European Air War - The Gen

Here's a silly question I should have got straight in my head a while agao.

How does the game use bitmap skins? What resolution do the files have to be?

Take a look in the B26 multiskin folder of the Aircraft_Inventory and the naming convention becomes clear. You need an empty tpc file with the same name as the bmp file.

Also, the BMP's are 512 x 512.

Thanks, How do they handle transparency? Is there a tra bitmap file?

No tra file is necessary. The pink color with the parameters R-252, G-0, B-252 is transparent.

When doing BMP skins the keystone color (for transparencies) is black. That is why the Fortress I had a green cockpit and nose because the tex.tpc first used was from the 8-bit tex.tpc (lime green keystone). I reloaded the skins with specific bmp and 8-bit 256 folders with the correct black keystone for the BMP HR version. The .tra file is based upon the resolution chosen (that's why it took me so long to release finished skins, I couldn't convert tra.pcx to tra.tpc. If doing 512s you need to raise the .tra from 256x256 to 512x512 save and then make tpcs. If you don't have the correct rez the skin will crash.

Mike, we've had this discussion before.

I found that the usual pink color with the R-252, G-0, B-252 also works.

I don't know why but, empirically speaking, I know it works since the B26 miltiskin set I made uses that color for transparencies.

When painting 8-bit 256 color skins the keystone color is located in the first position top left of the pallet. It can be any color you choose. Pink, lime green, even white. The color you use is up to you.

Pretty much all of the .bmp unit skins are mine and all have a black keystone regardless of 8-bit or 512s in size. The color was set into code by Gibbons et al. All of the base 8-bit skins have a variety of keystones. The color depended upon the author. The original skins used lime green and as modding evolved new palettes were created leading to the varity of keystones.

I can’t create a model but I can paint them and know what I am talking about. If you look back at the posts about making 512 24-bit skins you will see this.