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But, before I potentially waste my time coding something that already exists, would there be something out there to streamline the creation of meta texture patches (that's patches made up of many smaller mod patches) so as not to fail my somewhat simple standards for a "good patch"?
Following is my idea for such a program:
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I want to write a program that will:
1. Sort through two archives (either zip or jar) or two directories with extracted files containing png images (mod assets in one and a matching texture patch for the other)
2. Compare the dimensions of two images with same name and relative file path
3. Determine whether the two images are consistently sized based on a desired scale of size from default (that's from 512x down to 16x at a new power of 2 each step)
4. Form a table of the patch's images, their file paths, their dimensions, and their scale compared to the matching default image of each
5. Allow the user to select one or several images of the patch to view or start resizing
6. Use a user-specified interpolation method (Linear, Cubic, or None) to achieve the correct size he also specifies while preserving as much image quality as he wants
7. Loop through his selections automatically until all are resized
8. Place the resized images within a third directory with the proper file paths to match those in the defined mod assets folder
9. It must also weed out those images even smaller than the default assets being checked and also warn the user, upon using this program to upscale an image, would reduce the image's quality with use in such a fashion
1. Sort through two archives (either zip or jar) or two directories with extracted files containing png images (mod assets in one and a matching texture patch for the other)
2. Compare the dimensions of two images with same name and relative file path
3. Determine whether the two images are consistently sized based on a desired scale of size from default (that's from 512x down to 16x at a new power of 2 each step)
4. Form a table of the patch's images, their file paths, their dimensions, and their scale compared to the matching default image of each
5. Allow the user to select one or several images of the patch to view or start resizing
6. Use a user-specified interpolation method (Linear, Cubic, or None) to achieve the correct size he also specifies while preserving as much image quality as he wants
7. Loop through his selections automatically until all are resized
8. Place the resized images within a third directory with the proper file paths to match those in the defined mod assets folder
9. It must also weed out those images even smaller than the default assets being checked and also warn the user, upon using this program to upscale an image, would reduce the image's quality with use in such a fashion
My plan is to write this program using Java, due to Minecraft's use of jar archives sometimes for handling mods and mod assets; however, I'm unsure this would be necessary for dealing with jar archives. Also, my initial plan is to start with only a single mod patch and one matching mod at a time until I can find out how to analyze whole installations of Minecraft and collection of patches to match all mods at once.
Also, I'd like to know if there's a program already on the internet (for free) that can do most of the things mentioned above already; to either reference their code or use the tool myself. I'm just tired of having to use a combination of Windows Explorer, WinRar, a GIMP plugin (or other batch resizer), and hours of my time and concentration to manage the immense meta patches I want in order to make my game look pretty, and consistently so.
If only I could have a program scan all the image files for flaws on my behalf and display, graphically, the ones without flaws so I may further process them. No fear that vanilla textures will pass by unnoticed. No risk of downscaling an image to less than the vanilla assets. No worry that GUIs will be downscaled too soon because we'll be able to catch them early enough on the way down a generated list.
Would this be a pipe dream? Would you be interested in seeing such a tool? Would you help me make this tool? Is this not the holy grail our community has searched for in vain?!
...*clearsthroat* I digress.
Thanks for reading.