Digitizing / scanning pictures?

[rdefabri]

As I work through some ideas for games / programs for the A8 platform, I realize that creating atmospheres would not be easy for me.  I'm artistic, but work in physical media rather than electronic (meaning, I can do Photoshop, but I can't really draw or create stuff using digital tools).

 

So what are the ways I could take a created work and digitize or scan a picture for use in a program?  I'd also like to better understand how something like rotoscoping (e.g., Prince of Persia / Karateka) might work on an A8.

 

I'm sure there are tools for this, I'm just not in the know.  Any ideas?

[+MrFish]

8 hours ago, rdefabri said:

As I work through some ideas for games / programs for the A8 platform, I realize that creating atmospheres would not be easy for me.  I'm artistic, but work in physical media rather than electronic (meaning, I can do Photoshop, but I can't really draw or create stuff using digital tools).

 

So what are the ways I could take a created work and digitize or scan a picture for use in a program?

Give an example of something you'd like to use.

 

[rdefabri]

9 hours ago, MrFish said:

Give an example of something you'd like to use.

 

I think I’ve (sort of) found what I’m looking for.  @ilmenit created a tool called “Adventure Studio” that allows for creation of graphical point-and-click adventure games.

 

The graphics can be created with RastaConverter and used in the game you create.

 

What I'm looking to do isn’t an adventure per se, but you would be in an environment that would require the player to click on different areas of the screen to access some sub-functionality or a different screen.  The main screen would need to be semi-realistic, not something I could feasibly draw using Atari-based tools.  I want to draw / paint it physically and “scan” it into Atari format.  As I understand RastaConverter, it lets you convert a standard JPEG or other modern graphical formats and convert into an Atari format.

 

I don’t believe Adventure Studio is completed, but there may be enough there to get me started.  I’m toying with it…gotta push myself, I’m easily discouraged but I’m giving it the old college try!

[Rybags]

Digitized pics will only really look good in certain conditions or with certain modes.

APAC, TIP, RIP, HIP etc. RasterConverta pic, G2F.

Graphics 9 (luma only mode)

 

For something like Gr. 15 a mono pic in 4 shades could be made to work.

 

PC based graphics editors do have helpful tools like posturize to reduce number of luma levels.

 

A lot of this sort of thing is trial & error.

[rdefabri]

39 minutes ago, Rybags said:

Digitized pics will only really look good in certain conditions or with certain modes.

APAC, TIP, RIP, HIP etc. RasterConverta pic, G2F.

Graphics 9 (luma only mode)

 

For something like Gr. 15 a mono pic in 4 shades could be made to work.

 

PC based graphics editors do have helpful tools like posturize to reduce number of luma levels.

 

A lot of this sort of thing is trial & error.

For the idea I have, even mono color would work.  What wouldn't work is a slow load time of the screens, which likely makes hi-res (320x192) a non-starter.

 

The sample game in the Adventure Studio almost perfectly mimics what I want to do without the text choices on bottom.  In that sample game, when you click to leave a room, a new room appears (almost) instantly.  If you want to close the door, you see the door close - not really animated, but the effect is one where you have closed it and it visually appears that way.

 

I can get creative and minimize interactivity and animation / PMs, but to make this concept work IMHO, it needs some degree of both.

[Rybags]

Yeah - effects like mono dither can work in hires, and RC pics have proven the worth of it for colour pics.

[+MrFish]

9 hours ago, rdefabri said:

For the idea I have, even mono color would work.  What wouldn't work is a slow load time of the screens, which likely makes hi-res (320x192) a non-starter.

Mono hi-res (320 x 192) doesn't take any longer to load than 4-color hi-res (160 x 192). They use exactly the same amount of bytes per screen. Since you're talking about a text adventure, screen dimensions of images can always be smaller than the full screen, because you'll have some text portion. Narrow width can also make images smaller and faster to load, and still look good.

 

Any mode can work for a text adventure; it all depends on what you want things to look like, and what can illustrate the situations you're trying to portray.

 

Atari-specific tools might be useful, but you can also do a lot just using Photoshop or Gimp. The process is basically converting the image you're working with to the dimensions and color depth of the Atari mode you've chosen. You can do these without having to edit anything by hand.