Graphics file still *.PCX

[CivGeneral]

I have decided to create a poll to see what the people's reaction on this decision.There is no cure for this *.pcx headach (For people who are not lucky enough to buy paint shop pro) if you dont beleve me check out this quote from Civfanatics.com

The graphics file format in remains the same (PCX) in PTW. Adding new terrain (such as animations) beyond modifying whats there isn't going to be possible in PTW. -www.civfanatics.com

*Sigh* I was hopeing that they were going to use a different graphics file (Like they did for Fantastic World)

[Nubclear]

Re: Graphics file still *.PCX

Originally posted by Civfan01
I have decided to create a poll to see what the people's reaction on this decision.There is no cure for this *.pcx headach (For people who are not lucky enough to buy paint shop pro) if you dont beleve me check out this quote from Civfanatics.com

*Sigh* I was hopeing that they were going to use a different graphics file (Like they did for Fantastic World)

I would like someone to develop a utility, because it doesn't have to be Firaxis. Someone could probably do it, and it wouldn't distract Firaxis from implementing other things.

[Imp. Montezuma]

Will be good GIFs. Aparently with animations. Imagine Mountains with snowfall, jumping fihes, waves on water etc.

[kring]

I don't plan on buying paint shop pro, even though I hear it is a good program, it is also expensive enough that I am not going to spend that kind of money when all I would use it for is Civ 3.

Hopefully, someone will come up with a good solution and post it for all.

[GodKing]

Does anybody know why theypicked .PCX in the first place? What kind of a benifit over the other formats does it give?

[foo12]

Errr.... Photoshop also opens them fine, but then again it costs substantially more than PSP. On the Mac side, there's a legendary program called Graphic Convertor which can open nearly any graphic file you throw at it, including Civ3's PCXs and FLCs. Surely there must be an analog program for PC?

Ideally, I'd like to see a transition to LZW'd tiffs or gifs---easier for more people to open and about 1/3 lower file size than a PCX file. Of course there's always PNG, but people would probably balk just as much with PNGs as they do with PCX files.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by GodKing
Does anybody know why theypicked .PCX in the first place? What kind of a benifit over the other formats does it give?

Good question.

But I´m more concerned about the anim format, nearly every professional gfx software can load&save PCX pics (I use PhotoPaint), but FLC anims are not so easy to handle. FLICster is good, but if we could simply use GIF anims (or another more common format) everything would a bit easier

[Pythagoras]

Originally posted by GodKing
Does anybody know why theypicked .PCX in the first place? What kind of a benifit over the other formats does it give?

Every Firaxis game has stuck to PCX for some reason. I suppose they had a good reason early on. Maybe its a cheap format licensing wise.

[WarpStorm]

The most likely reason why they use the same file formats from game to game is simple economics. They already have tools and code libraries to deal with formats, why spend time and money to change that.

GIF, in particular, has a licensing term that go with it if you are using it in commercial software (.45% royalty, minimum $0.10). Sure, $0.22 per copy of Civ3 doesn't seem like a big price, but I'm sure Firaxis doesn't get anywhere near the $50 price tag either (Infogrames and the retailers get most of the price).

[Panag]

Originally posted by WarpStorm
The most likely reason why they use the same file formats from game to game is simple economics. They already have tools and code libraries to deal with formats, why spend time and money to change that.

GIF, in particular, has a licensing term that go with it if you are using it in commercial software (.45% royalty, minimum $0.10). Sure, $0.22 per copy of Civ3 doesn't seem like a big price, but I'm sure Firaxis doesn't get anywhere near the $50 price tag either (Infogrames and the retailers get most of the price).

hi ,

exactly , but they could start to use other formats , why , well , so far we have 1 000 000 times civ3 , maybe 10 000 000 in two years , that is a large sum , and they could start to use more "friendly" products , agreed , some products are expensive in the short run , but pay out in the long term , ....

of course we could always start to buy MAC's , for those who need to do some state of the art graphics , ....

have a nice day