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Ruthrelad

Member Since 24 May 2015
Offline Last Active Jul 20 2021 12:43 AM

Topics I've Started

How to make a parchment style minim-map (for real)?

20 April 2021 - 11:36 AM

Hello, I am trying to recreate the EA style and make a parchment-like mini-map for some maps I am working on and am having no luck. This is a result I am looking for:
Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

 

There's an old tutorial on this topic but I found that it isn't insightful and leads to poor outcomes. Firstly, I had to ignore the part about flipping the image vertically since in-game I didn't need a flipped image (don't know why the author chose to include this step). This is the outcome of following that tutorial:

Map selection screen:
Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

 

Map loading screen:

Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

 

If I refrained from inverting the colors this is the outcome (similar with blue and brown being reversed roles):

Map selection screen:
Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

Map loading screen:
Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

Now I think I am on to something because the alpha channel does register in the game and there is some sort of texture that's visible under it. I just have to figure out have to do this correctly and I think I'll get it right.

There's an opacity option for the transparency channel but no matter what value I put there the outcome doesn't change. I tried changing transparency of the image before pasting it into the alpha channel but the outcome wasn't good either:

Map selection screen:
Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

Map loading screen:
Most-EA-Strategy-Games-Screenshot-2021-0

I feel like I am close to solving this riddle but I can't get my head around how example this alpha channel works and how it functions in conjunction with the game. Maybe this has something to do with the bits or the compression of the file when saving it?