The Graphics Workshop

[typhoon]

Can someone convert Catfish's Merkava to 256 colours please?

[Catfish]

It's a long time to wait, just for this:

[typhoon]

It's a long time to wait, just for this

Its well worth it, thanks

[Catfish]

Originally posted by curtsibling
I have just inspected the recloured WW2 armour from Catfish's site, and they are blimmin unreal!

Originally posted by fairline
They are just amazing.

Thanks dudes.

Originally posted by curtsibling
I am drinking red bull to fortify myself from the shock of such uber-graphics!

Did anyone ever tell you that you're a nutter, Curt?

Originally posted by typhoon
Its well worth it, thanks

No problem - about a minute's work there.

@Fairline
I haven't forgotten about the rest of those Russian tanks, but I'm working on other stuff ATM. I converted Red Front to ToT so there's some additional motivation there.

[curtsibling]

@Catfish:

Yep, I have been called an insaniac on many occassions!

Hey!
Is there a chance of you graphically tackling some of these types?

Sherman tank,
Pershing tank,
Matilda II tank,
JS2 tank,
JS3 tank,

I am working on the unit graphics for Dictator III ToT, and wonder if you would fancy helping?

I know you are no-doubt a busy fellow, so I can understand if you cannot...

Let me know either way!

[fairline]

Originally posted by Catfish
@Fairline
I haven't forgotten about the rest of those Russian tanks, but I'm working on other stuff ATM. I converted Red Front to ToT so there's some additional motivation there.

We may want to co-ordinate out efforts here Catfish ole buddy. After seeing what you did with the PzIVD and Tiger I have drastically toned-down my versions of the other German tanks. I'm also part way through replacing all of Nemo's units for a civ2 Red Front revamp. If you could subsequently do your thing with the ToT texturing, that would be great. I have an ISU-152 which hasn't been posted, for example......

I guess these might also be of interest to you with Dictator 3 ToT Curt?

[Eivind IV]

Brilliant!

[Mercator]

I saw on your website you've tried using masks on ToT sprites, Catfish.

[Catfish]

Originally posted by curtsibling
I am working on the unit graphics for Dictator III ToT, and wonder if you would fancy helping?

Let me know either way!

I'll take a look at them, but as I said in the last post, I'm working on other (non-WWII) stuff currently. I suspect the first 3 tanks in your list are due for a structural upgrade. The last 2 are included in Fairline's list. I can't see how my actions will affect the progress of your scenario, though – you'll either use new ones or stick to the old.

Originally posted by fairline
If you could subsequently do your thing with the ToT texturing, that would be great. I have an ISU-152 which hasn't been posted, for example......

And an ISU-152? I can see this list getting longer and longer.

Originally posted by Mercator
I saw on your website you've tried using masks on ToT sprites, Catfish.

I decided to investigate masks for use with generic units available to multiple civs. Using CivSprite means that you have 4 wasted frames – since the unit is derived from a single bitmap graphic. Do you have plans to introduce a mask layer (one bmp file for all 81 units) for the reduced format used with SpriteGen? This would make it less time consuming to convert bitmaps and at the same time the health bar can be hidden if required.

[curtsibling]

Interesting news from fairline and catfish!

I'll wait and see what develops, the work is sure to be impressive.

[Catfish]

Originally posted by curtsibling
Interesting news from fairline and catfish!

I'll wait and see what develops, the work is sure to be impressive.

This ain't some kind of "official" collaboration or anything. He just asked if I'd consider doing the rest of the Russian tanks in the same style as you've seen on my website. This happens to include the JS-2 and JS-3.

[curtsibling]

@Catfish:

I gathered that.

I was talking about you chaps individually!

[Boco]

Do you have plans to introduce a mask layer (one bmp file for all 81 units) for the reduced format used with SpriteGen? This would make it less time consuming to convert bitmaps and at the same time the health bar can be hidden if required.

This'd be very useful.

Since we're making pleas, it would also be useful to have a few more list items for the height . Eyeballing it with Units.bmp it looks like the default is around 54 pixels. Looking at my El Aurens units, most of which are Fairline icons, I think heights of 42, 45, 48, and 51, would help (assuming that the Static.spr and Units.bmp use the same scale). It would move the unit key below the 'busy' part of the icon of the unit in the square above. The big challenge of this request would be to allow different heights within the same sprite.spr and spritegen interface.

Here's an example of unit clutter that the default ToT icon height exacerbates. Moving the unit key to 42 and 45 would place it just above the icons' heads. It's not a perfect solution — the width of the key will become a new problem — but it could help a lot.

[curtsibling]

Is it my eyes, or are there to strength bars on those units?

Obviously I'm missing something?

[Mercator]

Originally posted by Boco
This'd be very useful.

Alright, alright, I'll look into it. Jeesh!

Since we're making pleas, it would also be useful to have a few more list items for the height. [...]

Putting the health bar lower might mean the top of the unit is cut off though.

The big challenge of this request would be to allow different heights within the same sprite.spr and spritegen interface.

Well, I could turn the checkboxes into drop-down boxes or text fields or so.

I'll see what I can do, but I'm making no promises.

Originally posted by curtsibling
Is it my eyes, or are there to strength bars on those units?

Obviously I'm missing something?

The yellow on top is the civ color, the two red/yellow/green bars are health "guidelines" and part of the unit key. The green in between is the actual strength bar.