DKC Atlas Forum

[Axis]

Was there a future or possibility to have animations for the single bananas? Don't worry, I'm well aware of the dedication this project has along with the available time it needs to progress and you can say I'm just somewhat curious.

[Qyzbud]

This question has been asked before, and this was my response:

Basically I haven't animated bananas because (like everything else I've animated so far) they have to be individually positioned... and there are so darn many of them. So it's sort of 'prioritisation' on my part (or laziness, I suppose you could say). Also, they all do the same thing, so there's little value in providing unique info for each banana, which is something I plan to provide for individually positioned objects (the ability to provide such object info is my main reason for individually positioning objects). Basically, although it would look good, I've decided that it's not worth the time investment at this stage. If I find myself with a whole lot of spare time, and nothing else to do, animated bananas might become a reality.

Since posting that reply, I've come to understand that bananas are always grouped in 'sets', which means that if I/we can create an animation of each set (not sure how many there are in total, but Simion32 would probably be able to tell us), it would be a MUCH more feasible task than I initially thought.

I'll pick a level with relatively few unique banana sets (Winky's Walkway - I'm looking at you!), and see how I go.

[Simion32]

There are exactly 129 banana sets (disregarding the blank set), some of which are completely unused.

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for that - I knew you'd be able to tell us.

Any idea how many of them are unused? I can probably save myself the trouble of recreating the unused sets.

[Simion32]

*does the ripping work for Qyzzy*

>>> Banana Animation Frames [DKCRE Rip].7z <<<

There you go, straight from RE's editor code. All animation frames are exactly as DKC SNES does it, even with the per-banana layering correct.

EDIT: Sorry about the post delete, had to re-upload due to frame timing glitch.

[Qyzbud]

Wow, thanks! Just what I needed!

Take a look at the freshly animated bananas of Winky's Walkway!

(if things don't look quite right, refresh the page)

[Simion32]

The animation is quite a bit slow. It should be (if I recall correctly) 1 image change every 2 frames (given 60FPS).

If you want a good animation speed comparison: just open up DKCRE, load a ROM, and get a feel for it (though it MUST run at top speed - the older RE version doesn't have any way to mitigate processing lag).

Yes, I'm being that nit-picky.

[Qyzbud]

Nit-picky is good! You know how precise I'm aiming to be with these maps (and with everything else on the Atlas), so I appreciate any such observations and suggestions that will help towards that goal.

I'm working on an 11" MacBook Air at the moment, which is great, but probably (definitely) not the best for mapping (and of course, not a suitable operating system for DKCRE). The animations look good to me on this MacBook (perhaps they animate more slowly in Windows?), but yeah, perhaps a little slow... actually, I thought all of the map animations were a little slow compared to their in-game counterparts. I could be wrong, and should probably check this.

I used a new technique to build the GIFs (mainly because this MacBook has a newer version of Photoshop), so that could be part of it. I think I have better control of overall frame rate (but perhaps not the duration of individual frames) with this technique, but it'll just take a little getting used to.

It should be (if I recall correctly) 1 image change every 2 frames (given 60FPS).

1 image change every 2 frames @60fps? That would make it a 30fps animation, yes?

Currently the bananas are set to animate at 10fps... would triple that speed be good? Sounds like it'd be way too fast. Maybe 15fps would be better?

This is what they look like at 15fps:

15fps.gif (4.04 KiB) Viewed 164690 times

That looks pretty good to me.


Here are a few examples at 10 (current map banana fps), 20 and 30fps for comparison:

Spoiler!

10fps.gif (5.41 KiB) Viewed 164690 times

20fps.gif (6.22 KiB) Viewed 164690 times

30fps.gif (6.72 KiB) Viewed 164690 times

The 15fps animation is by far the closest - but maybe just the slightest fraction fast...

What do you think? Anyone's input is welcome.

[Simion32]

*checks RE code*

Actually, 15FPS is correct. My bad...

