User talk:Zombie - Revision history

Xuncu at 23:52, 31 August 2025

2025-08-31T23:52:52Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:52, 31 August 2025
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	* .jpg - putting compression as a priority, it often blends or degrades images in order to save space. That weird speckling and duller colors often result.		* .jpg - putting compression as a priority, it often blends or degrades images in order to save space. That weird speckling and duller colors often result.
	* .bmp - Hell no.		* .bmp - Hell no.
	--[[User:Xuncu\|Xuncu]] ([[User talk:Xuncu\|talk]]) 07:01, 11 May 2016 (UTC)		Lastly: depending on the era and the game's artist, some sprites were actually designed for CRT, vs the LCD monitors that we use nowadays. The idea was that using the 'gaussian blur' natural to CRT pixels blends the colors in a way that makes for smooth transitional tones. Or at the very least: it's a guarantee the art was at least made on a CRT. Here's an in-depth video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sxKJeYSBmI
			--[[User:Xuncu\|Xuncu]] ([[User talk:Xuncu\|talk]]) 07:01, 11 May 2016 (UTC), updated 2025

Xuncu at 07:03, 11 May 2016

2016-05-11T07:03:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:03, 11 May 2016
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	I implore everyone to consider uploading either a GIF or a PNG image type over a JPEG. The quality is better in those formats. If you have a choice, PNG is better because of the size on disc. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 19:40, 11 June 2006 (PDT)		I implore everyone to consider uploading either a GIF or a PNG image type over a JPEG. The quality is better in those formats. If you have a choice, PNG is better because of the size on disc. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 19:40, 11 June 2006 (PDT)

	~~Super-old, but wanted to chime in in case you or anyone is curious on some technical details:~~
	* .gif is, basically, the image format that early game developers would want their sprites saved as: the file information only holds the colors used in the picture, so it's great for images with a limited palette of swatches with common colors (ie; game sprites), as gifs are limited to a 256 color swatch limit in a 24-bit RGB pallette. Like any screenshot tool from a game emulator that's for the 16-bit era and earlier might save as .gif, and the file will only be like 20-50kb max. Find any gaming site like ''Spriter's Resource'' or a sprite-based webcomic like ''Bob & George'', you'll typically see gif or png. Even ''Shovel Knight'' screenshots might not exceed 50kb, and 15-second animated clips might not even break a megabyte.
	* .png is a fatty of a file format, designed to be a loss-less rasterized format. Anyone's got Photoshop, 'rasterizing' a vector line prolly gets what this means: it saves a lot more information, so it's good for artists and, say, the Enemy Within/XCOM2 screenshots. However, it saves every bit on information as a rasterization, hence why the files are typically much larger.
	* .jpg - putting compression as a priority, it often blends or degrades images in order to save space. That weird speckling and duller colors often result.
	* .bmp - Hell no.
	~~--[[User:Xuncu\|Xuncu]] ([[User talk:Xuncu\|talk]]) 07:01, 11 May 2016 (UTC)~~


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	I just started a discussion on the main page about this--people are still adding nasty JPGs to the wiki, and I thought we should add a notice somewhere obvious. [[User:Phasma Felis\|Phasma Felis]] 10:57, 12 June 2008 (PDT)		I just started a discussion on the main page about this--people are still adding nasty JPGs to the wiki, and I thought we should add a notice somewhere obvious. [[User:Phasma Felis\|Phasma Felis]] 10:57, 12 June 2008 (PDT)

			Super-old, but wanted to chime in in case you or anyone is curious on some technical details:
			* .gif is, basically, the image format that early game developers would want their sprites saved as: the file information only holds the colors used in the picture, so it's great for images with a limited palette of swatches with common colors (ie; game sprites), as gifs are limited to a 256 color swatch limit in a 24-bit RGB pallette. Like any screenshot tool from a game emulator that's for the 16-bit era and earlier might save as .gif, and the file will only be like 20-50kb max. Find any gaming site like ''Spriter's Resource'' or a sprite-based webcomic like ''Bob & George'', you'll typically see gif or png. Even ''Shovel Knight'' screenshots might not exceed 50kb, and 15-second animated clips might not even break a megabyte.
			* .png is a fatty of a file format, designed to be a loss-less rasterized format. Anyone's got Photoshop, 'rasterizing' a vector line prolly gets what this means: it saves a lot more information, so it's good for artists and, say, the Enemy Within/XCOM2 screenshots. However, it saves every bit on information as a rasterization, hence why the files are typically much larger.
			* .jpg - putting compression as a priority, it often blends or degrades images in order to save space. That weird speckling and duller colors often result.
			* .bmp - Hell no.
			--[[User:Xuncu\|Xuncu]] ([[User talk:Xuncu\|talk]]) 07:01, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Xuncu: /* Image Types */

