Thank you fellow CFers!

[Muffit]

Hi Vectrex! I too am pretty much stuck with Paint, as I really don't know of any modern paint programs which have the features I want (PSP is okay but is missing some very key features) - which are learnable that is. Sometimes use ULead Photo Express to alter lighting and so forth, but mostly I just magnify stuff in Paint and put stuff in a pixel at a time. I know it's the hard way, but I've never been an artist so I just kinda fumble my way thru.

I saw an emulator which lists TailGunner, have been thinking of getting it, except I'm thinking it really wouldn't be the same without the booming surround speakers.

I'm so glad CF is back too, more than you know...

Hi Muffit:
I am suprised that you mostly used MsPaint! Your new avatar looks like it has been made with an Adobe Editor so something. To make my avatar I had to do the reverse. First I had to make the mines bigger so they could be seen, Then I had to shrink it down under a 100 Pixels or CF would not accept it. In the end it all worked out.

As for emulaters MAME would be the best if you want to get Tail Gunner. It is comperable to MESS. I have to say that MESS is a better Emulater than the DOS emulator for the vectrex. MESS has the ability to work in Windows as well in DOS. And the Sound is accurate. MAME would have an accurate sound emulation and with computer speakers it may sound even better than the real arcade.

[shiningstar]

Love your Moniker Vectrex!

[Muffit]

Hi again Vectrex, thanks for the info. I think one of the reasons I really like your avatar and also TG is the color - somehow that deep blue has a calming effect. I wonder if it's something in our innate emotions?

Someday I want to get a good art program and also a really good GIF editor. I tried out 3 different Gif editors last year and found each of them lacked something the others had. Am hoping to find one with all the features I need. Been so long I forget which was missing what. Hmm, alzheimers...

Thanks shining star.

Hi muffit
I'm glad that you found the info helpful. The color blue is from the emulator. I could not figure out how to make the simulated overlay work in the emulator so I turned on the 3D feature and, instead of red and blue I just turned on the blue. The effect is just as good.

On the gif editors, can you remember the names of those editors? I want to add more programs to my computer and I think they would someday come in handy.

[Muffit]

Hi Vectrex,

I'm having trouble remembering... but I know one was Creatabit's Advanced Gif Animator... I think the other was Ulead. Both had some neat features but sadly both were also lacking key features. I had to shuffle the anim back and forth between them to get anything done, and that lost the transparency effect. Also, Ulead is expensive at $50. Wish there were a review somewhere that could let us know which one is actually worth getting - I don't want to buy two... (it should do both anims and text effects (glow, shadow, etc)), have lots of frame organizing features, and especially have a Paint like editor. You'd be surprised how many have NO Paint editor so you gotta draw them elsewhere!).

Hope this helps,

Thanks for the info Muffit. These programs may help me make an improved avatar. Just a soon I complete reading the book: The Complete Idiots' Guide To Creating a Web Page By Paul McFredries, I will make an animated version of my avatar and set my free web page from Lycos!

[Muffit]

Hi Vectrex!

A quick google of the web yielded a freebie gif editor/animator - from Microsoft! Haven't checked it out much yet, it's the kind without paint abilities though, so you gotta use it in tandem with PSP or Paint and copy/paste. Here are the links:

MS Gif Animator (safe site):
http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/...1-3-2-57.shtml

Quick instructions (from a college):
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~bats/PDF/...ifanimator.pdf

I will check it out and let you know if it's any good. Looks to be pretty much just a basic one. Ya really need text shadow effects and so forth for web sites/rollovers/etc. But most Web Editors have that anyway. BTW, I bought Namo Web Editor 5 - it's ten times cheaper than anyone else and every bit as powerful! You can find it with discounts yielding a final price of $50!

Thanks of the links Muffit! Now that I have this, I can make an animated avatar sooner!

[cobrastrikelead]

My last post did sound rather nuerotic. Let me just say, I am glad to have CF back.

[Muffit]

And we are happy to have you here Cobra

Hi Cobra:
It is nice to meet you! How long have you been posting here? I was here since january.

[cobrastrikelead]

I had to check. Aug, 2002. Nice to see you and many of the new faces around here.

[cobrastrikelead]

I like the logo. Reminds me of the mystery ship in the old arcade classic, StarHawk. We wore that one out.

[cobrastrikelead]

And I am sure that many people have been following BG in some form or another for many years. The show grows on you.

[Muffit]

Vectrex, last night I created a GIF with MS Gif Animator - so easy! Terrific value for free! Has everything most shareware GIF programs have. All I did was open Paint and MS Gif and in 10 minutes, voila, instant gratification. Am so glad I found this. Think you'll like it! It even lets you set the frame delay on a per frame basis. Cool

[Laura Elizabeth]

I don't get to check in at CF as often as I like. Last week I logged in and saw the letter and went WTF? I went searching for info and I sorta understand... I'm not asking for information on what happened, I'm just glad CF is back. Thank you Don and Tom.

[shiningstar]

Welcome to the Fleet Laura Elizabeth

[thomas7g]

WElcome back laura E!

And Welcome to the Fleet, vectrex!

[shiningstar]

By the way Muffit thanks for posting the links

[Laura Elizabeth]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by cobrastrikelead

I like the logo. Reminds me of the mystery ship in the old arcade classic, StarHawk. We wore that one out.

Hi Cobra!
My Logo is from the game Minestorm, I Took a Screenshot of the ship laying mines in the minefield. As for StarHawk The Vectrex has that Game as Well!

Originally Posted by Muffit

Vectrex, last night I created a GIF with MS Gif Animator - so easy! Terrific value for free! Has everything most shareware GIF programs have. All I did was open Paint and MS Gif and in 10 minutes, voila, instant gratification. Am so glad I found this. Think you'll like it! It even lets you set the frame delay on a per frame basis. Cool

Hi Muffit:
That is good news, I hope that when I finish The Idiot's Guide, I will be able to make animated Gifs with the program you gave me.

Originally Posted by thomas7g

And Welcome to the Fleet, vectrex!

Hi Tom
Thanks For the Welcome, and I would like to say agian, Thank You and Don For Bringing back Colonial Fleets!

Hi Laura!
Welcome to Colonial Fleets!

[Muffit]

P.S. Vectrex and Shiningstar, I just found a cool GIF editor in my Namo Web Editor program! I never noticed it before. Amazingly, it appears they had access to MS Gif Anim's source code/resources, cuz they look and work almost identically. Main difference is MS Gif uses tiny thumbnails for the frames whereas Namo shows them full size. Also, MS has an odd tweak, it always inserts frames /before/ the current one, which makes it a bit hard to order your frames.

This Namo program is really something. Can't believe I got it for only $50.
Am really enjoying toying with this stuff. Hopefully in a few days I will have some neat stuff to show you, stuff we can all use to make new memories of our beloved show.

[braxiss]

as a new comer let me just say thanks.

Hi Muffit!
I can't wait to see what you've done!

Welcome to Colonial Fleets Braxiss