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JCSM Shareware Collection 1996 September
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JCSM Shareware Collection (JCS Distribution) (September 1996).ISO
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mvpp24.zip
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WHATSNEW
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1996-01-20
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New Features in Version 2.4
---------------------------
The following is a list of features added for version 2.4 of MVP
Paint.
New Features:
-Directory traversing when loading files
-Fastgraph (c) fonts now loadable
-Text/Font Loading now merged, colors changeable within
-Merge/Blend option to overlay images with translucency
-Brighten/Darken routines
-Image Smoothing
-Image Contrasting (Sharpen or Blur)
-Windows bitmap file support (.BMP)
-3D developers file format support (.VGR) (rotated .VGA image)
-New menu with more logical function groupings
-Parameter passing refined; easier to use
-Color fill & replace can use saved images as patterns
-Palette matching for merge, fill and replace routines (if
applicable)
-Tile viewing
Bug Fixes, Routine Changes:
-Random pixel replacement fixed
-Anti-aliasing lockup fixed
-Text color 0 (or too dark) now usable
-Outlining in zoomed mode doesn't leave stray boundaries
-Phase/Sunburst features always allow up to 99 colors
New Feature Descriptions
------------------------
Directory traversing when loading files
---------------------------------------
Directory names and ".." for changing directories while working in
MVP Paint. This feature is available in the file load screens for
all file types except animation. For image files, this feature will
leave you in the directory from which you loaded the file. This
will ensure that a future save will be placed in the same directory.
When loading a PAL file or merging a VGA file into an existing one,
you can load from other directories, but the current directory
remains the same. When loading a CHR file (this is a font file),
the routine is the same as with palette files except that instead of
starting in the current directory, MVP Paint first looks in the MVP
Paint directory. This encourages you to load font files in the MVP
directory and not have to copy them anywhere else! For loading
animation files, you must change to the directory containing the AF
file and run MVP Paint.
Merge/Blend option to overlay images with translucency
------------------------------------------------------
Similar to "Merge File" in that you can use this to merge an image
into the current work image. Pixels equal to color 0 in the merged
image will not be written. The big difference is that instead of
using a flat overwrite of pixels from the source to target image, an
approximation pixel is overwritten instead. The approximation pixel
is calculated by the percentage of the background image you chose to
keep. The higher the percentage, the more transparent the resulting
image. The approximation resorts to the target images' palette. If
the source image has no palette, it is assumed that its palette is
the same as the target. This feature can be used to create some
really nice special effects! Note: as with the Merge feature, this
feature only allows importation of 320x200 or less .VGA files.
Brighten/Darken routines
------------------------
You can brighten or darken the entire image, a rectangular region,
or a line within the image. If you select to modify the whole
image, then the palette is simply modified by the amount you chose.
For example, if you chose to brighten by 8, all RGB components of
the palette are incremented by 8. If you choose a rectangular region
or line, all of the selected pixels are brightened or darkened by
seeking the closest approximation to the current pixel increased or
decreased by the appropriate amount. For example, color 0, which
usually has RGB components of 0,0,0 will be mapped to the color that
is the closest fit to RGB components of 8,8,8 (If you chose to
brighten by 8).
Image Smoothing
---------------
You can smooth an image using either one of nine available smoothing
methods or a customized version. You can smooth either the whole
image, the side edges, the top and bottom edges, or all four edges.
You can also select the edge depth and whether or not pixels wrap
around to the other side of the image to compute new values. This
last feature is of particular use if you are working on tiled
images. The main feature of this routine consists of a 9x9 grid
with coordinate 5x5 being the center. This central pixel
corresponds to the pixel to be modified, and the values within the
grid refer to the 'weights' given each relative pixel in the outcome
pixel. Therefore, if you put a 1 in grid location 5,5, and a 0 in
all other grid locations, there will be no change to your image.
Try loading several smoothing settings and you will see how various
weights effect outcome.
Image Contrasting (Sharpen or Blur)
-----------------------------------
Instead of blending pixels for a smoother image, which can be done
with image smoothing, image contrasting, or sharpening, focuses on
the images palette. You can choose to make colors within the
palette more divergent or convergent. The former will result in a
crisper, sharper image while the latter will seemingly blur or
"gray" the image out. After choosing this option, you must select a
divergence factor. Values less than one result in image blurring
while values greater than one will sharpen the image. You can also
choose to sharpen all of the Red, Green or Blue components at once
or separately. Most often, you will just want to sharpen the image
in general. But if, for example, you want to bring out the red in
the image and make it a little stronger, you can choose to just
sharpen reds. Like image smoothing, this feature is most useful
with digitized images.
Windows bitmap file support (.BMP)
----------------------------------
Now all files can be loaded and saved in the Windows 3.0 and 3.1
uncompressed bitmap (with palette) file format. EGA bitmaps are not
importable.
3D developers file format support (.VGR) (rotated .VGA image)
-------------------------------------------------------------
If you are developing a 3D game ingine, you might want to avoid the
process of having to rotate all of your .VGA images at runtime.
This feature saves and loads images that are the same as .VGA images
with three exceptions. First, the image is rotated 90 degrees,
therefore the top of the new image is now what had been the right
side. 3D developers, you'll know why this is necessary! Second,
for useful purposes, the image size is limited to 200x200. You
shouldn't need a 3D bitmapped image larger than that! Third, no
palettes are saved with VGR images.
New menu with more logical function groupings
---------------------------------------------
To improve the logic of using the menu, and to make room for new
features, several changes have been made to the menu. Most
noticeable will be the new Text and Fx icon buttons. Other features
have been regrouped with other routines that are similar in nature.
Parameter passing refined; easier to use
----------------------------------------
The parameter passing feature of MVP Paint no longer requires that a
prefix be used for filenames. File extensions can be ignored if
only one parameter is being passed and that is the name of an image.
MVP Paint will look for the file using the following criteria:
VGA-> PCX -> GIF -> BMP -> VGR
For example, if you type "MVPPAINT ROSE", and there are files called
ROSE.PCX and ROSE.BMP in the current directory, ROSE.PCX will be
loaded. If you type "MVPPAINT ROSE.BMP" then ROSE.BMP will be
loaded. To specify palettes, you must use the file extension. For
example, "MVPPAINT MYPAL.PAL" will load the palette called MYPAL in
the current directory. If you type "MVPPAINT ROSE MYPAL.PAL", MVP
Paint will load the ROSE.PCX image, and then load the palette next.
Color Fill & Replace can use saved images as patterns
-----------------------------------------------------
The fill and replace routines now allow you to specify a saved image
instead of performing a single color fill. By choosing "PATTERN"
instead of "COLOR", you will have the opportunity to choose a .VGA
file from the disk drive. After doing so, the routines will perform
their appropriate functions, but instead of writing a single color,
they will write pixels from the image that you specified.
Palette matching for merge, fill and replace routines (if applicable)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Often, saved images will have different palettes than the image you
are currently working on. If you attempt to merge an image with its
own palette, MVP Paint will now ask you if you want to try to match
the incorporated image to the current palette.
Tile viewing
------------
When working on wall or floor tiles for game development, you might
find it useful to see if the edges match up, as well as what the
overall layout would look like. This feature lets you view your
image with tiles of the same image all around it if it is smaller
than 160 x 100. For SVGA images, you can view the image in a SVGA
mode if this is the Professional version of MVP Paint. This option
can be called through the menu or invoked using the Alt-V macro.