Palette Editor Color Notes

JNSE keeps all of the colors it uses in one palette. Included therein are 
all of the colors for the Object Palette, the Background Palette, SE's 
terrain, and SE's menu colors. Some of the color slots are used by both 
the object and background palette, and some color slots are not available 
to either palette.

Using John Kunyak's Paledit program, you'll see that he has 16 rows of 16 
columns, totaling 256 colors. These colors are numbered from 0 for the top 
left corner to 255 for the bottom right corner. So keep in mind in my lists 
here that I am counting the numbers from 0 to 255, NOT 1 to 256!

Slots 0-15 are used by both palettes. I don't recommend changing these colors.

Slots 16-31 are not available to either palette.
Slots 224-239 are not available to either palette. 
      They are used as colors for the water in hole views.

Slots 128-223 and 240-255 are used by both palettes and for terrain 
      (water, sand, grass, etc.). They should not be changed.

Object Slots

Slots 32-47 are Object Palette Row 2.
Slots 48-63 are Object Palette Row 3.
Slots 64-79 are Object Palette Row 4.
Rows 5-11 are contained in the 128-255 area which should not be changed.

Background Slots

Slots 80-95 are Background Palette Row 2.
Slots 96-111 are Background Palette Row 3.
Slots 112-127 are Background Palette Row 4.
Rows 5-11 are contained in the 128-255 area which should not be changed.

Your Custom Colors

1. From what I have seen, I believe that it is safe to use any color slots 
in the background or object palettes in rows 2 thru 4. This gives a potential 
for 48 customized colors for each palette. That should be more than enough 
for the needs of any one course.

2. Always save a backup copy of your course's .PRC file before using 
PALEDIT to change the colors, because ...

3. When you change a color in the palette, you may find that you have changed 
a color that is frequently used thruout either your objects or background. 
In that case you would want to restore your original .PRC file and try a 
different color slot for your new color. By the same token, once you are 
happy with color in a slot, record the Red, Green, and Blue number values 
so that you can recreate this color again if you need to.

4. If the color slot you have redefined effects only a few areas in your 
objects or backgrounds, then it should be a simple task to select another 
color that is close to the original value for that slot, and use the Fill 
Tool to correct these areas.

Note that you have a palette of 256 colors here, 96 of which are relatively 
safe to alter. The 64 different color values for red, green, and blue give 
you 262,144 colors to choose from for each slot. I think this ought to keep 
us satisfied!

The experimentation on this palette has been a day long process interrupted 
several times, so if you find something different than I have noted here, 
please let me know! You can reach me on Prodigy at RCRV26A.

Looking forward to some fantastic custom palette courses!


Jim Dutton