using Illustrator for AGS backgrounds

[chainsawsnak]

Hello,
I'm seriously new to this and I want to start off by stating that I have read the manual and the BFAQ along with several other tutorials. I think I may be overlooking or not grasping crucial information. I am beginning a game and unable to get very far. I would like to create all my backgrounds in illustrator as it allows for better control. I would like to run the game at 640x480 with 16 bit. I am afraid I don't understand (even after extensive reading) the palette concept. Do I need to import a PCX file with all of the colors that I use for the background? How would I do this with illustrator?When I import a background I have created in Illustrator, It always seems to be the wrong size, the colors do not show up and it is distorted. I create the files at 640x480 pixels, am I doing something wrong? Thanks for your help!

[DoorKnobHandle]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

I don't know about Illustrator, but if you use 16-bit in AGS, then you won't need to worry about palettes, just leave them alone -- in fact, the palettes shouldn't even show up in AGS if you have set your AGS game to 16-bit (or 32-bit), instead there should be the colour finder instead of the palette editor once you click on palette. I seriously don't know why the colors don't show up and the size of your backgrounds turns out to be distorted -- is that only in AGS or even after normal saving? If it's only in AGS, then are you sure that you changed your game to use 16-bit? Double-check!

You could also try to draw your background completly in Illustrator, then select and copy it all and paste it in Microsoft Paint and save it there as 24-bit bmp. This will always work flawlessly when you import it into a 16 or even 32-bit AGS game.

[chainsawsnak]

Hey thanks for your reply. I copied my image from Illustrator into Paint and it worked! Sorta.. ..it is still a bit too high when I check it out in full screen mode, It cuts off about an inch. The actual size I create is 640x480 pixels which is what I set up in AGS.  :o So I don't need to worry about the palette at all? No transporting numbers of colors or anything? Thanks again.

[DoorKnobHandle]

No, there's no need to do anything to palettes when setting your game to be in either 16 or 32-bit mode, nothing!

I am glad it works, but that cutting off is really strange, this shouldn't happen at all. Can you post a screenshot of your room and the way it looks in AGS maybe?