2016-05-11T07:01:35Z

Image Types

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:01, 11 May 2016
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	I implore everyone to consider uploading either a GIF or a PNG image type over a JPEG. The quality is better in those formats. If you have a choice, PNG is better because of the size on disc. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 19:40, 11 June 2006 (PDT)		I implore everyone to consider uploading either a GIF or a PNG image type over a JPEG. The quality is better in those formats. If you have a choice, PNG is better because of the size on disc. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 19:40, 11 June 2006 (PDT)

			Super-old, but wanted to chime in in case you or anyone is curious on some technical details:
			* .gif is, basically, the image format that early game developers would want their sprites saved as: the file information only holds the colors used in the picture, so it's great for images with a limited palette of swatches with common colors (ie; game sprites), as gifs are limited to a 256 color swatch limit in a 24-bit RGB pallette. Like any screenshot tool from a game emulator that's for the 16-bit era and earlier might save as .gif, and the file will only be like 20-50kb max. Find any gaming site like ''Spriter's Resource'' or a sprite-based webcomic like ''Bob & George'', you'll typically see gif or png. Even ''Shovel Knight'' screenshots might not exceed 50kb, and 15-second animated clips might not even break a megabyte.
			* .png is a fatty of a file format, designed to be a loss-less rasterized format. Anyone's got Photoshop, 'rasterizing' a vector line prolly gets what this means: it saves a lot more information, so it's good for artists and, say, the Enemy Within/XCOM2 screenshots. However, it saves every bit on information as a rasterization, hence why the files are typically much larger.
			* .jpg - putting compression as a priority, it often blends or degrades images in order to save space. That weird speckling and duller colors often result.
			* .bmp - Hell no.
			--[[User:Xuncu\|Xuncu]] ([[User talk:Xuncu\|talk]]) 07:01, 11 May 2016 (UTC)


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Zombie: /* Welcome back! */ Thanks!

2016-05-09T02:55:44Z

Welcome back!: Thanks!

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:55, 9 May 2016
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	: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
	I was surprised too. Pleasantly. You know more about the guts of X-Com than anyone besides the Gollops, methinks, and it's been like a dark age without you around. [[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 04:01, 4 May 2016 (UTC)		I was surprised too. Pleasantly. You know more about the guts of X-Com than anyone besides the Gollops, methinks, and it's been like a dark age without you around. [[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 04:01, 4 May 2016 (UTC)
			:Thanks guys! I haven't given up on X-COM, it's my favorite game of all time! To be honest, I haven't contributed here for a number of reasons, primarily because I felt like an old relic now that XCOM/XCOM2 came out and also because my mother died late last year. I either couldn't contribute anything new or didn't feel up to it. I began to realize though that there is still work to be done in the X-COM area and that I could be of assistance. Hehe. So yeah, for a while there I just lurked. As always though, you can find me at StrategyCore. :) --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] ([[User talk:Zombie\|talk]]) 02:55, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Magic9mushroom: /* Welcome back! */

2016-05-04T04:01:11Z

Welcome back!

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:01, 4 May 2016
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	There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
	: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
			I was surprised too. Pleasantly. You know more about the guts of X-Com than anyone besides the Gollops, methinks, and it's been like a dark age without you around. [[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 04:01, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

IvanDogovich: /* Welcome back! */

2016-05-03T23:08:06Z

Welcome back!

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:08, 3 May 2016
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	There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
			: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Arrow Quivershaft at 22:33, 3 May 2016

2016-05-03T22:33:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:33, 3 May 2016
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	:Well, there was a message telling people the site was having maintenance done. The only problem was that it only was up for 5 min at most. Supposedly Pete had put some locks down to prevent people from posting but those didn't work for some reason either. In addition, I never received a message from him telling me the move was happening, otherwise I would have plastered a big "Do Not Post Today" banner across he front page. So it was a "Perfect Storm" of unfortunate incidents which led to this. I made it perfectly clear to Pete that issues like this CANNOT happen ever again. I don't like to see stuff like this and I'm sure most of you feel the same way. On the positive side, this is the last server/host move we'll be making for a long time. At least I hope so, as this move was a total disaster in my book. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 02:08, 16 March 2009 (EDT)		:Well, there was a message telling people the site was having maintenance done. The only problem was that it only was up for 5 min at most. Supposedly Pete had put some locks down to prevent people from posting but those didn't work for some reason either. In addition, I never received a message from him telling me the move was happening, otherwise I would have plastered a big "Do Not Post Today" banner across he front page. So it was a "Perfect Storm" of unfortunate incidents which led to this. I made it perfectly clear to Pete that issues like this CANNOT happen ever again. I don't like to see stuff like this and I'm sure most of you feel the same way. On the positive side, this is the last server/host move we'll be making for a long time. At least I hope so, as this move was a total disaster in my book. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 02:08, 16 March 2009 (EDT)

			==Welcome back!==

			There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Zombie: /* Ping ponging with PNGS */ Note about pngout.

