THE THIRD DIMENSION ATARI ST to PC to AMIGA file compatability between different versions of 3D Construction kit 1 and 2. The latest news up to date as of December 1995 is- Quick view compatability table- ATARI Compatible with -------------- PC AMIGA KIT 1 DATAFILE yes accepts .DAT and .KIT files yes KIT 1 OBJECTS no yes KIT 1 SAMPLE n/a yes KIT 1 BORDERS yes accepts .LBM yes accepts .IFF KIT 2 DATAFILES no yes KIT 2 AREAS no yes KIT 2 OBJECTS no yes KIT 2 SAMPLES no yes KIT 2 BRUSHES/ANIMS yes yes KIT 2 BORDERS yes yes TEXTFILES yes yes AMIGA Compatible with- -------------- ATARI PC Computers KIT 1 DATAFILE yes yes if loaded then saved by Atari KIT 1 OBJECTS yes no KIT 1 SAMPLE yes n/a KIT 1 BORDERS yes yes KIT 2 DATAFILES yes if saved on IBM disks no KIT 2 AREAS yes no KIT 2 OBJECTS yes no KIT 2 SAMPLES yes n/a KIT 2 BRUSHES/ANIMS yes yes KIT 2 BORDERS yes yes TEXTFILES yes yes PC COMPUTERS Compatible with- ------------ ATARI AMIGA KIT 1 DATAFILE yes yes if loaded then saved by Atari KIT 1 OBJECTS no no KIT 1 SAMPLE n/a n/a KIT 1 BORDERS yes via screen grabbers yes .IFF KIT 2 DATAFILES no no KIT 2 AREAS no no KIT 2 OBJECTS no no KIT 2 SAMPLES n/a n/a KIT 2 BRUSHES/ANIMS yes yes KIT 2 BORDERS yes via screen grabbers yes .IFF TEXTFILES yes yes Notes-Text must be in ASCII format for all computers. The Atari can now convert Atari borders to Amiga/PC IFF/LBM format and vice versa. The AMIGA can read ATARI ST sound samples and borders in 3DKit 1 and 2 without having to change extensions. The AMIGA can read 3DKit1 and 2 datafiles, objects and areas. As far as the 3DKit program versions are concerned, the AMIGA is fully compatible with the ATARI ST. The AMIGA cannot read PC 3DKit 1 datafiles and objects, but if they are first loaded into the ATARI ST 3dKit 1 program and then saved again as ATARI-files, then the AMIGA can also read the ATARI-files again!!!!! So 3DKit 1 datafiles and objects are indirectly compatible with all three computers. The AMIGA cannot read PC 3DKit 2 datafiles, objects or areas. The AMIGA can read NEO and DEGAS border pictures directly in 3DKit 1 and 2. If you want to convert these borders on the AMIGA into .iff files just start 3DKit1, load a NEO border for instance, set a very small view window, colour area 1 completely black, go into Test Mode and press F2. A file- selector pops up asking you to save your screen. Click in the file-box and change the extension to .iff. Press Enter and click on ok. In this way you can save all the NEO and DEGAS borders into .iff format. I converted the ATARI borders in this way and you will find them on the disk of this month. For 3DKit 2 users: Use a Screen Grabber to grab the particular border and save it as an .iff screen. This could be convenient as you are now able to load them into an AMIGA art package to find out the red, green and blue colour value numbers, so that you can have the same colours in your areas as in your border. I loaded the .iff borders into DPaint II E on the PC by renaming them into .lbm format and saved them again to make them also suitable for use on the PC. The PC cannot read 3DKit 2 AMIGA datafiles, objects or areas. The PC can read AMIGA 3DKit 1 datafiles and objects. The ATARI ST can read PC 3DKit 1 datafiles and objects and .iff borders from the Amiga. AMIGA So far we have found that the Amiga can accept Atari kit 2 areas,kit 2 data,kit 2 objects,Atari borders in PI1 ( Degas picture format )kit 1 data and Ascii ( text ) files.Also PC kit 1 data and LBM picture files. PC computers The information that i have so far is that the PC can accept Atari kit 1 data files,Ascii files and some Atari picture files ( NEO format ).I dont know about Amiga compatability or sound samples yet but Mieke has managed to convert Amiga files to the PC. ATARI The Atari can accept PC kit 1 data files,Ascii files and some PC and Amiga picture files. Many thanks go to Mieke and Nigel Alefounder for helping me to gain these results through constant disk swapping of files between the two of them with myself...Tony PC COLOUR COMPATIBILITY OF 3DKIT1 FILES --------------------------------------- I have discovered that all PC Kit1 datafiles, whether they are in CGA, EGA or VGA(MCGA) colour mode, can be loaded in each colour mode. So if you want to load a CGA datafile in Kit1 in EGA colour mode or even in VGA colour mode, this is truly possible. An EGA datafile can be loaded in CGA and VGA colour mode. A VGA datafile can be loaded in CGA and EGA colour mode. So EVERY DATAFILE made in Kit1 PC can be used in ALL THREE COLOUR MODES. Of course you will end up with different colours because CGA has only four true colours with 16 colour shades. EGA has 16 true colours (the amount of shades are not known to me because my EGA PC version refuses to install). So adjusting colours will be necessary. But you can play games or demos etc as long as they are in datafile format. Tony and Mieke.