It was actually 1 image every 2 frames, in 30FPS (DKC SNES rendering speed). DOH'

[Qyzbud]

Okay, cool. I'll bring the banana-mations up to speed as soon as possible.

I suppose I should go through and double-check all of my GIFs to make sure their speeds are correct...

Another day, haha.

[Simion32]

You know these maps are getting good when it starts getting hard to tell whether you're looking at DKC Atlas or DKCRE...

In fact I'm probably behind on the "shiny graphics" department, as RE doesn't have those walkway light effects. But maybe that's for the better, since RE is an editor, not the ultimate game engine (DELTA is relegated to that role... ).

[Qyzbud]

Alright! Bananas are spinning as they ought to be. → link

This new frame import is something of a breakthrough for me -- I've never had such precise control over GIF frame rate before in the software I've used... it's always been a case of setting a 'delay' of 0.1 seconds and up for each frame (typically with only a handful of options from a drop-down list)... and I think 0.1 seconds per frame is the equivalent of the 10fps animation I previously used for the bananas. With Photoshop CS5 I get to specify a frame rate (frames per second) when I import each image 'set'. So far I can't work out a way to change the frame rate after the import process (which is a tad annoying and inconvenient), but hey, at least I can get things set just right with a bit of patience and calculation...

[Super Luigi!]

"A DKC Atlas user is an important individual. Does he measure the distance from the Earth to the Moon? No, he studies how fast a single banana spins."

[Qyzbud]

So very true, Super Luigi!

Speaking of rotating fruit — our Jungle Hijinxs map now comes with its own supply of animated bananas.

Next up, I'll see about adding some sparkle to the KONG letters and other such golden goodies.

[Raccoon Sam]

Wow! Looks amazing!
Also, I noticed this in the to-do list: "Show nightfall effect at end of level"
This, and, in fact all(?) HDMA effects/background gradients could be done with CSS3. This would be beneficial because:
-hey it's native css3 man
-Once the viewer scrolls to the end of the level, the darken-animation could auto-start. When scrolling back it could go back to day.
-Right now it's a crude PNG image (with the wrong resolution)

I'm sure the HDMA tables are documented somewhere. Someone (I'm looking at you, Simion32) could eventually make a HDMA table to CSS gradient converter.

Or something I don't know. Maybe this is one of those not-worth-it ideas


EDIT: Also, adding tooltips to item caches could help. You know, hover on cache to see what you get.

[Simion32]

A lot of effort just for the mapping project, but I will at some point in this long process probably be deciphering HDMA tables.

At the very least I should end up doing DKC3's (due to hidden color/image information being embedded into said HDMA tables (as either palette lines or raw pixel data)).

[Qyzbud]

Thanks Sam, I'm glad you dig the upgrade! These maps do look a lot nicer with animated bananas, don't they.

As for the nightfall effect, I must admit I haven't given much thought to it lately — thanks for the reminder! I do love doing things in pure CSS where possible, but I think there would have to be a fair bit of JavaScript and image-swapping/fading involved in order to get the effect to look good on all layers. See, it'd be pretty easy to do the effect on just the background(s) and the terrain layer (although a full 'twilight' version of the terrain might be a bit of an excessive download...), but when you start to factor in the baddies, bananas, items, etc... which are all animated, and displayed on separate layers... well, it gets a little complicated to make things look good. Fortunately, many of the sprites, etc. I would need to accomplish this are already available — in the very next map, for example — but it would mean a bit of extra coding, for sure.

I was originally planning to just have the nightfall effect appear as a small 'twilight' section at the end of the level, which would be switched on/off via the usual toggle buttons. This would save me having to coordinate the entire level with day/night graphics (and would mean a smaller additional terrain download)... but I like your suggestion a lot more; initiating the nightfall effect when the user is viewing the end of the level would be a pretty magical touch to add, wouldn't it? I think there should be a 'reset' button to return to daytime (actually, a day/night toggle would be best), and perhaps once the user scrolls all the way back to the start of the level it'd transition to day again. Remember, you are able to explore Jungle Hijinxs in the dark, too.

