Viewing Thread: The Sprite Format Debate

James Bunting Joined: 17 September 2003 Posts: 1308

07 September 2005 14:49 (UK time) Ok lets have a debate about Meteor 2 sprites not encapsulating images like in Meteor 1. In simple terms Meteor 1 sprite files have the images built in whereas Meteor 2 references images from the "base\images" directory. <hr> <b>Here are the pros and cons for not encapsulating images (Meteor 2 syle)</b> Pros: - Images can be shared between multiple sprites - Editing (modding) images is easier as its simply a matter of editing the PCX files. - Sprite files can be edited in Notepad because they are ASCII. Cons: - Load times are slower as it has to load lots (perhaps 1000s of extra files). - It makes things a little more complex to get you head around. - Sharing sprites with other modders is a pain in the a$$. - ASCII files (sprites are text files) take longer to load. Notes: - Images can not be binned totally as they are used for things like the title screen, bullet lines and script toolbar icons etc. But all of the sprite specific images could be removed and encapsulated into each sprite. <b>Here are the pros and cons for encapsulating images within sprites (Meteor 1 syle)</b> Pros: - A little (perhaps a lot) easier to understand. - Sprites are much easier to distribute between your buddies. - The load time will be much faster (no extra image files). - The load time will be much faster (files are binary not ASCII). Cons: - Can't truely share images between sprites and sprite frames (so its slightly less inefficient but do people care?). - Can't edit in Notepad (files are binary not ASCII). - No thumbnail image picker for sprite frames, you get a file select dialog instead (this could sway the argument). Notes: - Each sprite can remember its image paths, an "update sprite images" button somewhere could update all of the images in one go. - The binary vs ASCII thing is not that important as that can be changed anyway. The point is that if the sprite files contain image data then they need to be binary. <hr> What do people think? Its not too late as we can support both formats for older files. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

07 September 2005 14:58 (UK time) What is pros and what is cons? You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

07 September 2005 20:27 (UK time) a pro a benefit, and con is the opposite. When I first thought about this(a year ago you can see the log of this somewhere on the forums.) that the images being included with the sprites made it harded to adjust the sprites. What I didn't realize was that the sprites would not need all of the fast adjustment that come with seperate files and sprites. If we went to the meteor1 style sprites, people would not have to worry about the .pcx image format, as meteor2 can load .bmp images into sprites. Being able to edit sprites with notepad isn't that useful because I never need to do it. Would we have a sprite converter that would convert the meteor2 sprites into meteor1 style sprites? I'd have to vote for the old style sprites now. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

James Bunting Joined: 17 September 2003 Posts: 1308

07 September 2005 20:53 (UK time) I agree (pretty much totally). In fact you could sign my name on that post word for word lol. If we did change the format Meteor 2 would automatically convert any older sprtes when they are loaded. When you click save it will be saved in the new format (A special warning message may also be appropriate)... <i>Warning: This sprite will be saved in the newer binary format, continue?</i> Of course newer versions of M2 will have all converted sprites. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

mike323 Joined: 23 January 2005 Posts: 745

07 September 2005 22:21 (UK time) Ooh...tough one. I really wanna say to leave the images unembedded because they're much easier to edit...BUT I think my final decision would be to leave them embedded, easier to transport. I like the sprite converter (or should we call it a sprite extracter) for M1 the would extract the images from the sprite. ALSO I would really like if it were possible to put plain sprites in M2 as well...like M1 style. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

shockdrop Joined: 01 March 2005 Posts: 236

07 September 2005 22:28 (UK time) I like them how they are now.Keep it like that. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Forums system (C) 1999-2023 by James Bunting.

Terms of Use