BMP, PCX, PNG and Disk Space

Samwise · Thu 10/08/2006 09:13:11

Hi Everybody,

I'm working on a big game (at least in terms of disk space), which contains a lot of photographed backgrounds and characters.Ã,Â All the pictures are in 24-bit BMP format.

I want to keep the pictures in the current quality, but on the other hand I don't want the game to become huge.Ã,Â Will converting the files to PCX or PNG harm pictures quality anyhow?Ã,Â Which format is better for my (and perhaps everybody) needs?

I've understood that the new version of AGS contains better archive abilities.Ã,Â How much this is relevant to this issue?

SSH · Thu 10/08/2006 09:30:00

PCX and PNG are "lossless" compression, so feel free to use them without any loss of detail. PNG will usually be much smaller than PCX, so go with that.

Gilbert · Thu 10/08/2006 09:44:32

Furthermore, the formats you saved your original files in are not very relevant to the resultant game size, no matter what format the original images were, they're treated the same way (well, loosely speaking, as alpha chanels in PNG files can be used when your game is in 32-bit) and re-compressed using the internal schemes in AGS.
Saving your working files in PCX and PNGs does help saving your HDD space while creating a game though.

Samwise · Thu 10/08/2006 10:07:25

I'm not sure I understand. You're basically saying that converting all the files from BMP to PNG won't reduce the final game size?

I don't have interst in saving HDD space while creating the game, as I have a rather large HDD.

Gilbert · Thu 10/08/2006 10:11:10

No, it won't.

Saving them as compressed formats just help you manage your HDD stuff better.

SSH · Thu 10/08/2006 10:15:03

If you're worried about download size, AGS game files compress very well, though. For example, the game file for Shivah compresses 77% in plain old zip, and Duty and Beyond compresses 89%!

RAR and 7zip get even smaller (7zip manages 83% and 93% on the above game files)

Samwise · Thu 10/08/2006 12:41:13

Thanks a lot for the information, fellows. I'll just keep the files in BMP format.

(BTW, Shivah is a really nice game).

Samwise · Sun 20/08/2006 14:04:49

Speaking of a similar subject, what audio format is best for AGS (in quality/size calculation)?Ã,Â The game will include a lot of music & speech.Ã,Â Is OGG better than MP3 for that matter?

AÃ¯Â¿Â½rendyll (formerly Yurina) · Sun 20/08/2006 15:07:44

Well, since OGG needs a special codec, so I do recommend MP3 so everyone can enjoy your game without having to download any codecs at all.

Hope this helps,
~Yurina

DoorKnobHandle · Sun 20/08/2006 15:24:07

However you won't be able to sell your game commercially if you use .mp3, plus I think that .ogg compresses a tiny bit better. But I am not completly sure. But really, start worrying about other things, whether you use .mp3 or .ogg won't change anything at all - you should use the format that is the easiest for your composer to export to and it's fine.

GarageGothic · Sun 20/08/2006 15:53:14

Quote from: Yurina-chan on Sun 20/08/2006 15:07:44Well, since OGG needs a special codec, so I do recommend MP3 so everyone can enjoy your game without having to download any codecs at all.

Does it? I'm quite sure that the ogg decoder is built into AGS. Mp3 on the other hand gets to be a problem if you ever consider selling your game, so my recommendation would be the exactly opposite of Yurina's: Ogg for the win!

strazer · Sun 20/08/2006 17:02:55

I agree. Ogg Vorbis files are decoded by AGS itself, there's no need to install additional codecs.

Gilbert · Mon 21/08/2006 03:26:24

The AGS engine doesn't need codec to play OGG audio, it just needs codec if you want to play an AVI movie.