Splash Screens

[65olschool]

I have some images I'd like to use as splash screens, I know the naming required for the 4 images (incl MB) but in the back of my mind I remember they have to be saved as a certain type of bmp file, 16bit I think.
Can anybody confirm exactly what type and and then how do I turn a jpg into the right type of bmp file?
I have access to GIMP, Paint and DXTBmp.
Can somebody please outline the process required to get them converted so they show up at start up?

 

[FOO FIGHTER]

This is from Daniel Leahy's Splash Screen Tutorial that no longer appears in the SOH download department:

==================================================================================
CFS3 SPLASH SCREEN
PHOTOSHOP TEMPLATE


By Daniel Leahy
==================================================================================

Instructions
------------
This is a quick guide for making replacement Splash Screens for CFS3...

To make splash screens for Combat Flight Simulator 3, you need to modify/overwrite
three bitmap files:

[ROOT CFS3 DIR]\splash24b.bmp
[ROOT CFS3 DIR]\uires\common_screens\splash.bmp
[ROOT CFS3 DIR]\uires\common_screens\splash_notext.bmp

Remember to backup your original bmp files beforehand.

Now open the layered PSD file in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.

Y
ou can do whatever you want to each of the layers, but the image has to be 800
pixels wide and 600 pixels high.

Once finished manipulating the image, flatten all the layers and save as a Windows
bitmap (bmp) file.

Then, with the ImageTool program (download separate) open each of the bmp files
and convert them to format '16-bit (555)' then save.

Once these are saved, you can place them into the above directories (as those
filenames). These new splash screens should now appear rather than the stock
screens when you run CFS3.

Enjoy...

Disclaimer
----------
I have used the above technique(s) for all my CFS3 splash screens and have not
encountered any problems. I claim no responsibility for any adverse effects
this may cause on individual machines.

Use at your own risk....

Daniel Leahy - daniel@pacificghosts.com


It also came with a Photoshop template that I have used to successfully make some custom splash screens. You don't necessarily need the template. It just contains the CFS3 font.