OpenBor Tools & Programs List

[Fightn Words]

Not sure it's politically correct for me to add it, but since you asked it's added.

[Okami Joe]

I'm not sure if someone mentioned this yet, but I found an awesome arcade font generator here:

http://nfggames.com/games/fontmaker/index.php

You can choose from over 114 arcade font-sets and choose color, variation, size, then save the result as .png.
Note: Didn't work properly for me in IE, I recommend Firefox.

[Fightn Words]

Thanks for the suggestion Okami Joe- I've used it & it is pretty useful, but I think it's close enough between my list Nino's to belong more on his thread:
http://lavalit.com:8080/index.php/topic,1696.0.html

[Plombo]

Why isn't GIMP labeled as working well with palettes?  I've used it for quite a while, and its palette features are just as powerful as Photoshop's.

[MasterExploder]

Why isn't GIMP labeled as working well with palettes?  I've used it for quite a while, and its palette features are just as powerful as Photoshop's.

Seconded. I honestly don't see why the average, non-professional needs to drop $400+ on Photoshop when GIMP provides nearly the same functionality at a price that can't be beat: absolutely free!

[Damon Caskey]

Probably because they only seem equal on the surface. Sure, basic functionality and a few of the bells/whistles are on par. But when you really start doing some heavy editing and find yourself working with 1000+ sprites for one model... you quickly discover Gimp is a sick joke compared to Photoshop.

Don't get me wrong, Gimp is probably the best choice if you don't have access to Photoshop. But if you do have access to Photoshop, there is no reason to touch Gimp. Ever. The learning curve is steeper, but well worth it.

DC

[Fightn Words]

I wasn't deliberately excluding GIMP, I just have zero experience with it. I mostly go by what I'm told as their is no way I'll go through & try every one of these programs. This list is for the benefit of others, so any suggestions feel free to voice them. Added.

[MasterExploder]

Probably because they only seem equal on the surface. Sure, basic functionality and a few of the bells/whistles are on par. But when you really start doing some heavy editing and find yourself working with 1000+ sprites for one model... you quickly discover Gimp is a sick joke compared to Photoshop.

Don't get me wrong, Gimp is probably the best choice if you don't have access to Photoshop. But if you do have access to Photoshop, there is no reason to touch Gimp. Ever. The learning curve is steeper, but well worth it.

I agree, if you already HAVE access to Photoshop, than by all means use it. But for the type of editing needed for modding, are the differences between the two that vast it's worth paying hundreds of dollars for Photoshop compared to ziltch for GIMP? I'm not saying that GIMP is the superior program or anything, but you can DO everything you need to do in terms of sprite and palette editing at a more than adequate level. I just don't see how the average modder needs to pay for the added features of Photoshop when free alternatives like GIMP are perfectly suited for their level of sophistication.

[Plombo]

Probably because they only seem equal on the surface. Sure, basic functionality and a few of the bells/whistles are on par. But when you really start doing some heavy editing and find yourself working with 1000+ sprites for one model... you quickly discover Gimp is a sick joke compared to Photoshop.

Don't get me wrong, Gimp is probably the best choice if you don't have access to Photoshop. But if you do have access to Photoshop, there is no reason to touch Gimp. Ever. The learning curve is steeper, but well worth it.

DC

I agree completely.  I was only stating that the palette editing features of GIMP are on par with those of Photoshop in my opinion, at least for modding purposes.

[Phemt]

Best thread in the whole lavalit Fightn Words! 

[Fightn Words]

Thanks Phemt!

[Plombo]

A couple of corrections:

• PalApply doesn't work exclusively with palettes.  It still has to read/write the images that it applies palettes to.
• The old BoR Packfile Editor isn't incompatible with 64-bit operating systems. (Although that doesn't mean it always works correctly. )
  
• BoR Editor 1.2 is incompatible with 64-bit operating systems since it's a 16-bit DOS application.

[Fightn Words]

Ugh! Thanks Plombo-

PalApply doesn't work exclusively with palettes.  It still has to read/write the images that it applies palettes to.

Yeah, but that's splitting hairs to say so. Unless it has some other function I'm leaving it that way.

The old BoR Packfile Editor isn't incompatible with 64-bit operating systems. (Although that doesn't mean it works correctly. )

No, it works correctly, I've used it extensively- must have accidentally switched those two, thanks for pointing that out man.

[Phemt]

You are welcome anytime Fightn Words, Please! Keep updated this topic, please! 

[Plombo]

Ugh! Thanks Plombo-

PalApply doesn't work exclusively with palettes.  It still has to read/write the images that it applies palettes to.

Yeah, but that's splitting hairs to say so. Unless it has some other function I'm leaving it that way.

[/quote]

It does - you can use it to batch-convert between GIF, PNG, BMP, and PCX without losing any palette information.  It's useful when migrating from GIF to PNG, or when importing a character from a mod using GIFs into a mod using PNGs.  Or when converting sprites from MUGEN, where they're usually represented as PCX files.

The old BoR Packfile Editor isn't incompatible with 64-bit operating systems. (Although that doesn't mean it works correctly. )

No, it works correctly, I've used it extensively- must have accidentally switched those two, thanks for pointing that out man.

It doesn't work correctly on Linux...see the attached screenshot.