Topic: Screenshot Autostitcher

[Maxim]

I didn't try making any other systems' maps yet, I'm a Sega fanboy I guess. This tool was only created because I saw that menu item in Gens KMod.



If you find one that can record to (lossless) AVI then you can use that as an intermediate phase, and save the bitmaps out from Virtualdub or similar.



I'd be interested to hear about other emulators that work this way. It's normally a really easy mod to add support for it.

[Special T]

Thanks for the tip RT 55J, what do you normally save them as PNG?



Maxim, Honestly I'm a sega fan boy too, I would like to map all the phantasy star / shining force games!!!!



If I find any other emulators that support this function I'll let you know. Thanks for your help!

[DarkWolf]

Feel free to finish the Phantasy Star II set I started for this site.  I probably won't get around to finishing it.



Also nothing wrong with being a Sega fanboy, it will help balance out some of the Nintendo fanboys here.  

[Special T]

Thanks I'm planning on doing all the phantasy star games so I'll definately finish it up!

[Special T]

This first map I made, I turned off the character sprite instead of making a mask. When I tried to make a mask (only black and white pixels) and load it into the autostitcher it freezes. Any ideas what's going on?



Also why does your program only except .bmp files should it except a lossless image type such as .png or.tiff?

[Special T]

Well good news I have completed 8 town maps for Phantasy Star for the Master System. I could go faster but I'm actually playing the game too so it's taking longer than expected. I'll upload them here once I'm done!



If anyone can answer the above questions in my previous post, please do because I'm interested in hearing the answers. Thank everyone for your help!

[TerraEsperZ]

You'll have to ask Maxim about the possibility of saving in a different format, since it will no doubt involve additional coding that he might/might not be willing to do.



As for the PNG format, you don't have to worry as it is lossless as well. Personally, it's my favourite format because it's widely used and close to the best file size you can theoritically get for a lossless format (though you might have to fiddle with programs like PNGGauntlet to achieve the best result since there are no optimal settings that will achieve the smallest size for all PNGs; it's pretty much a case of trial-and-error).



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



Current projects: Mega Man V (GB), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)

[Special T]

Thanks for the response.



I'll upload all the maps once I've completed the whole game.

[Maxim]

I've been away for a few weeks, hence slow to respond.



1. Masks seem a bit funny, changing colour depth seems to help. I'll fix it if I get a chance.



2. It only accepts BMP because that's quick and easy to handle. I could add in a PNG library with a little effort. Since you'd have to PNG-optimise anyway (no general purpose program can hope to compress as well as PNGOut, for example), saving as BMP shouldn't matter.



PNG conversion should be lossless, unless you use some screwy software to do it.

[TerraEsperZ]

After reading the release notes of the retranslation, I noticed that you actually worked on it Don't hesitate to plug your own work when it's quality stuff like that!



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



Current projects: Mega Man V (GB), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES), Sonic CD (Sega CD)

[Special T]

Maxim Said:

I've been away for a few weeks, hence slow to respond.



1. Masks seem a bit funny, changing colour depth seems to help. I'll fix it if I get a chance.



2. It only accepts BMP because that's quick and easy to handle. I could add in a PNG library with a little effort. Since you'd have to PNG-optimise anyway (no general purpose program can hope to compress as well as PNGOut, for example), saving as BMP shouldn't matter.



PNG conversion should be lossless, unless you use some screwy software to do it.



I hope you're playing through the Phantasy Star retranslation, by the way. The maps are unaltered.

Wow I didn't realize you work on that project... and sadly I already started the original game which I must say is rather bland.



As soon as I finish playing the original game I'll give the retranslation a try since it seems as though the story has been flushed out.



Thanks for your hard work on the autostitcher and the retranslation.

[Maxim]

Savegames should be directly compatible between all versions of the game.

[Special T]

Thanks for the info, but I still think I'll wait and replay the whole retranslated game from the beginning.



I'm sure it will be more enjoyable playing your version from start to finish.

[Special T]

One last question as I'm almost done with the game.



I was trying to create a world map of the 3 planets, I know they are already available and can easily be downloaded but I just wanted to know this for future reference.



The water moves so when I take a screen shot of every frame the autostitcher isn't able to piece the map together like it normally would. Is their anyway I can make the on screen graphics freeze while I'm walking around the planet?

[RT 55J]

You could try finding out how many frames the animation is and let the emulator take a snapshot every interval.



Alternatively, you could splice the screenshots together by hand. It isn't that hard.

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Dot? Dot. Dot!