[GRAPHICS] Help with backgrounds

[efrenespartano]

Hello everyone! I'm a rookie in this of modding and I have a little problem. I'm doing some backgrounds and the truth is that I'm not sure how to make them. I do not know what palette to use for them.

I have seen that many mods use custom backgrounds, such as 40k, by Bulletdesigner or Battle for Mars, by liberation. They use a "yellow" color that is easy to change with the different palettes of the game (remember that some backgrounds change color with different pages, refer to the link for better example)

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/BACK01.SCR-BACK17.SCR

The question is: how to make these backgrounds? I use the old and reliable PhotoShop CS3. I already have the images I want, but I would like to apply that "yellow duotone", so that the game can change the palettes without problem. Thank you!

[Warboy1982]

use the second-to-last 16 colours in the geoscape palette (as described here)

[efrenespartano]

use the second-to-last 16 colours in the geoscape palette (as described here)

Oh, ok! But... how can I apply those colors to my image? Can I do it with GIMP / Paint.NET or do I have to do it with Photoshop?

Thank you for answering so quickly! I don't know why Tapatalk did not notify me that my post had been answered. 

[Meridian]

You can use any colors you want... the game will replace them anyway.
And you can use any image editor you want... just make sure the colors are on the correct 16 palette indices and they go from brightest to darkest.

Visual explanation attached.

[efrenespartano]

You can use any colors you want... the game will replace them anyway.
And you can use any image editor you want... just make sure the colors are on the correct 16 palette indices and they go from brightest to darkest.

Ok, I understand! After applying these colors to the image, should I add an additional palette? If I remember correctly, in some publication they put the instructions to apply palettes for weapons, aircrafts, etc.

Should I use a palette or just convert images with these colors will be enough?

[Meridian]

All (open)xcom images should be paletted... I showed you the palette in the previous post... why do you ask again?

[efrenespartano]

All (open)xcom images should be paletted... I showed you the palette in the previous post... why do you ask again?

Oh, nevermind I just realized that if you showed me the palette, I thought an additional one was necessary, but no. Image+palette+another palette Thanks for the help! It is very useful to me. 

My question is solved.

[efrenespartano]

Hello again! I downloaded IrfanView and it worked wonderfully to apply the palette of the backgrounds. But I found an ¿error? ¿A failure of mine? when using the backgrounds in the game. In fact, they changed color depending on the page on which it was. But they looked rare (reference in the images below). Then, with Photoshop, I applied an additional palette, the Basescape one. It worked, it looks good, but it does not change color. It is not so annoying (in my opinion), but I do not know what went wrong.

What I did in IrfanView was to get the palette of an image of the 40k mod, save it and apply it to my own images. I repeated the same with Photoshop (before applying the Basescape palette) and got similar results.

Any ideas?  I greatly appreciate your kind support.

[Meridian]

Upload the image you have created... so that I can look at its palette... in-game screenshots don't tell me anything in this case.

[efrenespartano]

Upload the image you have created... so that I can look at its palette... in-game screenshots don't tell me anything in this case.

I added both packages of images, so you can check them and analyze what I did wrong. 

[Meridian]

First attempt is almost correct.... except you should be using index 239 for black, not index 0.

Second attempt is completely wrong.

[efrenespartano]

First attempt is almost correct.... except you should be using index 239 for black, not index 0.

Second attempt is completely wrong.

Oh, I understand. That's the reason of the weird colors.

How to change the index? Or the number? I didn't notice it. I'll keep using IrfanView for this, it's very confortable.

Enviado desde mi Blade A510 mediante Tapatalk

[Warboy1982]

easiest method i've found:
first, save the default palette.
then create a copy of the palette with all the colours except the specific 16 you need to be using changed to something like #FF00FF or #00FF00 and save it seperately.
next, convert the source image to RGB
then convert the source image back to an indexed palette, importing the altered palette you saved earlier, this should auto-assign all the colours correctly.
lastly, import the default palette WITHOUT converting to RGB.

the first and last steps are entirely optional, but should be considered "good practice"

[efrenespartano]

easiest method i've found:
first, save the default palette.
then create a copy of the palette with all the colours except the specific 16 you need to be using changed to something like #FF00FF or #00FF00 and save it seperately.
next, convert the source image to RGB
then convert the source image back to an indexed palette, importing the altered palette you saved earlier, this should auto-assign all the colours correctly.
lastly, import the default palette WITHOUT converting to RGB.

the first and last steps are entirely optional, but should be considered "good practice"

Awesome, thanks! I'll try it as soon as possible.

Enviado desde mi Blade A510 mediante Tapatalk

[Warboy1982]

i guess you could also use the colour replacer tool if there's one available