Technical Talk

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PoorOldSpike

Guest
GAME SCREENSHOTS BASICS
(this is how i've been doing it for years, there are other ways but this one works fine for me)

1- Take the screenshot by hitting the 'Printscreen' key

2- Open Irfanview (it's free) and 'Paste' it in there, then Save it as any name as a GIF file to your Pictures Folder if you don't want to draw arrows and text etc on it.
But save as a PNG file if you're going to draw arrows and text etc on it.

3- To put put arrows and words etc on the pic, open it in Windows Paint and do it in there.
If you also want to crop it or re-size it, or brighten/darken it etc, use Irfanview.
Save it again as any name as a GIF file

4- Upload it into Photobucket (it's free)

5-'Copy' the 'IMG' line of code from Photobucket and Paste it into your forum post.

NOTE - If you want, burn your pics from your pics folder to disk as backups.
 
A brief guide to the main formats to save pics as-

BMP- Never use it, it's very poor quality
JPEG (also known as JPG)- Fine for photographs
GIF- Fine for game screenshots
PNG- Slightly better quality screenshots than GIF but eats up processing power causing slow display time if the pics are big.
(note- I like to save my screenshots as PNG if I intend drawing arrows and text etc on them, then save as GIF after the drawing, because GIF sometimes doesn't like being drawn on)

Note- other people might do it differently with different image programs, but the above works for me.
 
As a note i use JPEG for screenshots, seems to work well for me
 
Jonny said:
As a note i use JPEG for screenshots, seems to work well for me
Click to expand...

JPEGs might be fine, but if you paint on them the colours may become runny and blurry. For example I used JPEG's for the early days of my Val-PzIII tourney and thought I might be able to get away with painting on them, but no, the colours blurred and ran, so I switched to GIF for the rest of the tourney so the colours wouldn't blur.
Incidentally, i always save screenshots in PNG format first if I want to paint on them, because PNG takes paint much better than GIF. Then I save it in PNG, open it in Irfanview and re-save it as GIF, it's a little "trick of the trade".
(PNG is very processor-heavy and displays slowly,which is why i convert it to GIF)

PS- There's more than one method to do it all so stick with the one you're comfortable with, mine works for me and my system but other people might prefer doing it another way..:)
 
Need technical support...

...if somebody could help me?! Everytime I try to start Firefox there is a message to read about something of a "Crashreport". But there wasn´t a crash. It don´t starts the browser. So I´´m going in with the Windows Explorer - but it is very slow and I can´t find my saved links and so on. Would be great if Somebody could give me advice.

Thanks mates!
 
First, try to start it in Safe mode.
If it works, try disabling all plugins and start it as usual.
 
Thank You for Your advice, mate! There was no choice for safe mode - but I solved the problem. To my luck a new install of Firefox was successful. I´m a absolut ignoramus of all what has to do with computers. I had only fear to lose all my bookmarks because I have no idea how I can save this on another harddrive (portable) - but this will be the next I´m looking for. But nevertheless - I´m very thankful for Your advice. Have a nice day, comrade!:thumb::yo:
 
Go to "Bookmarks" at the top of Firefox browser and select it.

From the drop-down list select "Organize bookmarks" and a small window named "Library" should open.

Now, select "Import and backup" from the top of this Library window and from the drop-down list that follows, select "Export HTML" and save it to where you want.

Now you have portable bookmarks. :)
 
Wow, great information! I hope I can revenge me sometime. Will do Your checklist in the evening today and save all my "important" data. :typing: Thank You very much, comrade!

Greetings :tea:

P.S.: For what stands "mfred"? For "Manfred"?
 
mfred is an abbreviation of my name and sounds like the Red Baron's :)
 
PBEM TIPS AND TOOLS -PBEM and Windows7

I dont know exactly what Phantommajor's Problem is, but from some of the comments I've seen I might have an idea.
If not, than see this just as a reference for any new guys or for those that go and upgrade their system/ get a new one...

Its from memory so excuse me if its not completely correct.

1: Install CMAK / CMBB

2: Patch CMAK / CMBB
http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_versions&Itemid=317

Just for reference my CMBB is v1.04 and CMAK is v1.03

3: You might need the Vista patch which will cost you some $$. I cant remember if i applied it with windows7 sry

Done that, you good togo.


