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Topic: iron, iorn ore, gold, gold ore

Astuur
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 15:54

I want to point your attention to this game suggestion:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/widelands/+bug/727021

There I am supplying an alternative set of pngs as a .rar archive. It contains pngs for the substrate and product of smelters (gold and iron) for all tribes. It also contains the corresponding conf files to adjust the hotspot (otherwise unchanged). They are the same for all tribes and only redundant for convenience.

I have long used these for my installation, because I think they are clearer and easier to recognize. To test you should unpack the rar archive in \widelands and let it overwrite.

The development team should decide whether they like it or not. Being small icons I have not created them in 3d. So the pngs are all there is to it.


Being no programmer, I apologize for all my suggestions that imply undue workload and for other misjudgements due to lack of expertise or relevant skills.
I am on Win32, have no means to compile, and rely on prefabricated distributions (Thanks to Tino).

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chuckw
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Joined: 2010-03-15, 16:23
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 16:57

Thanks for your suggestions, Astuur.

At the bug link I have attached a graphic comparison of the current images for the ore and metal wares and those which Astuur proposes.

Let's hear your comments! face-smile.png


I see little people.

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chuckw
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 17:03

For those who cannot or may not wish to access the bug report on launchpad, here is the comparison:
Astuur_ore
The "idle" images are those which appear on the game board and are carried by the workers. The "menu" images are those which appear in the various menus.


I see little people.

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chuckw
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Joined: 2010-03-15, 16:23
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 17:08

I personally like the use of ingots to represent the processed metals. It gives a very good indication of which product is being represented.
While gold ore may not naturally look so pure, I favor the proposed images. +1 vote face-wink.png


I see little people.

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ixprefect

Joined: 2009-02-27, 14:28
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 17:31

I agree, the use of ingots is very effective to convey the idea that those are processed. Even if it's not physically accurate, I think keeping the gold ore the same colour is useful for visual purposes.

Is there a reason why the processed gold and iron don't have the same shape?


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Astuur
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 17:43

Your right of course.... you'd never come across a nugget so big face-smile.png
I had tried that with the original "gold ore" icon, but went for "discernability" rather than realism.

btw: Strictly speaking the term "gold ore" is nonsens anyway. An ore is a chemical compound, where gold atoms form molecules with other atoms. Gold simply does not do that under natural environmental conditions -- that is why it does not rust. In contrast "Iron ore" is such a compound, where the iron atoms must be stripped off their oxygen to get metallic iron. ... sorry to sound so teacherlike ... face-smile.png

@ Ixprefect: Not really... I just felt it might look nicer to have a little variation in there. Initially I had even thought of different ingot forms for different tribes.

Edited: 2011-03-01, 17:46

Being no programmer, I apologize for all my suggestions that imply undue workload and for other misjudgements due to lack of expertise or relevant skills.
I am on Win32, have no means to compile, and rely on prefabricated distributions (Thanks to Tino).

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ixprefect

Joined: 2009-02-27, 14:28
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Posted at: 2011-03-01, 20:21

I just thought it would be nicer for them to have the same shape. Not least, it would help to underscore the analogy that they are produced by the same building (and are mostly consumed by the same buildings as well) with a visually analogy.


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Astuur
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Posted at: 2011-03-02, 07:35

@ Ixprefect: When I did this a long time ago, I was under the impression that artwork in WL suffers from the intensive repeated use of fragments from buildings.(like Barbarian houses all deriving from the angle-shaped ones cut at the angle). I just did not want to add to the feel of modularisation and overstressed ergonomics, that imho contradicts the cuteness-factor.
But in this case it's basically nonsense. The more I think about it, the more I agree with you. We should go for the same size and form and just different color for gold ingots and iron ingots.
If we indeed want some variation, it makes more sense to vary the ingot forms across the tribes.
Easily done ...


Being no programmer, I apologize for all my suggestions that imply undue workload and for other misjudgements due to lack of expertise or relevant skills.
I am on Win32, have no means to compile, and rely on prefabricated distributions (Thanks to Tino).

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Gannaf

Joined: 2010-06-22, 00:10
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Location: Germany, Bird Mountain
Posted at: 2011-03-02, 14:45

I like the idea of make it easier to distinguish ores from processed metal.

Astuur wrote:

If we indeed want some variation, it makes more sense to vary the ingot forms across the tribes.

Keep in mind there is a trading system planned. Having varied graphics for the same items could cause some difficulties transfering them from one tribe to another.

Edited: 2011-03-03, 12:33

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Astuur
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Posted at: 2011-03-02, 19:51

@ Gannaf

You're right .... I forgot that point. On the other hand, I could imagine that our coders could manage to easily convert atlantean ingots magically to barbarian ones, once they are inside a warehouse. face-wink.png
But I'm myself undecided about tribe-typical ingots, and above all I first want to hear some more opinions about it.


Being no programmer, I apologize for all my suggestions that imply undue workload and for other misjudgements due to lack of expertise or relevant skills.
I am on Win32, have no means to compile, and rely on prefabricated distributions (Thanks to Tino).

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