Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 4, 2014 4:43:46 GMT -8
Hey all. I've manually converted the 72 Grunt palette files in the Gruntz/Gruntz Demo REZ archives to fit the specifications of the Microsoft Palette file format. The conversion process was simple. Using a hex editor, I added 1 byte of padding every 3 bytes from the beginning of the file, then I added the following header: 524946461004000050414C20646174610404000000030001(RIFF____PAL data________) Microsoft Palette files are supported by Adobe Photoshop and Gimp. Friedslick6 - Converted Palette Files
I'll be using these converted palette files to make copies of the Grunt sprites from the Gruntz/Gruntz Demo REZ archives in every colour.  |
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 4, 2014 7:58:13 GMT -8
Hey all. I've manually converted the 72 Grunt palette files in the Gruntz/Gruntz Demo REZ archives to fit the specifications of the Microsoft Palette file format. The conversion process was simple. Using a hex editor, I added 1 byte of padding every 3 bytes from the beginning of the file, then I added the following header: 524946461004000050414C20646174610404000000030001(RIFF____PAL data________) Microsoft Palette files are supported by Adobe Photoshop and Gimp. Friedslick6 - Converted Palette Files
I'll be using these converted palette files to make copies of the Grunt sprites from the Gruntz/Gruntz Demo REZ archives in every colour. Gruntz images are Green, and (somehow) dynamically altered to the other colors present in a puzzle. Consequently, I have not been able to create images that take up a minimum of horizontal space without a lot of work! I would like to have a solver's Gauntletz  Grunt positioned like the enemy Grunt  , for example. If you have the means (and the time) to see what I provided in Gruntz examples, and provide images facing south of all the legal color/tool combinations, that would be great! |
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 5, 2014 1:52:12 GMT -8
It will be easy enough to do.
I'll save all Grunt sprites as non-transparent GIF images using the default "TOOL" or "TOY" palettes, make copies of the IMAGEZ folder for each palette, and then apply each palette to the sprites in each respective folder through Adobe Photoshop's batch editing feature. Then I'll upload all the sprites to Google Drive and you can pick what you want out of there.
My ultimate intention is to create GIF animations out of each sprite, according to the ANI files in the REZ archive.
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 5, 2014 8:54:37 GMT -8
It will be easy enough to do. I'll save all Grunt sprites as non-transparent GIF images using the default "TOOL" or "TOY" palettes, make copies of the IMAGEZ folder for each palette, and then apply each palette to the sprites in each respective folder through Adobe Photoshop's batch editing feature. Then I'll upload all the sprites to Google Drive and you can pick what you want out of there. My ultimate intention is to create GIF animations out of each sprite, according to the ANI files in the REZ archive. I use GIFAnimator to modify existing animations, and to put together those animations that I have created ... the hard way ... by multiple screen grabs and then placing them into (what I believe is) the correct sequence. Then the REZExtractor came along, and did most of the work ... breaking the animations into frames ... which was great, as long as it was Green.  Occasionally I would go back and work on an animation that didn't look quite right, using the extracted frames for the re-do. My Avatar is one of those that I would like to expand to a full animation, from a single frame. But I still have plenty of more critical "fix-it" projects for this Forum that will keep me busy for another dozen or so days. I still have most of "The Miniature Masterz" and all of "Gruntz In Space" to fix broken links, and the work is so frustrating that I seldom get more than two or three Custom Levelz done in a day ... I have to break off and do something else, to keep my sanity. |
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 5, 2014 18:46:01 GMT -8
I use GIFAnimator to modify existing animations, and to put together those animations that I have created ... the hard way ... by multiple screen grabs and then placing them into (what I believe is) the correct sequence. I appreciate your dedication. Fixing the links, huh? If it's a matter of find-replacing two strings, Notepad++ allows you to find-replace a string with another string in a whole folder of files, including/excluding subfolders. |
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 5, 2014 19:37:11 GMT -8
I use GIFAnimator to modify existing animations, and to put together those animations that I have created ... the hard way ... by multiple screen grabs and then placing them into (what I believe is) the correct sequence. I appreciate your dedication. Fixing the links, huh? If it's a matter of find-replacing two strings, Notepad++ allows you to find-replace a string with another string in a whole folder of files, including/excluding subfolders. The problem is, the broken links are on this Forum, and on the web host, not on my hard drive. So I have to go into edit mode on each thread here, copy it into NotePad, make the fixes (which includes translation from UBBC into pseudo HTML) and copy back into the thread. The 'up side' to this (if there can truly be anything positive about it) is that I am storing every single announcement onto my hard drive in the associated folder ... so I can use the global replace in the future. But for now, it is still pure 'Grunt' work. |
