DAGPIC v0.30 Copyright (c) 1996 - Dave Humphrey - aj589@freenet.carleton.ca ===================================================== DAGPIC is a utility I created to initially view the IMG files in the Daggerfall ARENA2 directory and save them as PCX image files, viewable by many utilities such as Paintbrush in Windows. DAGPIC can now also view CIF image files which contain multiple images (such as character portraits) and the ability to convert PCX files to IMG/CIF files allowing for custom graphics in Daggerfall. CONTENTS in THIS FILE ===================================================== Included Files Installation Walk-Through Configuartion File Information Program Usage Notes Program Format Program Examples Version Updates Credits Programing Notes Contacts, Connections, and Sites Standard Legal Disclaimer INCLUDED FILES ===================================================== DAGPIC.TXT - This file...very important to read this first! DAGPIC.FAQ - Answer to commonly asked questions DAGPIC.EXE - Main file...you need this DAGPIC.CFG - Config file, contains path information SMALTHIN.FNT - Font file, needed for graphics DAGPIC.CPP - C++ source code for your amusement ALLPIC.BAT - Batch file which allows viewing of multiple image files at a time. INSTALLATION WALK-THROUGH ===================================================== INSTALLATION METHOD 1: The easiest, and in my opinion, the best method of installing DAGPIC is to create a DAGPIC directory in the main Daggerfall directory and unzip DAGPIC.ZIP into this new directory. Ex: mkdir c:\dagger\dagpic pkunzip dagpic.zip c:\dagger\dagpic DAGPIC is automatically configured for this setup which prevents more files from occuping the ARENA2 directory (well over 1,000 files can be found in this directory, depending on the install size). You can store all backups and PCX files in the DAGPIC directory for easy file maintenance. The actual name of the directory DAGPIC resides in is not important (i.e., installing into \dagger\dpic or \dagger\pic etc... has no effect). INSTALLATION METHOD 2: DAGPIC can also be installed in any other directory, although the configuration file DAGPIC.CFG will need to be modified slightly to give the program the location of nessecary files. See CONFIGURATION FILE INFO below for more information on editting this file. CONFIGURATION FILE INFO ===================================================== DAGPIC.CFG is a file which DAGPIC.EXE looks for upon startup. This file tells the program where to look for IMG/CIF, PCX, palettes, and backup files. It is currently setup assuming that DAGPIC is in the \DAGGER\DAGPIC directory, IMG/CIF and PAL files are in the ARENA2 directory and all PCX and backups are to be found and stored in the DAGPIC directory. If DAGPIC.CFG is not found, the program looks for all files in the current directory. More information can be found in the CFG file. DAGPIC will not create a directory if one specifed doesn't exist. PROGRAM USAGE NOTES ===================================================== - BACKUP, BACKUP BACKUP! Very important when 'hacking' with files. DAGPIC does ask to backup any files it modifies and you can retreive new files from the CD, but it doesn't hurt (I'm in no-way connected with Bethesda so I'm simply guessing at file formats). - I'm guessing this program probably contains a few bugs as I didn't extensively test it. Please e-mail me any problems/bugs/questions. - I have tested it with all IMG files in the ARENA2 directory with success (ie, no crashes) although it cannot display every image. At the moment it won't display images larger than 320x200 mostly because there are a bunch of image files which don't appear to follow the basic IMG structure and crash the program. - I have tested it on several CIF files. It doesn't seem to work to well on the weapon CIF's (due to size?) but was primarily intended for the face CIF's anyways. You _can_ successfully replace character potraits (Hint: Look at the FACE0?I0.CIF files and find which face is your. Save this face, edit it, and then import it back into the file in the same position). - Although you can append a PCX to the end of a CIF file, it appears as though Daggerfall only takes the first ten face images in the FACE0?I0.CIF files...too bad. - Pressing ESC on at any question will exit the program. - Most images will look fine using the default palette, MAP.PAL You can play around with the palettes and images as you see fit. - When writing a PCX file it will now check if it already exists and will notify you. You may overwrite or create a backup. - Not all IMG files may convert to PCX's successfully. Since the switch to PCX files (from BMP's) the conversion routines are better understood and much more stable. If you do encounter a conversion bug, notify me. - When importing PCX's to IMG/CIFs, keep the image sizes the same when possible. DAGPIC does take into account changes in image size but the question is, will Daggerfall (it probably will, just a warning in case you get crashes after editting). - Make sure the editting program doesn't change the image palette on you. If the image palette changes, your nice picture won't look at all the same once imported into Daggerfall (I know Corel PhotoPaint v3.0 doesn't change the palette, while v4.0 does, Paintbrush shouldn't?). - I _think_ the first 4 bytes of DF image data is related to the X/Y offset of the picture. You can play around with this if your face is not centered in your character portrait. PROGRAM FORMAT ===================================================== DAGPIC v0.30 Copyright (c) 1996-1997 - Dave Humphrey Displays Daggerfall IMG/CIF files to the screen and