Macintosh graphics problem

[valmont]

I am running MGE for Mac without the patch. I am using GraphicConverter to make graphics for a scenario. I haven't tried anything fancy yet. I simply changed the colors of everyone's flags. I changed England to be red [and changed the barbarian flag to brown], and I changed the Scots [formerly Sioux] from lavender to a slightly deeper shade. I used only colors that were available from the color table, and I was careful not to make any changes in the settings.

I got strange, strange results. The English capitol looked fine, with red flag and red title text; the english units had red shields. Although I made no change whatever to the yellow flag, the Spanish capital appeared with the same red text color as the English one did, but their units had white shields. The French capitol had the correct blue flag but green text.

Even stranger, all the city icons appeared with a black and white diamond background, though I did nothing to the city icons at all.

It sounds like the color table somehow got messed up, but I can't figure out how it could have happened. Any ideas?

[Wulf]

Your question should be in the Mac FAQ, if there was one.

The short answer is:
1) Yes, the color table gets messed up, even if you just open and save and even if you do NO EDITING AT ALL (incredulous scream). MacSoft should be ashamed.
2) To edit any of the PICT files related to game mechanics, download a PC scenario from the net which has the GIF file for the file you wish to edit. Edit that. Then Convert it with graphic converter. Edit only the gif file, never the converted file. So if you create a scenario, you need to keep a double set of graphics file.

Dear moderator. If this topic is moved to the Mac forum, there'll be no complaints from me.

[valmont]

Wulf, thanks for the help! I'll try it tonight.

[MacUser]

How bizarre! What happens if you use Clip2gif suggested by Amandeep Jawa? Speaking of which is Amandeep still around? Did he or she ever update the PC to Mac conversion instructions relative to the MPG edition? Or is this way Off Topic? I could ask in a different thread if it is.

One more thing, Valmont why aren't you using the patch? Would the patch fix this problem?

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Different is GOOD!

AOL IM--JacSamDad


[This message has been edited by MacUser (edited September 26, 1999).]

[MacUser]

To qoute the Release notes from the Patch:

Bugs addressed in 1.1b1

* Fixed failure to load saved games when file sharing is enabled.
* Fixed failure to load custom graphics from the CD.
* Fixed failure to save unit graphics changes when editing scenarios.
* Fixed color palette problems with edited scenarios.
* Fixed crashes & freezes in multiplayer games.
* Fixed problems when quitting the application.
* Fixed problems with the Diplomacy Screen.
* Fixed problems with the Caravan dialogs.
* Re-implemented the “Revert” menu item so it works as one would expect it to.
* Fixed all PC bugs addressed by PC patches 1.1, 1.2, 1.3.

Does the fourth item (Fixed color palette problems with edited scenarios) address your problem?

Also, the patch ftp sites on MacSoft are now functional again.

------------------
Different is GOOD!

AOL IM--JacSamDad

[valmont]

Hmm, I still can't get the patch to work.

Wulf, if I edit the original GIF file and then save it as a GIF, can I go back later and work on it? Or do I have to make all my changes in one session?

[Wulf]

Yes, you MUST edit the gif file. But yes you can go back and reedit it. Thats why I said you need to keep 2 versions of each file. One gif file for editing and one PICT version for playing.

On the other matter, does the latest patch fix it? Nope, the latest patch include a warning not to use any other editing but their own. (Which IMO is not very good).

[MacUser]

Checkout the current, latest patch 1.1.b2! In the patch history notes are the following:

*Fixed import icon feature in scenario editor.
* Improved icon editor window placements in scenario editor.

"The scenario editor should be fully functional now."

Maybe the graphics issue is fixed somewhere in all that?

------------------
Different is GOOD!

AOL IM--JacSamDad