Which S/W do you use to make game-boxes?

Discuss game box design and sharing.

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Chobham_1980

Which S/W do you use to make game-boxes?

Post by Chobham_1980 »

Hi ZunZtu Nation:

One of the reasons I use ZunZtu is because it's easy to make game-boxes of my favorite games. When I first started, I found myself spending time finding the proper software/equipment needed to produce game-boxes. So, in an effort to help aspiring game-box makers, I thought we could share some of the computer software and/or equipment used in creating our own boxes.

For me, I use these:

* To scan the components of game, I use a variety of scanners:

For larger maps I tend to 'borrow' a commercial scanner (Konica Minolta) from my workplace.

For smaller scans, like counter-sheets, a non-commercial scanner like Brother MFC-7360N work fine.
These personal scanners can also be used to make maps but can be fiddly to finish a project.
Also, final file sizes tend to be large.

Recently, I have been using an inexpensive (personal) large bed A3 Mustek scanner.

* Once components are in a digital format (JPG, PNG etc.), here are some Basic editing software ideas:

MS Paint - - found on most (all?) Microsoft computers. Be wary it sometimes can't handle large pictures.

Gimp 2.0 fills in nicely for those times MS Paint fails in editing capability (not too often). It is free and downloadable -->

http://www.gimp.us.com/1/gimplp3/index- ... ource=bing&


* Maps can be rather large, so some sort of 'image stitch' software is needed:

GIMP 2.0, can handle the job, but the results lead to large file sizes and has a longer learning curve.

MS Image Composite Editor is free & easy to use; it is free and downloadable from here -->

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/ ... jects/ice/


If you have another favorite program/equipment to contribute, drop-a-line and share.


Regards & good box-making! Rich
Last edited by Chobham_1980 on 10 Dec 2017, 02:32, edited 1 time in total.
Chobham_1980

Post by Chobham_1980 »

Hi Folks:

I am writing this so that it easier to identify 'real news' from 'fake news.'

So, what software/equipment do you use to make ZunZtu boxes?

Regards and keep visiting the forums - - - Rich :D
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Harkaman
Posts: 12
Joined: 03 Oct 2017, 03:34
Location: Kansas, United States

Re: Which S/W do you use to make game-boxes?

Post by Harkaman »

The way I got ZunTzu to work for me was Microsoft's XML Notepad 2007. I had found a mention of it by ZunTzu user 'morval'. He even mentioned two example files he had created. I don't remember if I messaged him for the files or he posted them. I've tried looking for them in the forum but can't find them.

Anyway, I still have a copy of those files and use them when creating game boxes. The example files are fully commented and are very helpful. The examples have every type included with space for parameters. The only problem I have had is when I forget to delete lines that I am not using.
Woody8297
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Posts: 61
Joined: 21 Feb 2012, 00:57
Location: CT

Re: Which S/W do you use to make game-boxes?

Post by Woody8297 »

I've made plenty of xml errors. The big ones won't let the gamebox open, so those have to be fixed. It's the little ones that are embarrassing. They let the game open so you don't know they're there. They show up when you try to Add the gamebox to the Library.

ZunTzu can double check your xml syntax and tell you of any errors...but only if you open ZunTzu first and then use the "Add" button from "Browse Library." It doesn't work if you click on your ztb gamebox file and use that to open ZunTzu. Here's an example of what the screen shows:

Image


The gamebox works if you click on "Add anyway" but this is your chance to fix the errors that slipped by.

As I said earlier, I've made plenty of xml errors. I like that ZunTzu has the ability to catch them. I think it's a good idea to always finish a gamebox by using the Library-Add button to make sure everything is correct.
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