RenderWare V2.1

The Texture File
Formats

Textures in RenderWare V2.1 can be any size. The size used can be selected through the choice of driver at load time, the currently available sizes with the software devices are 128 x 128 or 256 x 256. These textures may be 8 or 16 bits deep . However, RenderWare can read bitmaps of sizes other than the devices native texture. Such bitmaps are converted automatically to RenderWare’s internal raster format. Furthermore, RenderWare can read textures from MS Windows and OS/2 bitmap (.bmp) files in addition to RenderWare’s own texture file format (.ras).

In the case of RenderWare’s own texture file format (.ras) the following are supported:

· Bitmaps of any width and height.

· Bitmaps with depths of 1, 8, 24 or 32 bits.

· Uncompressed or run length encoded bitmaps.

For MS Windows and OS/2 bitmap (.bmp) files the following are supported:

· Bitmaps of any width and height.

· Bitmaps with depths of 1, 4, 8 or 24 bits.

· Uncompressed or run length encoded bitmaps.

Bitmaps of sizes other than native texture sizes will be filtered and quantized to RenderWare’s internal texture format. It is important to note the following when using textures of sizes and depths different from the device native format:

· Files that contain bitmaps which are already in the native format, typically 128 x 128 (or 256 x 256) by 8 bits deep will load more quickly. However, such textures are likely to be less visually pleasing than larger, deeper textures which are filtered and quantized to size.

· Texture "movies" (multi-frame textures) must be stored as bitmaps which are 128 (or 256) pixels wide and a whole multiple of 128 (or 256) pixels high.

RenderWare’s own texture file format is based on the format used for Sun Microsystems’s rasterfiles. RenderWare will read any legal Sun Rasterfile. For a description of Sun’s Rasterfile format see:

[1] Rasterfile (5) in Sun Microsystems, Sun OS 4.0 Programmer’s Manual, 1990

[2] Pat McGee, Format for byte encoded rasterfiles in Sun-Spots Digest, Volume 6, Issue 84.

[3] David. C. Kay and John R. Levine, Graphics File Formats, Windcrest/McGraw-Hill, 1992.

For a description of MS Windows bitmap (.bmp) file format see:

[4] Bitmap-File Formats, Microsoft Windows 3.1 Programmer’s Reference Volume 4: Resources, Microsoft, 1987-1992. Part Number: 30211.

[5] David. C. Kay and John R. Levine, Graphics File Formats, Windcrest/McGraw-Hill, 1992.