Tgatool2

I know there have been strings on this, and I've reviewed them, but I still can't get modified .ace files to export using tgatool2. There's no obvious failure indication, or error message; the changes just don't show in the edited file. Another thing: after messing with tgatool2 for several days, I've done something to cause each and every .ace file in my trainset, trainset backup and train downloads to display with the tgatool2 symbol rather than the default .ace file symbol, and the label "Trainsim image file." And clicking on these icons opens the tgatool2 editor. Is tgatool2 supposed to do this, and is there a problem with it?

bud

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RE: tgatool2, baldwin, Jun-01-03, 01:06 PM, (1) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-01-03, 03:38 PM, (2) RE: tgatool2, MartinW, Jun-01-03, 08:04 PM, (3) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-01-03, 08:51 PM, (4) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-01-03, 11:56 PM, (5) RE: tgatool2, MartinW, Jun-02-03, 09:34 AM, (6) RE: tgatool2, yellowdog, Jun-02-03, 11:01 AM, (7) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-02-03, 01:00 PM, (8) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-10-03, 02:47 AM, (9) RE: tgatool2, yellowdog, Jun-10-03, 07:16 AM, (10) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-10-03, 06:02 PM, (11) RE: tgatool2, yellowdog, Jun-10-03, 07:14 PM, (12) RE: tgatool2, sniper297, Jun-10-03, 07:43 PM, (13) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-10-03, 10:12 PM, (14) RE: tgatool2, baldwin, Jun-11-03, 05:07 PM, (15) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-11-03, 07:31 PM, (16) RE: tgatool2, baldwin, Jun-12-03, 05:09 PM, (17) RE: tgatool2, sooner, Jun-12-03, 11:37 PM, (18)

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I find the easiest way to work with tgatool is to keep it open but minimised while I work on the file in my editor. Once I have finished editing I hit the save in the editor. I then maximise tgatool and hit reload after edit which loads in the modified bmp. Then I export as ace with the appropriate type for what I want into the folder I want it in. I then go to that folder and click to open the modded ace which opens it in another tgatool window and I can then compare the two images. If the image has saved with the changes OK, if not I can go back to the original tgatool session and resave the ace.As to why your copy is not saving the altered ace, is the original ace a read only file. This will prevent it from being overwritten.What you have done to your ace file symbols is OK. they are supposed to be associated with something for editing and the tgatool icon makes them just a little bit different from the other files in the folder, so easier to pick out visually. No problen as far as I am aware.mervyn@madasafish.com

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The tgatool icons replace the default ACE icons if you click the "Register ACE to TgaTool2" option under the "Prefs" menu, I now realize. As to the basic problem, let me ask what happens when you click "exit" then "save," or "save" then "exit" in the editor? I get the tgatoo2 menu, with the modified .ace file showing in the window with the changes I've just made. If I click "reload," there's no indication of anything having happened. Should there be? Anyway, I then click "export: Ace (No alpha);" a box opens showing all the .ace files in the folder; I highlight the one I'm editing and it appears in the "File name" window; I click "save," I get a prompt saying the file already exists and asking if I want to replace it, and I click "yes." Once again I'm looking at the .ace file, as modified, in the tgatool2 window. I click "exit" and get yet another save prompt; I click "yes." Now the .ace file is over three meg for some reason; will not open in tgatool2 (I get an "access violation" message instead); and the changes do not show in the sim.

bud

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Oh dear.....there is a slight bug in the new version which you have uncovered...If you load an Ace file (as opposed to a Targa file), edit it, export an ACE and then get the "File has changed...do you want to save.." box coming up when you close it will overwrite your ace file with a targa (hence the larger size and the fact it won`t load again).I have just uploaded a corrected version. For the moment just say No when it asks if you want to save (or change the filename it offers you). TgaTool2 only "saves" Targa. It will Export Ace and Bmp but saves are always Targa. The bug was that if you haven`t actually loaded a Targa at any stage then your Ace filename would be used to save the Targa to.To correct any textures that have already been messed up by this you can load them into TgaTool2 by setting the Filetype option in the Load dialog to "ACE Image", browsing to select the damaged ACE file and once it is showing in the "Filename" box switching the Filetype option to "Targa Image" before clicking the "Open" button. Once loaded you can then Export as ACE and overwrite the file.

