i am trying to use one file that contains all my image files

i'm using dx8, 2D

thanx in advance

And....?

edit: read this before posting.

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c'mon Machaira, obviously he wants to know how to do it. I never use resource files so I can't advise here.

That's a very broad question though that could contain a lot of smaller problems - how to create the custom resource file, how to load the resources in the file, what are the resources being used for, etc. "how to do it" is a meaningless question.

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Back when I was using VB6, I made an encryption-and-packaging tool ... you can still find it at one of my old web pages: http://www.mwgames.com/brickcnp.htm

It has a tool to package your resources, data file, etc., into a single data file, and a DLL with functions and methods for working with those files. Feel free to make use of that if you'd like. I'm happy to answer questions via e-mail or PM on it if you need it.

I made it after reading this old-school tutorial at the original "Lucky's VB Gaming Site": http://www.rookscape.com/vbgaming/tutS.php

HTH,
-Bryk

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ok lets, say i use the brickcnp or any other tool,
how would i code it?
i now use this code to load an image

Set Texture = D3DX.CreateTextureFromFileEx(D3DDevice, App.Path & "\Gfx\something.bmp", Val(Menu(State).Width), Val(Menu(State).Height), D3DX_DEFAULT, 0, Compression, D3DPOOL_MANAGED, D3DX_FILTER_POINT, D3DX_FILTER_POINT, &HFF00FF00, ByVal 0, ByVal 0)


how would it look and what would i use?

hmm the way i see it brickpack creates a temp folder then just extracts the files to it, making an reference to the file to it can be used.

this would work, but it would leave the posibility to "borrow" the images
(open temp folder, take images)

is there a more secure way of doing this?



btw im having trouble with the getting the engine to show the image part , also thanx guys

You would need to do things in 3 steps:

1> Unpack item from resource file into temporary file
2> Load item
3> Delete temporary file

The DLL I listed has "clean up" functions for doing that sort of things for you.


You're having probably displaying the item you're loading from file? There are a lot of possible reasons for that ... can you give some sample code?

-Bryk

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hmm do you have any stats of how fast it loads and of how fast it can delete the files?

The problems with a 'secure' method are:
1) No matter how fast it is, someone could write a program that waits for the file to be created and copy it then
2) If the resource file isn't encrypted, they can just open that in a binary editor and figure out the format (isn't normally very difficult with most resource files)
3) If the resource file IS encrypted, then they just need to pull the key and algorithm out of your loader, decrypt it and go to problem 2
4) They could just grab the loaded data from memory anyway

Basically you can't secure the files if you want people to play the game as the data needs to be unpacked and read at some point. The only real reason for using a resource file is that you can potentially make some loading speed optimisations using it (load the resource file for a level into memory, takes 1 file read rather than potentially hundreds).

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alright thanx guys

going to use the brick system then

Nope. It deletes things as fast as your hard disk allows for it.

File operations, in general, are very slow compared to in-memory operations ... so, even if you go with separate files for each resource item, you will want to do your load/save in places where there isn't a need-for-speed -- between levels, during a "loading" screen, etc. Having a single file packed with all of your resources won't have much of an noticeable impact if you're doing your file-handling work in that manner.

If you want to see a game that makes use of it, you can download and play the demo for Gem Raider ... see if you have any game-killing delays due to file ops.

-Bryk

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