F1GP-Ed Documentation

Most of the background images which are seen in the game's front end are
stored in separate files (filename suffix .bkg).  These backdrop files use
a custom format and the images must be 320x200 in size and use no more than
32 colours.

This window allows you to convert normal IFF-ILBM image files into F1GP's
custom format.  These images can then be used by the game as a replacement
for the original images.

Before replacing any backdrop file you should read about the limitations.
Unfortunately, in most cases it is not a simple matter of loading any old
32 colour picture.  There are restrictions on what palette entries you can
use - some of them have to remain constant.

IMPORTANT: F1GP-Ed needs to know which version of F1GP you have before
viewing or replacing backdrop files.  If you own version C then you will
need to reselect the F1GP Binary - F1GP-Ed will then know which version you
have and if you save the settings it will also know when you next load
F1GP-Ed.

IMPORTANT: If you intend to make changes to a copy of F1GP located on a
hard disk drive, you will need to make sure the standard f1gp_disk_#x:
assigns have been set up beforehand.  It is recommended that you add these
to your s:user-startup file, if you haven't already done so.  For example:

   assign f1gp_disk_#1: Work:Games/F1GP
   assign f1gp_disk_#2: Work:Games/F1GP
   assign f1gp_disk_#3: Work:Games/F1GP
   assign f1gp_disk_#4: Work:Games/F1GP

If you want to convert the original backdrop files to IFF-ILBM format, then
you can either view the picture from within F1GP-Ed and use a program that
can grab screens (e.g. Personal Paint, Quickgrab) or install the F1GP
Backdrop datatype (available from Aminet: util/dtype/f1gp_bkg_dt.lha).

Here's the description of all the user interface elements:

Load IFF/BKG Image
   Load a standard IFF-ILBM image into the buffer.  If the image is too
big, it will be cropped automatically.  You can also use this feature to
load in existing F1GP backdrop files.  The image will remain in the buffer
until you flush it manually or exit F1GP-Ed.

View
   View the current contents of the image buffer.

Flush
   Reset the image buffer, and free the memory associated with it.  You
will rarely need to use this feature unless you are running low on memory.

Buffer
   The name of current file which has been loaded into the image buffer.

Destination
   Lists the filenames of all the backdrop files (without the .bkg suffix).
Use this to select the backdrop file you want to replace or view.

Information
   Displays information about the selected destination backdrop file. Each
file has it's own limitations.

   Intro
      Used only by the intro.  In general you shouldn't alter these,
      mainly because they are animations.  Version C of the game doesn't
      have an intro, so if you have this version then you obviously can't
      replace or view these files.

   Menu
      These images have a menu rendered on top of them.  As a result
      specific palette values should be kept constant so the menus look
      correct.

   Palette Change
      The images fade-in and then dim down to about half brightness -
      usually menus and text are rendered on top of the image.  When
      replacing these images, F1GP-Ed needs to alter the F1GP binary.

   Animation
      These images are the first frame of an animation.  Currently only
      this frame can be altered, so it's probably best to leave these
      files alone.

   Unrestricted
      These are the simplest kind of backdrop file. The image is shown on
      it's own and nothing is rendered on top of it.  Hence these pictures
      can utilize the full 32 colour palette.

View Current
   View the existing selected backdrop file (the file is loaded first, and
then displayed).

Replace
   Replace the currently selected backdrop file with the contents of the
image buffer.  IMPORTANT: Please make a backup of all the .bkg files
supplied with the game before using this option, as this option will
overwrite the existing .bkg file!

Save Other
   Allows you to save the contents of the image buffer to a .bkg file of
your choice.  This is useful if you want to make .bkg files before actually
using them in the game.