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                 BMP2SPR 1.1
               by Lee Gaiteri

         Visit the Norn Underground
 http://www.dreamscape.com/lummoxjr/creatures
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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

    Windows 95 or NT
    (Graphics mode is irrelevant to this program. You should be using at
     least 256 colors, but beyond that it doesn't matter whether you use 256
     colors or true-color mode.)


HOW TO USE BMP2SPR

    USING .BMP FILES

    The black square on the left holds the current bitmap image. To load a
    bitmap file, click the Load button beneath the square. You can save the
    bitmap by clicking the Save button.

    You can load 256-color and 24-bit truecolor .BMP files. If you load an
    image that has colors which don't fit into the Creatures palette, the
    program will convert the image to the Creatures Palette automatically.

        - If the image already uses the Creatures palette, it will be loaded
          normally. If you use the normal Creatures palette with a different
          color (such as red) as color 0, the image will load as if color 0
          is transparent. I usually use red as a transparent color when I
          want black to load normally.
        - Nearest color matching converts colors to the Creatures palette by
          simply changing each pixel to the closest matching color.
        - Diffusion dithering spreads out the error that occurs in ordinary
          color matching, resulting in a cleaner image, much truer to the
          original colors.

    Bitmaps are saved as 256-color images using the Creatures palette.


    USING .SPR FILES

    An .SPR can hold more than one image. The contents of an .SPR file appear
    in the list box on the right side of the window. To load an .SPR file,
    click the Load button beneath the list box. An .SPR file can be saved
    using the Save button.

    To add the current bitmap image to an .SPR file, click the Insert or Add
    buttons near the list box. The Add button will insert a sprite into the
    end of the file. The Insert button will insert a sprite into whichever
    point you select in the list box. (For example, to insert a sprite into
    the second position in the file, click on the second sprite in the list
    and then click the Insert button.) The Delete Sprite button will remove
    whichever sprite is selected in the list box.

    The left arrow button near the Insert and Add buttons will transfer the
    currently selected sprite to the bitmap area. (It will not remove the
    sprite from the file; the sprite is merely copied.)


This program is still pretty featureless. I haven't had time to add many of
the features I still want to add, but it works for now. This is my first
program written in Visual C++, so it's pretty primitive.
In time, I plan to include features for manipulating images, converting
multiple bitmaps to a single .SPR file, saving a .SPR file as multiple
bitmaps, etc.


VERSION HISTORY

    Version 1.1 (3/22/98)

        - Fixed a bug in translating bitmaps from a Creatures-ready palette.
          (All white colors are now converted to the correct color.)
        - Changed the default white color from 255 to 242--this seems more
          compatible with the object injector.

    Version 1.02 (11/30/97)

        - Fixed a bug in the diffusion dithering process.

    Version 1.01 (10/20/97)

        - Fixed minor bugs in inserting and deleting sprites.


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  LummoxJR@aol.com
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