Lately I wasn't feeling like doing some creative coding, like the Online Update, so I went into the repetitive coding mode instead.
This means that I'm doing the units library that I was talking about. It's the group of objects that contains all the information about Settlers, Bandits and Buildings. It's also the basis of the calculators.
I'm including one or two images with every object. I found out about the Settlers Fan Kit and after inspecting it's contents, it's not complete. It has images for buildings, for bandits, nice screenshots, for some resources, etc... but is missing the Battle units, like the Recruit, Bowman, etc..
I could go an Google some images, but my slight OCD, kinda gets me in trouble every time. I decided I would try and get the images that the browser loads, directly, from BlueByte/Ubisoft. These are the original ones, with more quality, and I already have a disclaimer stating that all belongs to them anyway.
I found out that there are quite a lot of images that I can use that come in PNG format. I also found out that others are contained inside binary files.
After some investigation, I found out that those binary files are AMF(Action Message Format) encoded, and most of them are simple arrays of the PNG files with a name attached.
This is where I'm going to be slightly delayed. I've done some Googling about AMF and the programming language I'm using for this app and came out with a commercial only solution. Not being one to admit defeat, I'm now trying to read those BIN files on my own.
I had an AMF project already in my mind, but it never came about for lack of a legitimate use. This changes it. So looks like I'll have to complete the AMF library after all.
I'll be keeping you informed of my image recovery efforts along the way.
Cheers,
Gus