2009-10-25T05:53:35Z

Ping ponging with PNGS: Note about pngout.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:53, 25 October 2009
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	:Sure, I ran a few of my HQs through just now and it averages a 80% drop in file size. It's slow going though doing them all one by one in a directory. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 01:38, 19 July 2009 (EDT)		:Sure, I ran a few of my HQs through just now and it averages a 80% drop in file size. It's slow going though doing them all one by one in a directory. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 01:38, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

			:Just uploaded PNGGauntlet (a front end for pngout) to StrategyCore's files section [http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=754 here]. The nice thing about it is that it is windows-based and allows drag-'n-drop. ;) --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 01:53, 25 October 2009 (EDT)

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Zombie: /* Ping ponging with PNGS */ Whoops.

2009-07-19T05:40:15Z

Ping ponging with PNGS: Whoops.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:40, 19 July 2009
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	Zombie, while you're replacing some of the jpegs with higher quality png's, might I recommend using an optimizer to crush the file size down? Ken Silverman's [http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm PNGOUT] is one compressor that I've been using (as it has an irfanview plugin). Takes a moment to compress each image, but it does shave off some kb's on larger images. -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 01:11, 19 July 2009 (EDT)		Zombie, while you're replacing some of the jpegs with higher quality png's, might I recommend using an optimizer to crush the file size down? Ken Silverman's [http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm PNGOUT] is one compressor that I've been using (as it has an irfanview plugin). Takes a moment to compress each image, but it does shave off some kb's on larger images. -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 01:11, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

	:Sure, I ran a few of my HQs through just now and it averages a 20% drop in file size. It's slow going though doing them all one by one in a directory. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 01:38, 19 July 2009 (EDT)		:Sure, I ran a few of my HQs through just now and it averages a 80% drop in file size. It's slow going though doing them all one by one in a directory. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 01:38, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

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Zombie: /* Ping ponging with PNGS */ Reply.

2009-07-19T05:38:24Z

Ping ponging with PNGS: Reply.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:38, 19 July 2009
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	Zombie, while you're replacing some of the jpegs with higher quality png's, might I recommend using an optimizer to crush the file size down? Ken Silverman's [http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm PNGOUT] is one compressor that I've been using (as it has an irfanview plugin). Takes a moment to compress each image, but it does shave off some kb's on larger images. -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 01:11, 19 July 2009 (EDT)		Zombie, while you're replacing some of the jpegs with higher quality png's, might I recommend using an optimizer to crush the file size down? Ken Silverman's [http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm PNGOUT] is one compressor that I've been using (as it has an irfanview plugin). Takes a moment to compress each image, but it does shave off some kb's on larger images. -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 01:11, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

			:Sure, I ran a few of my HQs through just now and it averages a 20% drop in file size. It's slow going though doing them all one by one in a directory. --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] 01:38, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

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← Older revision		Revision as of 02:55, 9 May 2016
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	: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
	I was surprised too. Pleasantly. You know more about the guts of X-Com than anyone besides the Gollops, methinks, and it's been like a dark age without you around. [[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 04:01, 4 May 2016 (UTC)		I was surprised too. Pleasantly. You know more about the guts of X-Com than anyone besides the Gollops, methinks, and it's been like a dark age without you around. [[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 04:01, 4 May 2016 (UTC)
			:Thanks guys! I haven't given up on X-COM, it's my favorite game of all time! To be honest, I haven't contributed here for a number of reasons, primarily because I felt like an old relic now that XCOM/XCOM2 came out and also because my mother died late last year. I either couldn't contribute anything new or didn't feel up to it. I began to realize though that there is still work to be done in the X-COM area and that I could be of assistance. Hehe. So yeah, for a while there I just lurked. As always though, you can find me at StrategyCore. :) --[[User:Zombie\|Zombie]] ([[User talk:Zombie\|talk]]) 02:55, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:01, 4 May 2016
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	There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		There's a name I haven't seen in a long, long time. I thought you'd gotten out of the game. Glad to see that isn't the case. :) [[User:Arrow Quivershaft\|Arrow Quivershaft]] ([[User talk:Arrow Quivershaft\|talk]]) 22:33, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
	: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)		: Yep. I concur! Nice to see you here! #OldXCommersNeverDie --[[User:IvanDogovich\|IvanDogovich]] ([[User talk:IvanDogovich\|talk]]) 23:08, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
			I was surprised too. Pleasantly. You know more about the guts of X-Com than anyone besides the Gollops, methinks, and it's been like a dark age without you around. [[User:Magic9mushroom\|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom\|talk]]) 04:01, 4 May 2016 (UTC)