[RandomTiger]

Actually there could be another reason its going slow.

[RandomTiger]

Unless Im mistaken it locks a small bit of teh front buffer where the cursor is to be drawn and takes copy of it just incase it needs it.

[Bobboau]

does it ever need it

[RandomTiger]

Yep, if a message box pops up it doesnt render the background it just take renders a surface from the last time it was drawn.

Of course this means the mouse is there already in the wrong position so that area saved earlier is used to wipte over it.
This stops mouse trails.

Having a problem replicating this in DX8 because access to the front buffer is limited to one format.

Sorry this is all getting a bit cody in here. Perhaps we should continue this in the other forum.

But thats not in DX8 and its still the same speed anyway.

[Star Dragon]

How about this.  A program used to customize background intrfaces.  Have each type of back ground in FS2 that would be desireable to change er, mapped? (guessing) ie main hall. All animations will have do be done for new backgrounds (but not really needed if you know the regions). Some one makes a Hades main hall pic and puts it in a folder called Main Hall. Using a drop down menu user selects (Main hall). Box shows all photo's for main hall. Defualt selection is normal FS2 pic. Same for the others, that way if a pic just doesn't work god enough can be changed rather quickly. Also bagrounds couldbe inserted just as quickly, and need not be edited extensively (or at all) as all the buttons, masks will lie over the Image. Custom mods would benefit greatly in look/feel from something like that? How does that sound?

[EdrickV]

I'm not sure about changing hot spot coordinates, though IIRC there is a table for them, but I do know that overriding the built in (or MOD provided) interface is simply a matter of placing files with the same names in the data\interface folder. The default interface uses 1567 different files, including images and animations. And most of those files, including animations, have seperate high res versions in the high res vp. Doing a main hall "reskin" requires more work then just dropping a file into the interface folder. The anis and various other buttons used in the main hall have to match the stuff shown on the background pic. The interface also includes all the anis for command briefings, anis used on the HUD for radar/target box static (EMP nebulas) the credits images, briefing icons, not to mention all the medals. In short, making a real "total conversion" is a mamoth task. (Especially since a real TC would include all the HUD stuff too.)

[Sesquipedalian]

Indeed.  I had someone request that I do this very thing.  I looked in the folder, saw all the 1567 files, many of which were ANIs and thus containing multiple images, and promptly replied that I'd only do it if money were changing hands.

[Killfrenzy]

Originally posted by RandomTiger
Killfrenzy: Any chance of an overview of your difficults with it for the record?

Sorry I'm late - been in Yorkshire on fieldwork all weekend!

But in answer to your question, I tried (not the word 'tried') to make a mainhall screen. I followed the guide that TBP included with the first release, chose the right colour depths, did anis, AND A MASK WITH THE RIGHT RGB VALUES! And (I think) configured it correctly in the mainhall.tbl file. But it just reverted to the old filenames! AND I'D GIVEN THE NEW ONES THE SAME NAME!:mad:

[RandomTiger]

This might be relevent:

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,10712.0.html

[EdrickV]

Originally posted by Killfrenzy


Sorry I'm late - been in Yorkshire on fieldwork all weekend!

But in answer to your question, I tried (not the word 'tried') to make a mainhall screen. I followed the guide that TBP included with the first release, chose the right colour depths, did anis, AND A MASK WITH THE RIGHT RGB VALUES! And (I think) configured it correctly in the mainhall.tbl file. But it just reverted to the old filenames! AND I'D GIVEN THE NEW ONES THE SAME NAME!:mad:

Haven't seen the TBP guide, but it occurs to me that the resolution might have been the problem. There are 2 copies of each set of main hall graphics/anis, one for 640x480, and one for 1024x768. The high res ones have the same names but starting with 2_ and if you made a low res one but run in high res, that may be why you didn't see the new one.

[Killfrenzy]

I was running in low res.

And do you want to know what else was strange? When I hovered the mouse over the Ready Room, MY start mission ani played, and not 's......

[EdrickV]

Then maybe you didn't get the filenames quite right or maybe you got the filetypes and/or extention wrong. (Depending on how Windows is setup I know it's possible to make a file that looks like: image.pcx but is actually a bitmap named: image.pcx.bmp. )

[IceFire]

Thats why you turn off the bloody file type recognition.  Its like your on a Mac or something

[RandomTiger]

First thing I do after installing an OS.

[Sesquipedalian]

Damn straight.  And give me my frickin' path in the title bar!

[RandomTiger]

Not sure about that, most of my paths are too long.

[Killfrenzy]

Nah, I get my conversions right 99% of the time.