Can we change the fog of war?

[wiggawuu]

I hate to be negative, but I don't really like the map fow feature. I just miss seeing the layout of the land. Its hard to tell what's what without the color.

Do you guys think it will be possible to mod in a different looking fog of war?

 

[Bkeela]

I'm confident there will be a mod. I also dislike the fog of war. Makes me feel kind of claustrophobic and hemmed in. Least they could do is have watch towers - in SMAC you could build sensors to increase visibility. I'm definitely going to station ships at optimal points of the ocean so that I have full visibility and can enjoy the beautiful blue ocean instead of an ugly parchment colour.

 

[durfal]

I think the fow is beautiful but not handy to see the difference between land and water. Especially on the minimap.
So a light tinted blue for water and green for land would be enough for me.

 

[Ryika]

I'm confident there will be a mod. .

Better drop your confidence levels a bit.

If the game is structured similar to Civ V then it will be pretty impossible to change the way the fog looks with a mod, other than possibly using different textures.

 

[wiggawuu]

People on reddit are already complaining and that's the most optimistic/happiest place on the internet.

 

[jozef57]

watch towers and such things would be super idear

 

[Zyxpsilon]

I've started looking for some hints about 'adjusting' FOW & UI elements.

As usual everything seems to be hooked by LUA/XML codes (driven by "schema" structures) while the essential assets get proprietary formats like BLP (most likely DDS as 2D textures) & ARTDEF (archives similar to CiV-FPK).
Interestingly.. the SDK is promising to be a very strong tool with plenty of features to exploit rather easily by almost anyone having minimal knowledge. So here's a wish when they finally release that device.. worthy -D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T-A-T-I-O-N- .. At least enough comprehensive details for everyone to tackle minimal ideas & mod concepts.

Ok, onto -- the UI and it's gimmicky FOW map.

Good news -- it's highly probable that the default "Image" can be edited or replaced altogether. Secondly (and that's what matters the most for me), a variety of GFX adjustments should be possible via XML tagging or furthermore control by custom LUA hooks to the native code.

Sooooo... as soon as we get our hands on that SDK -- my very first task will be extremely obvious; design a true HSL system of colors that we can apply to whatever addressable HUD layers (including World & FOG!). I'm willing to bet someone else would beat me to it -- within days!

 

[Fluphen Azine]

That would be a big help for me to enjoy the game... are you saying that you can make it look like Civ V with the clouds and all?

 

[Ozisl]

I actually quite like the fog of war. The color of textures they used for it, however, is unfortunate, since it blends into the background.

As having the inability to create watch towers or outposts or whatnot is a letdown.

 

[Zyxpsilon]

@Fluphen.. that *IS* exactly what i hinted about. It's entirely possible some LUA code logic would allow anyone to adapt anything to their needs -- including an indirect port of (some) CiV features + HUD + UI + FOW + etc.

 

[raen]

Seems possible, editing "fow.artdef". I will try it later and let you know.

I am searching for it because my wife was fond of the game in last versions but with this fog of war she quits after 5 minutes of gaming! Is very hard to differentiate terrain, and we all have different sensing eyes.

For me also makes the difference, specially trying to see difference about sea and land, in the "hidden" terrain.

 

[Jaybe]

I want units in woods/rainforest or on hills to not be revealed unless you have a unit adjacent. Three hex visibility to units on a hill has frustrated me for ages. Let there be surprises!

I don't have an issue with the fow color washout. I have adjusted to it.