Reference manual image question

[madman]

are there any other file formats (like .png) that will work in a ref man layout
wiki only shows one <bitmap></bitmap>

Thanks
madman

[Talyn]

There are two methods, currently:

There's the "image" blocktype which is what the majority of images in a reference manual should be. It uses the <bitmap> tags to denote the image filename, and yes it will support JPG, PNG and possibly BMP though I haven't tried that one since bitmap files are uncompressed, which is a Bad Thing for Fantasy Grounds. The tradeoff is that the current image rendering system does not support alpha channels in PNG images, so you will see the background just like with a JPG. Not confirmed at this time, but I'm hoping the renderer in Unity will correct this technical limitation.

Secondly, there's the "token" blocktype. That's what we use to show a PNG with alpha channel right now, but SmiteWorks wants us to keep those to an absolute minimum because just like your token images are always loaded into memory whether you're using them or not, any images called with the "token" blocktype is also loaded into memory (and shows in the token bag window) while the reference manual is open. So, right now it's just a "cheat" for us to have a couple fancy-looking pages until (again, hopefully) Unity fixes this and allows PNG with alpha channel in the normal "image" blocktype.

Technically, there's a third option: the "icon" blocktype, which you can use to display any of the icons defined in the ruleset you're using, including the CoreRPG icons if you're using a layered ruleset. Those are PNG icons with alpha channel, and it uses the same renderer as the "token" blocktype above. But you have to dig into the ruleset files to get the icon names for that one.

[madman]

that is what i needed to know, Thanks.
i wanted transparency guess we wait!

madman

[pindercarl]

Not confirmed at this time, but I'm hoping the renderer in Unity will correct this technical limitation.

Confirmed. Images in FGU will support alpha channels.

[madman]

Nice!