Greetings,
We were all quite busy with real life these past few weeks after releasing 1.7.8. This will be a long post, so let's get the easy stuff out of the way.
What's new:
- As promised before, we've added 2 functions to the Token function group to help cycle through a token's "avatars". These are token.nextGuise, and token.previousGuise (see wiki and code completion, for more info).
In Mote, a token can have multiple images associated with it, with one being the primary on display. You can add to this list by either using the token editor dialog, or using the token.setImage function. The latter sets the current image for the token, and while retaining the info of previous set images. Have fun.
- Corrected tool info on the status bar i.e. Alt+Shift for drawing snapped to the grid.
- Token mapping hole which affected the ordering of stamps/tokens that are not found on the token layers.
- Several minor GUI issues.
Class Act is our take on a tool for making tokens (we call them actors here at Idle Ideas), and comes bundled (for free) with this release of Mote.
This is to save on packaging processing, and space, since it uses the same run-time elements as what Mote uses.
The reasoning behind the name is, beyond being a tool to create in-game image assets, we will explore delegating "actor-centric" features to this application, instead of having it all in one monolithic tool such as Mote/Sift, Of course, all this comes much later in the future.
Unlike older tools out there, it's designed to allow working in batches, with a special view to adjust and apply various properties such as opacity, tinting, layer and component positioning.
Most everything can be done in batches via selections on the left and right-side views (i.e. association, adding images to stack areas, duplication, and exportation.)
Due to the team's real-life priorities, we weren't able to cobble together a suitable document with images and instructions, in time for this release. But we promise to work on it in the future, though a specific date, remains to be seen ;)
The good news is, Class Act is quite easy to use. All actions within it are pretty straightforward. If you have any questions, do ask us on G+ or our forums.
We hope everyone finds it a convenient tool for your gaming needs ^_^.
Important Terms
Project - This encapsulates the collection of resource galleries, and user creations. It exists as one tab on the main application view. The project view is comprised of a left-side view (for galleries), and right-side view (for user creations / work items).
Work group - A collection of projects, for organization purposes.
Resource Gallery - This is a view of image assets available in a folder. Users browse for these folders, to add them to a project. To provide an adequate view, instead of utilizing an infinite scroll, the app pages these and allows for a max of 3 galleries per page.
Resource - an image on the left-side view. You can associate these images to the project and create work items by double-clicking over the resource; hitting enter on a selection, or using the context menu on one of the resources. All items in the selection will be sent over to the right, as work items.
Stack - a work item on the right-side view. These are the final output, when the user elects to export items to images.
When a selection is made on the right-side view, images from the left-side view can be added to tthese work items.
For in-depth editing of an item, you can double-click, hit enter on a selection, or use the context menu and select "Preview". This will bring up the Stack viewer.
Stack areas - there are 3 areas to add image resources: As layers in the main Stack, in cells of a grid drawn above the top of the main Stack, and the special layer for "free" images, which is found somewhere in the middle of the main Stack and the Grid.
Layers area - As the name suggests, images are added to this area one on top of another, in the order of addition. This ordering can easily be changed, or rearranged, using the provided controls.
Like all stack components, numerous properties can be changed, using the fields provided.
Grid area - This is for orderly, predictable placement of images in the Stack. Final image size for a cell is determined by the # of rows and columns in the grid. These can be edited for the grid to have more rows and columns.
Free area - Images added to this area are unbound. The user can drag and place these images, anywhere within the bounds of the Stack.
Context menu - Right clicking on a Resource Image, Stack, or Stack Component (a list item on one of the 3 lists in the Stack View), will pull this menu up.
Note, for Image Resources, the context menu will vary depending on whether or not there are items selected on the right-side view. The basic idea is one of association: No right-side selection, associate images as Stack bases. With right-side selection, associate images as either as new Stack bases, a Stack layer, a grid cell, or a free-moving image.
Things to note:
- All exported items will be found in the Exports folder in the Class Act's data directory.
- Using the global application buttons on a project's view (i.e. Apply Defaults to All, Apply Defaults to Selected), it only applies these defaults to the main layer, which should be the dominant image of the Stack.
It didn't make sense to us to apply to all components, since an item's minutiae details can already be adjusted in the Item Viewer. - When selecting resource galleries to add to a project, you may select more than one at a time, in the dialog provided.
- If you want to change an Image Clip, click on label below the Clip choices box on either the Project or Item View, to reset.
- Defaults set on the Project View will only apply to newly added items. To apply to previous items, use the Global Application controls.
- The quick load function remembers the last loaded project or work group.
Output size vs. other size references:
All views use a predetermined size for display. These are not representative of the output during exportation.
What determines the final dimensions of an export, are the properties for output height and width, which can be set using the Stack Viewer.
Image support
Input sources:
- PNG
- JPG
- SVG
- BMP
- GIF
Mac OS X
Due to the challenges an app bundle presents a Java solution made up of multi-applications, we opted to make it easy for everyone (including ourselves!), by separating Mote and Class into 2 app bundles. Sorry.