taking snapshot smax ?

jimbob · May 24, 2002, 19:07

I been through webattack.com other dot coms, I have paint shop pro 6, infraview etc. I now have a handful of freeware screenshot programs on my pc and I can't seem to take one of smax.

Sure, some come out sort of ok but are all splotchy looking.

How can I take a quality snapshot of smax? It might work if I can figure out how to get smax in a "window", looking around for that option .. don't think there is one (?). (I know about hitting the flag thing on the keyboard thing).

Any advice or freeware out there?

Thanks

Chowlett · May 24, 2002, 19:36

Flag thing on the keyboard thing? Oh - the windows key.

Anyway - sorry, SMAX won't run in a window. And the only way I know to get screenshots is to hit the Print Screen key, which will take a bitmap image onto the clipboard - but I don't know if it works from within SMAC, and what you have written suggests that either it doesn't, or you've tried and got low-quality images.

Mongoose · May 24, 2002, 20:25

I have recently been expeimenting with this. For the first time, I might add. In fact, what I know about paint programs would rattle around if placed inside a small thimble. But...

I found that if I take the screenie while in SMAX, then close the game and open the paint program, what I paste in is a mess...splotchy and all garbled looking. OTOH, if I hit the windows button and open the paint program while still in SMAX, the pasted image is as clear as the screen in the game.

Try that, maybe.

Chaunk · May 24, 2002, 21:15

I have psp7, which I think is similar... try Colors > Increase color depth > 16 million colors. That should eliminate the SMAC palette, which can cause things to look ugly.

jimbob · May 25, 2002, 00:44

Flag thing .. windows key .. wavy 4 way window pane chasing after a bunch of dots .. whatever it's called. Looks like a flag thing to me.

Thanks Chowlett .. that worked. I been trying this off and on for over a year now, asked in this group before.. in other groups. Finally .... an answer.

Thanks so much.

Quote:

Originally posted by Chowlett
Flag thing on the keyboard thing? Oh - the windows key.

Anyway - sorry, SMAX won't run in a window. And the only way I know to get screenshots is to hit the Print Screen key, which will take a bitmap image onto the clipboard - but I don't know if it works from within SMAC, and what you have written suggests that either it doesn't, or you've tried and got low-quality images.

gwillybj · May 26, 2002, 03:13

This is how I do it in Paint Shop Pro:

Open "palette.pcx" from the SMAC main folder.
Click Colors>Save Palette. Choose a destination folder (better if it's not the SMAC folder), enter a name for the file (don't type the .pal extension) and save it with the default file type option as long as it is ".pal" ("PAL - JASC Palette" is what I see).
Open your graphics that you intend to paste into the .pcx file you are editing. Make sure they are the final size before you do the next step (explained below).
Click Colors>Load Palette. Click Error Diffusion, then locate and apply the .pal file you created from palette.pcx. The result might be fantastic, acceptable, terrible, or horrendous, depending on how close the original colors are to the 256-color SMAC palette. Reducing the color depth first usually results in a blotchy conversion. Do what works for you!
Paste the result into its proper location and save the edited file with the correct faction name. I always re-apply the SMAC palette before saving. I don't think it matters; I just do it anyway.

The reason for resizing the image first is to take advantage of the higher color depth. This is especially true with the faction leader images. Save the full-size original and make each of the four needed sizes separately.
Be sure to un-check "Maintain Aspect Ratio". As long as your original has a height-to-width ratio close to 6:5, the distortion will be minimal. The landscape is close enough to 1:2 to work just fine. The logo seems to work best if it is 1:1.

These are the steps I've used to make a couple dozen passable sets of faction files for myself. My faction leader and logo images are borrowed .bmps, .gifs, .jpgs, etc., from several web sites and newsgroups.

edit: For screenshots, I just press Print Screen.
Open PSP, Ctrl-V for a new image, apply the SMAC palette, Save As in whatever format is needed (.bmp, .gif, .jpg, .pcx). Sometimes it requires increasing the color depth, but that's fine, just accept the new depth but don't edit the palette. Remember SMAC/X is displayed with only 256 colors. You aren't going to see any photo-realistic images.