How to create hexen startup

[kaos_2211]

hi guys how are you? I would create new HEXEN STARTUP , but I don't know HOW TO CREATE
This image would converted


PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP

SORRY MY BAD ENGLISH

[Enjay]

Hexen

Hexen uses a lump called STARTUP to show a 4-bit, 16-color, 640×480 picture on the startup screen. It is stored in a custom, non-standard format: the first 48 bytes are for the 16 color palette (three bytes per color entry), followed by raw 4-bit planar graphics. The total size is therefore 153648 bytes exactly. The music lump "ORB" is played during loading.

The pixels from [64,441] to [576,464] are used to display the status bar, with hardcoded "notch" graphics. Each time one is drawn, the sound "StartupTick" is played.

The notches can be replaced by raw 4-bit bitmaps. The loading notch is 16×23 (184 bytes) and called NOTCH and the netgame waiting notch is 4×16 (32) and called NETNOTCH. They use the palette defined in STARTUP.

SLADE3 is the only image editing tool currently available that can convert pictures to these formats and create replacement graphics for them.

[wiki]Startup_lumps[/wiki]

[Gez]

Cannot convert to planar format, too many colors (33)

You need to reduce color depth a bit more. Also, in SLADE 3, start by going to Edit -> Preferences -> Graphics and make sure that "Offer additional conversion options" is checked, or the planar format will be hidden.

[kaos_2211]

This error happens to me

[Enjay]

Sorry for the bumpage, but I'm failing to get this to work.

I have extracted the original Hexen startup Image, Slade did that just fine for me. I copied the original, unaltered Hexen lump to a WAD so that I had a base to work from. Slade recognises this just fine:

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Then I import a PNG (I've tried with a few, in a few different formats, including the original Hexen PNG that Slade exported). Then I select the image and pick the convert to option. Additional options are enabled:

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That's where my first query arises. I got the impression from the Wiki article that the image contains its own palette:"the first 48 bytes are for the 16 color palette". However, whenever I pick this option, it seems to try to convert the palette to whichever game palette is loaded. Even leaving it on "Existing/Global" changes the colours in my image (and I have tried with an image already reduced to the 16 colours that I wanted - and Slade kept changing them).

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I get simlar results with various palettes and base resources selected.

Aaaanyway, I convert the image and my second query arises. The lump list in Slade still lists the graphic as a PNG. Surely it should now be saying "Planar"?

Regardless, I save and quit and try the WAD and... Hexen now doesn't show a startup picture at all.

No clues in the startup log

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Code: Select all

Log started: Wed Jul 16 20:31:40 2014

W_Init: Init WADfiles.
 adding C:/Doom/zdoom2/zdoom.pk3, 560 lumps
 adding C:/Doom/GZDoomGit/HEXEN.WAD, 4270 lumps
 adding C:/Users/Nigel/Desktop/STARTUP.WAD, 1 lumps
I_Init: Setting up machine state.
CPU Speed: 2673 MHz
CPU Vendor ID: GenuineIntel
  Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz
  Family 6, Model 26, Stepping 4
  Features: MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4.1 SSE4.2
I_InitSound: Initializing FMOD
FMOD Sound System, copyright © Firelight Technologies Pty, Ltd., 1994-2009.
Loaded FMOD version 4.26.36
V_Init: allocate screen.
S_Init: Setting up sound.
ST_Init: Init startup screen.
Checking cmd-line parameters...
S_InitData: Load sound definitions.
G_ParseMapInfo: Load map definitions.
Texman.Init: Init texture manager.
ParseTeamInfo: Load team definitions.
LoadActors: Load actor definitions.
R_Init: Init Hexen refresh subsystem.
DecalLibrary: Load decals.
M_Init: Init menus.
P_Init: Init Playloop state.
ParseSBarInfo: Loading default status bar definition.
ParseSBarInfo: Loading custom status bar definition.
D_CheckNetGame: Checking network game status.
player 1 of 1 (1 nodes)
I_InitInput
I_StartupMouse
I_StartupKeyboard
I_StartupXInput
I_StartupRawPS2
I_StartupDirectInputJoystick
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
16 bots read from bots.cfg



MAP01 - WINNOWING HALL

Line 1750's right edge is unconnected
   Split seg 929 (-1176,1312)-(-1088,1312) of sector 265 in loop 1
   Split seg 931 (-1088,1312)-(-1000,1312) of sector 265 in loop 2

I go back into Slade with the WAD loaded and when I click on the lump I get:

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So, any clues?

[edit] Just by way of an additional test, I uses Slade to flip the original lump and save it. The startup screen did not show when I ran Hexen with the WAD loaded and when I went back in to Slade, the lump was in the lumps list categorsised as "Unknown". It's worth pointing out that this is slightly different to my own failed PNG imports which, while they get the error message posted above, the lump list shows them as "Graphic(PNG)" although Slade cannot actually show the image. [/edit]

[edit2]I don't suppose that there is likely to be any support added to ZDoom for replacing these (and the Strife) startup graphics with PNGs is there? That would get around having to try and mess with these special, arcane image formats.[/edit2]

[Enjay]

Well, here's an update/improvement of sorts. If I basically go through the above procedure (import/convert) it seems as if the problem still exists. If, however, I then click the revert button, Slade doesn't revert to my original PNG, but finally lists the graphic as "Planar". What's more, it actually loads into the game and works too. The only remaining problem is that I cannot get the graphics to keep its own palette and have to go through the list of palettes until I find one quite close to my original image (the Fate palette is quite close to the one in my test image).

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So, here's the procedure that "works" for me:

Import a PNG
Go to the conversion dialogue
Pick Planar
Choose a palette that is close to the one that I want in the image (because I fail at getting Slade to use the palette in the image)
Click convert (graphic still listed as PNG)
Click Revert (graphic now listed as Planar)
Load up in game and enjoy.

So, yeah, some success (and I haven't tried those pesky spine graphics yet) but the conversion process not working quite as it should I think.

[edit] I should have said that I tested this with the 3.1.0 beta from the slade site and the DRD build. [/edit]

[mallo]

Cannot convert to planar format, too many colors (33)

That may be related to fact that it's a JPG.

[Enjay]

Frankly, I have no idea how to get the NOTCH graphics to work. I can make an image of the correct dimensions but I don't know of any way (and I can't see anything in Slade) to convert it to the correct format. Even the Planar option doesn't appear for those graphics (but it is still there for the STARTUP image).

[edit] Tried Paint Shop Pro, Gimp and XNView. None of the RAW images that I saved worked. [/edit]

[everamzah]

You have to trick SLADE into converting to planar. Do this by allowing it to fail trying, and then clicking undo and save. It's weird.

Edit: Yeah, I should have read that better. Good luck on the notches, haven't tried those yet...

[Tormentor667]

Choose a palette that is close to the one that I want in the image (because I fail at getting Slade to use the palette in the image)

Did someone get this working yet?