Ars magica 2

[Novamanga]

Sillyman some of the texture files you have at 128x are extremely large ie staff_magitech is 60kb. If I open this with my software and resave it, it is now 6kb. There are quite a few textures like this.

This may be similar to what GadZuqs did in the magical crop pack. HanFox said it had something to do with not selecting flattened PNG in your save options. This is making the patch file a lot larger than it needs to be.

[Sillyman34]

Aaaaah, i see. I will fix for next update, as I have no computer. I am speaking on iPad :/

[Eunomiac]

A few things you might like to throw in for your next update:

• I fixed my mana/burnout guis --- they now fill the gauges properly, without bleeding over the edges.
• The "Rift" gui was a few rows too small; a fixed version is in the zip.
• I also made another attempt at Chimerite Block --- I added a static border that doesn't shimmer, and toned the colors down a bit. It looks REALLY nice in game, especially on top of a Dark Nexus, so I invite you to check it out!

AM2 128x Fixes & Extras Patch.zip

[Beckyk563]

I didn't see that the inscription table was completed yet, so I thought I'd run it past you guys. I started it about 6 months ago, got frustrated, worked on it yesterday, got frustrated. I just can't get all the parts to line up (or figure out where the model is reading all the sections from). Guh, so irritating.

Anyway, if anyone wants to build off of what I have painstakingly put together, please do. I only have gimp, so I've uploaded my gimp file (that has many, many, many layers - honestly, it's a mess). Oh, and I'm pretty sure I got it to be 128x...



It's hard to tell from this, but it does look decent in game (just don't look toooooo closely).

Inscription Table xcf

Inscription Table png

[lifeseeker128]

I didn't see that the inscription table was completed yet, so I thought I'd run it past you guys. I started it about 6 months ago, got frustrated, worked on it yesterday, got frustrated. I just can't get all the parts to line up (or figure out where the model is reading all the sections from). Guh, so irritating.

*nom,nom*

Tip for finding alignment of multiple stitched textures: use the default textures for reference and upscale it to intended master resolution (usually 512 or 128) but upscale it without any filtering to get a larger pixel map without blurred edges. I find that I can usually trust default textures to be aligned correctly, so using them as a reference helps align your textures better in most cases. I'd stick the default in a layer behind your current work and delete it from the image after finishing alignment of the elements.

Any misalignment in game can be corrected with a detailed look at the texture in game while adjusting them in GIMP or w/e. I don't know if Ars Margica is different in how it handles texture alignment, but it should be only as complicated as how people fixed texture alignment in days before 1.5 unstitched them.

It's always a process; isn't it? :/

[Beckyk563]

So, I did do the upscaling (I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without it ), but I definitely have the blurred edges, which were preventing me from getting a perfect handle on where things started and ended. (You can see some of the blurred edges on the image, but they don't show on the in-game texture.) I didn't purposely do any filtering when I was upscaling, so how do I upscale without blurring? I thought blurring just came with the process...

And yeah, I was doing a lot of back-and-forthing - gimp in one window, minecraft in another. I had also taken to painting arrows on parts of the texture just to figure out where the part was and in what direction it was facing. I'll give it another go this morning while I'm feeling fresh.

Edit: Nevermind, I figured it out (I actually looked through your signature... -_-! )! And now I understand what you mean by filtering. Now I'll work on transferring my image and seeing how much more sense it makes. Thanks for the help!

[lifeseeker128]

@Beckyk563 No problem. What I was referring to was the scaling quality or interpolation. I usually go with linear for downscaling but nothing for upscaling. Otherwise, the quality of the image when downscaling again drops severely and those using higher resolutions than what's available can still experience the same detail available at the lower level without drop off. It's generally suggested to use cubic for upscaling complete textures, but in this case, it's better to use no filter on reference textures so you can find where some textures end and others begin more easily. Just one of those tricks I've come up with to cope where master textures aren't available or I need a reference texture larger than default 16x.

[Sillyman34]

Well Beckyk, if you are able to get me the full copy of that table I'll make sure i add it in the next update.

[Beckyk563]

snip

That really does make it a lot easier! Thanks very much for your help (wish I had known this months ago )!

My inscription table is all fixed up, and I believe everything matches now. (I also randomly did the keystone chest.)

Inscription Table png

Keystone Chest png

Edit: Whoops, had to fix the candles! Now, it should be done.

[Sillyman34]

Thanks for both of them! I'll make sure to add them, very good job!