Images

Images are used to visualise scenes, regions, objects, and dialogs. In addition, an image may be used as the form of a region. ADePT supports images of several file types and text areas.

Note: Image files are retrieved from the image path and from resource files as described in the Game item.

Image

Item type	Image
Description	an image
Action	-
Condition	-

Key	Type	Default	Description
file	file		file name
position	point	(0,0)	relative position
size	point	(0,0)	size; 0 means original size

Note: If the image file contains transparency, it is displayed with transparency, but the shape of the image is always a rectangle.

Transparent

Item type	Transparent
Description	a transparent image
Action	-
Condition	-

Key	Type	Default	Description
file	file		file name
position	point	(0,0)	relative position
size	point	(0,0)	size; 0 means original size
transparent	colour	(-)	transparency colour
mask	file	""	transparency mask

Unlike the Image item, the transparency information of Transparent determines the shape as well as the display. If the file type of the image includes transparency information, the attributes transparent and mask are ignored. For the transparency colour, all pixels of that colour will be transparent. If a mask is specified, transparent refers to this mask. The mask must be a bitmap of the same size as the image.

Note: Due to implementation efficiency, for other than true colour images the transparent colour is not a RGB value, but the palette index of the colour has to be used as the red value.

Animation

Animations are sequences of images and sounds that are changed by time. They may be used where-ever still images may be used: in scenes, in the inventory, and for dialogs.

Item type	Animation
Description	A timely sequence of images and sounds.
Action	Starts/stops animation.
Condition	True, if animation is running.

Key	Type	Default	Description
position	point	(0,0)	relative position
size	point	(0,0)	size of the animation; if this is (0,0), the size of the images is used
images	[Images]	[]	the list of images (frames)
offsets	[point]	[]	offsets of the images
sounds	[PlayAudio]	[]	the list of sounds (frames)
timing	Timings	<>	the timing for the animation (if none, timer resolution is used)
repeat	value	0	the number of frames to play (0 for continuous, -1 for stepping)
end	Actions	<>	The action to perform, when animation ends.

The lists of images, offsets, and sounds usually have the same length. In any case, the number of images determines the number of frames of the animation. Missing offsets are assumed to be (0,0). The sounds should be short enough to prevent overlapping. Also, they should use the SINGLE_SHOT style to prevent delays when loading the sound.

An animation may contain any image type in its image list, even animations. The animation will not animate any animation image inside of it, but reflect its state, if it is animated otherwise. Use the empty item (<>) for no image and for no sound.

An animation starts the first time with frame 0, then with the next frame after the one at which it was stopped. The timing always starts from the beginning. When the animation is started (continuous animations are started initially) the timing determines when to change to the next frame. An animation runs until it is stopped or until the number of frames are done. A stepping animation changes to the next frame each time the animation is activated and ignores the timing.

The same animation may be used more than once at the same time (e.g. in two regions of the same scene), but all instances will run synchronously.

Text

Item type	Text
Description	a text area
Action	-
Condition	-

Key	Type	Default	Description
text	string		displayed text
position	point	(0,0)	relative position
size	point		size
style	Style	<>	style; if no style, the look is used
font	Font	<>	font; if no font, the font of the look is used
mouse	byte	0	displays text as selected depending on mouse state; see definitions for values
resolveVar	bool	0	if true, integer variables are resolved

Style

Item type	Style
Description	style of a Text
Action	-
Condition	-

Key	Type	Default	Description
align	byte	5	alignment; see definitions for values
transparent	bool	1	if false, a rectangle with the background colour is drawn around the text
text3d	bool	1	3D style
raised	bool	0	raised 3D style
shadow	bool	0	shadow 3D style
colorLight	colour	(-)	light / foreground colour; default is the look colour
colorDark	colour	(-)	dark / shadow colour; default is the look colour
colorBack	colour	(-)	background colour; default is the look colour
gap3d	int	0	gap for 3D style

Note: The attributes of the Style item correspond to the parameters of looks. You may use the look editor to have a preview of the style.

Font

Item type	Font
Description	font of a Text
Action	-
Condition	-

Key	Type	Default	Description
name	string		font name
size	int		font size
bold	bool	0	bold font
italic	bool	0	italic

Note: For each Font item, the font has to be loaded as a system resource. Don't use too many Font items and reuse the same Font item whenever it is possible.

Note: If you use a font that may not be available on other systems, declare it in the key fontFiles of the Game item to let it install by ADePT.