This is all definitely possible, and is great fun to think about... just gotta find the time and work out the best approach.

[Aaendi]

*checks RE code*

Actually, 15FPS is correct. My bad...

It was actually 1 image every 2 frames, in 30FPS (DKC SNES rendering speed). DOH'

Is there also a maximum amount of animated objects onscreen at once?

[Qyzbud]

Thanks to DKC3 lover/ROM hacker Kingizor, all of DKC3's terrain maps are now available!

I've updated the original post of this topic with links to each of the new pages.

As of now, our mapping project features every single level terrain map in the DKC trilogy!

There's still a long way to go — objects to add and animate, info overlays to create, bonus areas to map, etc. — but we're well on the way!


Thanks to everyone who's supported, appreciated and contributed to this project thus far!

[Simion32]

I've discussed this with Kingizor on the chat but we may need to replace those DKC3 images later on because VideoViking and I found innaccuracies in the color palette of the DKC3 editor bitmaps (this was before Kingizor even ripped them at all).

Of course once I do DKC3 extraction we can get the correct (different) palettes and precise color data for each level.

So it's a great update overall.

[Qyzbud]

True, the palette information will be improved when we have the technology... but thankfully that's a fairly minor aesthetic issue that won't stop anyone from enjoying the opportunity to poke around and explore the terrain layout.

As always, we look forward to your hacking/extraction advancements; they routinely make our hard work redundant.

[Blaziken257]

I've looked at some of the maps -- while I am impressed at the ripping job (it must have been hard work), I do have to mention one thing -- I noticed that various areas that are off-screen look odd, and are generally incomplete. Rocket Rush exemplifies this issue, where there are lots of off-screen ropes for no apparent reason. There are other levels that seem to have this issue, as well (albeit to a lesser extent) -- for example, the top of Stampede Sprint, the corners of Bazza's Blockade, various holes in Barrel Shield Bust-Up, to name a few examples that I randomly picked. (However, some of them seem fine, like Tearaway Toboggan.)

Does the game really store the maps like that? If so, then I'm surprised, seeing that the maps in the DKL games generally don't have this issue (except for a few levels in DKL1, and the volcano levels in DKL2). (And it's more proof that Rocket Rush was... rushed.) If it's stored like that in the game, then I can see why it shows up the way it does on the map pages, but if not... then it should be possible to extract those missing areas. (Note that I've never hacked the SNES games, so I probably have no idea what I'm talking about here ). It's weird that the maps of the DKL series are generally "cleaner" than the maps of the DKC series...

Also, speaking of Rocket Rush, that reminds me... is the mapping project going to support regional differences? As some people know, there's no G in the American version, but there is in all other versions. There are lots of other map changes between regions in all three games, as well.

[Kingizor]

The maps I did were assembled using the map layout from the game, so they should all be correct.

Stampede Sprint, the corners of Bazza's Blockade

Presumably repetitive blank tiles would take up less space when compressed, rather than having the correct tiles in areas players were never meant to see. That might not be the only reason...

Rocket Rush exemplifies this issue, where there are lots of off-screen ropes for no apparent reason.

Rocket Rush definitely has ropes at the corners:



Why they are there is anyone's guess. Some of the riverside levels also have unusual tiles in the top row.

[Qyzbud]

I can't really think why the DKL series would have significantly more complete off-screen terrain (maybe the level designers were just perfectionists, and wanted their layouts to look complete on-screen and off?)... but I can affirm that there are indeed lots of 'uncharted' regions in off-screen areas all through the SNES series. Simion, Kingizor and I use different techniques to explore and extract terrain data, and our methods agree that empty areas and ugly joins are a common occurrence in off-screen areas of the DKC games' levels.

You may have noticed that I make an effort to 'patch' these areas using a separate background layer with a 'checkerboard' design. This is mainly to make the layouts look a little nicer, and to make it easier to follow the path of the level with one's eyes. I have lots of these left to do, but I'm back in the swing of it now.

