Duck and Cover

Hey There,

Been working on my own Campaign but I'm trying to get some new weapons into it... But I'm not very good with sprites and stuff, so if anybody could help me get a guide to how to do this in Redviewer, spray or any other kind of program... Please let me know.

Ohhh and if anyone is interested in working together... I'm looking for good mappers... The first map is finished, the demo will be released this weekend... actually... the exe & zip file is already packed and now all I have to do is put it on-line.

If you are a nice mapper... give me a ring at: Manager@dignity4life.com

Greetz,

Snake-D

http://www.nma-fallout.com/~jimmyjay86/

My tutorials are written for Photoshop so you will need the full version to make sprites with my instructions. Check the last tutorial under "Basic Tutorials" and also check "Scenery Sprites with Spray" for general instructions on how to use the various programs like Spray and Redviewer. I wrote the tutorials for an earlier version of Redviewer but the newer versions have the same functions, just in a different place. Ask if something isn't clear.

I also got your email about making some sprites and I can do some for you. I have to finish up a few for PaladinHeart tonight and then I'll do the MP5 for you. The bigger picture the better but small ones should work too.

Hey Man,

I've e-mailed you today about my sprites problem... If you could help me make them it would surely save some time and I'll be much happier, having someone on my team working with us...

So if you want, you could join our team !

Greetz,

Snake-D (B. Stienstra)

Yeah, I can help as long as there aren't too many! I have some other projects that I'm working on but can always find some time to help a few other projects.

I have a few more items that I would like for you to make sprites of in the future sometime. I'll try not to ask more often than maybe one a week though. I really appreciate your help.

If it would help any then I can try and have them at a specific size and/or color background. I thought white might work best but some programs also use black so im not really sure which to use.

The next batch will be more generalized items that anyone could probably make use of. A bag of chips, a handful of candy, etc.. Maybe even an old car as a new tile.

BTW I need some sprites that are of various junk like circuit boards (water chip comes to mind), a nice chunk of ore, wires, etc.. Various junk pieces like you might need to build a generator or something. Anyone got some spare sprites like that lying around?

A good image size is around 100x200 or maybe bigger. I get a cleaner image when scaling them down. Occasionally I do some stretching to make them look better in the GUI. And white isn't a good background. Medium gray is the best, black is second best, and then white. A single, flat color for a background makes it a lot easier. Also take a look at the inventory GUI to see what shape the images should be. A landscape orientation works best.

The best type of file is jpeg or gif. Bmps are not good but I can work with them just as easily. If you want a book type sprite it is easier for me to use a straight on view instead of another type of view. If you've seen the radio sprites I made, they started out as front views and I actually drew in the top and sides with a shaded effect to make it look 3d. If anyone knows their way around a 3d program, it would be very easy to make scenery sprites with the output. There is a thread in this forum where Section8 tells how to create a view to match the perspective in FOT.

I was wondering because I got a Sweet 16 Hot Wheel car today that I thought would look good with the other FO cars. So the best would be to take several pics from different angles?

I'll try to get a top, side, and then various angles like the view is from in FOT.

In that case you may want to try and take some pictures of it from the angles used in the game. I think if you used the method I mentioned above it might not look that good for a car unless you could make a model for the body in a 3d program and add the pictures as a skin.

A couple things to remember if you want to take digital pictures of real life things:

1. Don't use flash. Try to match the top down lighting that is in the game. The best lighting might be outside on an overcast day.

2. If you are taking pictures of something small then use a big piece of gray cardboard or poster board as a background.

3. Fully zoom out with the lens. Using the widest angle of the lens gives distortion that will not look right in the game.

4. If you have control of the f-stop or aperture of the camera, set it for the highest number - 11 or 16 should work. If you use this setting you may need to hold the camera steady on a tripod or anything so it doesn't move.

I have taken some pictures of the fronts of small buildings for possible use as new tiles. But I haven't tried using them yet.

I experimented a bit with some pictures and found out that I could move the contrast, brightness, etc.. around a bit and it tends to make the pictures look more "game like" if you do it just right.



1. Don't use flash.

I turned the lights out and took a picture on the outdoors setting (no flash). I think that did ok.

2. If you are taking pictures of something small then use a big piece of gray cardboard or poster board as a background.

I used white but I'll try to remember that in the future.

3. Fully zoom out with the lens. Using the widest angle of the lens gives distortion that will not look right in the game.

I don't fully understand how to operate my camera yet, but I do take good pictures. Better than most close-up pics I have seen.

4. If you have control of the f-stop or aperture of the camera, set it for the highest number - 11 or 16 should work. If you use this setting you may need to hold the camera steady on a tripod or anything so it doesn't move.

Hmm.. Well I aim, press the button.. tada!.. If it doesn't look good I just retake the picture.

I'll send you a couple food items in a bit. Maybe these will be easier to work with than the last ones I sent. I will send .jpg this time.

The thing with the aperture on the camera is to make sure that the whole thing is in focus. Sometimes with close-ups of small items not everything is in focus. What kind of camera do you have?

Its a digital Kodak camera that I can take a few pictures with then hook up to my computer and get them from it in .jpg format.

On the front it says 2.0 Mega Pixel and Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital Camera

It doesn't sound like the Kodak camera has manual controls that let you change some settings. I have a Canon G1 that has a lot of manual controls.