newbie creating genesis graphics

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:10 pm

Hi all,
I am currently creating the art for a genesis game, but i never worked with it before. I have no idea of how to convert my images for the genesis (the programming team is well experienced in genesis, im the only newbie).
I've been searching around for some tutorial or something, but nothing.
I have created the graphics in photoshop, now i need to know: what do I do now? I mean, about palletes and such.

If anyone could help me by sending me some light or a website or file with some info on that, I'd appreciate it a lot!

Cheers!

Fonzie · Post by **Fonzie** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:25 pm

IMO, the best shot is probably to use the duo :
Paint shop pro 6 (not the crappy 7 8 or 9)
and Pedit (to generate megadrive palette & eventualy optimise colors)

Do your stuff under paintshoppro6, save as bmp, open pedit, load your bmp, setup your palette, save the palette, load & apply the palette to your bmp in paint shop pro 6, save the bmp again and then...

BTW, you can also load pedit's palettes in photoshop, so don't use psp6... it will be just slower

Then, to convert the .bmp to megadrive format, just use BMP2tiles (require a 16color bmp input) or Genitile (require a 16colors upgraded to 256colors bmp input).

Pedit is available at my website (genny4ever.net)
Bmp2tiles @ kaneda page
Genitile @ pascal page
Psp6 is probably available somewhere

Good luck

Fonz

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:37 pm

Thank you very much, man! I'll try now!

Post by **KanedaFr** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:48 pm

you should also check the tools named here and GOP

I'm sure you'll find what you need...

with who are you working ?

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:02 pm

Thanks, man... checking it out!
I'm working with a company here in Brazil making games that come in the mega drive memory... Until some time ago i didnt even know they still sold the MD..

im excited about creating graphics for it... its kinda nostalgic

But, strange.. when i try to open a 24x32 bmp i made in photoshop (a sprite), it doesnt show anything... the window becomes all compact, and no image is shown... any other image i try to open opens normally... :/

Post by **KanedaFr** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:06 pm

wow! is it TecToy ?

anyway, happy to see some company want to make MD games again!

too bad, Brazil isn't a country I would like to live in

Fonzie · Post by **Fonzie** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:09 pm

Don't use photoshop, it corrupt the bmp (okay okay, its false, but it still do some wierd things about the file size)

I already had some problem with that, it adds header & footer for color profile in the bmp's making them not readable by some tools.

And you must load a 16color bmp in bmp2tiles

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:27 pm

I got the Graphics Gale and i think im making some progress.. i opened my sprite made in photoshop and reduced to 16 colors... is that enough? i mean... is the sprite ready (im being incredibly naive, aint i?

)

Dude, I've been working with 3d games art for some time now and i'd never imagine that making 2d pixel art for the mega drive would be even more complicated!

Kaneda, it is a small games company (Delirus Entertainment) hired by TecToy. Apparently they are still selling and making games for the mega drive AND the master system.

Post by **KanedaFr** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:44 pm

ah ah!
yeah...I know : TecToy
it's why I asked if you work for them

are you aware of the sprite size or they didn't give you any limit ?
Sprite are block of 8x8, standard size are 32x32
you only have 4 pal on MD
use GOP to see what your colors will be on a MD (since there are less value)

....sorry to ask but did you have any docs

? (the 2nd question will be 'can you share them ?!' so be careful in the reply)

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:42 pm

How do you know TecToy? I thought it was a Brazilian company...

Im aware of the size... I was making a 24x32 sprite, now i see that for alignment reasons specific to the game ill have to make it 16x32.

Now my problem is exactly about palettes... Ok, i have 4, but what exactly does that mean? can you give me some more info on that? (everything: background, sprites...)

And, unfortunately, no, i dont have any docs. Only now i find it strange. But im only a freelancer for a company hired by tectoy, so...

TmEE co.(TM) · Post by **TmEE co.(TM)** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 6:12 pm

You have 4 palettes, 16 colors each. But there can only be 16 colors in each tile, color 0 is transparent (so actually 15). I myself draw all the graphics in Paint and TGFedit 0.2x, set up palettes with Irfanview or TGFedit, convert the GFX with my GFX converters (so its ready to put into use). Pretty primitive, eh ?

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:41 pm

I really appreciate everybody's pacience!
And i'm going to abuse it a little

Ok, Step by step:

The background. how many colors can i se in it? If i understand correctly, 256, but only 16 per tile, right? If so, whats a easy way to make sure i only have 16 colors per tile?

sprites: how many colocrs can i use on a spirte? same thing?

Thanks!

commodorejohn · Post by **commodorejohn** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:45 pm

No, 64 total, not 256. (4 palettes x 16 colors.) And yes, same deal for sprites - they can be one of the four palettes (the same four palettes as the background,) 16 colors per tile. The easiest way I can think of to make sure you have only 16 colors per tile is to use a tile editor like Tile Layer Pro (my personal favorite,) but editing larger graphics in a tile editor can get pretty tedious.

mmarcati · Post by **mmarcati** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:56 pm

Ok!
I think i get it now. I was hoping there was an easier way... Dude, art for the MD is a real bitch!

Thank you all! I'll keep struggling here..
if anybody has any info that could help me... I´ll be very happy

Fonzie · Post by **Fonzie** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:05 pm

If you are drawing several sprites that uses the same color, a good idea would be to place them on a single .bmp sheet, so you can convert them in a same bmp2tiles batch.

I don't think you'll have to use bmp2tiles, its the programmers who will do... You just have to send them the .bmp's and they'll be happy, i think