diff -u -r tworld-1.2.1/configure.in tworld-1.2.1-translucent/configure.in
--- tworld-1.2.1/configure.in	2004-09-25 13:14:54.000000000 +0100
+++ tworld-1.2.1-translucent/configure.in	2005-12-30 14:49:39.000000000 +0000
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@
 	       OSHWDIR="sdl"
 	     fi])
 
+dnl SDL_Image support, added by Chris E.
+
+SDL_IMAGE="no"
+
+AC_ARG_WITH(sdlimage,
+            [  --with-sdlimage         Use SDL_Image (default=no)],
+            [SDL_IMAGE="$withval"])
+
 if test -d "oshw-$OSHWDIR" ; then
   echo using $OSHWDIR for OS/hardware layer ...
   rm -f oshw
@@ -63,6 +71,10 @@
   CFLAGS=$CFLAGS' $(shell sdl-config --cflags)'
   OSHWCFLAGS=$OSHWCFLAGS' $(shell sdl-config --cflags)'
   LOADLIBES=$LOADLIBES' $(shell sdl-config --libs)'
+  if test "$SDL_IMAGE" = yes ; then
+    OSHWCFLAGS="$OSHWCFLAGS -DHAVE_SDLIMAGE"
+    LOADLIBES="$LOADLIBES -lSDL_image"
+  fi
 fi
 
 dnl
diff -u -r tworld-1.2.1/oshw-sdl/sdltile.c tworld-1.2.1-translucent/oshw-sdl/sdltile.c
--- tworld-1.2.1/oshw-sdl/sdltile.c	2004-10-04 06:49:20.000000000 +0100
+++ tworld-1.2.1-translucent/oshw-sdl/sdltile.c	2005-12-30 14:49:39.000000000 +0000
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@
 #include	<string.h>
 #include	<assert.h>
 #include	"SDL.h"
+#ifdef HAVE_SDLIMAGE
+#include        "SDL_image.h"
+#else
+#define IMG_Load SDL_LoadBMP
+#define IMG_GetError SDL_GetError
+#endif
 #include	"sdlgen.h"
 #include	"../err.h"
 #include	"../state.h"
@@ -449,6 +455,7 @@
 /* Create a new surface containing a single tile with transparent
  * pixels, as indicated by the given color key.
  */
+/* Chris E.: Alpha is used instead if available */
 static SDL_Surface *extractkeyedtile(SDL_Surface *src,
 				     int ximg, int yimg, int wimg, int himg,
 				     Uint32 transpclr)
@@ -456,17 +463,28 @@
     SDL_Surface	       *dest;
     SDL_Surface	       *temp;
     SDL_Rect		rect;
+    int                 hasalpha;
 
     dest = newsurface(wimg, himg, TRUE);
-    SDL_FillRect(dest, NULL, SDL_MapRGBA(dest->format,
-					 0, 0, 0, SDL_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT));
-    SDL_SetColorKey(src, SDL_SRCCOLORKEY, transpclr);
+    hasalpha = (src->flags & SDL_SRCALPHA) == SDL_SRCALPHA;
+    if(hasalpha) {
+        if(SDL_SetAlpha(dest, SDL_SRCALPHA, src->format->alpha) == -1 || /* Copy per-surface alpha value */
+           SDL_SetAlpha(src, 0, 0) == -1) /* Copy alpha data rather than merging */
+            die("SDL_SetAlpha", SDL_GetError());
+    } else {
+        SDL_FillRect(dest, NULL, SDL_MapRGBA(dest->format,
+					     0, 0, 0, SDL_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT));
+        SDL_SetColorKey(src, SDL_SRCCOLORKEY, transpclr);
+    }
     rect.x = ximg;
     rect.y = yimg;
     rect.w = dest->w;
     rect.h = dest->h;
     SDL_BlitSurface(src, &rect, dest, NULL);
-    SDL_SetColorKey(src, 0, 0);
+    if(hasalpha)
+        SDL_SetAlpha(src, SDL_SRCALPHA, dest->format->alpha); /* Restore alpha settings */
+    else
+        SDL_SetColorKey(src, 0, 0); /* Remove color key */
 
     temp = dest;
     dest = SDL_DisplayFormatAlpha(temp);
@@ -520,7 +538,7 @@
     SDL_Surface	       *temp;
     SDL_Rect		rect;
     unsigned char      *s, *d;
-    Uint32		transp, black;
+    Uint8               r, g, b, a;
     int			x, y;
 
     rect.x = ximg;
@@ -530,9 +548,6 @@
     dest = newsurface(rect.w, rect.h, TRUE);
     SDL_BlitSurface(src, &rect, dest, NULL);
 
-    black = SDL_MapRGB(src->format, 0, 0, 0);
-    transp = SDL_MapRGBA(dest->format, 0, 0, 0, SDL_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT);
-
     if (SDL_MUSTLOCK(src))
 	SDL_LockSurface(src);
     if (SDL_MUSTLOCK(dest))
@@ -542,8 +557,10 @@
 			    + xmask * src->format->BytesPerPixel;
     for (y = 0 ; y < dest->h ; ++y) {
 	for (x = 0 ; x < dest->w ; ++x) {
-	    if (pixelat(src, xmask + x, ymask + y) == black)
-		((Uint32*)d)[x] = transp;
+            SDL_GetRGB(pixelat(src, xmask + x, ymask + y), src->format, &r, &g, &b);
+            a = (r + g + b) / 3;
+            SDL_GetRGB(((Uint32*)d)[x], dest->format, &r, &g, &b);
+            ((Uint32*)d)[x] = SDL_MapRGBA(dest->format, r, g, b, a);
 	}
 	s += src->pitch;
 	d += dest->pitch;
@@ -593,7 +610,6 @@
 		return FALSE;
 	    remembersurface(s);
 	    tileptr[id].celcount = 1;
-	    tileptr[id].opaque[0] = NULL;
 	    tileptr[id].transp[0] = s;
 	} else if (tileidmap[n].xopaque >= 0) {
 	    s = extractopaquetile(tiles, tileidmap[n].xopaque * sdlg.wtile,
@@ -604,7 +620,6 @@
 	    remembersurface(s);
 	    tileptr[id].celcount = 1;
 	    tileptr[id].opaque[0] = s;
-	    tileptr[id].transp[0] = NULL;
 	}
     }
 
@@ -1067,10 +1082,10 @@
     SDL_Surface	       *tiles = NULL;
     int			f, w, h;
 
-    tiles = SDL_LoadBMP(filename);
+    tiles = IMG_Load(filename);
     if (!tiles) {
 	if (complain)
-	    errmsg(filename, "cannot read bitmap: %s", SDL_GetError());
+	    errmsg(filename, "cannot read tile images: %s", IMG_GetError());
 	return FALSE;
     }
     if (tiles->format->palette && sdlg.screen->format->palette)