27 replies to this topic

[Schmutzpuppe]

Here is a tool that allows you to convert bmp, pgn, etc. to "raw maria data".
The pictures must have a width of 1024 (for B modes) or 2048 (for A mode).
The y-size doesn't matter (just as height as you like).
For B mode the picture must have 4 (or less colors) with black as background (you can use any other colors for the remaining 3).
For the A mode it is one color + black background.
I didn't do much testing but it works for me so far.
If you find any errors let me know.
The zip contains a picture with the Atari XL font (mode 320b) as example.
One more thing, you must have installed the .NET framework.

Have fun

Attached Files

•  78gfxconv.zip   11.86K   100 downloads

[Curt Vendel]

Hey, excellent, this is how it all started within the 2600 development community, little by little tools started to show up and now it seems they are showing up at long long last for the 7800...

Have you let Shaggy (Adam) know about this tool, stuff like this should be put together for the 7800 hombrewpaloozo contest :-)



Curt

[Schmutzpuppe]

Curt Vendel said:

Have you let Shaggy (Adam) know about this tool, stuff like this should be put together for the 7800 hombrewpaloozo contest :-)
Curt

I didn't wrote a mail or something I think he will read it here.

Two quick notes:
Mode 160b is meant as 160x2 (I don't really know if 160b as description is also correct)
The Example font is mode 320a not b (the application will autodectect this because of the picture width).
Maybe I will add the other modes later if there are some interest but I think the most frequently used modes are implemented.

I hope the prog. will make the developers live a bit easier.
Let me know if you have suggestion or feel free to ask if you have questions.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

It will be added to the contest page here shortly.

Like Curt said, it's great to see these kinds of tools starting to trickle out. Keep them coming guys!

[Schmutzpuppe]

Shaggy the Atarian said:

It will be added to the contest page here shortly.    

Like Curt said, it's great to see these kinds of tools starting to trickle out. Keep them coming guys!  

Yep, tools can make developers live much easier (I hope this one will).
Here is an updated version.
I added mode 160x4 because I think it is in some way the best mode for pictures.
Also I did some minor bugfixes.

Attached Files

•  78gfxconv.zip   10.94K   57 downloads

[Schmutzpuppe]

One more update.
I thought it would be a good idea if you could convert fonts in Atari XL or C64 format to a maria readable format (320a).
You can convert fonts with 128 or 256 chars.
If you use a font with 128 chars the second 128 will be inverted (XL style).
This version is still beta so feedback would be nice.

Attached Files

•  78gfxconv.zip   11.45K   62 downloads

[Heaven/TQA]

ehm... what do i exactly need to run the tool?`

and is there any archive containint fonts for atari and c64 in native format?

[Schmutzpuppe]

Heaven/TQA said:

ehm... what do i exactly need to run the tool?`

and is there any archive containint fonts for atari and c64 in native format?

You must have installed the .NET framework: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en
As far as I know it's also part of the XP SP2.
I don't know any page for XL fonts but ripping them is quite easy as you know.
For C64 I found this site: http://kofler.dot.at/c64/font_01.html
But take care to strip the header (I think the first 3 bytes).

[Allan]

Wow, the C64 character set archive is nice. I wish someone would do this for the Atari 8-bits. It would be great to use some of them in 7800 and 5200 games.

Allan

[Schmutzpuppe]

Allan said:

Wow, the C64 character set archive is nice. I wish someone would do this for the Atari 8-bits. It would be great to use some of them in 7800 and 5200 games.

Allan

It's no problem to use the fonts for the 5200 or 7800, the 5200 can read the format directly and for the 7800 they can be converted.
Somewhere I have disks with a lot of XL fonts maybe I'll find them some day...

[Schmutzpuppe]

One more update.
Now you can convert pictures with a width of 160 and 12 (+ background) colors. There is one limitation at the moment the picture height must be divisible by 16.
The program let you assign the picture colors to maria colors and writes a code snippetwith the necessary lda/sta's.
Another new feature is that you can define the segment height now.
This is usefull because the data for maria is written in reverse order (up side down) in "segements" from 1-16.
The old version just wrote the whole data up side down which will cause you in trouble if you convert pictures with a height > 16.
To show you how to use the data I wrote a little demo with IK plus gfx data.
The archive contains the input and output data as well as the demo source code.
I think it would be a good idea to write some documentation next time...

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Attached Files

•  78gfxconv_v0_5.zip   36.86K   83 downloads

[DracIsBack]

Anyone want to try optimizing a digitized greyscale or color photo for display on the 7800?

[www.atarimania.com]

Here you go...

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

Attached Files

•  fonts.zip   72.83K   89 downloads

[Schmutzpuppe]

www.atarimania.com said:

Here you go...

--
Atari Froghttp://www.atarimania.com

Cool

[Schmutzpuppe]

I just had some problems converting a picture, I don't know if this is happend because of the palette or the picture itself.
Remember that the tool is still beta if you have any problems let me know.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

That game pictured in the demo is one fun game. Using this tool it looks much better on the 7800. Awesome work Schmutzpuppe!

[Schmutzpuppe]

I found the bug mentioned above, now it looks better
This will be the last update for a while I want to spend the rest of my free time to finished my atari xl game before doing more 7800 stuff.
I would like to thank eric ball, eckhard stolberg, dan boris an all the others who share their knowledge with the community, keep it up guys.

Attached Files

•  78gfxconv_06b.zip   17.32K   88 downloads

[Schmutzpuppe]

Shaggy the Atarian said:

That game pictured in the demo is one fun game. Using this tool it looks much better on the 7800. Awesome work Schmutzpuppe!

Thanks

[Schmutzpuppe]

Here is a converted c64 picture, I think it looks nice.
Rom is attached.

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Attached Files

•  haunted.zip   8.28K   73 downloads

[Heaven/TQA]

makes me motivated restart my a7800 projects... IK+ looks great and the 7800 is a unleashed beast...

but 1st i am finishing boinxx... maybe a conversion... but have to see...
(i guess 5200 port will be 1st...)

[DracIsBack]

This is awesome. Do you have regular ROM files of these pics without the 78HEader?

[Mitch]

Try this.

Mitch

Attached Files

•  haunted2.zip   8.28K   63 downloads

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Wow, that looks great in MESS. I imagine that on the real thing it's even better. This is a great tool It could make for some interesting projects, especially if you wanted to add a storyline to your game with pictures. :wink:

[DracIsBack]

Mitch said:

Try this.

Mitch

Thanks Mitch ... no immediate luck. Unfortunately, I don't have a PC with a serial port to do the manual load onto the CC2, so I always have to try and frig with the menu. THese were the settings I used:

Quote

7800: Haunted (homebrew)   HAUNT  7800_48K 78QUICK

[Mitch]

Try using 7800_32K, the rest should be OK.

The colors are rather off on the real thing, MESS isn't the best at accurately reproducing the 7800s colors.

Mitch