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I think I follow, but this doesn't seem to help. After I close the editor, the edited version shows in tgatool2. I click "reload," with no visibile result. I then click "export" then "Ace (no alpha)," I either click "save" or not, I close tgatool2, and in neither case is the file changed. The only effect of clicking on "save" on closing tgatool2 is that the file cannot be opened, either as a targa file or otherwise.

bud

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Nope, it's me or my system, Martin. The new tgatool2 "beta" works just a bit differently from the earlier version, but neither will export an edited .ace file on my machine.

bud

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You have auto-update enabled so clicking the Update option won`t show any difference (as the image has already been updated). In auto-udate mode TgaTool2 "goes to sleep" while you are in the paint program. Once you close the paint program it wakes up and loads in the edited file.If you tick the "Use old send-to-editor" option on the Prefs menu then it will revert to something more like the old version (TgaTool2 will remain accessible while the Paint program is open but you will have to use the "update" option to let it know you have finished editing and the data can be reloaded)There definitely was a bug as I could easily reproduce what was happening to you during the closing Save option - it would try to overwrite my last ACE with a targa. If you are not getting your Ace file being updated with your edits then it may be your MakeAce. Check "Locate Makeace" from the Prefs menu and make sure it is pointing to a valid copy of MakeAce.exe (not MakeAceWin.exe...) and make sure that the selection in TgaTool2 (the drop-down listbox underneath the tickboxes on the right of the window) is set to match the version of MakeAce you actually have.Also....make sure that the Ace files you are working with are supported by your version of MakeAce. If you have the original Makeace (as installed originally with TrainSim) then you can only create ace files that are square and 512x512 or smaller. Any odd sizes or sizes above 512x512 require the updated makeace or the Patch#1 makeace for creation.

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The other thing to note is that sometimes TGATool2 doesn't display an error message that may be occurring with MakeAce. One thing you might try is converting the file with MakeAceWin to see if that gives you any error messages. You may be having an error occur that you don't know about.
It does sound like you've got the ace files associated with TGATool2, similarly to how .eng files are associated with Wordpad in order to be opened/edited. I don't know if this affects the function of the .ace files or not, but associating .eng files with Wordpad certainly doesn't affect their operation in MSTS.

---------Clayton---------

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Muchas gracias mis amigos! I went back to the just-earlier version of tgatool2; made sure I had the right makeace version selected (I think I was trying to make the util work with makeacewin); and finally, I selected "Updated Makeace" in the makeace version option box (which I didn't even realize was there) - and I'm cookin'! Thank you, guys, for the help; this ends an extended period of frustration.

bud

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Well, tgatool2 worked like a dream for me for a solid week. Then, in the middle of renumbering a set of locos, it suddenly stopped exporting the edited .ace file again. I re-checked all the possibilities on this string - got the right makeace version, file isn't "read only," and nothing's different; but no dice. Odd, because the problem is exactly what I was having before. What might have caused the program to crater?

bud

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The only other thing I can think of is that this may be related to your vid card. I have an ATI card which causes me to have to turn off Direct Draw. I use the little Direct Draw switch available in the file library, but sometimes things get a little screwy and TGATool2 just stops working right in the middle of a project. It hasn't happened in a while, but then happened 2x yesterday while finishing up the pirate stuff. A quick reboot restores everything back to normal. The symptoms are the same as you describe- -no error messages or anything, but just a sudden TGATool2 failure to convert image files to ace files. I don't know if this could be related to your issues or not b/c I don't know what's causing it to happen to me, but a reboot fixes it for me.

---------Clayton---------

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LAST EDITED ON Jun-10-03 AT 06:33 PM (EDT)

Aaaaaaargh! Well, after re-installing updated makeace.exe and tgatool2, rebooting, turning off Direct Draw and double-checking read-only off --- nothing. I guess I'm fated to never get tgatool2 function back.Clayton, thanks for trying. Please give me a ring if you have any thoughts.Martin, this is a great utility; but apparently it doesn't like me for some reason.EDIT:Well, this may be significant. The renumbers I've been trying to do were on a 1024x1024 main .ace and a 128x128 numberboard .ace. I tried a 512x512 and tgatool2 seemed to work okay. I thought the current tgatool2 and current makeace.exe versions worked on files larger or smaller than 512x512, and in fact it was working for me before on these files. Is there an extra step I'm leaving out?

bud

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I've used TGATool2 to convert cab files (1024x756 or whatever) with no problems, but haven't tried a 1024x1024 so can't offer feedback on that one. Try MakeAceWin with the 1024s and see what happens.