As for your query about region and revision differences; I definitely intend to let users switch between the layouts of all different releases — but this won't be available for a while.

[Simion32]

The empty areas and strange sequences of tiles are indeed due to the compression. I think the algorithm involves some form of pattern recognition combined with a small dictionary of tiles.

[Phyreburnz]

I was wondering if there was going to be any way to either download a level map, or be able to save the image of the level. I've been taking screencaps and piecing them together in photoshop, then taking bits and pieces to make custom levels (I'm not sure how to rip tiles, and I think just taking pieces and seeing if they fit works pretty well).

[Qyzbud]

I do plan to make both options readily available, but both of these things are actually already possible — they just require the right browser/add on, and a bit of know-how! Chrome has extensions that let you save a page as an image... I can link you when I get to my computer if you like?

You can also get the terrain files themselves using the following URL pattern:
http://www.dkc-atlas.com/maps/dkc/layer ... in/1-1.png

Just change the 'dkc' directory to 'dkc2' or 'dkc3', and change '1-1' to the appropriate level code.

You can also locate all of the map layers by viewing the page source, or using your browser's 'inspector'... but I plan to provide easier methods soon.

[Phyreburnz]

Thanks for that! It will make things so much easier than screencapping a bunch!

[Qyzbud]

You're very welcome.

I know what it's like to spend all day pasting images together, so I'm glad to help!

[Raccoon Sam]

Regarding the night/day thing in DKC1, I'm no expert when it comes to Javascript/HTML(5), but after seeing this, I thought, could it be possible that the standard map image would be the 'day'-one, and upon scrolling near the end/clicking a 'night'-button, the site would load the image's palette to Canvas and gradually change it to the night-palette? This would also theoretically work with all the enemies/items, granted their respective palettes are provided.
This might be related.

[Blaziken257]

That would be cool if the map page can imitate the night transition effect the way it does in the games. One thing, though, is that the levels have lots of color per palette, so it would be a lot of colors to work with! Also, the transition is gradual (i.e. it doesn't change instantly from color A to color B -- it fades between the two), so there would be a lot of in-between colors to work with as well. And of course, to be accurate, you have to find exactly when the game fades to night, and make it scroll at that exact spot on the map page. (And would it fade back upon scrolling back to the left, or would it imitate the game and avoid doing that?) In any case, if it can be made to work, that would be cool.

On a separate note, I decided to upload maps of the entire DKL series for all to see, in case anybody is interested in them. They're available in GB and SGB format (and for DKL3J, GBC format as well). I don't have sprites ripped though, just background tiles, but it's a start for now. For DKL, all levels are the same in both the English and Japanese versions (unless there are sprite differences that I'm not yet aware of), so you'll only see English maps. For DKL2, Kreepy Krow was changed from the English version to the Japanese version, so you'll see an alternate Japanese map there. (Bramble Blast and Parrot Chute Panic also have fewer Zingers in the Japanese version, but these are all sprite-based changes, so they're not included yet.) For DKL3, since the Japanese version is in color, you'll see English and Japanese versions of all levels. I also decided to include the prototype maps, as well as Tundra Blunda in English v1.1 (since it's different from 1.0).

Also, for Tyre Trail and two of the skyscraper levels in DKL, the graphics are a bit buggy in certain areas; this is due to minor bugs in the game itself. Riggin' Rumble and all the temple levels (as well as the volcano levels in DKL2) all have incomplete off-screen terrain too. And finally, the water in the ship hold levels in DKL2 (like Lockjaw's Locker) will look weird since it doesn't use the animated tiles. Just try to overlook these things...

Here are links:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jkho3od8j ... L_maps.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/file/idw9pbe4x ... 2_maps.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/file/g6f5bapm9 ... 3_maps.zip

(Sorry if this isn't the best place to mention this, but I couldn't think of a better one, so it's here)

[Qyzbud]

This is great, Blaz! I only just got your PM about these (I've been super busy lately), so my apologies for the lack of reply.

