Reply to The state of PNG support in 2024
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Hello, so you might be wondering about how PNG support works in <current year> across Dink versions.
While testing stuff for the new version of Periculo, along with RobJ, I did some research and found the following:
You can have a sprite frame be two files at the same time, both a PNG and a BMP file. Engines that support PNG will prioritize the PNG frame, while engines that don't will use the BMP frame instead. This way, you can develop a DMOD that both uses PNGs, and supports older engine versions to some extent by using an alternative BMP frame.
Out of the current dink versions out there, here is how using both a PNG and a BMP works:
Game engines:
Editors:
Now you might be wondering, wtf is WDEP Drone Edition? Well, it's my fork of RW's WinDinkEditPlus, which has a bunch of modifications, the most significant being fixing some sprite rendering bugs when rescaling sprites, and adding PNG support.
The source for the modification is here: https://gitlab.com/drone1400/wdep2
The released file can be found here on TDN: https://www.dinknetwork.com/file/windinkedit_plus_2_drone_edition/
While testing stuff for the new version of Periculo, along with RobJ, I did some research and found the following:
You can have a sprite frame be two files at the same time, both a PNG and a BMP file. Engines that support PNG will prioritize the PNG frame, while engines that don't will use the BMP frame instead. This way, you can develop a DMOD that both uses PNGs, and supports older engine versions to some extent by using an alternative BMP frame.
Out of the current dink versions out there, here is how using both a PNG and a BMP works:
Game engines:
DinkHD (tested V1.99) - Will prioritize the PNG YeOldeDink (tested V0.6.2) - Will prioritize the PNG FreeDink (tested V109.6) - does not support PNG, will use the BMP
Editors:
WinDinkEditPlus (RW's V2.5 and older) - does not support PNG, will use the BMP WinDinkEditPlus Drone edition (my modified edition, V2.5.7.9) - Will prioritize the PNG
Now you might be wondering, wtf is WDEP Drone Edition? Well, it's my fork of RW's WinDinkEditPlus, which has a bunch of modifications, the most significant being fixing some sprite rendering bugs when rescaling sprites, and adding PNG support.
The source for the modification is here: https://gitlab.com/drone1400/wdep2
The released file can be found here on TDN: https://www.dinknetwork.com/file/windinkedit_plus_2_drone_edition/
