What is everyones favorite format to put thier images in for both 2d games and 3d games as textures, and why do you use what you do?

I like to use the Targa file format (*.tga) because it has the option to include a alpha channel in it, it also loads fast.

I´m also fond of the new PNG (pronounce ping) file format (*.png) because it also can have an alpha channel and its compression results in no quality loss at all. It has one drawback however, and that is it´s loading time which is quite long.

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Drago

Favorite format? I don''t have one... I like the bmp and tga formats because they''re easy to write your own loader for

Drago: Have you tried writing your own PNG loader? If you haven''t you really should, that might help speed up the loading times.

/. Muzzafarath

even if you write your own loader, PNG would still take a little while to load, wouldn''t it? from what i understand, the compression scheme PNG uses is not unlike mp3.. (obviously implemented differently, but i mean as complex as mp3)

MP3, like JPEG, gets a lot of its compressibility through throwing out information that most humans can''t detect anyway.

PNG''s compression is lossless (like GIF) and its a standard LZ77 deflate/inflate derivative (basically, .ZIP format).

Hell, I write my own data format for shit like that and write my own paint editors for my own data format. Your not a real programmer until you write your own compiler, too .

quote: Original post by Zipster

Hell, I write my own data format for shit like that and write my own paint editors for my own data format. Your not a real programmer until you write your own compiler, too .

Write your own compiler? That may be a little too far for some people. It depends on how willing you are to re-invent the wheel. Some people re-invent it, and some prefer not to. I''m in college myself; I don''t have the time to create my own editors, file formats, etc. Maybe during the summer, but definitely not now.

I think he was joking about the compiler =)

atleast i hope so

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Game project(s):
www.fiend.cjb.net

I personally like the PNG Format two, but don''t use it for my game. There i use the the DirectDraw TextureFormat, it loads incredibly fast, cause i only need to copy the data into memory.

And the PNG Format isn''t just zipped, contains zipped Blocks, but the unzipped Data is also coded. It is an image algorithm describing a Pixels color by using the Colors of it''s Neighbours, a bit complicated.

And it definately takes to long time for my game loading PNGs.

Lars

any you''re not a real computer user unless you build your computer. I''m not talking from parts either, real men make their own silicon wafters and you''ve not lived unless that cathode ray tube is your own design. Store bought keyboard? Phhhw, newbies, those things aren''t compatible with my propritary alphabet.