Subj : Sprite.js, PabloDraw. and .BIN files
To   : All
From : Kirkman
Date : Sun Feb 16 2014 02:31 pm

I've been taking the first steps of making a door game with my daughter, and
yesterday I started exploring Sprite.js.

I ran into an immediate roadblock, and I wanted to ask about.

The Sprite.js file says you have to save the sprite in .BIN format, and it
recommends PabloDraw.

I use PabloDraw on my Mac, but I had never tried .BIN format before.

Anyway, I created a simple two-state 8x9 sprite of a girl, based on artwork I
found at an 8bit website, with one state showing her looking left and the
other looking right. I stacked them vertically as Sprite.js explained, then
saved the file as .BIN.

But when I tried loading the code on the BBS, the sprite was not right at all.
Only two or three lines of it seemed to be displaying, and they weren't in
order.

When I open the BIN in PabloDraw, my two vertically-stacked sprites were split
horizontally. Parts of each sprite were on the other side of the screen, with
lots of black space in between. I think it was displaying the .BIN as if it
were 160 columns instead of 80.

I tried upgrading PabloDraw (apparently the Mac App Store version isn't the
latest), but no difference.

At that point I decided to give AcidDraw a whirl. I loaded my ANSI version and
saved a .BIN. Same results on the BBS and in PabloDraw. I tried changing the
screen width to 160. Same blotchy results again on the BBS, though PabloDraw
correctly displayed this .BIN.

Then, reading the AcidDraw docs, I found it had a block mode. You can
highlight an area, and save just that area. So I tried that. I highlight just
the blocks making up my sprites and saved them as a .BIN.

*THIS* .BIN displayed properly on the BBS. But, again, it doesn't display
right in PabloDraw. It's diced up into tiny pieces, since I guess PabloDraw
thinks it's 160 characters wide instead of 9.

Is this just purely a PabloDraw issue? Is it maybe a Mac thing? What tools
have you guys used to produce sprites in Chicken Delivery, Star Trek, etc?

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