Brief Mod Sprite Tutorial
 

1. get The Gimp for graphic editing. It is like Photoshop, but open source. You will need the installer and the GTK+ graphical library from: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

2. install GTK+, then The Gimp.

3. unless you are an Artiste, you will want something to start with. Sites like this:
http://www.popularcollections.com/du...--dragons.html
provide great small graphics that are suitable for use. Download them to your desktop. For this tutorial, click on the first one--the big red demon dude. This will take you to a page of more icons. Right click on the red demon dude from this page and choose "save image as" change the filename to bob.gif.

4. open the Gimp. open bob.gif. File-->Open File-->Desktop--Bob.gif. You'll notice Bob is 167X180 pixels. We want Bob to be about 128X128.

5. Resize Bob. Image-->Scale Image. You'll see Image Size has a Width and a Height, with chains to the right. Click the chains to break them. This allows us to resize out of scale. This is ok for Bob, as it will just make him look a bit squatter and more powerful. Make Width and Height both 128, then click the lower right hand Scale button. Look at his muscles bulge!!!

6. We need to make Bob a Targa file (.tga). This will increase his hit points tremendously, and give him the ability to teleport. Well, it will make him compatible at least. File-->Save As-->Select File Type By Extension and scroll down to .tga. Choose Save. Turn off RLE compression and click OK.

7. Bob needs to be RGB. Woe to anyone who does not make Bob RGB. Ng Thug Narfl. Image-->Mode-->RGB.

8. Bob needs a transparent background if he wants to fit in with the crowd and make friends with all the other demons and horrors in Dom III. Right click on Bob's white background. Filters-->Colors--Color to Alpha. A preview pops up with all the white turned to checkerboard. Checkerboard is Gimpese for Transparent. This is good. Choose Ok.

9. Save Bob. File-->Save

You now have a very nice looking sprite that is compatible with Dom III. Now you need to use it. Tips:

--have a sprites folder specifically for each mod, e.g. mod WatershipDown keeps all sprites of rabbits in a folder called wsd. Beware the rabbits seeking Dominion!! Their evil rabbit pretender god will nibble your celery and drink your carrot juice....
--Dom III doesn't seem to care if you use win or *nix slashes. I.e. #spr1 .\wsd\bob.tga works just as well as #spr1 ./wsd/bob.tga This is a good thing.
--if you get an error on trying to use the new mod then check filename spelling, pathing, sprite size (must be a multiple of 16; 16X16, 32X32, 64X64, etc.), rgb, indexed, uncompressed....

Enjoy!

Problem: Bob is HUGE
 

You might have noticed that Bob is huge. That's ok for Bob--he is the kind of demon who eats well and isn't afraid to show it. He isn't worried about his waist size. However, if you download a nice paladin named Junior at 167X180, you will want him to be human sized (32X32 I think). Here's how to do it, substituting the following alternative and additional steps into the process above.

5(alt). Resize Junior. Image-->Scale Image. This time keep the chains unbroken. Put 32 in for Width. Hit Tab. It will automatically resize Height. Don't worry about it if it is not 32.

8(alt). Junior needs a 128X128 canvas that is transparent so he can look his best--which is what Junior is all about. Face it, with a name like Junior, Bob has to worry about his appearance. In general, chicks do not dig guys named Junior. Image-->Canvas Size. Change it to 128X128. This puts your 32X32 image in the top right. Change the Horizontal offset to about 55. Change the Vertical offset to 128. Click Resize. Done. The canvas is by default transparent--it should show a kind of checkerboard hashing.

Re: Problem: Bob is HUGE
 

Thanks for putting this out on the boards, Uh-Nu-Buh. Can we get this thread made sticky?

Tip of the Day--image size and the flexible canvas
 

Lots of wiggle room in sizes, but in general:
--Size 1 is up to 16X16 (hobbit, dwarf)
--Size 2 is up to 32X32 (human, skeleton....)
--Size 3 is up to 64X64 (giant, elephant....)
--Size 4 is up to 128X128 (dragon)

A good tip is to make your picture, then encase it in the proper size canvas. So if your image is 32X56 and it is a giant, then simply keep it at that size, but put it in a transparent canvas at 64X64 or 128X128.

Re: Tip of the Day--image size and the flexible canvas
 

Excellent topic and worthy of sticky for this section.

More links where images can be acquired would be greatly helpful.

Sites with Suitable Images
 

http://www.toywiz.com/dddudrmigabc.html
http://www.popularcollections.com/du...--dragons.html
http://www.legendgames.co.uk/acatalo...iniatures.html

and a metasite
http://www.barr.karoo.net/hws/dbx/fantfigs.htm

Tip of The Day
 

Colors are important. I find that the softer earth colors often make an image fade out during battle sequences, making it difficult to fathom what is happening.

This probably happens with the whites in snow battle sequences as well.

Re: Tip of The Day
 

This is a really useful thread. I'll join in the 'sticky' petition.

And so this post isn't essentially worthless, remember to always put your sprites facing left. It's a simple mistake, but still something to keep in mind. My personal instinct is still to make them face right.

Re: Tip of The Day
 

True... if the sprite is facing the incorrect direction GIMP can be used to make it face the correct direction with a simple click or two.
Very sweet free tool.

Re: Tip of The Day
 

Gimp can do that... But so can IrfanView (which opens much faster) and MS Paint (which also opens much faster). Gimp is for creating the sprite; there are far better programs for tweaking things.

A backwards-sprite would make for quite an interesting hero, though.