45°38'N-13°47'E
Deity
He's talking about the launcher, I think, although I don't have any problem at all with it. Also I don't get why he's talking about duration: revision number doesn't disappear from the launcher background.
The creative thread
- Thread starter dbkblk
- Start date
oldnooob
Prince
I presumed that the Rise Of Mankind sentence in the upper right hand corner ended with the version number. Otherwise what is it's purpose?
45°38'N-13°47'E
Deity
Ah ok, got it. No, it doesn't have any revision number. And AFAIK it's not the name of the mod, it's the name of the folder. Should you rename your folder "ahgagsdbjds", that's what you should see on the upper right corner (of course I don't advise changing the folder's name). I don't know why it's there, it's been there since the beginning. I think its purpose was to let people know that the mod was "Rise of Mankind - A New Dawn" and not just "Rise of Mankind", back on Zappara's days, because the background image of the main menu was simply showing "Rise of Mankind"; background image has been changed only lately to display the full name of the mod. I think we might also remove that name in the upper right corner.
No, i think it's hardcoded in the executable (or maybe the dll) to show that it's not Beyond the Sword but a mod which is loaded. It have no usefulness but i don't know if we can remove it. I believe (...remember) that it's the same with any other mod.
I have to be brutally honest and say that I don't think the new graphics do anything much for the mod; it just seems like change for change's sake. I felt the earth one was perfect and never got tired of seeing it, and the new one appears more like an alien planet to me than the sun.
I can remove the new load screens by just making four copies of the original, but does anyone have a link to the original main menu animation files?
I can remove the new load screens by just making four copies of the original, but does anyone have a link to the original main menu animation files?
<Nexus>
Traveler of the Multiverse
Actually I agree with this. I can't befriend the feeling of walking on the Sun and still clearly seeing everything, not to mention that the Earth is too close...
But as long as it is optional I'm okay with it and focus on all the good things the mod brings
Ah, thanks.
And as an aside, as I have not said it elsewhere, I would like to thank all the development team for their efforts in creating and improving this excellent mod.
From Abandoning Cities thread:
Okay, I'm here. What do I do to get started with revamping and adding some new graphics and icons?
Cool
Okay, I'm here. What do I do to get started with revamping and adding some new graphics and icons?
@Caymon:
Your graphical design talent would be highly appreciated. Indeed, while we have in the team some complementary skills (C++, python, balancing, etc.), we lack a graphical designer.
There are various areas that can be improved. Here are some points (not an exhaustive list):
As you already know, XML art files point to graphic files. Most of these are in the .FPK in Assets/, which is a format to dramatically improve loading time of the game.
To extract these, use "PakBuild.exe" in Assets\art (PAK -> Unpak and select an output folder). This is quite a mess inside these files so you should need to extract all fpk to find what you are looking for (except terrain_textures_ which obviously contains terrain textures).
I also suggest that you look for artfiles in the civfanatics forum. Many talented graphic designers may already have worked on some shiny graphics. If you pick a creation, make sure to note the reference so we can add them to the credits page.
And, of course, thank you for any help you could provide!
Your graphical design talent would be highly appreciated. Indeed, while we have in the team some complementary skills (C++, python, balancing, etc.), we lack a graphical designer.
There are various areas that can be improved. Here are some points (not an exhaustive list):
- Some icons are inconsistent with the overall graphics. The best way to find them is to open the Civilopedia and cycle through units, techs and buildings. For example, after a quick glance, I'd say icons like "Automatic weapons, semi-auto weapons, automobile" for techs. "Mohawk archer, ballista, bombarde, etc.". Hopefully, most of the icons are quite good already. Most of the time, the inconsistent icons are just screenshot of the model animation. If you have a better proposal for any of the icons, feel free!
- Better backgrounds. If you have some ideas for the "load game" and launcher backgrounds, feel free! I think we should remove the logo on loading backgrounds as the screen resolution make it to be sometime rendered off-screen. Same for the installer left banner or the logo.
Here are the graphical materials I created (with GIMP). - We need a nice banner for our moddb page. What I would like is to have a 950x200 or 300 banner which is shaded off to fully transparent at the bottom to put at the top of the mod description (example here)
- You may also want to improve modern flags choice.
As you already know, XML art files point to graphic files. Most of these are in the .FPK in Assets/, which is a format to dramatically improve loading time of the game.
To extract these, use "PakBuild.exe" in Assets\art (PAK -> Unpak and select an output folder). This is quite a mess inside these files so you should need to extract all fpk to find what you are looking for (except terrain_textures_ which obviously contains terrain textures
).I also suggest that you look for artfiles in the civfanatics forum. Many talented graphic designers may already have worked on some shiny graphics. If you pick a creation, make sure to note the reference so we can add them to the credits page.
And, of course, thank you for any help you could provide!
@Caymon:
Your graphical design talent would be highly appreciated. Indeed, while we have in the team some complementary skills (C++, python, balancing, etc.), we lack a graphical designer.
