This video will show you how to create 8-bit MATs and Menu Backgrounds in Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II.
Some may be wondering if there is any point to this seeing as JK has support for 16-bit MATs and even in 8-bit mode it cycles through enough CLUTs to become a simulated 16-bit mode, and most people today can, or at least are required to run the game in 16-bit mode.
There are a few valid reasons.
If not for saving disk space or download times (which I'm sure everyone has Gigabit Fiber up and down), then at least for the fact that JK has a resource limit. It can only load so many megabytes of Materials, Objects, Animations, etc.
I'm sure you'd love to have nice handsome 2048² 16-bit MAT animating through 16 cels, but JK still has its limits.
But this is important when changing the pictures to the menus in the game. They have to be 8-bit and static. Why LucasArts never thought to turn them into interactive DVD menus is beyond Windows 95. :p
The different background names to use are:
bkbuildload.bm - Multiplayer character and lightsaber setup
bkbuildmulti.bm - Multiplayer character selection screen
bkdialog.bm - Dialog boxes / prompts (no internal palette)
bkesc.bm - When hitting Esc to pause the game
bkfieldlog.bm - Objectives screen (bit of a mess)
bkforce.bm - Choosing force powers
bkloading.bm - When a level is loading
bkmain.bm - Main Menu, first thing you see
bkmulti.bm - Multiplayer setup screen
bksetup.bm - Setup options screen
bksingle.bm - Singleplayer level menu
bktally.bm - End of Level score results
The rest you can look at in the Res1hi.gob
The programs used in this tutorial are:
JKPaint http://www.jkhub.net/library/index.php?title=Tools:JKPaint
MatMaster http://www.jkhub.net/library/index.php?title=Tools:MatMaster%202
GiMP http://www.gimp.org/
