Map Graphics Thread, Part II

[Plutarck]

I was thinking the same thing...on both counts.


Suddenly I feel like a member of a tabacco company. And I don't know why...

[Gary Thomas]

sn00py is a Kiwi? Explains a lot...

Cheers

[sas]

Been away ..

Hi everyone !

Sorry i haven't been able to respond to your posts untill now. I have been away for over one week, and haven't been able to tell you guys.

Well, now i'm back and ready to do some more work on the tiles. I obviously made a mistake working on the coasts. I guess working on tiles 0300 in the night isnt so smart after all

I will change the coasts as we had originally agreed on, probably by tomorrow.

Also, the roads need some minor adjustments.

Btw: I was thinking the darker ocean would make the units (ships) more easy to see/handle. But i can change it back to the previous one if we feel that is the best.

And

I can tell you how to make it so the terrain is the same every time if that would be useful for demos like the one you just did, and comparison to the old graphics. Just let me know if you think it would be valuable.

Yeah ! That would be great !

I will post more tomorrow... now its time to unpack my stuff...

Later...

-Stian-

[Mark_Everson]

Hi Stian, good to have you back!

To run the demo so the tiles are the same every time you need to run the program from the batch file, just as it says to do on the download page if you have trouble.

But before you run it, open the batch file in a text editor. In the line ending with .jar add " -seed" to the end of the line but without the quotes. Then when you run the batch file it will use the same seed for the random number generator every time, and you will get the same terrain every time. (Gary put that feature in, and its very useful) If you have trouble, let me know, and I'll put together a batch file for you.

If you look at the bottom of the bug list (2nd post in the D6 thread) there are other "switches" you can use in addition to -seed. Gary is now working to set it up so you can call up an alternate tileset specified in an xml file by putting the name on the command line. So you want to figure out how to do this soon anyway! We will get you that version of the code as soon as it's practical.

[Gary Thomas]

Btw: I was thinking the darker ocean would make the units (ships) more easy to see/handle. But i can change it back to the previous one if we feel that is the best.

We need a light one (coastal waters) and a dark one (ocean).

So you want to figure out how to do this soon anyway! We will get you that version of the code as soon as it's practical.

Testing it today.

Cheers

[opaque]

Hi, I heard about clash through Apolyton and downloaded the demo and I think it will be great when it is finished! I thought I might ask if I can help with any *minor* graphics for the game such as world tiles or goods/resources...

In case Apolyton is down again my email is jkhemming@yahoo.co.uk

EDIT: Changed email address to my usual one

[sas]

Hi everyone !

Sorry about the lack of updates.. i will try not to make promises i cant keep in the future.

I'm about 75% done with the coasts and the change from coast to sea .

Hi opaque !

Welcome to the Clash project. I certainly could use some help with the graphics.I'm allmost finished with an updated version of the tiles, so i think i got that covered. But there are LOTS of other areas that needs work. Units, improved Cities and so on...
What kind of graphics are you experienced with ?

-Stian-

[Mark_Everson]

Hey opaque, since nobody said anything, want to take a stab at the special goods overlays? I think they'd be a good addition to the map.

Hi sas, they look pretty slick. I think I'd like to see some beach maybe, or perhaps two of each tile would be best in the long run, one with beach and one without. Maybe just a bit more water too, at least for one without a beach. I think the ocean one needs a broader range over which the colors change.

Gary has gotten the new xml approach for images coded, so we will soon get you a version where you can just point to the new tiles and tell it to use them instead.

I don't think the code yet supports the coastal overlays... Gary?

[Gary Thomas]

Stian, as always I like your new tiles.

Nobody has ever (until now) given any thought to the transition from coastal to ocean waters. Your tile has half of each. This is not what we had planned, but I actually quite like the idea. The tile would function as a coastal tile, but it gives more scope for a pretty appearance.

The new code is almost releasable (it currently has some minor glitches) and the download should be much smaller.

There is nothing yet that implements the coastal overlays. It was pointless when there were no tiles. However, with the present simplified terrain structure it should not take long to incorporate.

Cheers

[opaque]

I am not really very experience in making good quality graphics which is why I would like to be given something simple to do whereby I can spend a lot of time making it look good (which I will do of course). Like I said, tiles or resources/goods would seem about my level, I shouldn't go for anything to complex in case it comes out looking crap.

If I make a resource/good without using the purple overlay sheet, I am not sure how I will get it to line up correctly with other objects on the map? Pehaps someone can explain how this will work?

[Blakis Maximus]

Out of curiosity (I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else), what kinds of special goods are being planned?

[sas]

Another update

NOTICE ! the tiles in this picture is placed manually, and doesnt show how it will look in the game.

I made the picture just to give you an idea of how things are going. Dont bother about the tiles being not perfectly placed, look at the big picture. And i havent included all the tiles i've made. The corners is made, but isnt shown in the picture, because the sea part of the corner tiles are so small.



Does it look like i'm going the right way with this? My main reason for choosing narrow coastlines was thinking about the rivers. They shouldnt be to wide right ?

I could "blur" the transition from coastal to ocean waters, but personally i think it looks okay. Any comments except Marks ?

Your tile has half of each. This is not what we had planned, but I actually quite like the idea.

I think from a visual point of view, half of each looks better.

-----------------------------------------------

If I make a resource/good without using the purple overlay sheet, I am not sure how I will get it to line up correctly with other objects on the map? Pehaps someone can explain how this will work?

I will mail you a "standard" tile, with the right proportions... You can use it to compare with your work so that its placed in the right place.

-Stian-

[axi]

Mark is right, the sea should be more and the beach should be larger. Or you could put sharp rocks and wavecrest, for rocky coasts.

My main gripe is that coasts are too straight. They should be more curly.

I believe that rivers should have an entirely different graphic than coasts. Something more serpent-like, with a bit of green around it for vegetation.

[Mark_Everson]

Re: Another update

Originally posted by sas
NOTICE !Does it look like i'm going the right way with this? My main reason for choosing narrow coastlines was thinking about the rivers. They shouldnt be to wide right ?

I think your direction is basically good, although I have to admit it doesn't 'sing' to me yet. Or is it the audio that's supposed to do that...

Ahhh, I hadn't thought about rivers. But I believe Axi's solution is best, just have different overlays for coasts and rivers. I also agree that the coasts are too straight, although that can be changed down the line. As a start you could do the rivers with coastline, and we'd know it was just that the rivers were temporarily too wide.


Blakis:

I just spent about 10 min looking for the paper specials list I have from way back. I've got something like 20 things so far. My guess is it'll be more like 30 for the final game. I bet they'll probably be similar to the Civ3 ones, since there's usually a fair amount of agreement on what the critical things are in a particular age. Do you know of a list around, like maybe on one of the civ3 forums? Once we've got a decent list I'll put in in the ecnon thread.

[sas]

think your direction is basically good, although I have to admit it doesn't 'sing' to me yet

Mark my friend, its not supposed to "sing" yet But it will though, i promise.

Thanks for the feedback. Now that the rivers wont be the same tiles as the coast, things are easier. I agree with axi that the coast should be more curly. They dont look natural the way they are now. So i will have to do something a bout that.

-Stian-