Notice to all visitors and members of the Train-Sim.Com message forums: If you plan on using a signature banner in your posts, we would like to remind you that there is a maximum size for banners. That maximum is 450 pixels wide by 120 pixels high, and not to exceed 25k. Your compliance is appreciated. FORUM RULES Problems? There are two common reasons for problems with logging in and posting messages. The first is that you are running a firewall that prevents your messages from being sent to the server. The other is that you have cookies disabled; the DCForum software requires cookies to work properly.
I have the process down of using tgatool2 to send a cabview(1024x768) to paintshop pro, I edit,then resize canvas to 1024x1024,This gives me a bmp image of the main image with a space at the bottom,Then I save to bmp, reload to TGAtool2 ,save to a TGA with Alpha, Reload the TGA into TGAtool2 then using updated make ace or patched make ace to compress to an ace (1 bit Alpha), and then I enter the sim The transparency (Alpha Channel) is fine, its just that the dials and needles don`t line up in the cabview. I also get the space at the bottom of the image that I had when I resized the canvas in PS Pro. What am I missing? Just this last hurdle and I`m on my way. Any help appreciated.
I hope I am giving you the best news you've had in a while..... I use TgaTool2 and PaintShopPro also. You should be able to load a 1024 x 768 into PSP via Tgatool2, Edit it, Choose File, Save. Then go back to Tgatool2 and Choose Image, "reload after edit". Then Export Ace with Alpha...Provided that you are absolutely sure that you are using the Updated Makeace,( and have the check-box checked ), Tgatool2 WILL export an odd sized (non-square) image to the same sized Ace file. I once was doing all those extra, and not necessary steps myself. I found this out the hard way, so take a lesson from me..If you ever reload MSTS from the CD's, remember that it WILL overwrite your "Latest" copy of Makeace, with an earlier one that won't do the odd sized Aces. If you are in doubt, go check that you have the latest versions of Tgatool2 and Makeace. Editing and Creating is so much easier now. Kyle
TgaTool2 does the canvas-resizing "behind the scenes" so you don`t need to worry about doing it yourself. If you ask TgaTool2 to export ace with a 1024x768 image it will create a temporary tga file expanded to 1024x1024 and then run makeace on this with the appropriate parameters to create a clamped 1024x768 Ace texture (just an example. It will do it for any image that is not power-of-2 size in width or height. It expands it to the next available valid dimensions).If you resize it yourself then TgaTool2 will think it is dealing with a 1024x1024 image and treat it as such so you will get your added blank areas included.
The cabview editor uses coordinates of 0,0 to 640,480 to position items. Therefore you need a 640x480 image. This likely explains why your coordinates for dials and needles are off. You can create both 640 and 1024 images naming them (for example) front.ace and front1024.ace. Use the name front.ace in the cvf file to define the graphic you want to use, and MSTS will automatically use the 1024 version when screen resolution is 1024 and above, asuming you follow the naming convention of name.ace and name1024.ace. It automatically scales either to suit the actual screen resolution used. I wrote an explanation ofr the various cvf file parameters which will provide more details if you need them You can find it here:http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID10/214.html#1Regards, Jimi
