VMU Icon Maker

VMU Icon Maker is a tool designed to create and manage icons for the Dreamcast VMU (Visual Memory Unit). This application allows users to generate, edit, and save ICONDATA_VMS icon files.

Getting Started

To quickly get started with VMU Icon Maker, you have two options:

1. Run in Browser: Download the project and open index.html directly in your browser to start using the application without any installation.

2. Download Release Build: Download the latest release build for Windows, macOS, or Linux from the releases page and run the application on your system.

What are VMU Icons?

ICONDATA_VMS is a hidden file that can be stored on a VMS to get a custom icon for the VMS. In addition to the monochrome icon displayed on the VMS screen, you can also have a 16-colour icon for the DC file manager.

Features

• Icon Creation: Create and edit color and monochrome VMU icons using two drawable canvases with custom 16-color palette editor, 16-bit color picker.

• Real Mode: Sets special feature flag that enables a hidden 3D mode for the Dreamcast BIOS menu called "Real Mode".

• Offline Functionality: The app works entirely offline, with all necessary libraries included.

• History Management: Save and manage icon history with previews and metadata.

• Import File Support: Supports various file formats including .vms, .dci, .dcm, .psv, .bmp, .png, .jpg, .gif, .ico, and .webp.

• Drag and Drop Support: Drag and drop images to the application to import and convert them.

• Automatic Image Conversion: The app will automatically convert imported images to the Dreamcast VMU format.

  • Resizes images to 32x32 pixels
  • Reduces colors to a 16-bit 16 color palette.
  • Converts images to monochrome icon.
  • Extracts and converts icons from Dreamcast and PlayStation save files.

Development Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/vmu-icon-maker.git
   cd vmu-icon-maker

2. Install Dependencies:

   npm install

3. Run the Application in development mode:

   npm start

Building the Application

To build the application for different platforms, use the following command:

• Run npm run build to generate production-ready builds for Linux, Windows, and macOS. The output will be located in the dist directory.

File Structure

• main.js: Entry point for the Electron application.
• app.js: Contains the main logic for icon creation and management.
• index.html: The main HTML file for the application's interface.
• styles.css: Stylesheet for the application's UI.
• libs/: Directory containing external libraries like three.js and jszip.
• assets/: Contains icons and other static assets.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and submit a pull request for any improvements or bug fixes.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contact

For any questions or feedback, please contact @RobertDaleSmith).

Resources

• Dreamcast VMU Icon Format: Detailed information about the VMU icon file format.
• Dreamcast 3D Menu: Detailed information about the 3D 'Real Mode' menu.
• Dreamcast VMU Icons: Archive of Dreamcast VMU icons.