You'd have been more than welcome to start a new topic in the DKC Projects/Fanworks board for this great DKL map release — in fact, why not do so now?

Just wondering; I haven't had a chance to check these out yet — are they full maps (with objects, etc.), or just the level terrains?

[Blaziken257]

Thanks! I'm glad someone appreciates my hard work.

I will create a new thread about it. I didn't before because I didn't want to clutter the forum with map threads XD I already made that DKL2/3 Map Dumper thread a while back, after all. But in any case, I'll go ahead and made a DKL map thread. (Which will prevent clutter here, heh...)

These sprites are complete in terms of terrain (i.e. background tiles -- similar to the current DKC3 maps that Kingizor ripped). However, I don't have any sprites in these maps, because, well, I'm still doing research on that. I know I had a Red Wharf map a long time ago with sprites, but I'd like to do it over again from scratch since it's not entirely accurate -- I based the sprite positions (and animation frames) on wherever they happened to be when I arbitrarily paused the game, which I don't think is a good idea. So, in the future, I will make sprite rips based on custom tools, which will require extensive reverse engineering.

I have sorta figured out the data, though, at least for DKL2 and DKL3 -- I'm slowly trying to rip bananas in their proper positions, and while figuring all this out, I found a leftover Rattly barrel in DKL3. It will still take me a while though -- I'd really like to make it generate the proper tiles, and place them in their proper spots for each sprite. So, while I plan to rip sprites, it will take me a long time. (And of course, I haven't figured out at all how it works in DKL.)

Oops, I'm going a bit on a tangent, aren't I... I'm curious to what you think about Raccoon Sam's idea a few posts up.

[Qyzbud]

Perhaps you could add these terrain rips to your DKL series map dumper topic? I think it'd be perfect having them all together in the one topic, but if you want to keep them separate for whatever reason, that's okay, too.

Of course, they aren't entirely out of place here in the official DKC Atlas mapping topic, as they will very likely become part of it before too long...

Regarding the night/day thing in DKC1, I'm no expert when it comes to Javascript/HTML(5), but after seeing this, I thought, could it be possible that the standard map image would be the 'day'-one, and upon scrolling near the end/clicking a 'night'-button, the site would load the image's palette to Canvas and gradually change it to the night-palette? This would also theoretically work with all the enemies/items, granted their respective palettes are provided.
This might be related.

Thanks for the links/suggestions; I've seen that first site before, and was very impressed (and immersed) with the concept/effect of it... I'll definitely look into it further.

I always love to develop new understandings of web/graphic techniques.

That would be cool if the map page can imitate the night transition effect the way it does in the games. One thing, though, is that the levels have lots of color per palette, so it would be a lot of colors to work with! Also, the transition is gradual (i.e. it doesn't change instantly from color A to color B -- it fades between the two), so there would be a lot of in-between colors to work with as well. And of course, to be accurate, you have to find exactly when the game fades to night, and make it scroll at that exact spot on the map page. (And would it fade back upon scrolling back to the left, or would it imitate the game and avoid doing that?) In any case, if it can be made to work, that would be cool.

It's hard to do such things with precision and uniformity, as everyone's browser/screen size is different... but I was thinking that when the view/page is scrolled to the very end, that's when I'd trigger the 'night' transition... and to allow the level to be viewed in darkness (as is possible in the games), but to still allow a natural 'switching back' option, it would transition back to 'day' if/when the user scrolls back to the very start (stop 1 pixel away from the start, and it'll stay nighttime). I would aim to make the effect toggleable via a button, too... and would allow the 'auto-transition' to be disabled, if a user should so desire.

I have a feeling I've mentioned much of this before...

[reversalmushroom]

Will you do the bonus rooms, boss rooms, and maps?

