21 Tips for Working with TGE 1.5 GUIs
by Herman Tulleken · 10/31/2007 (1:12 pm) · 13 comments
Some of the Dos and Don'ts of GUI programming in Torque. Download the 9-page PDF from
http://www.luma.co.za/labs/torque_gui.html.
Here is a preview:
(See www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=13826 for info on downloading the game).
http://www.luma.co.za/labs/torque_gui.html.
Here is a preview:
(See www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=13826 for info on downloading the game).
#2
10/31/2007 (1:36 pm)
Thanks!
#3
10/31/2007 (1:43 pm)
Nice work Herman, thank you 
#5
10/31/2007 (4:36 pm)
Wow great work someone call this guy Matthew Langley Junior ;)
#6
10/31/2007 (10:54 pm)
That is a really nice write-up. Look forward to the release of the game. Thanks. 
#7
11/01/2007 (2:44 am)
Nice, thanks Herman
#8
11/01/2007 (10:13 am)
@ Magnus If you use the alpha channel, and not just remove the background of an image (Or erase it), It does save them correctly.
#9
@Magnus: Yup... Using TGAs just seems easier (especially if TGA support is already in).
ht
11/01/2007 (10:37 am)
Glad it can be of some use. And I would love to hear from other people how they find the GUI system and if my tips relate to their work.@Magnus: Yup... Using TGAs just seems easier (especially if TGA support is already in).
ht
#10
I used to use TGA for everything years ago, but these days I really prefer PNG, with the SuperPNG plugin they're saved correctly, they're MUCH smaller than TGAs and windows happily previews them. (I actually wrote a shell extension to preview TGA files years ago... but it was pretty wonky so I'm quite happy I don't have to use it anymore =).
If you're worried about file sizes (which you may or may not be depending on your situation) TGAs are a pretty bad idea.
In either case, I just wanted to let people know there's options.... =)
11/01/2007 (10:44 am)
Quote:@Magnus: Yup... Using TGAs just seems easier (especially if TGA support is already in).
I used to use TGA for everything years ago, but these days I really prefer PNG, with the SuperPNG plugin they're saved correctly, they're MUCH smaller than TGAs and windows happily previews them. (I actually wrote a shell extension to preview TGA files years ago... but it was pretty wonky so I'm quite happy I don't have to use it anymore =).
If you're worried about file sizes (which you may or may not be depending on your situation) TGAs are a pretty bad idea.
In either case, I just wanted to let people know there's options.... =)
#11
11/01/2007 (5:40 pm)
and you can use pngcrunch to reduce the png sizes...
#12
11/07/2007 (7:59 am)
You can download the game now - see the announcement www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=13826. 
#13
TGAs compress just as small as PNGs when compiled into a game installer (as a PNG is just a zlib-ed BMP/TGA), so I don't see why you would be worried about the space that they take up.
Another bonus about using TGAs is that you can easily view and modify the alpha channel when needed, unlike the annoying "transparency" that PNGs use... very useful for programmers trying to find out why something isn't behaving as it should due to an artist not doing what *they* should be doing ;)
It took us less than an hour or so to get TGA support up and running with the community provided TGA project by XXXX which is here:
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=3598
Of course, in order to make use of this you need to have access to Torque's source code :)
11/21/2007 (12:49 am)
@ Magnus:TGAs compress just as small as PNGs when compiled into a game installer (as a PNG is just a zlib-ed BMP/TGA), so I don't see why you would be worried about the space that they take up.
Another bonus about using TGAs is that you can easily view and modify the alpha channel when needed, unlike the annoying "transparency" that PNGs use... very useful for programmers trying to find out why something isn't behaving as it should due to an artist not doing what *they* should be doing ;)
It took us less than an hour or so to get TGA support up and running with the community provided TGA project by XXXX which is here:
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=3598
Of course, in order to make use of this you need to have access to Torque's source code :)
Torque Owner Magnus Blikstad
PNGs work just fine, IF you save them correctly. Photoshop does NOT save PNGs correctly... unless you remove the default photoshop png plugin and install the old SuperPNG that support proper alpha channels rather than just "transparency". (make sure you create a real alpha channel and don't just do it the photoshop way of having the transparent parts invisible!).
Another way to do it is to use JPGs, call your base JPG whatever.jpg and then create another grayscale JPG named whatever.alpha.jpg. Using TGAs is a bit of a pain, it requires you to write code to support it and the files tend to be big which will result in an unnecessarily large download.