[Question] Limited Color Range in Doom? XWE + SLADE stuff

[RV-007]

Did Doom ever extend beyond the 256 color range? (One of) My doom wad project provide an no. Is this true?

[esselfortium]

It did not. You can modify the color palette to include a different set of 256 colors, or you can use an OpenGL-rendered source port (like GZDoom, Doomsday Engine, or Doom 64 EX) or a true-color software rendered port (DelphiDoom being the only released one that comes to mind, though some others are in development I believe).

[Enjay]

Didn't some versions of the old DOSDoom have a true colour renderer? I have a vague recollection that they did but I could be wrong.

[RV-007]

As for Doom development tools/utilities, do they make sure that all sprites/images being imported retain their initial colors? I tried XWE and I could see a loss in some of the colors during the processing. I be damned to find out if there are tools that could retain sprites/images colors. That means I hadn't looked around for the right tools as much.

[Mikk-]

I do believe SLADE & SLumpEd preserve true colours.

[Gez]

I be damned to find out if there are tools that could retain sprites/images colors. That means I hadn't looked around for the right tools as much.

If you haven't looked for SLADE, then you haven't looked for the right tools at all.

[RV-007]

I am appalled to find applications in lump management have their own semantics in processing graphics into organized directory. When I use XWE for a wad, that wad becomes unusable in SLADE and maybe vice versa. When I use SLADE, I have to insure the coordinate corrections for intended sprite images. Somehow, I still feel that SLADE cannot attempt to bring home center for imported small image files. I also think that SLADE cannot save images into a certain graphics directory while XWE can. I think that SLADE cannot properly process the colors of .bmp image format.

Can someone help me out on how to use SLADE's image organization? What are the best tools suited for VGA display adapters (no graphics hardware)?

[Xaser]

I'm having some difficulty understanding exactly what it is you're trying to do/say here. For instance,

I am appalled to find applications in lump management have their own semantics in processing graphics into organized directory.

What do you mean by "processing graphics into organized directory?" Importing? Working with .pk3s?

When I use SLADE, I have to insure the coordinate corrections for intended sprite images. Somehow, I still feel that SLADE cannot attempt to bring home center for imported small image files.

Ditto here -- I'm not sure what you're talking about. Image offsets? Centering? Right click -> GFX -> Modify GFX Offsets.

What are the best tools suited for VGA display adapters (no graphics hardware)?

Is this relevant? Are you trying to do run SLADE on a system without a GPU? Is it giving you problems? Give us more info here.

You also appear to be making a lot of incorrect assumptions.

I also think that SLADE cannot save images into a certain graphics directory

Sure it can.

I think that SLADE cannot properly process the colors of .bmp image format.

Sure it can.

Can someone help me out on how to use SLADE's image organization?

Sure I can. But I shouldn't need to -- most of what's mentioned here should be addressable given just a few minutes of figuring out SLADE's features. I try not to play the DIY card so quickly, but the mis-assumptions above lead me to believe you simply haven't spent enough time with it yet. The transition from XWE is probably a bit rocky because it does things oddly, but SLADE is a much safer bet overall. It supports more things. Embrace it.

Finally,

When I use XWE for a wad, that wad becomes unusable in SLADE and maybe vice versa.

XWE's fault, if anything. It's been known to muck up wads on occasion.

[Nash]

Stop using XWE, problem solved!

[RV-007]

I still will consider using SLADE b/c it can retain more colors than XWE and XWE seems to fail in mass imports/exports.
The mega problem I find in SLADE is that I can't use the cyan color as the background color. Images becomes greyscale w/ the cyan background color. I wouldn't know if the background color sticks to a certain sprite or not. On the other hand, XWE identifies cyan as a background color.
What background color should I use that will render itself as friendly for both SLADE and XWE?

[wildweasel]

Cyan is not transparent. Color 247 is not transparent. Check out my tutorial for how to (properly) set transparency using IrfanView.

[Gez]

SLADE for dummies:

"Images are grayscale!"

You need to have a palette. There are two ways for that: you can choose a Base Resource Archive which contains a PLAYPAL lump, or you can use one of the built-in choices from the Palette Selector.


"I want cyan to be transparent!"

Well, cyan isn't transparent, so there. However, SLADE being the awesome program that it is, when you are converting an image, you can tell it to transform an image into full transparency.



And it's not just cyan, it can be any color! White? Magenta? Dark blue? Bright yellow? Some weird off-white? Doesn't matter! You can even click on an area of the preview source image to set the transparent color to that.


Note, by the way, the palette selector under both source and result preview windows. That lets you convert an image from a palette to another; for example from Hexen palette to Doom palette, it's possible!

You'll even get to see how much the colors are modified by the palette conversion (since two different palettes are not guaranteed to contain identical colors).

So, that's a lot of reasons to consider that SLADE 3 is beyond awesome.

[printz]

When I use XWE for a wad, that wad becomes unusable in SLADE and maybe vice versa.

XWE's fault, if anything. It's been known to muck up wads on occasion.

Note that as long as Doom recognizes the wad, any utility should be able to read it too. Don't blame just XWE for that.

[Gez]

Yeah, blame also the user.

[RV-007]

...information about cyan and transparency colors...

Is it okay to use Photoshop or MSPaint for transparency background and retaining as much color bits (for those high resolution images) as possible?

...information on greyscale and set transparency/background color...

Okay, the Base Resource Archive is for iwads and their PLAYPAL palette and COLORMAP colormap.
I guess I could just set a certain background color as the said transparent color. That's good to know.

Questions:
How come when I export images, it is only in the .lmp file format? Could I export images as .gif/.jpeg./.png/.bmp ?
What is the best palette set for maxed out high resolution images?
How will I know if a image will be used as sprites?
Can SLADE render animation gifs (not that would be useful)?
e.g.