converts them to/from PCX. DAGPIC filename /B:PCX_filename [options] filename..........The IMG/CIF file /B:PCX_filename...The PCX image file OPTIONS: [/S[:#]].......Save PCX as IMG/CIF file. Optional number is for saving in position # in CIF file (Default = 1) If '/S:e' is used, PCX is appended to end of CIF file [/D]...........Pause before displaying image [/P:palette]...Uses the specified palette file [/N]...........Don't display image, no output to screen /?.............Displays help screen EXAMPLES: Save IMG/CIF to PCX....'dagpic file.img /B:file1.pcx' Save PCX to IMG........'dagpic file.img /B:file1.pcx /S' Save PCX to CIF........'dagpic file.cif /B:file1.pcx /S:1' Run DAGPIC with no command line parameters for prompting. Default palette is MAP.PAL. Bugs/comments etc... are welcome and can be E-Mailed to: aj589@freenet.carleton.ca ALLPIC filenames [options] ALLPIC allows the viewing of many IMG files at a time thus saving you time from typing all those wierd filenames found in the ARENA2 directory. The program will automatically prompt you if you wish to display each image. Accepts same options as DAGPIC. If you are running ALLPIC from a directory other than ARENA2, you will need to specify the location of the ARENA2 directory. Ex: allpic c:\dagger\arena2\*.img PROGRAM EXAMPLES ===================================================== DAGPIC body.img Displays the body.img file DAGPIC body.img /P:fmap_pal.col Displays the body.img file using the palette fmap_pal.col DAGPIC body.img /B:body1.pcx Displays the body.img file and saves the PCX body1.pcx DAGPIC face00i0.cif /B:face.pcx Displays all images in face00i0.cif and saves each to a different PCX file (face1.pcx, face2.pcx, ...) DAGPIC bank00i0.img /b:newback.pcx /s Converts the PCX newback.pcx to the file bank00i0.img. DAGPIC face00i0.cif /b:newface1.pcx /s:5 Replaces face #5 in face00i0.cif with newface1.pcx. ALLPIC *.img /P:map.pal Display all the .IMG files in current directory using the MAP.PAL palette ALLPIC c:\dagger\arena2\t*.img /B /N Convert all files T*.IMG in the ARENA2 directory to PCX's without displaying them ALLPIC *.img /N Does absolutely nothing except waste time...play Daggerfall instead VERSION UPDATES ===================================================== v0.30 (Released 9 April 1997) - Can load and display some TEXTURE files. Can't display all of them so use at your own discretion. - Made it so the display toggle works properly. Can now convert images normally without displaying them (is faster this way) - Made the command line parameters optional. Can now specify everything with prompts. Easier for those not used to DOS - Increased graphic mode screen resolution to 360x240 so that printed text doesn't overlap with large images - Ability to load special IMG files 64000 and 64768 bytes in size which don't conform to standard format - Properly loads COL palette files now - Increased maximum image size a bit - Determined that weapon CIF's have some sort of unknown encoding method which has defied my attempts to hack it. v0.21 (Released 3 December 1996) - Added the ability to save PCX to end of CIF file (/S:e) - Restructured and rewrote some of DAGPIC.TXT to better explain things...hopefully. - Rewrote the DAGPIC help screen better showing syntax and examples - Added DAGPIC.FAQ to help remove some confusion about the command line parameters...hopefully. v0.20 (Released 28 November 1996) - Displays Image Size and Position in CIF files - Changed from importing/exporting BMP's to using PCX's - Displays multiple image files (CIF) - Will not overwrite files unless specified - Ability to convert PCX to IMG/CIF files - Create optional backup of files overwritten by program - Added the Config file v0.0 (Released Early November 1996) - 1st version, basic display of IMG files and conversion to BMP's CREDITS ===================================================== I couldn't have completed this project without help from several outside sources. XLIB v6.12 - Mode X Library for Turbo C A very nice library containing mostly Turbo ASM source code for everything you might possibly want to do in the Mode X graphic modes. Makes my coding a lot quicker. Someone - (I lost your e-mail address - sorry :( Contributed information and code on the 64000b and 64768b IMG file formats. Thanks. PROGRAMMING NOTES ===================================================== - The code is free to distribute/hack/change etc... I've tried to document it properly but read at your own risk. - I cannot take responsibility for the graphics part of the program. Those go to the wonderful creators of XLIB v6.12, a mode X ASM/C library. This can be found on many ftp sites. - Also, the base of the PCX conversion routines comes from source code from Teach Yourself Game Programming in 21 Days. It did need some improvements though, as I found out, but the current conversion routines should be quite accurate. - You can also use the 13H VGA mode for graphics although you'll have to make some minor changes in the graphical output. CONTACTS, CONNECTIONS, and SITES ===================================================== I, the creator of DAGPIC, Dave Humphrey may be E-Mailed at aj589@freenet.carleton.ca while future versions of DAGPIC may always be first found at the web site http://www.m0use.net/~uesp/dagger/files/ STANDARD LEGAL DISCLAIMER ===================================================== I, Dave Humphrey, cannot be held responsible for any damage of software or hardware incured by the use of this program. The entire contents of the file DAGPIC.ZIP (listed above) is free domain software and can be copied, exchanged, duplicated, transmitted, etc... at will.