face maker

[sullman]

Is there new software to be able to make better faces in the game now? Also I love LOVE what everyone has done so far. I got more then 90 per cent of the cards I want. I played up to Alliance release. Is there plans to release of the rest of Ice age and Homelands for example. And how about plans to make the sealed deck tournments with the other expansions? Thank you to everyone for the great work on this project of love.

[CirothUngol]

Better faces? Sure, check under Utilities on the Manalink Download Page for "Mok's BMP2PIC Converter". You can also find it (and many other goodies) in my MtG MediaFire folder.
I remember one of the long-standing developers, HarryPitfall, mentioning that he was looking at adjusting Sealed Deck to use the new CSV format so that Manalink could use additional expansions... but it may be awhile (this mod has been in constant development for over a decade. Patience, grasshopper).
As for any additional card-coding, that's always ongoing. Check out the Development forum for news and keep an eye on the Patches forum for any new program updates.

...and I don't think this belongs in the Development forum. It's more of a "General Question" kinda topic.

[sullman]

Ciroth Thank You (having read Tolkien - that is one of the weirdest things I have ever said). I downloaded the face tool - playing with it now. Can not find the instructions for it, however. Where is the MtG Media folder of you mention full of goodies? Thank you.

[sullman]

Wow fooling around with the dos box and facemaker is about as clear as mud to me. Is there an easier way?

[CirothUngol]

Cool, hardly anyone gets that Cirith Ungol reference (ya think it's the purposeful misspelling?).
The instructions should be in the folder you downloaded (!CCGHQ QUICK START.txt), here it is for good measure.

Code: Select all

In the D-Fend Reloaded folder, run DFend.exe.

(Optional: Select File/Program Options/Language)
(If you select Advanced mode you can also enable Wine support.)

Read the CCGHQ QUICK START.
 
Then select SMok's FACE Maker profile. Double click it or click the Run button.
The Garfield pic will show up so you can see that everything is working.
Hit ESC to exit that, then type DIR to see the directory.

Type "edit bmp2pic.txt" If you want to read the instructions. Or just type "edit" and select the file the way we used to do it.

Ctrl-F10 releases your mouse from the DosBox window.

Hit alt-Enter to toggle full screen mode.

Type exit to quit DosBox.



        =================================================

      Magic: The Gathering FACE Bmp2Pic Converter

               v1.0

        Written by Mok <mokmok@usa.net> in 1998

        =================================================


1. Overview

If you ever wished to change this ugly face image you created using FaceBuilder
then here is your solution :) This little utility will allow you to convert
any suitable image into Pic format used by Magic: The Gathering game from
Microprose Software.

The picture must be exactly 138x170 in 256 colors. You'll also need to convert
palette so it's the same as in the game. The example BMP file included in
the package contains proper palette so you can use it to convert your images.
Note that color 255 is used for transparency so make sure your converted image
doesn't use it except in transparent areas.

There's another restriction :( Destination PIC file cannot be longer than
13000 bytes. I set this value after checking all original faces from the game
(there's only 1 longer pic). I once created very long pic and it caused
problems when starting game over manalink.  When you send or accept duel
parameters, both you and your opponent send your deck and picture to the
opponent. It seems that this procedure is quite vulnerable for packet loss
and fragmentation. I was able to start about 5% of matches with image of 25kb,
the rest caused unrecoverable errors in manalink software. Yes, some of you
have super-extra-cool-fantastic-shocking fast connections but take note that
your opponent might be using 14.4 (or worse) modem over bad line and your
duel will not start at all. So do not ask me to allow bigger files, I won't do
that. Maybe MPS could create similar utility (just better) in some expansion?

The program is for MS-DOS, but will work fine in DosBox under Win95/98.

The example picture is MINE! Do not EVER use it as your face, I still play
with it :) It's VERY short, making it ideal for my lame connections.

2. Usage

Usage is very simple, just type:

   BMP2PIC.EXE <filename>

Where <filename> is your prepared 138x170x256 BMP image in Magic's palette.

Example:

   BMP2PIC.EXE GARFIELD.BMP

should create GARFIELD.PIC in the same directory as source file.

As a bonus there's very simple VIEWPIC.EXE utility which shows the PIC image
but you need 800x600x256 VESA2 driver. If the utility doesn't work, too bad.
I'm not going to fix it. You can use it to view some of game internal
data too (not all as other files use different palette and/or resolution).

3. Hints

Here is example, how I did my example image:

 a) I searched Net and downloaded image of Garfield :) It was bigger than
    needed and of course in completely different palette.

 b) Started Paint Shop Pro, loaded the pic, selected the part I wanted
    (Crop to selection), converted to 24bit and then resized to suitable
    size. Now I had 24bit picture in proper resolution without removed
    background.

 c) I selected "Load Palette" option with the game palette. (Take it from
    example BMP). There are 2 good options in PSP - Nearest color matching
    and error diffusion. The difference is that first one will probably
    create file that will be shorter when converted to PIC, the 2nd one
    creates better looking image. This is not always the case, so you'll
    have to experiment a bit.

 d) using color 255 (the last one) I filled the parts that need to be
    transparent. You should really do it after resizing the picture because
    if you make it before and then use 24bit resizing, your pic will be
    smoothed to the transparency color and the result will look quite bad
    in the game.

 e) Converted the picture using BMP2PIC. If there was error saying that pic
    is too long, you'll need to change image a bit. Most probably, cut some
    parts or make more area transparent. Sooner or later, you'll be ready :)

 f) test the picture, playing against computer. Check how it looks on black
    background (when starting match) and in the game when merged with the
    game screen (for example use option "flip to face" on your life counter).

That's all. Surely there are better ways to get suitable BMP image, but I'm
not a graphician. So do it as you like ;)


4. Greetz

Hellos to Robcio, Bob and all my friends.

Thanks to Microprose for creating computer version of this game, which
kinda sucks in reality in my opinion (big waste of money like most other
card games).

5. How to contact me

If you have some serious questions or praises send them to my mail address
(top of this text) or catch me on TEN, my nick is SMok.

No stupid questions or flames please. And no, I will NOT convert your picture
for you ;)

The newest version of this utility can be always found at:

             http://members.xoom.com/SMok

Cya,

  Mok

An easier way? Nope. Please remember, Mok originally hacked this stuff in the late 90's when DOS was still quite the force to be reckoned with, and there are still questions about the oddball proprietary .pic format that Manalink uses... fortunately just about everything else has been moved to external routines so that .jpg, .bmp and .png could be used. but not the PlayFace, at least not yet. I would think that eventually even that will be externalized, but if you can't wait then Mok's bmp2pic is the only option we have.

Oh, where's a link to My MtG Folder on MediaFire?
...check my signature. ^_^