VASSAL Reference Manual

Home > Module > Game Piece Image Definitions

Game Piece Image Definitions

Within the Game Piece Image Definitions you can build your own images by combining text, images, and standard NATO symbols.  Images defined in this component will appear in the drop-down menu for selecting images for any trait of any Game Piece just like an imported GIF, JPEG, or PNG.

You can use your own images instead of the computer drawn NATO ones so for many games, you will be able to define the whole counter set with just a handful of images.  Furthermore, you can change the size and layout of all the counters in your game easily by adjusting the layouts.

Set up a Game Piece Image in two steps:

  1. Add a Game Piece Layout component to the Game Piece Layouts  compont.  In the Game Piece Layout properties, you specify the position, size and style of all items to be drawn on counter. Colors and actual text and symbol selections are made in step 2.
  2. Add a Game Piece Image component to the Game Piece Layout component.  This defines an individual image using that layout.  In each Image Definition, specify the actual colors, text and symbols to be used for that image, using the layout.

Sub-Components

Named Colors
Each color you wish to use in Image Definitions is predefined and given a name. These colors will appear in a palette for selecting foreground/background colors in the image. 14 Standard colors  are built-in: CLEAR, WHITE, BLACK, LIGHT GRAY, DARK GRAY, RED, GREEN, BLUE, ORANGE, PINK, CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW.

Color Name: The name of the color that will appear in drop-down menus in the Image Definitions.
Color: Standard Color selector to select the color to be associated with the name


Font Styles
Font Styles used in Image Layouts are predefined here and selected by name from drop-down menus. A Font Style consists of a Font Family, size and style (plain, bold, italic, bold-italic). A default style is always defined.

Style Name: The name of the Font Style that will appear in drop-down menus in the Image Layout.
Font Family: The Font Family to use. To ensure maximum compatibility and portability, only the pre-defined Java logical fonts are available as options.
Size: The size of the font style in points.
Bold: Click on to select a Bold font style.
Italic: Click on to select an Italic font style.
Sample: Display a sample of your selected font style.

Game Piece Layouts

A Game Piece Layout is like a template that defines positions, styles, and orientations of the components in an image, but not their actual values.  This component is a container for all the layouts defined in the module.