Hi. I got DPaint5 to work on my Picasso96 Amiga2000/PicassoIV system. I am not sure if using a Voodoo graphics card changes things; using Picasso96 rtg should let it work. This is how it is done (I learned how to do this by reading a faq by Tobias Abt):
Using Deluxe Paint V with Picasso96
It is possible to use DPaint5 with Picasso96 8 bit screenmodes, although it is a bit unstable and consumes chip memory.
Tobias Abt points out in a FAQ dated February 16, 1999 (issue #20):
Q: Is there no way to get DPaint to work with non-planar Picasso96 modes?
A: All those who want to use DPaint with Picasso96 should use ModePro and tell it to "force planar" screens.
Here is a walkthough:
ModePro is a program by Michael Rivers for screenmode promoting. You can force a program or public screen into a specific screenmode. This can be risky, so proceed at your own caution! You can download ModePro from Aminet - there is a more recent version 4.67 than the version I currently have installed (4.63) but I think the setup should be similar. ModePro comes with an installer which places the ModePro program into WBStartup.
1. To configure ModePro for DPaint, you should double click on ModePro (after installing it correctly). Select "Program Names" (from the upper left gadget), and "Add" an entry. Click on "New" under entries, and change the "New" name to "DPaint" (without quotes).
2. In the middle column, check the "Force Planar" option.
3. Then Save the ModePro preferences.
4. You might have to restart at this point to effect the changes.
5. When you start DPaint, you should get the familiar screenmode requester. Try selecting a PicassoIV screenmode, 8 bit, 256 colors. I think the 640 x 480 and 800 x 600 screenmodes work the best. DPaintRTG slows down at 1024 x 768. You might also get a message saying that there is not enough memory to support so many colors, and this is because DPaint still relies on chip memory. It actually eats a LOT of the chip memory. Make sure when you start DPaint that no other programs are using any chip memory.
6. As far as I can tell, I did not have to change any DPaint tooltypes. There does seem to be one active tooltype called "Be Square" which does not have parentheses around it, but I am not sure what it does (without checking the manual).
7. I do not think I changed any tooltypes for ModePro either. I believe that the installation procedure sets up the tooltype for the prefs directory. Mine reads:
PREFSCOMMAND=Workbench:Prefs/ModeProPrefs
8. I hope this gets DPaint working for you in P96 modes. You will still get the DPaint screenmode requester after correctly setting up ModePro, but the PIV 8 bit screenmodes should not crash the system anymore.
There is an option for a 24-bit RGB backing store in DPaint's screenmode requester. I recommend that you select NONE for backing store. If you *do* use the 24-bit backing store, the program will save DPaint images in a special 24 bit image which cannot be viewed with Multiview (but this picture file format *can* actually be opened with ImageFX). I am not sure -- this option might let you work create or work with 24-bit color images, even though you are running in an 8 bit screenmode, but I am not sure. There is a more info about it in the manual.
I am not sure how useful running DPaint on a Picasso96 screenmode will be -- it acts quirky at times, and sometimes the display gets degraded. For example, the FILL function does not work properly -- even if you draw a solid object, the FILL spills outside and sometimes it just does nothing.
Warning: when you call up the ranges menu in DPaint, the Amiga switches to a separate public screen (seems like NTSC). This happens also with the color palette mixer, and the color arranger screens (and probably a few others as well). On my PicassoIV system, this does not seem to be a problem, but it might cause a system freeze/crash.
I did notice that switching screens with the C=/M keys sometimes degrades the graphics, so save your work often, if you intend to do serious work with DPaintRTG.
You might be better off using PerfectPaint instead of DPaint. I am not sure how the 2 programs compare, since I have not been using my Amiga for graphics/animations lately.
Roy
