is to start with one of the frames from one of the unit storyboards (since its already at or close to the scale I need), delete the shadows, crop and shrink... I then load one of my apropriate units_32.pal files (note: I use the default conquests units_32.pcx pallette for all my units), then clean it up as needed.... Only takes me about 20 minutes from start to finish.

 

[tom2050]

Yes, I do similar with mine. I will say one thing, having a program that allows more robust capabilities of palette modification can make things 1000% easier not only with units_32 palettes, but with all palettes. Using GIMP is a nightmare for me when it comes to palettes. Whereas PS is crazy easy, and PSP, IIRC, is also not too bad.

And I use TileSetPal to combine and merge palettes, or add colors to pre-existing palettes.

It would be nice if there was a shareware/freeware program around that had good palette creation capabilities; but I have yet to find one.

Using PS, a Unit32 file can be made in 5-10 minutes or so. I usually use a screenshot of a unit in Flicster set to Civ Color 1 (for red). Applying the default units_32 palette pretty much works itself out by itself (there are only a few non-civ red colors that may need to be adjusted).

I wasn't able to find any palette plug-in's for GIMP to make things easier.. this is something GIMP could really use.

Steph; If you have all Sandris units on a unit-32 file, I could do them for you to save you some time; unless you want to mess with it. Perhaps they could be uploaded somewhere to make it easier for others. Whatever happened to Sandris? I haven't seen him around lately...

 

[Steph]

I have exchanged some emails with him, he has some RL life issues (not him direclty, in his familly), so he has little free time.

 

[BadKharma]

I have exchanged some emails with him, he has some RL life issues (not him direclty, in his familly), so he has little free time.

That is sad to hear, I hope everything works out for him.