Work in Progress - Super Civ Scenario

[Blue Monkey]

Don't try to remake the palette if one background color is enough! Use GIMP's select by color tools:

1. Open the indexed file.
2. Set the color you want the background to be as the bg color in the tool palette.
3. Select the whole bg of the icon using the Fuzzy Select tool - it will only select one contiguous region. You may need to adjust the sensitivity.
4. From the Edit menu choose Fill with BG color.
5. Repeat for any other regions you want to become one color. Including the magenta region.
6. Save. You should now have a reworked pcx with the same palette as before.

 

[KingArthur]

thanks Blue, I wasn't remaking the palette but the tip about setting the bg colour and using the Fuzzy select is helpful.

 

[Blue Monkey]

thanks Blue, I wasn't remaking the palette but the tip about setting the bg colour and using the Fuzzy select is helpful.

That wasn't directed specifically at you. I just wanted to point out the simpler technique for everyone. I learned the hard way how to streamline the process when making the steampunk tech sets.

The fuzzy select will have to be used for each individual region - the inside & outside of a circle for example. The Select By Color tool could be used to grab them both. But it selects the colors throughout the whole image. So it often requires finer tuning the selection sensitivity and can't be used when you only want to replace the colors from part of it.

GIMP has four method options in the palette reduction pop-up. I often try more than one, each on a separate copy. Then I can look at them side by side to see which works best. After a while you get to know which method generally works best for certain types of images.

Also, if you reduce the palette to 254 rather than 256 it actually makes a 256 palette. Then you've already got two slots reserved for the green & magenta. You just have to change the RGB numbers on those palettes.

For anyone who works on a Mac: I reduce the palette in GIMP. Then I do any palette editing in Graphics Converter. It's got a more limited range of tools, but is simpler & easier for many tasks, including palette editing.

 

[KingArthur]

Bonus resources now done.

 

[tom2050]

Lookin' Good!

 

[nick0515]

Nice. Those resources really do look perfect for city terrain.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Blue Monkey]

Per KingArthurs Request...

Blue Kong (my recolouring of Supas' Toho King Kong)

No civ color.

Download here... BlueKong.rar

Tom

Cheers Tom - it looks splendid. This is going to be the unit for Blue Monkey in the super hero scenario.

Would you consider naming the character either Hanuman or Alakazam the Great? Both are part of the inspiration for my nom de guerre.

 

[Deth McBones]

Any use for these?

 

[Takhisis]

Hey, why not take ideas from MDK II?
The whole game is related in old-fashioned comic-book style. Every chapter is a new issue, etc. etc.
A robotic six-legged, bipedal dog with a jetpack and a cigar; a mad scientist with an atomic toaster; and an armed janitor taking on aliens might prove useful...

 

[KingArthur]

Would you consider naming the character either Hanuman or Alakazam the Great? Both are part of the inspiration for my nom de guerre.

Of course; any preference? I quite like the sound of Hanuman personally.

Any use for these?

Those are fun. I have a few of those archetypes already but there's always room for more. I'm thinking that image might be useful as Advisor graphics.

Hey, why not take ideas from MDK II?
The whole game is related in old-fashioned comic-book style. Every chapter is a new issue, etc. etc.
A robotic six-legged, bipedal dog with a jetpack and a cigar; a mad scientist with an atomic toaster; and an armed janitor taking on aliens might prove useful...

I had never heard of that game before (shame on me). Sounds cool though, I'll look into it - Ideas are always good. I've been thinking about those advisors and the only suggestions I have so far are: a butler character as the domestic advisor; Ninja or spy for Foreign advisor; 'Evil' Genius for Science.

 

[Takhisis]

A butler, did you say? Nestor is the man for you.
I have the MDK2 CD lying around somewhere, guess I could reinstall it if you need any pics.

 

[KingArthur]

Here's a possible implementation of Colonies, Mines and Barb Camps.

Colonies are represented by a white background surrounding the resource icon - wish it could be civ coloured but that doesn't appear possible.

Mines are represented as office workers and can only be placed on Downtown or Suburban terrain tiles.

Barb Camps are Street Gangs. All of these together may appear a bit crowded on a single tile but I think I just about get away with it. On the screenshot you can see a Mine and a Camp on the same tile as a Hostage resource.

I'm still pondering how (or even if) I'll implement fortresses (maybe road blocks if I restrict them to streets), Outposts (security cameras perhaps) and Radar Towers (what the heck do they do again?). I have a plan for Airfields which will be Teleportation Pads/Chambers but I've yet to find a suitable graphic (maybe I'll use the unit32 pcx of Vuldacon's Police Phone Box )

 

[Takhisis]

Radar Towers give a defensive bonus (IIRC, 25%) for neighbouring tiles.

You can always use the 'real' telepds in the cracked editor instead of airfields.

 

[KingArthur]

Cheers. I guess the Radar Tower could be a Sniper or Lasers. I'm not that inclined to use the teleportation in the cracked editor. Instead I've split the airport into Helipads (for trade) and Teleporters for airlifting and dropping.

 

[Takhisis]

What if you change food into drinking water? Pipes (irrigation) can increase water output.

 

[dragonprobably]

Here's what I'd do:

Fortress - Neighborhood Watch Sign?
Irrigation - Vending Machine
Outpost - Detective?
Radar Tower - Gun Store

 

[Balthasar]

In a scenario like this, an airport should be a subway stop. A Teleport Pad (or rather, two) could be used as a tunnel, perhaps, since they're point to point, as long as you have just one tunnel...
I like the idea of an outpost being a security camera.

 

[KingArthur]

Nice ideas guys but don't be too upset if I don't use em

Irrigation - I just remembered is staying as normal and represents an area of farmland just outside the city - think Smallville and you've got the idea I'm aiming for.

Airports - I prefer using airports for teleportation in this scenario. Im using Vuldacon's teleport beams for the airdrop animation so it should look cool.

Fortresses and Barricades - I've decided to use tire forts and razor wire to represent them - the graphics surround an entire tile but allow you to still see what's on the tile like units, resources, mines etc. It looks quite good and I'm restricting these to the streets terrain so they can be used to create effective fortified points against the more powerful wheeled units (Giant Laser Slugs and Giant Death Robots).

I think for now that I've had enough of graphics work and will move on to the civilopedia entries so you may not hear from in a while

 

[Blue Monkey]

I've been thinking about those advisors and the only suggestions I have so far are: a butler character as the domestic advisor; Ninja or spy for Foreign advisor; 'Evil' Genius for Science.

Either Lugosi or Karloff from the 1931 Black Cat, Cary Grant from Bringing Up Baby, Lionell Atwell (all over the place), Spencer Tracy as Dr. Jekyll, et al, Groucho as Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush (winner of the 1937 Nikola Tesla lookalike contest), Charles Laughton from Island of Lost Souls (Dr. Moreau wannabe), Humphrey Bogart as Dr. X, not to memtion the one and only Colin Clive.

My preference - a sort of Alan Moorish version of Dr. X.

 

[Moosezilla]

BM you reminded me of John Carridine (father of David and Kieth). And John Houston (Angelica).