---------Clayton---------

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Ran into an unrelated problem just recently that may have a bearing; Do you have Windows XP?I still haven't figured out XP completely, but it takes me for a real chump, I do the "open with" and point the path to another location for the newer version of TGAtool2, and it lets me think I'm using that path but still uses the old one. Not only locks out any changes, but pretends to let me make the changes without complaint. What I had to do was "open with" notepad, checking always use this for ace files, then delete all the TGAtool2.exe versions on disk, reinstall, then "open with" to change from notepad to the new version & location of TGAtool2.exe. Might be the same with Makace, XP pretends to let you switch but uses the old version if it's still on disk somewhere.One thing I did find with TGAtool2 with Win98SE and 128mb of RAM, if you try to export a file that's too big, Makeace just looks like it's doing something and don't do anything. Since TGAtool2 uses Makeace, if Makeace isn't doing anything and isn't returning error mesages TGAtool2 has no idea that it didn't actually do anything. Having more RAM fixes that problem, I can do 1024x768 files now (1 gig RAM), with 128mb RAM the max size I could do was 256 flat or 128 with alpha.

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Clayton -Actually, I gave up on MakeAceWin when I couldn't get tgatool2 to work before. Maybe I should revisit it.Sniper -Yeah, I have XP Pro. I did delete MakeAceWin and the the earlier versions of Makeace and tgatool2 to try and eliminate interference. I have 512mb, and in my case there's obviously no activity in the MakeAce box; it stares back and closes in a few seconds. The edited bitmap is displayed in the tgatool2 window, but when you reload the .ace, you see that it hasn't saved the edited version. What so baffles me is that the darn thing had been working flawlessly then this problem cropped up.A while back Martin had this to say on the subject: "TgaTool2 is perfectly capable of creating any size and shape providing you have one of the later versions of MakeAce installed (and have set the appropriate version in TgaTool2). If you only have the original MakeAce then you will be restricted to a maximum size of 512x512."

bud

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LAST EDITED ON Jun-11-03 AT 05:13 PM (EDT)

I never use TGA files. I find them too much of a hassle to work on. I prefer to build the main colored BMP file and then use Tgatool2 to generate an alpha file for me to edit.As to what happens at what stages. I load the ace into tgatool and then send the Main or Alpha image to the editor and then minimise tgatool. After working on the image I "Save", and then go back to tgatool and maximise it where the original unchanged image is still visible. I then "Reload after Edit" at which point the changed image appears in Tgatool. I then export the ace in whatever format is needed into the folder it came from. I get the prompt that this file already exists and click yes to overwrite and then I get the DOS box for makeace which then closes after the conversion is done. I then minimise Tgatool again and reopen the modified ace in another Tgatool session to check that the conversion did take place. If both images are the same, job done, if not, there is a problem.I think that the difference between what you get and what I get is the makeace DOS box, you dont mention it in your process of events.mervyn@madasafish.com

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Tgatool2 - or maybe I should say MakeAce - began working for me again just as mysteriously as it quit; no clue what was up. I was referring to the DOS box in my post when I said there was "obviously no activity in the MakeAce box; it stares back and closes in a few seconds. The edited bitmap is displayed in the tgatool2 window, but when you reload the .ace, you see that it hasn't saved the edited version." Actually, you can see the edge of the tgatool2 window behind the DOS box, and I notice that when MakeAce executes properly off the tgatool2 "export" command you see a little jitter and color change in the frame - a clue that it's working.

bud

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Re Dos box, thats what happens when I skim through without reading all that is said. Glad you are back up and running again, but the mystery remains.mervyn@madasafish.com

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Anyhow, I'll knock on wood and hope it keeps working. Thanks for the tips and thanks again for your help on that LV Alco a few weeks ago!

bud

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