Question about max filesize for Wolf3D title pic

Hello,

I'm new to modding Wolf3D, but tried my hand at creating a replacement title pic for the original DOS version of the game. There is a max size of 65535 bytes for artwork it looks like, and the 320x200 pixel bitmap replacement I created is 65080 bytes. Upon importing it into VGAGRAPH, however, the compressed size is shown as 72995 bytes. Since this is larger than the max, the game isn't able to use it. What options do I have for reducing the filesize of the artwork?

 

A few ideas I can think of:

1. Split it into 2 320x100 images then load both (I think Spear did this?)
2. Give the image its own palette ( I think Spear also did this for endscreens?)
3. Play with the brightness and saturation see if it makes the size larger or smaller
4. Rip the title from one of Wolf3dGuy's mods (I think he used it somewhere too? )
5. Shrink the image a bit then center it on the game
6. Put it as the signon screen instead (which is always 64000 bytes)

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Is there anything special that you did with your version to get it to a useable size?

Using Photoshop, I can reduce the number of colors, but even after reducing it into the 20s, the size drop isn't all that significant. Starting with a much darker copy and converting over to the Wolf3D palette can get the size just barely small enough. I guess I'm trying to feel out how much a color needs to appear in order to make a significant impact.

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This has been used in quite a few mods, though I have noticed some dinky pixels here and there.