Creating sprites

To use sprites in ICE, you'll need to use a tool to convert from our source images into the ICE format we need. The tool is called ConvPNG, and can be downloaded from here. Make sure you download the correct version for your computer's operating system.

First of all, you have to create sprites. You can use your favorite image editor, like AdobePhotoshop, PaintDotNet, GIMP, or Microsoft Paint. The only restriction is that you need to save the image as a .PNG. Once you have created your sprites using your image editor of choice, put the image(s) (you can convert multiple images at the same time, or just one) in the same folder as ConvPNG. Then, create a new file with the following text in it:

#GroupICE            : ice_gfx
#Palette             : xlibc
#PNGImages           :

Below the last line, put all the names of the images you want to convert, without the .PNG extension. Example:

#GroupICE            : ice_gfx
#Palette             : xlibc
#PNGImages           :
 apple
 beer

In the above example, apple.png and beer.png will be converted to ICE format. Be sure to save this file as convpng.ini. Note the .ini extension! Double-click on the convpng file, and both the output and the palette will be written to ice_gfx.txt If ice_gfx.txt does not appear in your directory, you may have done something wrong.

ConvPNG allows you to output the best palette too. You can do this by removing the #Palette : xlibc line. ConvPNG will then try to find the best palette, and writes that to ice_gfx.txt. This can be used in SetCustomPalette(.