Re: Images -- file format, filename convention, etc.
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:56 am
So, before we all start editing away, one issue that we should start early on is the images. Mainly, the file format (.gif, .png, etc.) as well as their filename conventions (like T1-I-001.gif). We had a lot of debate over this before, so now is a good time to decide on images and such.
First -- the file format. Some people, in the past, wanted to use GIFs for transparent images (like Denjuu and items) because IE6 had a serious bug where it had this ugly light gray background instead. However, PNGs are more efficient, can have more than 256 colors (which might be suitable depending on the situation), and have translucency, although they lack animation. Does anybody even use IE6 anymore, though? I sure hope not. We're in the year 2011, and IE6 was released in 2001 -- about 10 years ago. It's horribly outdated, has lots of rendering bugs, and security issues. Hell, it was outdated even in 2006. We have different choices of browsers now -- like Firefox, Opera, Chrome, or Safari, or if you still insist on using Internet Explorer, there's nothing stopping you from upgrading to IE8, and IE9 is supposed to come out soon if you don't have XP.
Besides that, I've also heard of APNG for animated PNGs -- but only a few browsers support it, and it has some problems, so I personally don't recommend it, but it's possible that some people will disagree with me.
Personally I think we should use PNGs for pretty much everything, unless we need to make animated images for whatever reason (like moves or scenes where Denjuu evolve, etc.), in case we should use GIF. What do you all think?
Second -- the filename conventions. Are you ready for this?
The Denjuu
Currently, we have:
T1-###.gif - Telefang 1 main Denjuu sprite
T1-###-I.gif - Animated Telefang 1 walking sprite
T1-###-IS.gif - Non-animated Telefang 1 walking sprite
T2-###-F.gif - Telefang 2 front sprite (normal)
T2-###-FA.gif - Telefang 2 front sprite (attacking)
T2-###-B.gif - Telefang 2 back sprite (normal)
T2-###-BA.gif - Telefang 2 back sprite (attacking)
T2-###-I.gif - Animated Telefang 2 walking sprite
(Is there a non-animated version at all?)
Personally, I'm fine with these; they're pretty straightforward, although if it's not too cumbersome, maybe make the non-animated sprites as PNGs instead.
The items
Oh boy. This one bothers me. Currently we have:
T1-I-##.gif - Telefang 1 large item icon (## corresponds to index number in decimal)
T1-I-##-I.gif - Telefang 1 small item icon
T2-I-###.gif - Telefang 2 large item icon
(Did anybody ever rip the item icons from Telefang 2?)
I dislike this format because it uses index numbers, and most people will get confused by them unless they have hacked the games before. It's different from Denjuu, where the picture book numbers are displayed prominently, where in that case the numbers were easy to deal with. But here... the English names should be used instead. This is partly my fault, as I uploaded them all here with the naming convention here, without realizing that this would be a bad idea. Then Krypto or whatever you want to call her with her dozens of usernames (you know, the person who was pretending to be hacked) jumped the gun and uploaded them all to Wikifang and it stuck. And for consistency, it ended up being used for the Telefang 2 item file format too... so I say that we use items. It also eliminates the need for a switch template.
Only problem with using English names... we have to agree on those seeing that there are no official ones. But if we have to rename one or two files, it isn't a huge deal... right? And I don't think it's a good idea to use the bootlegs' names for items, as most of them don't make sense (Flying? Gulap? Really?).
Oh, and they should be PNGs in my opinion, as they don't animate.
The maps and move screenshots
Perhaps this shouldn't follow a specific convention and just have a field in the map/move template for the filename, like what Pokémon wikis like Bulbapedia do.
Is there anything else that I forgot to mention here?
First -- the file format. Some people, in the past, wanted to use GIFs for transparent images (like Denjuu and items) because IE6 had a serious bug where it had this ugly light gray background instead. However, PNGs are more efficient, can have more than 256 colors (which might be suitable depending on the situation), and have translucency, although they lack animation. Does anybody even use IE6 anymore, though? I sure hope not. We're in the year 2011, and IE6 was released in 2001 -- about 10 years ago. It's horribly outdated, has lots of rendering bugs, and security issues. Hell, it was outdated even in 2006. We have different choices of browsers now -- like Firefox, Opera, Chrome, or Safari, or if you still insist on using Internet Explorer, there's nothing stopping you from upgrading to IE8, and IE9 is supposed to come out soon if you don't have XP.
Besides that, I've also heard of APNG for animated PNGs -- but only a few browsers support it, and it has some problems, so I personally don't recommend it, but it's possible that some people will disagree with me.
Personally I think we should use PNGs for pretty much everything, unless we need to make animated images for whatever reason (like moves or scenes where Denjuu evolve, etc.), in case we should use GIF. What do you all think?
Second -- the filename conventions. Are you ready for this?
The Denjuu
Currently, we have:
T1-###.gif - Telefang 1 main Denjuu sprite
T1-###-I.gif - Animated Telefang 1 walking sprite
T1-###-IS.gif - Non-animated Telefang 1 walking sprite
T2-###-F.gif - Telefang 2 front sprite (normal)
T2-###-FA.gif - Telefang 2 front sprite (attacking)
T2-###-B.gif - Telefang 2 back sprite (normal)
T2-###-BA.gif - Telefang 2 back sprite (attacking)
T2-###-I.gif - Animated Telefang 2 walking sprite
(Is there a non-animated version at all?)
Personally, I'm fine with these; they're pretty straightforward, although if it's not too cumbersome, maybe make the non-animated sprites as PNGs instead.
The items
Oh boy. This one bothers me. Currently we have:
T1-I-##.gif - Telefang 1 large item icon (## corresponds to index number in decimal)
T1-I-##-I.gif - Telefang 1 small item icon
T2-I-###.gif - Telefang 2 large item icon
(Did anybody ever rip the item icons from Telefang 2?)
I dislike this format because it uses index numbers, and most people will get confused by them unless they have hacked the games before. It's different from Denjuu, where the picture book numbers are displayed prominently, where in that case the numbers were easy to deal with. But here... the English names should be used instead. This is partly my fault, as I uploaded them all here with the naming convention here, without realizing that this would be a bad idea. Then Krypto or whatever you want to call her with her dozens of usernames (you know, the person who was pretending to be hacked) jumped the gun and uploaded them all to Wikifang and it stuck. And for consistency, it ended up being used for the Telefang 2 item file format too... so I say that we use items. It also eliminates the need for a switch template.
Only problem with using English names... we have to agree on those seeing that there are no official ones. But if we have to rename one or two files, it isn't a huge deal... right? And I don't think it's a good idea to use the bootlegs' names for items, as most of them don't make sense (Flying? Gulap? Really?).
Oh, and they should be PNGs in my opinion, as they don't animate.
The maps and move screenshots
Perhaps this shouldn't follow a specific convention and just have a field in the map/move template for the filename, like what Pokémon wikis like Bulbapedia do.
Is there anything else that I forgot to mention here?