@general-cade-smart, on 21 October 2012 - 02:06 PM, said in Stronger version of Deliver Kestrel Parts Kestrel:

System 7.5 has no built-in way of cropping the Kestrel from the PICT.

I believe Graphic Converter worked with 7.5, but I'd be surprised if you could find an old version of it still floating around.

@general-cade-smart, on 21 October 2012 - 02:06 PM, said in Stronger version of Deliver Kestrel Parts Kestrel:

Even if there was a program with a crop feature, I don't know how to make the picture actually be usable in EV. Would I need to save the Kestrel as a PICT? And how do I do that? And then after that, what do I do? Can I just copy & paste the Kestrel as a PICT to my plug-in?

IIRC, yes, exactly that. Although... I'm not sure how many programs exist today that really use pict (for windows I think it'd be '.pct'), but GIMP or Photoshop are the best bet for modern-day programs. Do the work and then save-as to .pict/.pct.

@general-cade-smart, on 21 October 2012 - 02:06 PM, said in Stronger version of Deliver Kestrel Parts Kestrel:

As for scaling down, I have no idea how to do that. You would have to tell me how, in as easy to understand language as possible. Besides, I am not sure what I am supposed to do when scaling. Paint has a feature where you can change the width and height of a picture. Would it work like that?

It's usually "Image/Scale..." or "tools/Scale" or something. For crop, it's usually "Image/Crop" or "tools/crop...". Both are usually extremely basic tools; pick your scale value for scale (sometimes with a drop-down that can convert percentages to pixels or other units, which you would prefer), use the rectangle select tool and hit crop for crop (Sometimes crop needs a selection first, sometimes not; if it does, it'll complain that there is no selection).

Here's something that might work: copy the 100x100 picture to the clipboard, and then paste it onto a file in the Finder, as a custom icon. Since icons in System 7 are 32x32, it'll get scaled down to the size you want, and you can then copy it again and paste the result back into ResEdit. It probably won't be scaled as elegantly as Photoshop would do it, but it might be good enough.

OK, I found GraphicConverter! There was a link to the downloads page for Lemkesoft in Macintosh Garden. I found a 68k version, version 4.1.

I didn't know it was avaible myself until I looked at the link.

I managed to... umm... select the Kestrel with the rectangular select. I dragged a selection around the Kestrel and made a new image which I then pasted the picture to. However, the picture is four pixels too small. It's 32x28, when it should be 32x32.

I think it's not possible to select in a way that would give me a 32x32 picture. To select with the precision of a pixel.

Does it matter that the picture is four pixels too small? Picture is here: https://skydrive.liv...61AE866B274!289

I also did not find any cropping or scaling option in GraphicConverter. Here are two pictures that show the menus.

Edit menu: https://skydrive.liv...61AE866B274!287
Picture menu: https://skydrive.liv...61AE866B274!288

Otherwise, the Shipyard picture is done. The 32x32 one. I guess I could try what the 32x28 picture looks in the game.

My plug-in is otherwise ready for release. I just need to compress it with StuffIt Deluxe 5.5 (got that from Macintosh Garden) and to write a readme.

I didn't know it was so hard to make a ship that already is in the game (is without plugins) work when the plug-in replaces it. I have learned a lot, like, how to make a ship have a name. I haven't used STRs before.

Edit: The program said I had used it 2420 days when I opened it for the first time. Do I need to contact Lemkesoft so I can get a program with a fair amount of time to use it, like 30 days? So I can try the program without having to wait 30 seconds.

Edit2: to use it added.

This post has been edited by General Cade Smart : 31 October 2012 - 12:50 PM

I wasn't aware the company making GC still existed, so I don't know about that at all. For your use, you're probably fine; open-source options exist for modern machines that do everything I used GC for and more.

You can probably add those 4 pixel-widths back in; they should be all black. Otherwise, it probably won't matter.

@meaker-vi, on 01 November 2012 - 10:53 AM, said in Stronger version of Deliver Kestrel Parts Kestrel:

I wasn't aware the company making GC still existed, so I don't know about that at all. For your use, you're probably fine; open-source options exist for modern machines that do everything I used GC for and more.

You can probably add those 4 pixel-widths back in; they should be all black. Otherwise, it probably won't matter.

I looked at the support options they offer. They offer Support Inquiry (program use, installation, etc.) and general inquiry. I'll try the support inquiry I think. Or is it general inquiry? Gah. I don't know which to choose. They also offer a user forum, maybe I could ask there which support option to choose?

Oh, and I tried the 32x28 icon in EV already; it's otherwise fine, but the wing looks broken. The second one. Here is a picture: https://skydrive.liv...61AE866B274!290

I tried the copy the 100x100 picture thing too. It worked fine but adds two Lightnings as very small in the picture, so it is not identical to the Kestrel shipyard picture.

How can I add those pixels back in? Do I simply select from the original picture (PICT ID 5100) again and then copy from that picture to the picture I already have? The picture I already have contains the Kestrel icon, the 32x28 one. I don't know how to add those pixels when the picture does not have already have them.

Also, I just noticed: The PICT ID 1500 has 2 Kestrels. One of those must be the Atinoda model. I guess Atinodas is the upper one.

As for all being black... what do you mean? Do you mean the pixels that are missing from the wing? Because the background is also black. And I'd say the black in the Kestrel is more like grey.

One more thing: With the ship with a broken wing as shipyard picture, EV takes slightly more time to quit. I saw the emulator window turning black when I pressed Quit EV. After that, immediately the desktop. With the 100x100 picture as the shipyard picture, EV quits instantly.

This post has been edited by General Cade Smart : 03 November 2012 - 11:20 AM

If your PICT is 32x28, then you didn’t copy the entire icon from the PICT that includes all the ships. You need 32x32 pixels, the last few of which may consist entirely of black background.

I tried again to select the icon for the Kestrel. I selected more exactly. I got pictures that were 31x33 and 33x31. One of them was fine otherwise, but had a gray dot. One of them was something I couldn't find anything wrong in.

Here is a picture: https://skydrive.liv...61AE866B274!292

I think my plug-in is ready for release.

Or can anyone find anything wrong with the icon for the Kestrel (not Kestrel Plus) in the picture I linked to? I also call that shipyard picture.