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Post by SwordGrunt on Feb 7, 2014 18:26:46 GMT -8
I appreciate your dedication. Fixing the links, huh? If it's a matter of find-replacing two strings, Notepad++ allows you to find-replace a string with another string in a whole folder of files, including/excluding subfolders. The problem is, the broken links are on this Forum, and on the web host, not on my hard drive. So I have to go into edit mode on each thread here, copy it into NotePad, make the fixes (which includes translation from UBBC into pseudo HTML) and copy back into the thread. The 'up side' to this (if there can truly be anything positive about it) is that I am storing every single announcement onto my hard drive in the associated folder ... so I can use the global replace in the future. But for now, it is still pure 'Grunt' work. Hm, it's a shame you can't truly edit the entire HTML on the forum... from what I've seen you can edit HTML on specific sections and such but you can't just take all of it at once, which would be handy with that 'find and replace' thing... |
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 16, 2014 4:37:04 GMT -8
I've finished applying each palette to a separate copy of the GRUNTZ\IMAGEZ folder, with new directories for correct allocation. Spritez that were incompatible with any palette were excluded. The total size is ~353.62 MB at 17 TOOL and TOY palettes, with ~19.66 MB per TOOL palette and ~1.15 MB per TOY palette. How should I organise the upload? - 1 archive containing 34 folders, for each palette.
- 2 archives containing 17 folders each, for each *TOOL and *TOY palette.
- 17 archives containing 2 folders each, for each *TOOL and *TOY palette.
- 34 archives containing 1 folder each, for each palette.
The next step in my archival plan is to figure out the ANI file format, and then convert the ANI files to GIF frame instructions. I also noticed some unused sprite assets while I was performing the batch editing process, which I intend to document on The Cutting Room Floor along with some other unused assets. |
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 16, 2014 9:28:20 GMT -8
I've finished applying each palette to a separate copy of the GRUNTZ\IMAGEZ folder, with new directories for correct association. Spritez that were incompatible with any palette were excluded. The total size is ~353.62 MB at 17 TOOL and TOY palettes, with ~19.66 MB per TOOL palette and ~1.15 MB per TOY palette. How should I organise the upload? - 1 archive containing 34 folders, for each palette.
- 2 archives containing 17 folders each, for each *TOOL and *TOY palette.
- 17 archives containing 2 folders each, for each *TOOL and *TOY palette.
- 34 archives containing 1 folder each, for each palette.
The next step in my archival plan is to figure out the ANI file format, and then convert the ANI files to GIF frame instructions. I also noticed some unused sprite assets while I was performing the batch editing process, which I intend to document on The Cutting Room Floor along with some other unused assets. Simply for (my) ease of use (and for download sizes) I would say 34 archives, named as the source material was named. There really is no good naming possible for individual frames in an animation, so "Frame01" ... "Framenn" is just as good as any. Is 'The Cutting Room Floor' a collaboration? |
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 17, 2014 3:53:55 GMT -8
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 17, 2014 7:04:22 GMT -8
Actually, your naming convention is perfect! That provides all of the information necessary to properly group them on the upcoming GruntzExtraz DVD. Most people are not comfortable with downloading, due to the time involved, and the individualization makes it easy to do them one at a time, when not otherwise busy at something.
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 17, 2014 14:45:43 GMT -8
I just tried to download the Orange Tools file, and received an error 503 ... you do not have access to this site. (Google apparently doesn't like me.  ) |
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Post by Blaze The Movie Fan on Feb 17, 2014 14:58:04 GMT -8
I just tried to download the Orange Tools file, and received an error 503 ... you do not have access to this site. (Google apparently doesn't like me. ) You're not alone, it's not working for me either. |
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 17, 2014 17:25:15 GMT -8
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 17, 2014 19:56:17 GMT -8
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 17, 2014 22:14:00 GMT -8
Ah, I see. Error 403 is very different. I have attempted to fix the issue, so please try again.