[Qyzbud]

Yes, on all counts:

• Bonus rooms will likely be added to the level maps as overlays; the start of the Pirate Panic map shows a very basic example of this concept in action (click the first overlays button), but the idea will be improved on down the track.
• Boss rooms are obviously rather tiny and simplistic, and are not quite as interesting as the regular levels' maps (and are probably difficult to do justice to on a behavioral level), but yes — they too will be given their own maps at some point.
• "Maps" (I'm assuming you mean world/overworld map screens) will most likely be provided as a means of navigating the level maps, etc.

[reversalmushroom]

But what about DKC1's secret bonus room that you need a code to access?

[Qyzbud]

Hmm, good point — I'll have to include that special room for the sake of completion.

Perhaps the map of this room can serve as a way to access the animal bonus area maps, just as it does in-game.

[Blaziken257]

I felt like bringing a few things up... first, while I know that maps of the DKL series are a lower priority than the DKC series, the boss maps for the first DKL are already on the site -- for example, the Wild Sting Fling map can be found here. So, it shouldn't be much work to get the DKC boss maps up, except for the actual map ripping. And that shouldn't be too hard compared to normal levels, since they're much smaller in comparison. (And some of them are more interesting than others, for example, Kreepy Krow is bigger than most other boss maps.) As a side note, I do like the DKCR-like notation for boss stages, where they are denoted with 1-b, 2-b, 3-b, etc., instead of 1-10, 2-8, etc.

On a similar note, I did rip bonus maps for all three DKL games, which can be found here (and it has all boss maps as well). But, making the site support bonus maps is another matter, I would imagine... and the DKC bonus maps would have to be ripped as well (thankfully, these are generally shorter than regular levels as well).

The secret bonus room in DKC reminded me of something else: Unused maps. Someone (I don't know who) discovered a whole bunch of unused bonus maps for the first DKC (seen here), and there's also one in DKL2 as well (seen here). So that would potentially be another interesting feature to have. (I'm curious to whether DKC2 and DKC3 have unused maps as well, but who knows...)

Now I'm probably getting nitpicky here... and it's way too late for me right now, so I should end this post here...

[Phyreburnz]

I have a question that sort of relates to the maps, so hopefully this is the most appropriate place for my question.

I was wondering about being able to save certain parts of the maps, such as certain foreground and background elements. Specifically, I wanted to save the images of the bursting bubbles in the lava levels of DKC2. If I just do a screencap, the images are very blurry. I would love to be able to get all of these bubble sprites.

The other thing, I was wondering... If I were to create a level that has lava in it, would somebody be able to use it with those little spots with numbers and be able to add the correct bubbles?

[Phyreburnz]

I didn't get an answer to my previous question, but I wasn't sure if that was because nobody had seen the post or if nobody knew the answer. I was hoping that either Simion32 or Qyzbud would have an answer.

I wanted to save the images of the bursting bubbles of the DKC2 lava levels and I wasn't sure if there was a way to do that or not. Screencapping it doesn't work because it makes the images blurry.

Also, I wondered if I did a level edit using the DKC2 lava if it would be possible to leave the little numbers and letters in and if bubbles could be added over them. I did that edit of hailfire peak a while ago and I wasn't sure if it would even be useful if the numbers were still in it.

[Dixie Diddy]

Can you actually play these maps? Also what does Autoplay do/mean

[Qyzbud]

Sorry guys, I've been so busy working on maps lately that I've neglected to reply to your posts here.

Simion32 and Kingizor have both helped a tremendous amount with various aspects of the mapping process, and I'm about ready to share the latest developments (after I work out a few kinks), so hopefully this imminent update will make up for my belated responses.

—

Blaziken257, you're right that DKL mapping is a bit of a lower priority than the DKC trilogy, but we'll get them done soon enough. Boss maps will be easy to add, and honestly, the main reason they haven't been added yet is because I figured they (the DKC ones, especially) would be so uninteresting. Obviously, it was just a matter of time — and I'd say the time is upon us.

