trans.exe
documentation
by zeromus 5.8.99
zeromus@verge-rpg.com
(be sure word wrap is on)
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USE: creates translucency table for use in v2
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If you want to use translucency effects in v2, you'll need to have the appropriate trans.tbl file.  This program will make it.

Game palettes, unless you're elite like snes programmers, should be made up of a number of gradients.  Trans.exe takes advantage of this by accepting a makefile (for amusement called Palette Definition File, conveniently extensioned .pdf.  Our extension makes more sense than Adobe's, though.) consisting of a list of gradients found in the palette.  This unique method of generating a translucency table does not need the actual palette--it only needs to know which indexes in the palette start and finish each gradient.

The .pdf format looks like this (the x spots are where you'll fill in numbers):

GRADIENTS x_num_times
STARTS x ENDS x ENDSPAN
STARTS x ENDS x ENDSPAN <--x_num_time entries
STARTS x ENDS x ENDSPAN
... etc

With sample data:

gradients 3
starts 0 ends 128 endspan
starts 129 ends 240 inverse endspan
starts 141 ends 254 endspan

Whats that inverse, stuck in there, you say?  That just indicates that instead of gradient going from dark to light it goes from light to dark (that *is* what inverse means).

Inspect the sample files for more info.

That is all.