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GooRoo
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 18, 2014 9:50:36 GMT -8
Ah, I see. Error 403 is very different. I have attempted to fix the issue, so please try again. I successfully downloaded the Orange Toolz (22MB) file, and will work on it later today. Then get started on the other 33 filez! |
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Post by GooRoo on Feb 18, 2014 11:53:49 GMT -8
I wanted to extract just BombGrunt/Death as a test, but MegaZIPper extracted the entire archive instead. I have not done any archiving since I gave up my Amiga computer, so am not experienced with the Intel archivers at all ... and it obviously shows.  But when I looked at the intended example, the part that should be transparent was filled with ff0084 colored pixels ... not very pleasing to the eye. (At least, MegaZIPper did not try to stuff all of those GIFs named FRAME### into the same folder(!) ... which would have been disastrous.) I would have preferred to see the destination address (folder tree) in the primary column, then the filename, but could not move the headings and their associated column entries around. I suppose that AdvancedGIFAnimator will be able to display the full animation with true transparent background, but it only provides a single value (as, the 255) as 'transparent', so the 84 in the blue position may be a problem. I will create a single animated solver's Bomb Grunt death as a test ... and edit it into this post, to show the result.  Obviously, not usable with that non-transparent background.  |
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Post by Blaze The Movie Fan on Feb 18, 2014 16:53:03 GMT -8
I wanted to extract just BombGrunt/Death as a test, but MegaZIPper extracted the entire archive instead. I have not done any archiving since I gave up my Amiga computer, so am not experienced with the Intel archivers at all ... and it obviously shows. But when I looked at the intended example, the part that should be transparent was filled with ff0084 colored pixels ... not very pleasing to the eye. (At least, MegaZIPper did not try to stuff all of those GIFs named FRAME### into the same folder(!) ... which would have been disastrous.) I would have preferred to see the destination address (folder tree) in the primary column, then the filename, but could not move the headings and their associated column entries around. I suppose that AdvancedGIFAnimator will be able to display the full animation with true transparent background, but it only provides a single value (as, the 255) as 'transparent', so the 84 in the blue position may be a problem. I will create a single animated solver's Bomb Grunt death as a test ... and edit it into this post, to show the result. Obviously, not usable with that non-transparent background. Well, I can easily use Paint.NET to make the backgorund transparent. But that only works for pics that aren't animated, I have no idea how to do it with non-animated images. |
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Friedslick6
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Post by Friedslick6 on Feb 18, 2014 18:23:12 GMT -8
I wanted to extract just BombGrunt/Death as a test, but MegaZIPper extracted the entire archive instead. I have not done any archiving since I gave up my Amiga computer, so am not experienced with the Intel archivers at all ... and it obviously shows. But when I looked at the intended example, the part that should be transparent was filled with ff0084 colored pixels ... not very pleasing to the eye. (At least, MegaZIPper did not try to stuff all of those GIFs named FRAME### into the same folder(!) ... which would have been disastrous.) I would have preferred to see the destination address (folder tree) in the primary column, then the filename, but could not move the headings and their associated column entries around. I suppose that AdvancedGIFAnimator will be able to display the full animation with true transparent background, but it only provides a single value (as, the 255) as 'transparent', so the 84 in the blue position may be a problem. I will create a single animated solver's Bomb Grunt death as a test ... and edit it into this post, to show the result. Obviously, not usable with that non-transparent background. The background is non-transparent to match the original sprite's opacity. This game, as you already know, uses colour FF0084 (255R, 0G, 132B) as a transparency key. As an archivist, I cannot alter the original state of the sprite. GooRoo, if I may make some suggestions: - MegaZIPper contains the trojan identified as "TR/ATRAPS.Gen2". Please follow this guide to proceed with the removal of this trojan, and possibly other malware.
- For a replacement archive viewer/editor/extractor, please consider using 7-zip.
- I personally use GiftedMotion for animated GIF creation, which is capable of setting a custom transparency key colour.
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Occasionally I would go back and work on an animation that didn't look quite right, using the extracted frames for the re-do.
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