README

gimp-plugin-3docel:  A GIMP plugin to load 3DO cel files.

Written by Leo L. Schwab <ewhac AT ewhac.org>


Description
-----------

	This is a plugin for The GIMP (v2.8) that loads cel files created
for the 3DO video game console.  If you do not own a 3DO console or any 3DO
titles, this plugin may not be of very much interest to you.

	As of this writing, this is still very much a work in progress.  The
plugin is fairly limited and a bit flaky.  It has been built and tested only
on an x86 laptop running Debian 'sid'.

	This is my first ever GIMP plugin/extension of any kind.  There's a
fair amount of cargo-cult programming (i.e. cut-and-paste from other
plugins) going on here, so it's bound to be ugly to more experienced eyes.

	Feel free to email me bug reports and suggestions for improvement.
Management makes no representations as to when such reports will be acted
upon :-).


Prerequisites
-------------

	You must have the following development packages installed in order
to build gimp-plugin-3docel:

	- libgimp2.0-dev


Building and Installation
-------------------------

	To build and install the plugin to your local GIMP config folder,
run the following command:

$ gimptool-2.0 --install 3docel.c

	To just build (not install) the plugin, run the following command:

$ gimptool-2.0 --build 3docel.c

	'gimptool' will invoke the compiler with all the appropriate command
arguments, and (when using the --install argument) install the completed
plugin to the correct location in your local GIMP config folder (usually
inside  $HOME/.gimp-$(GIMP_VERSION) ).

	Once installed (and GIMP is restarted), the plugin is available and
may be used to load 3DO cel files.


Usage
-----

	Because 3DO cel files have no common filename extension (such as
'.CEL') -- and indeed frequently have no extension at all -- you will often
have to force GIMP to use the plugin explicitly.  This may be done as
follows in The GIMP v2.8:

	- From the main menu, select File/Open...
	- In the file selector dialog, click on the drop-down menu that
	  (probably) reads, "All images".  In the drop-down, select the
	  entry, "All files".
	- Near the bottom of the file selector dialog, click on "Select File
	  Type".
	- In the newly displayed list of loadable filetypes, click on "3DO
	  cel image".
	- In the upper portion of the dialog, select the file you wish to
	  open as a 3DO cel file.
	- Click the "Open" button.

	Your cel file should load into a GIMP window.  If the file is not a
3DO cel file, or the cel is of an unsupported type, an error dialog will be
displayed.