There are various areas that can be improved. Here are some points (not an exhaustive list):
- Some icons are inconsistent with the overall graphics. The best way to find them is to open the Civilopedia and cycle through units, techs and buildings. For example, after a quick glance, I'd say icons like "Automatic weapons, semi-auto weapons, automobile" for techs. "Mohawk archer, ballista, bombarde, etc.". Hopefully, most of the icons are quite good already. Most of the time, the inconsistent icons are just screenshot of the model animation. If you have a better proposal for any of the icons, feel free!
- Better backgrounds. If you have some ideas for the "load game" and launcher backgrounds, feel free! I think we should remove the logo on loading backgrounds as the screen resolution make it to be sometime rendered off-screen. Same for the installer left banner or the logo.
Here are the graphical materials I created (with GIMP).- We need a nice banner for our moddb page. What I would like is to have a 950x200 or 300 banner which is shaded off to fully transparent at the bottom to put at the top of the mod description (example here)
- You may also want to improve modern flags choice.
As you already know, XML art files point to graphic files. Most of these are in the .FPK in Assets/, which is a format to dramatically improve loading time of the game.
To extract these, use "PakBuild.exe" in Assets\art (PAK -> Unpak and select an output folder). This is quite a mess inside these files so you should need to extract all fpk to find what you are looking for (except terrain_textures_ which obviously contains terrain textures
I also suggest that you look for artfiles in the civfanatics forum. Many talented graphic designers may already have worked on some shiny graphics. If you pick a creation, make sure to note the reference so we can add them to the credits page.
And, of course, thank you for any help you could provide!
In addition to graphical designs I may create myself and from the sources you spoke of, is it okay that I use (and modify if license allows) public domain images? Sometimes it's better to not reinvent the wheel if content exists (especially if it is content never seen because they are buried in old historical books and archives). I will list all sources and provide links.
Combat Wombat
Warlord
That was a tryout, if there is not much interest in that animation, i can revert to the old one and just use the new logo. I'm not 100% satisfied by this one. It would have been better if drawn by an artist
Keep it! A new main menu is refreshing. It isn't terrible or anything just needs some polishing. I though it was brilliant to keep the existing animation and everything like you did.
Edit: In fact space art is one of the few artsy things I can do. I just grabbed the nvidia .dds plugin for CS6. I am gonna dive in and play around with the textures a bit.
Here are some new icons. All images are from Google Searches, Public Domain or otherwise not copyrighted. A txt on sources is there for each image. Let me know how they look, so I could get started on more if they are acceptable.
I am not a professional artist, I just know how to use some features of graphics programs.
I can handdraw scenery though, but I have to figure out ways to implement computer graphics with my drawing. Again, I am not doing this for a living - it's just an informal hobby. Maybe I could come up with some loading screen scenery or something. But I don't want to re-invent the wheel if I don't have to
I've included both .dds and .png (since a program is needed to read .dds) so you could quickly view.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/42qywxlb8pbmffy/More_Building_Icons.zip?dl=0
I am not a professional artist, I just know how to use some features of graphics programs.
I can handdraw scenery though, but I have to figure out ways to implement computer graphics with my drawing. Again, I am not doing this for a living - it's just an informal hobby. Maybe I could come up with some loading screen scenery or something. But I don't want to re-invent the wheel if I don't have to
I've included both .dds and .png (since a program is needed to read .dds) so you could quickly view.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/42qywxlb8pbmffy/More_Building_Icons.zip?dl=0
I'll compare with other icons tomorrow. Thank you for your work. For the background artwork, I used the filter "impressionist" on the GIMP to make them look like they have been painted but I'm sure there are way to make it better rendered. I don't think all the civ icons are handdrawed.
@Caymon: I don't know if the others have looked at your icons. I like the cement mill and the manufacture but can you try to make them a bit more cartoon like the others icons?
To be honest, I don't like the three others (police, apothecary and silicon). That a personal POV, but I think it's better to represent buildings with a building illustration. That said, the Silicon one is hard to represent.
About the police station, I see something like this but more cartoon http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=...=1839&page=2&start=10&ndsp=21&ved=0CF0QrQMwDQ
Anyway, thank you for your work. I don't want to be rude at anytime.
To be honest, I don't like the three others (police, apothecary and silicon). That a personal POV, but I think it's better to represent buildings with a building illustration. That said, the Silicon one is hard to represent.
About the police station, I see something like this but more cartoon http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=...=1839&page=2&start=10&ndsp=21&ved=0CF0QrQMwDQ
Anyway, thank you for your work. I don't want to be rude at anytime.
Understandable. I consider this a process of "brainstorming," so things will normally get accepted and rejected. It takes very little work create an icon from existing sources anyways, so nothing is really wasted. When I have the opportunity I will create more cartooney icons and change the other ones.
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for the feedback.
