Dune Wars Art Thread

[Deliverator]

Re the spiceblow, i think it looks a bit too big there, maybe a slightly smaller scale would be better?

That is easy to reduce in the XML using fScale.

Re the sandstorm, i think that shade is too difficult to see on the desert, i liked the previous colour better.

Yeah, I agree it is hard to see on desert. I can use a more similar colour to the existing one and see how that looks.

 

[Deliverator]

Had another go with the Sandstorm - find attached updated particle fx patch. It is tricky to get something that stands out clearly over both land and desert but I have made a texture the varies from light to dark so it should stand out reasonably well on both desert and land.

If people still prefer the static flickering cloud then let me know - I don't want to spend time on effects that aren't going to be used.

 

[Slvynn]

I actually like old new one very much - that with same color as sand. It looks realistic and you will see it well on mesas/land. And i dont care that its now seen well on sand - that should not be that noticable.

I prefer particle version. May be with some color change or more particle layer addition with darker color to show some volume .

 

[Deliverator]

Ok, i've reworked the sandworm a bit to work better with Slvynn's skin. I've basically lined things up so that the wormrings in the mesh matches the wormrings in the texture. Also, I didn't like the new mouth texture too much so I tried putting the old one back in and I think it looks quite good. It seems natural that the colour of the inside of the mouth and outside should be contrasting colours. The zip includes new NIF file and 2 DDS textures.

Also, attached worm rider version - new NIF and skin to replace existing ones.

 

[Slvynn]

great! yep it looks good with old one - sometimes things are easier than you imagine them

 

[Deliverator]

I actually like old new one very much - that with same color as sand. It looks realistic and you will see it well on mesas/land. And i dont care that its now seen well on sand - that should not be that noticable.

I prefer particle version. May be with some color change or more particle layer addition with darker color to show some volume .

There is often a balance to be maintained between realism and gameplay. The old new one is hard to see over desert which might make it hard for players to see it coming, even though a sand coloured sandstorm is more realistic.

Perhaps it is possible for the python to trigger the new new sandstorm effect (the darker one) over desert and the old new one (the sand coloured one) over land via Python for maximum distinctiveness.

 

[keldath]

superb!!
great great worm art .

 

[Deliverator]

@david: How can I change this Python procedure to trigger a different sandstorm effect on land or on ocean tiles? If I start by declaring these:

		self.iESandLight   = self.GetCheckInfo("EFFECT_SANDSTORM_DARK")
		self.iESandDark   = self.GetCheckInfo("EFFECT_SANDSTORM_LIGHT")

I'm guessing I need to change something around the highlighted bit to choose the effect I wan't dependent on the tile type?

	def StormDraw(self):
		self.Initialize()
		self.iUpdateTimer += 1
		if self.iUpdateTimer == 10:
			self.iUpdateTimer = 0
			for lxyt in self.StormList():
				(ix, iy, iType) = lxyt
				pPoint = CyMap().plot(ix, iy).getPoint()
[COLOR="Red"]				if iType == 1: iEffect = self.iESand
				else: iEffect = self.iESand # should be rain[/COLOR]
				CyEngine().triggerEffect(iEffect, pPoint)

 

[davidlallen]

@david: How can I change this Python procedure to trigger a different sandstorm effect on land or on ocean tiles?

I guess this should do it:

	pPoint = CyMap().plot(ix, iy).getPoint()
	[COLOR="Red"]if iType == 1:
		if CyMap().plot(ix, iy).isWater(): iEffect = self.iESandDark
		else: iEffect = self.iESandLight[/COLOR]
	else: iEffect = self.iESand # should be rain

As you probably know, indentation is critical; the dark/light lines must be one tabstop further in than the if, else lines above, below. The second iESand is a placeholder for the future rainstorm; you can probably leave it that way for now even though iESand won't exist anymore. The iType will always be 1.

 

[Deliverator]

That works perfectly. Here's another patch with sandstorms that are dark on desert and light on land.

There is an issue with the Sandstorm as effect solution we have now - there is no mouseover information. Is there a way to do this? Could we make them features like the Spice Blow?

 

[davidlallen]

There is an issue with the Sandstorm as effect solution we have now - there is no mouseover information. Is there a way to do this? Could we make them features like the Spice Blow?

I played with a few options back in the 1.2 timeframe. Our choices are a unit, or a feature, or an effect. If it is a feature, then I need to keep track of which feature was there before, and put it back after the storm moves. While the storm is there, whatever feature used to be there is gone. I'm not sure what side effects that has, such as a partly chopped vanilla forest, for example.

As a unit, the problem is I don't know how to make another player for it; the barb player is at war with everybody so it cannot both attack units, and fly over cities. Also I had a problem that the game prevents barb units from crossing the Great Wall, but now that I am better with sdk I may be able to overcome that.

The effect has the benefit of not being associated with any player, so it has less restrictions. The only drawback is that it does not have hover help. I know that the plague and tsunami effects in Gods Of Old do not have hover help either. There are effects in other games, such as the FFH Blizzard. I have not looked at how they are implemented. Maybe they use fake features and ignore problems of partly chopped forests, or maybe that problem does not actually happen.

What do you think?

 

[Ahriman]

I don't think it matters if there is no hover help, as long as it is clear from the art that this is a sandstorm.

And have a Sid's Tip: "keep out of sandstorms; they can damage your units and destroy your improvements."

 

[Slvynn]

I think thats cool to keep it as effect. IT will bring nest of bugs if we will change it to feature. We need just make nice explanation of Storm mechanics in pedia. There nothing to learn about it in hovering help - its just sandstorm that destroy improvements/damage units.

Edit: x-posted with Ahriman, agree completely, just add Sid tip . and Game Concept entry.

 

[Deliverator]

I think the FFH2 Blizzard implementation is probably worth investigating. As far as I know it is implemented as a feature - but I'm pretty such it doesn't destroy forest which is also a feature. I also think Blizzards work slightly differently in the Age of Ice scenario to current FFH2.

 

[davidlallen]

And have a Sid's Tip: "keep out of sandstorms; they can damage your units and destroy your improvements."

If you mean a hint, which comes up while the game is loading, please see the hints tab of the civilopedia for a complete list. Hint #3 is about sandstorms. If you mean the tips that come up next to units and buildings, since it isn't a unit or building, I don't think there is any opportunity for that.

 

[Ahriman]

If you mean a hint, which comes up while the game is loading

These are what I meant. I thought these were referred to as Sid's Tips.
If there already is one, great.

 

[Deliverator]

I think in general some picture popups would be great when certain events happen. It would add flavour and help new players. Things like "Your harvester was eaten by a sandworm" or "You have lost an improvement to a sandstorm".

This modcomp has been updated to 3.19 and looks like a great way to do it. I presume it is not too hard to trigger an event popup when certain things happen in the Python.

 

[Ahriman]

An event popup every time an improvement was destroyed by a worm or sandstorm could get real old real fast.

Maybe just the first time each game?

 

[Deliverator]

Maybe just the first time each game?

Yes, that's what I'm thinking. We could have them at any other stage we think is helpful/flavourful.

 

[davidlallen]

That seems like a good idea. I am pretty sure most events can be setup to trigger only once per player. Anybody want to make some art? I think we could start with two, the sandstorm damage and the sandworm damage. Actually, a scout being eaten by a sandworm is likely to happen before a harvester, but it can probably trigger on any combat loss to a sandworm as well.