Furthermore, I mostly agree with you about the boss stage notation, but now that Tropical Freeze has introduced the -A and -B stages, it looks like -Boss would be the best option for clarity and consistency. I may be a touch crazy, but I would like to eventually make a solid effort to map Retro's DKC games, too… so I ought to keep these things in mind.

As for bonus maps, that's great that you've managed to provide them for the DKL games; I'll check out your contribution when I get a chance. I assume that by "maps" you mean terrain extractions, rather than complete maps with objects, etc? If you did/do manage to extract sprites and their location coordinates, I'd be happy to work on putting them together — once I'm all done with the SNES DKCs, of course. I haven't yet devised a system for conveniently and logically displaying each level's bonus rooms, but I have some ideas, and will be working on them very soon.

Unused maps are an interesting idea, too, and they fit in well with the spirit of the site, so I'd say it's safe to expect them to be included. Besides, generally they're less complete (no objects, etc.), so they ought to be a cinch do set up. in response to your curiosity about DKC2/3; I know the former has that empty Web Woods duplicate, but that can likely be simulated pretty easily via the actual Web Woods map, so it hardly seems worth including (but I'm sure I'll do so anyway!).

I appreciate the suggestions and contributions; sorry for the huge delay.

—

Phyreburnz, my most humble apologies for leaving you hanging; you are certainly able to save each and every individual element displayed on the maps, but it's not always a straight-forward matter. The lava bubbles are individual animated GIFs, and they can either be saved by disabling all of the layers that sit on top of the terrain layer (the sprite, foreground and overlay layers), then doing the typical right-click, save image routine. I'm sure you know as well as anyone how to handle the GIF file from here on, but I'm happy to provide a sprite sheet or a layered PSD of the bubbles if you'd like?

As for the level creation query, I'm not 100% sure, but I would certainly think it'd be fine (and preferable) to leave the numbers in place during the design process, and match up the animations afterwards; it should be a relatively simple process — perhaps even automatic or automatable, depending on the way you plan to build/use the level.

I'm curious about the blurriness you mention regarding screenshotting, though; I don't think I've ever encountered such an issue — mine always come out crystal clear. Perhaps you could let me know what method you use for taking/using screenshots, and if I can give you any pointers to improve the quality of the result, I'd be happy to.

—

Dixie Diddy; no, these maps are just for reference, not to actually play. Perhaps one day…

Autoplay is a setting for the music player; if the box is ticked, the music will automatically start playing next time you load a map (DKC maps only at this stage, of course — but DKC2 and 3 will soon have music, too ).

[Phyreburnz]

Thanks, Qyz. I've just been using ctrl+print screen and pasting it into photoshop.

[Phyreburnz]

Qyzbud, I'll expand on my problems with screenshots.
I am getting no save option. (Yes, I have NoScript, and no, nothing for the Atlas is blocked).

no save option.png (84.08 KiB) Viewed 162638 times

The screenshots seem nice and crisp, until you open them in Photoshop and zoom in.

blurry.png (5.98 KiB) Viewed 162638 times

With this particular thing, I'm trying to save the coloured ropes in Slipslide Ride.

[Qyzbud]

I think I see the problem, Phyreburnz; it looks to me as though you've got your browser zoomed in to something over 100%. This will cause images to look a bit blurry (as they do in these screenshots), but text will generally remain sharp (again, as it does in these screenshots).

Try resetting your browser's zoom to 100% (via tools, or Ctrl+0 ← zero), and see if that lets you take better screenshots.

[Phyreburnz]

Huh... I did try that before. For some reason, my zoom is set to larger than 100% for its reset back to normal. I figured it out, though! Thanks! I just had to zoom out a couple times.

[reversalmushroom]

Is this project dead? It hasn't been updated in months.

[Qyzbud]

No, it's certainly not dead... In fact, as I mentioned last month, I've been very busy working on this project. Rest assured that a lot of effort has been put in behind the scenes lately, and the results will be shared soon.

[Qyzbud]

A sign of things to come...