[RMXP] Changing transparent background color

[Trekker]

This is about anything that has a transparent background in RMXP.

I was unable to find anyone with a similar issue after searching the forum threads and Google. Google Images of "RPG Maker XP" don't show anyone having a red background for the transparent part of the tileset graphic panel (left side of screen). The red background also occurs in the Database (F9), where transparent parts may be shown in different images under tabs. This also affects the map when transparent tiles are shown. Doesn't look nice.

What's interesting is this... every time I create a new project, the transparent color is either medium blue or green (they are very different). Then every time after closing RMXP and restarting it (without modifying any settings or files), any project that is opened will have the same red background for all transparent parts. It stays like that indefinitely.

Here are some screenshots. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

New project is created, blue background is shown in tileset graphic panel

After RMXP restart, red background is shown in tileset graphic panel

After RMXP restart, red background is also shown in Database graphics

 

[Juunanagou]

With your project opened, go to tool, options and click on Standard in trasparent color. Or make your custom color. It seems that for some reason it changed it to a custom one.

 

[Trekker]

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried it, and here's what happens:

Custom color enabled

Standard enabled

There's something else I just noticed. Every time RMXP is restarted, the red background color may change to a lighter or darker shade of red -- even if only very slightly. This time when RMXP was restarted, the background for all transparent parts became maroon instead of red. I still haven't modified any settings or files other than the Transparent Color settings in Tools > Options which you just suggested changing, in addition to doubling the map size so the transparent tiles are visible (to you guys).

What could be causing this? Should I uninstall and reinstall?

 

[Juunanagou]

If you instead put a custom color in white? Does it stay red? You may try to uninstall and reinstall, but I can't say if it will solve the problem.

 

[Trekker]

I tried sliding all RGB to 255, changing the Custom transparent color to white. That didn't work. Uninstalling and reinstalling didn't work either.

Hopefully a RPG Maker Staff who has knowledge of RMXP technical aspects might be able to comment on this. It's obviously a bug.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Andar]

I tried sliding all RGB to 255, changing the Custom transparent color to white. That didn't work. Uninstalling and reinstalling didn't work either.

I don't have RMXP myself, and I don't know its internal details - but usually these kind of data is stored in the registry, not in local configuration files. That has several advantages, but also a disadvantage - if windows fails to completely load the registry, then the data cannot be regained.
I think that is what's happening here - but this also means that your windows is about to become instable, because it cannot handle its registry any longer.


Can you tell me


1) what windows do you use


2) how large is your RAM


3) what is the size of the windows directory (open your drive C, right-click on "windows" and then "properties", wait until the counting stops and then read the number


If you don't want to post that data publically, you can PM me - and with it I can see if your windows is approaching its limits (as I suspect) or if there is some other cause for this (like a background registry "cleaner" that removes that data whenever you save it).

 

[Trekker]

You could be right. I will post here so that others can benefit, in case anyone has a similar issue.

To answer your questions:

1)  Windows 7 Professional 64-bit  (which requires 2 GB RAM minimum)

2)  8 GB RAM  (which is more than enough for my usual activities and background processes)

3)  29.0 GB size for C:\Windows

Btw, I am a Computer Science grad so feel free to ask me to do anything technical. Earlier after I uninstalled (and before reinstalling), I looked at the registry editor to see if the keys and strings relating to RPG XP Maker were removed. They weren't. Even so, I didn't delete or modify any of the keys/strings. I've also used a registry cleaner in the past, but one time made a nearly fatal mistake. Fixed it with a full registry backup that was created earlier. I don't use a registry cleaner anymore.

Another possible factor. I have Online Armor which is a firewall and it can also manage file behavior even during installation. This is good for dealing with files that may be downloaded to the user's computer without his/her authorization. But after downloading the RPG Maker XP installation file, I authorized Online Armor to give full trust in installation mode to RPGXP_E.exe and any other files associated with setup. Full trust allows the file to perform as if it were a normal file when it comes to installing, but sometimes interruptive prompts still come up asking me to trust additional files that are opened. I've done this for many other installation files (after a routine virus scan) without issues. If OA has anything to do with this issue, it would the first time for me.

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Andar]

that should be enough, especially since Win7 solved a lot of the resource problems that were common in earlier Windows versions.


However, those solutions made part of the windows functions incompatible (for example, the default save path of XP is now a restricted folder and you need to manually redirect on first project creation).


The previous use of the registry cleaner might have left some problems, but those cases are impossible to reconstruct or solve (a few years ago a computer magazine in Germany made a test of all registry cleaners available then - of fourteen tested programs, two received "adequate" as a result. The other programs, including every "big name", were either insufficient or complete fail).


