Unit Graphics

[Paul Crocker]

I had already written my comments above before reading Mark's reply to F_smith...just hadn't hit "reply" right away as I got distracted by something else (work!). Thanks for clarifying that, Mark - and sorry if I confused the issue at all. In any case, my questions regarding additional info to the player may still apply...possibly as part of the optional tactical package. TTFN!

[Paul Crocker]

JohnMcD: Would your friend, John Gooch, like to be made an official Clash member? Also, if he's interested, we could use some help on the interface. Of course, this all depends on how much effort any of us can afford...the unit icons are probably a higher priority than the interface (maybe a goal for that would be Demo 5).

[alms66]

I'm not too sure about the idea of "power cirles", to me it would be better to do multiple unit icons. If anyone has ever played Lords of the Realm 2 you know what I'm refering to. They used 1 to represent a small army, 2 for medium and 3 for large. We could do the same but take it farther. Based on the number of units you have that would be the icon represented. For example in a large army with 20 archers 30 cavalry and 50 infantry units, whatever units will be, you could show one icon for each type of unit. if you had a large army but only archers and cavalry you could show one of each plus, to indicate large, another of whichever unit you had the most of.

[Mark_Everson]

TK:

This has already been Extensively discussed, and an Idea similar to the one you presented is one of the major contenders. Discussion is in the old graphics thread that got clobbered due to a glitch. It is archived as a link on the web page in the graphics sections IIRC.

But the power circles are Very useful. You can see them in demo 4.

[Mark_Everson]

Wow, dormant for more than a year

We are fortunate enough to now have the interest of a few artists! Sava has requested to know what kind of units we need. Some of this stuff bears further discussion, but just to get a few samples up, I think what I put below is sufficient.

What we need for units to use in demo 5 is:

Horde (mostly warriors)
Phalanx

We already have...

Light Spear (Egyptian style used in demo 4)
Trireme (as used in demo 4)

to fit on a 120x60 isometric tile (see screenshots of 120 pixel map here , and use the Egyptian light Spear men as a size guide.) The graphics format to use for now is gif 89a with the background set as transparent.

Let's get the aesthetic side of Clash going too!

[Lord God Jinnai]

Well right now are we making temp. designs or are we going to make ones that except for refinements we'll be using in the final version?

[Mark_Everson]

Hi LGJ:

I think we're still experimenting with temp designs. Until we have a stable art team that we think is going to stick around, there's no point in doing final stuff... And for the final quality of Clash we need to do more experimentation and refinement first anyway! If you want to join in, welcome to the party

[Sava]

Here is a base prototype unit I have made for the phalanx.

Phalanx

Give me suggestions/feedback on what you would like to see the phalanx be. Do you want a more battle like pose? Do you want different colors?

Historically, phalanx divisions wore leather/bronze armor. The more powerful nations (Romans, Egyptians) used bronze shields while the less powerful nations (Germanic tribes) tended to use wooden shields. The blade of the spear that they used were bronze, or other metals depending on the availability of such metals. Phalanx units were used primarily by the Mediterranean powers while the Norse, Germanic, and other tribes used swords.

Also, what would you like the horde unit to look like?

Sava

[Sava]

let's try that again

Phalanx

[Sava]

All right, apparently you can't directly view my file because geocities is stupid. I'm going to create a page to showcase the graphic files I create... You can try clicking on the Phalanx link I made, but I don't think its working.

[Sava]

Cut and paste this link into your browser, it works.
http://www.geocities.com/indigoguy11/phapro.gif

[Mark_Everson]

Hi SoulAssassin, an official welcome to the project!

The guy looks good! I think a more refined version might need a longer spear since phalanx spears are quite long, and possibly some little highlights for glints off armor and things like that. But I think he's quite good, and would like to see more! Let's see what the others think.

BTW, you can edit your posts if it doesn't come out right, which makes things a lot easier to read in the long run. It's the pencil-and-paper icon and the top of the post. Also, I expect if you just put the gif in the page then there would be no problem. It's just because you are trying to access the GIF directly that GeoCities is stupid

I think we should definitely be able to get your work into demo 5, so I'm anxious to see what you're take on a "horde" is!

-Mark

[Lord God Jinnai]

For tiled graphic icons, count me out. For most other things i can do those.
[This message has been edited by Lord God Jinnai (edited March 16, 2001).]

[LDiCesare]

Hi SoulAssassin,
I find the phalanx posture good (sentry-like), but I'd like it with a shield and maybe something fancy like greek helmets (horsetails or such).
As for the horde, I propose something like celtic warbands: they were mostly naked but used body paintings to impress opponents, and oiled their hair so that it stood up like points or horns of hair. Weapons should be things like clubs or axes, maybe wooden spears, since these are the most archaic arms.
BTW do you know where I could download a free gif-editor if such a thing exists?

[Fiera]

Hi there!

I've made an attempt for the Horde unit. You can take a look at it here:
www.geocities.com/fiera_com/hordes.html

What do you think? I'd be very glad to help you with the Clash of Civilizations project.