EvoGUI 0.98 - Quick Help file

v1.01

Quick Help

Contents:
-How to get the samples working
-Example usage of TPE

How to get the samples working:

1-Unzip both folders (Examples and the TPE) and you will find the solutions. Go into the EvoGUI - Examples folder and load the solution. They are VB.net for VS 2005. There should also be a folder named "src" with all the source code inside.

2- You then need to reference the TV3D dll - MTV3D65.dll. This release works with the dll released in May 2008. You can download the SDK for free if you do not have it, and upon installation, the dll will appear in the list.

3- EvoGUI uses elements of the managed DirectX sdk, so you need to reference those DLLs too. You need to add the latest versions of the files you have: Microsoft.DirectX, Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D, and Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3DX. For example on my machine they can be found at:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\DirectX for Managed Code\1.0.2902.0\Microsoft.DirectX.dll
(but Direct3DX.dll is 1.0.2911.0 and I'm not sure this is really important, because it should work with slightly older versions too). You should be able to see the directx files you have if you go to Add Refference and browse in the .NET tab.

4-That should be it! All the error messages should be gone (saying there is no refference) , so once you get the Example running, you can go through the windows by presseing the previous and next buttons on the oval middle control panel window.

Note: To get the DLL working, you need to do all of the above, except you do not need to add the source code classes to the project, so you can start your own blank project and add the refference to the EvoGUI DLL. This should be fairly obvious, but perhaps needs to be mentioned.

Example usage of TPE:

TPE (Texture Parameters Editor) is used to edit bigger textures that contain a number of smaller ones that can be used within the GUI and as a skin editor. EvoGUI uses this system where all the images and textures are placed onto one bigger texture and then loaded for optimal memory usage. The big texture has to have dimensions which are power of 2, otherwise the optimisation will not work as intended.

You can place an image inside of a big texture (ie size 512x512) and then load this big texture into the TPE to define where the image is inside of that big texture. Once you define it, a parameters file is saved (.prm) which has the same file name as the image. To get 8bit alpha working, I recommend using dds files in ARGB 8.8.8.8 format. For now in fact, TPE will only load .dds files.

Let's load a skin:

-Start the TPE.
-Go to File menu, then Load PRM > Skin.
-In the file name type "bnw" and click Load.
-After a short load, the skin will have been loaded and the skin properties window opened.
-Now load the image of the texture by clicking File > Load Image and typing "bnw" as file name.
-Press load and the image will load and turn up at the Image Display window.
-This is the image which contains all the textures of the BnW skin which is provided for free with the GUI. To see all of the segments separately, down at the bottom of the Texture Segments window, tick "all segments" (under the "Bounding box visible for" label).
-Now the red outlines will appear around all of the small texture segments of which the skin is made.
-To preview the skin, click the "Skin Preview" button at the bottom of the Skin Properties window.
-After a brief load, the preview of the current skin will have loaded.
-Let's try making the window background transparent. In the Skin Properties window, click the combo box under the third group "Set colour element for".
-Scroll all the way down in the list and select Window Background
-Type 150 as the alpha value (spinner with label "A:") and press Enter
-Click the Skin Preview button and now the previewed window will be slightly transparent!

You can also view the big textures that contain the image files for the texture backgrounds and image buttons of the Example. To do this:

-Copy images1.dds and images1.prm files from the Examples\Images folder to the TPE's Images\ folder (which should originally be empty).
-In the TPE go File > Load PRM > Texture and type in "images1" and click Load.
-The big textures should auto-load the corresponding image, so now you can select each segment and see the image buttons positioning highlighted, etc.

This gives you a short run through of what the TPE can do , and how easy it is to edit skins. There are many other parameters which will be explained in future more detailed docs.