As soon as you start to use programs from smaller companies, all registry cleaners automatically fail - because either they need to know which program made an entry (then they need gigabytes of updates for every program in the world), or they need to keep unknown entries to preserve functionality (then they don't do their job), or they delete unknown entries (then they risk the stability of your windows). So there is absolutely no way a cleaner without continuous, big updates (which are impossible considering the amount of programs) can ever get a "good" result...


Try to run XP as admin (if you haven't done so already) and change the transparency colors to something completely different, perhaps that saves the data...

 

[Trekker]

Makes sense about some of the incompatibilities in RMXP after Win7 was released. I experienced that default save path issue earlier and found threads here showing how to solve that (by setting save path to Documents).

I just realized that the registry cleaner I used was on another personal computer several years ago. The computer I'm using now hasn't had a registry cleaner run on it. I guess that eliminates that then. My apologies for not realizing this earlier. But you have made valid points (some of which I've read about) and that's why I don't use a registry cleaner anymore.

I just tried running RMXP as admin, changed transparent color and saved, closed RMXP, restarted as admin, and the red color was still there. What mystifies me more than anything is why the color keeps changing shades upon each restart. The shade doesn't change after the first opened project (if you open another project within the same instance of RMXP), but only after each restart. This could be a clue to the cause (whether in registry or local file). It's always a red shade of color. It could be a bright red, then a maroon color, then medium red, then a red wine color after each restart (followed by open project).

In the RGSS folder, all graphics tilesets have not been modified and they all have the colorless transparent background when the png images are viewed.

I hope this information can lead somewhere.

 

[Shaz]

I reinstalled my copy and my son's copy of RMXP a few months ago, and yes, the newest version does seem to have this issue.  We both experience it now.  And the colour is not always the same.

However, this is only in the editor, and does not feed through to actually playing a game.  So while it's a bit annoying to not be able to choose your transparent colour in the editor (some of them are REALLY nasty to try and work with), as far as I've seen, it does not affect the game itself.

 

[Trekker]

I reinstalled my copy and my son's copy of RMXP a few months ago, and yes, the newest version does seem to have this issue.  We both experience it now.  And the colour is not always the same.

However, this is only in the editor, and does not feed through to actually playing a game.  So while it's a bit annoying to not be able to choose your transparent colour in the editor (some of them are REALLY nasty to try and work with), as far as I've seen, it does not affect the game itself.

You're absolutely correct that it doesn't affect the game itself, although it makes it more difficult to visualize while creating maps. It's helpful to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this issue. I have the latest version too, which is RPGXP Version 1.05a.

Like you I noticed that this doesn't affect the actual game itself, just when it's in the editor.

Do you experience a red shade of color nearly each time after restart > open project, or a different color that isn't red? Are you also using Windows 7?

I think this information could come in handy for the developer, just in case of a updated version. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Shaz]

He is on Windows 7, I am on Windows 8. It's not always the same colour. Sometimes it's a garish pink, but we've had blues and purples too.


However we were both using Windows 7 (and I may have had Windows 8) with the previous version we were both using, and didn't have the issue. So I'm not sure it can be tied to Windows version.


I just looked at my XP again yesterday, and it seems okay. So maybe it's not my main PC that has the problem - could be any number of laptops or tablets I've installed it on. I just know we've both had the problem with the latest version we installed.

 

[Trekker]

Yeah, I've had dark purple and even a near black transparent background (but that's like 1-2 out of 10 times). The rest of the time it's a shade of red.

I think you're correct that it's probably not Windows version but tied to the RMXP version, since it didn't occur with your previous versions of RMXP.

 

[Ashouse]

It's this version of xp,I think. I had xp installed (I installed it in 2013) on this same windows 8 machine I'm running now. Back then you had to enter a code from your email to register (and not just the order number=register code it is now). Back then it worked fine and flawlessly. Then my pc crashed a while back. I recently got around to installing xp (with the new drm). Now this. But the difference is my screen is a dull green where it should be clear. No, it wouldn't be a problem, becuase it looks ok in game, but I'm not using it for xp. I'm trying to build houses in xp, screen shot, then parallax map the houses. With this graphical error, that method will not work. I can still make it work... but it's extra work. I kind of hope there's a fix one day. Especially for people who are still faithful to rmxp, becuase they do exist.

It's working now. All I did was close and reload the program. STRANGE!

 

[BrokenEffect]

I'm having this issue with RPG Maker XP also. My color is a dark purple.

I'm running this on Windows 7, did we ever find a solution?

 

[Ashouse]

Make sure you are on the propper layer (ie. Layer 1 for grass, Layer 2 for windows, flower, stones vines, ect.) and test the game ignoring the color. It should look fine in game play.