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Topic: New roads

kaputtnik
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Posted at: 2015-01-23, 17:34

GunChleoc wrote:

You can use this branch to render buildings with busy roads attached to them.

Here are the screens with this branch:

busy_houseroads_empire

Not really nice for small buildings

busy_houseroads_babarian

The busy Road could be thicker... but as road to small buildings ok.

busy_houseroads_atlantean

This is ok face-smile.png


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GunChleoc
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Posted at: 2015-01-23, 20:22

I think the reason that the busy road doesn't look good for Empire buildings is that it is so much brighter than the normal road. Two solutions come to mind:

  1. Use normal roads for small buildings and busy roads for the other buildings
  2. Introduce a new road type just for buildings.

I'm not sure I like the concave for the Atlanteans. It looks constructed that way on purpose, and there would be no reason for people to do that. So, I prefer the nervous one. The thickenings do make sense, like a waiting area or passing place.


Busy indexing nil values

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DragonAtma
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Posted at: 2015-01-23, 21:07

Heavier-used roads have been deliberately constructed for a long time. This road, for example, is form Pompeii (and, therefore, dates back at least to 79 AD): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PompeiiStreet.jpg

Dirt is suitable for minor roads, but historically something sturdier was needed for major roads.


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SirVer

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Posted at: 2015-01-23, 22:24

GunChleoc wrote:

I think the reason that the busy road doesn't look good for Empire buildings is that it is so much brighter than the normal road. Two solutions come to mind:

I propose a third one: if the flag of a building has a busy road attached use a busy road, otherwise use a normal road.


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chuckw
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Posted at: 2015-01-24, 04:30

SirVer wrote:

GunChleoc wrote:

I think the reason that the busy road doesn't look good for Empire buildings is that it is so much brighter than the normal road. Two solutions come to mind:

I propose a third one: if the flag of a building has a busy road attached use a busy road, otherwise use a normal road.

Do you propose that a building that started out with a normal road for its approach would

a) have its approach updated if one of the roads at its flag became busy? Or

b) it keeps that road texture throughout the game regardless of any upgrades to roads at its flag?


I see little people.

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DragonAtma
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Posted at: 2015-01-24, 08:56

if a major road appears there, then why not have its approach road become a major road?

Sure, there could be an underused building on a major road (say, a rarely-used port is attached to the road between the often-used lumberjack and the often-used sawmill), but even then it'd make sense for the road to be upgraded for appearances.

It reminds me of a suggestion I considered making but never did (upgrading intersections on busy roads to hold more wares, say 8/8 -> 6/12 or even 8/16). So I don't know if that's feasible or recommended, but the point is, when I thought about it I came to the conclusion it'd be best to have the spots at every intersection of every busy road be the ones that would get upgraded.

And yes, I realize that the answer to the need for holding more wares is "Be more efficient instead of moving everything through chokepoints!", but...


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kaputtnik
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Posted at: 2015-01-24, 10:27

GunChleoc wrote:

I think the reason that the busy road doesn't look good for Empire buildings is that it is so much brighter than the normal road.

Yes you are right. Making the busy road colored more like the HQ looks better. In this screen the pattern is not ready but the differenece to this screen should be seen (the norml road is taken from babarians, a more pebbled pattern):

house roads empire

SirVer wrote:

I propose a third one: if the flag of a building has a busy road attached use a busy road, otherwise use a normal road.

Do you propose that a building that started out with a normal road for its approach would

a) have its approach updated if one of the roads at its flag became busy?

I think it was meant this way. I believe SirVer is looking for more graphical variations/dynamics.

Related to this: I noticed that a busy road forever will be a busy road, regardless of the frequency wares are transported. IMHO there should be a function that turns busy roads into normal roads back if the traffic decreases.


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GunChleoc
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Posted at: 2015-01-24, 12:02

Related to this: I noticed that a busy road forever will be a busy road, regardless of the frequency wares are transported. IMHO there should be a function that turns busy roads into normal roads back if the traffic decreases.

Are you sure? I noticed the opposite - roads will return to normal roads when they're not busy anymore.


Busy indexing nil values

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wl-zocker

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Posted at: 2015-01-24, 12:15

GunChleoc wrote:

Related to this: I noticed that a busy road forever will be a busy road, regardless of the frequency wares are transported. IMHO there should be a function that turns busy roads into normal roads back if the traffic decreases.

Are you sure? I noticed the opposite - roads will return to normal roads when they're not busy anymore.

I think the algorithm is as follows: When x wares had to wait, request a second carrier. When y wares were transported immediately without the need for a second carrier, release it. It therefore takes some time until the road changes its appearance. If a busy road is not used at all (or very seldom), it stays busy for a long time.

SirVer wrote:

I propose a third one: if the flag of a building has a busy road attached use a busy road, otherwise use a normal road.

Do you propose that a building that started out with a normal road for its approach would

a) have its approach updated if one of the roads at its flag became busy?

I think that is a good approach.


"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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GunChleoc
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Posted at: 2015-01-24, 12:19

SirVer wrote:

I propose a third one: if the flag of a building has a busy road attached use a busy road, otherwise use a normal road.

The road code is a bit tricky with lots of bitwise manipulation. I would need to change the north-west road for a flag that has a building, but there are only constants for east, south-east and south-west available.


Busy indexing nil values

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