Mac OSX Imported Vector Images - white boxes and errors

[Nathan]

Following a few suggestions and the GMS2 manual, I have used Adobe Illustrator CC2015 to save a vector image as an .swf file (the only vector format that GMS2 can import.) The file imports as a sprite but two things happen.

1. I get this error message :
|||||
Warning: Unsupported features detected in /Users/nathanquattrini/Desktop/deleteCVS/sprites/_sprite1/d8a0faef-215b-4815-8d5b-6d7fc6fdd1e9.swf (may not display properly):
- I tried unselecting all of the extra export options available and received the same error.

2. While the sprite displays properly in the running game, it only shows up as a white box in both the Resource Tree and the Sprite Window (workspace. See attached screenshot). The manual shows vectors showing up perfectly normal in the Sprite window like any other sprite (2nd screenshot). White boxes will make it near impossible to find sprites amongst the 1,000+ sprites I need to import and work with.

I have tried this both on Mac and PC with the same result. I also tried exporting .swf from Adobe Animate 2018 and got this error :

Warning: Unsupported features detected in /Users/nathanquattrini/Desktop/deleteCVS/sprites/_sprite1/e28e82e0-1e10-486c-a45b-198cc1f89096.swf (may not display properly):
SWF file version too high - we only support up to Flash Player 11.6 (may still work however)


This is the only roadblock standing in my way of upgrading all of my graphics, so help would be most appreciated!

 

[Nathan]

Perhaps a member of the YOYO team could chime in? This is a huge issue that requires further guidance and explanation in order for it to be a viable function of the software. Thanks

 

[JackTurbo]

Firstly as the error message suggest, you want to set your swf format to 11.6 in animate cc when exporting.

Also are they still showing as white boxes when you run the game or just in the image editor/previews?


Chances are your files also include graphical elements that GMS doesn't support.

GMS does not support:

• Raster based art within your files at all.
• any raster based effects (like drop shadows)
• clipping masks or anything to that effect

It also has pretty limited support for strokes (personally I would suggest to outline them to avoid the potential issue all together).

I'll admit the documentation on vector sprites is pretty spotty at best, but this is what I have found through my own experimentation with vector sprites.

In all honesty, unless there is some technical reason why you 100% need to use vector sprites I'd recommend against it. Even if you are very well versed in the particulars of Illustrator/Animate and vector art in general they can still be a pain.

 

[Nathan]

It shows the white box as the thumbnail in the Resource Tree, and when you open the Sprite as the Sprites canvas. (See screenshot). The sprites show up in the game perfectly fine so there must be something that can be done so the thumbnail etc display the sprite properly as well.

Also I am using Illustrator and the newest version of SWF is 9. When I used Animate there were no options, just an export dialogue that says "file type : .swf" no options.

I would say that the art is raster exported inside of an swf to make use of vectoring, and yes there is a technical reason with scaling the project that requires the vectors to make the process 1,000 times easier and better looking.

Firstly as the error message suggest, you want to set your swf format to 11.6 in animate cc when exporting.

Also are they still showing as white boxes when you run the game or just in the image editor/previews?


Chances are your files also include graphical elements that GMS doesn't support.

GMS does not support:

• Raster based art within your files at all.
• any raster based effects (like drop shadows)
• clipping masks or anything to that effect

It also has pretty limited support for strokes (personally I would suggest to outline them to avoid the potential issue all together).

I'll admit the documentation on vector sprites is pretty spotty at best, but this is what I have found through my own experimentation with vector sprites.

In all honesty, unless there is some technical reason why you 100% need to use vector sprites I'd recommend against it. Even if you are very well versed in the particulars of Illustrator/Animate and vector art in general they can still be a pain.