We found a bug not long after we just released version 1.0 and have
tried to find a solution for it. Some letters would disappear when
the "Straight Line' effect was selected for the Scrolling Text due
to a hardware limitation of Gameboy. The problem still exists, but
but to a lesser extent. Hopefully this will not be present in version
2.0 ---> read: just use the Sine effect and you will have no problem,
it's kooler anyways...
We also added some extra fonts in this version so you can make your
greeting card look even better.
This program requires you to have MFC42.DLL in your Windows System dir,
this file can be obtained from http://deltasitez.nu/dllm.html
Do not forget to run 'REG.BAT' to update the registry with the extra
fonts that were not in version 1.0.
Main Screen
- All the options are pretty straight forward, except maybe the ones in
the Expert Mode. But then again, if you are the kind of person that
wants to use the expert settings we expect you to be able to figure
out what each setting does for yourself.
- The 'Clear Form' button erases the "Background Graphic", "Text
Font",
"Sprite Collection Graphic", "Single Sprite 1 Graphic", "Single
Sprite 2 Graphic", and "Music" comboboxes since these are the only
ones that are not clearable by the user. All the other comboboxes
must have values in them are so are not clearable.
Updating Lists
- To add an entry, all the Edit Boxes have to be filled in.
- Put the file(s) you want to add in their respective directory within
the directory structure of the program (ie, backgrounds in /bkg,
music in /music, fonts in /fonts, sprites in /sprites) and do NOT
specify any pathname in the Edit Boxes. Just specify the filename
(e.g. "bkg1.dat", "filename.dat", etc. NOT
"C:\DIR1\DIR2\filename.dat")
- Click the 'OK' button after the updates. If you click on the 'Cancel'
button or hit Escape, you will cancel any changes that were made.
Importing Graphics
- Best viewed in 800x600 or higher resolutions
- Number of colors on-screen should be set to at least 16.7million
(24-bit) or conversions of the graphics might not work properly.
- All popular graphic file formats can be read in (bmp/jpg/gif/pcx/etc).
- The 'Center' button will move the selection area to the center of
the picture.
- The 'Flip Bits' button lets you change any of the four shades of grey
into any of the other grey shades.
- To import a background, select YES when asked for Tile Optimization.
Save the file in the 'bkg' directory.
- To import a sprite, the selection should have LenghtX=1 and LengthY=1.
Select NO when asked for Tile Optimization. Save the file in the
'sprite' directory.
- To import a fontset, the selection should have LenghtX=20 and
LengthY=3, the font should map to the example font/font.pcx file.
Select NO when asked for Tile Optimization. Currently, GCGen only
recognizes 41 characters (tiles) in the font datafile.
Importing Music
- MIDI type 0 files do not convert well (MIDI type 0 files are MIDI files
that have all the music data in one track). When you load in a MIDI
file, the Track comboboxes will be populated with the MIDI tracks. Select
the track(s) you wish to convert. Selecting more than one track will
make the Gameboy use different sound channels for each track. Please note
that the timing could be off. Use the "delay" option to delay the
beginning of the track music by a particular amount. Not all MIDI files
are going to convert perfectly. It is recommended that you use a MIDI
utility that is able to play individual MIDI tracks to hear which track
you want to use. This will make your conversion easier.
Import/View GameBoy Data
- Allows you to view the tiles in any gameboy game. Simply load the file,
and start scrolling through the pages until you see graphics that don't
look like static/garbage. When something looks like it might be a
tileset, use the "bit offset" control to make it clearer. When you
see what you're looking for, make a screen shot (Alt-Print Screen) and
paste it into PBRUSH (or another graphics program). Save it in a
graphic format GCGen recognizes and then import that file into GCGEN.
Using the GameBoy image
- If you have selected the Square or Circle for the Sprite Collection
you can change the X/Y values by pressing the D-Pad on your Gameboy.
- If you have selected the Squiggly Line (c), you can get different
effects by pressing the D-Pad or a combination of the D-Pad and the
Select button on your Gameboy. Squiggly Line can do many, many
different effects. Play around with it. Can you get it to do
3 lines making a braiding pattern? How about several ovals that
seem to wrap around an imaginary cylinder?
- Using an emulator is not recommended. The images look, sound, and
operate better on a real Gameboy. To play these images on a real
Gameboy, order your Doctor GBX hobbyist package at:
http://www.bung.com.hk
Enjoy!
The actual gameboy image is created using the Gameboy Development Kit
which is located at:
http://www.aracnet.com/~pfelber/GBDK
Thanks to Pascal Felber for this wonderful package.