PBEM.

I tried in windows7 to do pbem and could'nt find the files that CMBB/CMAK created, and the files that i recieved wouldnt show up either!! I use hotmail via my web browser.

When i made a test pbem, called the file testpbem and search it "testpbem.txt". I found which directory it was in and that the OS was protecting the files (more like blocking them..)

Heres a screenshot of my systeem back in the BK tourney when i had that problem.
pbem01.jpg


The solution if i remember correctly is to turn off UAC and to run CMAK/CMBB as administrator.

Because UAC will block the files due to them coming from outside and being on your windows partition.
See the little locks on the icons...
AND NO, CLICKING UNBLOCK DID'NT HELP!!!

(I hope i'm making some sense here...)

Second, I created shortcuts on my desktop, it just makes life easier, and you can keep better track of which files you should be grabbing.

You wont be the first to get an email saying you sent the wrong file ;)

pbem02.jpg


You can also add this to your select file screen by dragging the icon to favourites (see image)
You will then also have them in your CMAK/CMBB screens as well.

PBEM3.jpg



Another tip for file naming

I use three parts,
1> whos playing
2>which game
3> file counter

So the first file between me and Cargol would look like this

BLvCA_CMAK_001.txt

When Cargol returns that file all he does is update the file counter.
I recieve from him thus

BLvCA_CMAK_002.txt

And so on. That way you can both keep track of whos turn it is


If anyone has handy tips maybe we could post em here for future refernece.
I have to stop because the wife is gonna get real **** off in a minute if i dont come to bed! lol ;)

Hope it helps

Brreaklight
 
It may be very strange, but I haven't got any problems with XP to 7 moving. I just use my CM files which I installed under XP, and they works fine. Also, PBEMhelper (that's where I surprised) works fine too.

BTW, guys, why don't you use PBEMHelper? This old utility + good email client (I use Thebat) make my pbem-file management (include sending and receiving) fully automatic. :party:
 
Surely I will, to make the world better :)
This is old utility for pbem games (not only CM). Last version made in 2004, so don't try to find there a new games, but list of supported games still pretty big. http://www.nic.fi/~fuerte/pbem.htm - the original site.
I use it for a loooong time, and will never drop it :)

What it can do for CM players:
- It takes pbem files from special folders (where they are being saved by email client or manually) and copies them to \<game>\pbem folders.
- It remembers all passwords of your current battles and all your opponent email addresses, so when you want to play a new turn, it's costs only one click to go through all game's menus.
- When you finish the turn, there's only one click to send it. PBEMhelper can also zip it before sending (optional)
- Additional cool thing is "Fast&Trust" mode, making your turnover 3 times faster (every email will contain 2 full turns), but there's a place for cheating, that's why it named how it's named :)

I could add screenshots and more instructions after I get home, ask your questions (if any).
 
SAVING TXT FROM MAIL

If an opponent sends his pbem file embodied in the mail, you can either ask him to zip it and resend, or if you don't want to wait, you can do the following procedure to play it-

Highlight it all in the mail> Edit> Save As> file name/numb xxxx> Save As> select 'txt file' into pbem folder
 
PICTURE ENHANCEMENT

IRFANVIEW is a good free image editor, I've been using it for years to enhance photos and screenshots before posting them in forums.

Download- http://www.irfanview.com/

Irfan1.gif






After you download it, select it in your program list-
Irfan2.gif





Click 'Open'
Irfan3.gif





And a list of all your saved pics on your hard drive will come up-
Irfan4.gif






Select the one you want, and it'll appear in Irfanview.
Then just play with the options to mess about with the pic by enlarging, cropping, brightening, darkening, sharpening it etc.
I've circled the two most important options-
Irfan5.gif



When you've finished, don't forget to save the pic, I save with JPEG format for photos, and GIF for screenshots, although other people may have different preferences.
Try never to save anything as BMP, it's quality is often bad.
PNG is the best but it's very heavy on processor power and there may be display lag if the pic is big.
All the above is just a basic guide, there are many other options to play with and learn.
 
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