background changes in game salad viewer

djdee

hi
i have a background image for my game, its dimension are W = 1239, H = 6151. it works perfect when i test it on my mac, but when i test it on my phone using game salad viewer, it appears completely black. it has no behaviour, and movable is also turned off. to check its position i had used 2 actors to display its x and y position. The position are exactly where i had placed the background but it is completely black. Can some1 tell me y is it appearing normal when i test on my mac and black when i test in on my iPhone.
Thank you

AtomikFuel

1. All images should be 72 dpi
2. "Power of 2" rule, google it or (http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/textures/make-better-textures-correct-size-and-power-of-two.php)
3. 6151 might be too large as an image size, 2048x2048 should be the largest image size, chop it down too smaller chucks or elements (ie. trees, kills, clouds, etc...)

Socks

@AtomikFuel said:
1. All images should be 72 dpi

A much spread myth ! Image files have an absolute pixel count, the ppi value (pixels per inch rather than dots per inch ('dpi')) is largely irrelevant . . . a 512 x 512 pixel image at 72ppi is exactly the same as a 512 x 512 pixel image at 4,000ppi, 200ppi or 8ppi . . . or even 685,584,344ppi - same memory size, same pixel count, same image, same everything, except for a tiny (ultimately inconsequential) piece of metadata.

Some software will look at the ppi value - and decide for you what size the image should be displayed at - but that's all it really does, I think GameSalad used to default an actor to the size defined by the image's ppi, and even here all you'd have to do was to type in the correct size, but even that is now gone . . . . a 200 pixel by 200 pixel actor at 65,000ppi will look exactly the same as a 200 pixel by 200 pixel actor at 72ppi in GameSalad.

@AtomikFuel said:
3. 6151 might be too large as an image size, 2048x2048 should be the largest image size, chop it down too smaller chucks or elements (ie. trees, kills, clouds, etc...)

djdee might mean he has a 1239 pixel by 6151 pixel actor - rather than a 1239 pixel by 6151 pixel image.

The fact that he can run the project on his Mac and his phone suggests it is an actor rather than an image - if it were an 1239 pixel by 6151 pixel image GameSalad wouldn't have let him import it . . . so he wouldn't be posting the question !

djdee

thank you @AtomikFuel‌ & @socks for ur quick reply.
I always keep a back up of my file that i wrk. i was testing my game on the previous gs viewer. it use to wrk like a charm. after i installed the new version i started getting this problem. i even tried some of my previous back up files in the new viewer and it still loads and wrks fine.
@AtomikFuel‌ the BG is completely plain and has only a gradient.
i even change the image size to an even number but still face the same problem.

Socks

@djdee said:
the BG is completely plain and has only a gradient.

Is it 24 bit or 8 bit ?

If it is 8 bit then I would convert it to 24 bit, the new image system is less able to deal with 8 bit images.

colander

I had this problem on my iPhone 4 it will not display text or images in an actor over 1024 x 1024 and I believe iPhone 4s and above will display up to a 2048 x 2048 actor (I don't know for sure as I never have actors this big).

When I was getting the problem on my iPhone 4 it would display fine on the computer but not on my iPhone.

djdee

@socks no that does not help socks.
@colander
the image size does not matter. my image worked fine b4. but the image had banding problem as it was gradient. i had taken the image to photoshop and reduced the banding using filter - brush strokes - spatter and reduce its spray radius to 10 and smoothness to 1. after using the filtered image it started giving problem. i had a copy of my old image and i reused it for testing, it worked. but still has the banding issues and now my flash screen is completely white and have no idea y its acting like this

Hopscotch

@djdee, to prevent banding, just give one pixel somewhere on the image a very slight transparency.

Which version of GS are you using?

Socks

@djdee said:
. . . the image had banding problem as it was gradient. i had taken the image to photoshop and reduced the banding using filter - brush strokes - spatter . . .

iOS is reading your 24 bit image as 8 bit, like @Hopscotch says you need to force iOS to read the colour (RGB) part of your image as 24 bit by firstly making sure the image is a layer in Photoshop (rather than 'background') then selecting a single pixel anywhere on the image (a corner might be a good idea) and making it slightly transparent - just 1% works - with the eraser - then save.

Now your image will be read as 24 bit by iOS - and the banding will have gone.

By the way trying to diffuse banding with filters like splatter/brush stokes - or noise - will make you file size (on disk) much much much bigger.

djdee

@Hopscotch‌ & @Socks‌ i tried that technic b4 since it dint workout i used splatter. /Users/deepakbohra/Desktop/sky.png
the image is b4 i filtered nd has banding

djdee

i can send the image if u guys wanna have a look in it

Hopscotch

@djdee, you have to make sure that it is saved with the alpha layer.

@Socks, which thread is that great tutorial you did in? I can't find it.

djdee

@Hopscotch‌ i tried it. i have 3 layers. 1 under the image which is transparent and next i had gone to the right conner of the image selected a pixel and cut and pasted it in a new layer and reduced its opacity. and then saved it. it still has the issue. I can mail u the image if u would like to have a look in it.
Thank You

Hopscotch

@djdee, which version are you using? The latest stable one? I haven't had a chance to try it, maybe this trick got broken with the new graphics changes?

djdee

@Hopscotch‌ am using the latest version which is 0.11.0.13

Hopscotch

@djdee, your method of making the image sounds correct, as long as you export it with the alpha channel. Maybe 0.11 broke it, I will only be able to experiment later today. If you want you could PM me your PSD and the PNG, I could compare it now quickly.

djdee

k ill pm thank u @Hopscotch‌

Hopscotch

So, the old "semi-transparent-pixel-in-the-corner" trick still works in the stable version 0.11.