New hi-res ver 2 is posted!

[berzerker]

I hate to say this but having used the new graphics for a week or two, I've switched back to the originals. I like the unit pictures (and may install just them) but I found it difficult to tell the difference between walled and non-walled cities - I actually wasted several diplos trying to destroy walls on a mtn city that were not even there Also, the distinctions between grass shield and non-shield and irrigated grass and non-irrigated was just too difficult. When managing my civ I dont want to spend even seconds trying to see a difference between these... At least I could tell iron mtns from regular.

[MacUser]

You and me both! I'm WAY too color blind to distinguish the differences between the land types and Units. Ah well, for me, less is more!

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Different is GOOD!

AOL IM--JacSamDad

[mindseye]

Hello, MacFolk -

I'm Tim Smith, creator of the Hi-Res graphics patch. I just checked this forum for the first time, saw this thread, and thought I'd respond.


Berzerker - I moved to San Francisco in 1983, which is when I started using computers, so you must be thinking of another Tim Smith.

Graphics Patch vs. Mod Pack
HiRes will work as either a graphics patch or a mod pack for both the original Civ2 and MGE (at least in the PC world). The difference: as a graphics patch, HiRes simply replaces the existing graphics. As a mod pack, it makes some minor changes to the unit lineup, enhancing the evolution of air and armor units.

Grassland Resource and Irrigation
Hmmm, I am wondering if the reason these are not so clear might be the difference in gamma settings for the Mac? Macs typically see the same graphic file as lighter or darker (I forget which) than a PC. I know this can be a problem for web designers. I intentionally made these two resources fairly subtle so they did not break up the scenery so much, however you should be able to tell the difference at a glance. Do any of you have access to a PC you compare against? Does changing the brightness/contrast of your display help at all?

Walled vs. Non-Walled Cities
This one puzzles me - have you had a look at the graphics files? I think its fairly obvious which cities are walled, with the possible exception of the largest "Classical" city (the Roman arch remains outside the wall). Was this the one which tripped you up? My god, the walls have arches, openings, buttresses, even towers in some cases - I'm not sure how you could miss them (or their absence)! There is a different wall style for each city - could that be the cause of the confusion? Have a look at the original graphics file - the un-walled cities are on the left, walled on the right. Is it clearer? If not, is it all the cities, or just one series?

I currently don't have any plans to continue work on the graphics patch, but if there are enough issues, I might work on an "point upgrade", so I really don't mind hearing of any suggestions.

Best wishes,
- mindseye a/k/a Tim Smith



[This message has been edited by mindseye (edited June 08, 2000).]

[berzerker]

The problem with the walls may be more my fault - I was attacking a size 5-7 city on a mountain and wasted diplomats trying to destroy the city's walls when there were none - I assumed the city had walls for some reason, but the appearance was not enough to dismantle my assumption. So I made an ass of myself - I basicly accused my honorable opponent of playing the game of opening the build menu and clicking on an item to build as my dips came in to destroy things - a couple times I destroyed a temple in production on the same turn (that can only happen if the person is using that bug or if no other structures are available to destroy).

That really pissed me off - nothing worse than making false accusations, so I did away with the city graphics completely. I did re-install the unit graphics, but not the terrain. While it doesn't take alot of effort to tell grass-shielded from non-shielded, telling the irrigated from non-irrigated is a problem - especially after a barb walks all over your land and you dont know which spaces have been sabatoged. I just dont want to take even 2 seconds looking at each space to see if the irrigation has been destroyed... But thx for your efforts nonetheless - I do like the units