New water
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New water
Actually this has already been committed to master (and thus will be in 1.13.1), but I guess a post is still better late than never?
The methodology of how the water is tiled is completely new and I had to implement some little features to allow it ([1] [2]).
Somewhat disjointed technical explanation: the images are size 324x144 and tileable, which are then tiled to fill a 342x180 image (so that it encompasses 12 hexes; 6 horizontally and 2 vertically), of which hex-sized pieces are then cut via the ~MASK IPF and tiled next to each other so that the same 12-hex pattern is always preserved. The same method could be used for other kinds of terrains as well, with different sizes and tiling patterns.
Animated .gif (1.9MB, shallow water doesn't loop cleanly)
The methodology of how the water is tiled is completely new and I had to implement some little features to allow it ([1] [2]).
Somewhat disjointed technical explanation: the images are size 324x144 and tileable, which are then tiled to fill a 342x180 image (so that it encompasses 12 hexes; 6 horizontally and 2 vertically), of which hex-sized pieces are then cut via the ~MASK IPF and tiled next to each other so that the same 12-hex pattern is always preserved. The same method could be used for other kinds of terrains as well, with different sizes and tiling patterns.
Animated .gif (1.9MB, shallow water doesn't loop cleanly)
Re: New water
That's....pretty sexy.
From the UMC creator POV, we won't have to do anything to use this, it'll just replace the current water hexes?
From the UMC creator POV, we won't have to do anything to use this, it'll just replace the current water hexes?
Maintainer of the Imperial Era and the campaigns Dreams of Urduk, Epic of Vaniyera, Up from Slavery, Fall of Silvium, Alfhelm the Wise and Gali's Contract.
But perhaps 'maintainer' is too strong a word.
But perhaps 'maintainer' is too strong a word.
Re: New water
Yes. If you happen to have custom water terrains using the old images, then they'll still continue to work for probably a few development releases, until the old images get removed.UnwiseOwl wrote:From the UMC creator POV, we won't have to do anything to use this, it'll just replace the current water hexes?
Re: New water
That is now what he asked about. He wanted to know if it's possible to simply take the new images, replace the current ones and have a much better water. I think that it would not work, the masks probably need some new macros.zookeeper wrote:Yes. If you happen to have custom water terrains using the old images, then they'll still continue to work for probably a few development releases, until the old images get removed.
Re: New water
Right. No, it's not possible. The WML is completely different so you'll have to switch to the new macros as well. But that ought to be pretty straightforward, if you look at the terrain-graphics.cfg diff in the commit.Dugi wrote:That is now what he asked about. He wanted to know if it's possible to simply take the new images, replace the current ones and have a much better water. I think that it would not work, the masks probably need some new macros.
Re: New water
Macros...for terrain...
It's a big scary world of WML out there, huh?
It's a big scary world of WML out there, huh?
Maintainer of the Imperial Era and the campaigns Dreams of Urduk, Epic of Vaniyera, Up from Slavery, Fall of Silvium, Alfhelm the Wise and Gali's Contract.
But perhaps 'maintainer' is too strong a word.
But perhaps 'maintainer' is too strong a word.
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Re: New water
Those waves look awesome.
I'd be tempted to fiddle with the colors for added depth (see samples - the lighter part is before), but I don't realize yet how much work that represents and how many different images would need to be edited.
How does this work for the different types of water terrain (shallow, tropical, deep, ...) ? Is the animation an overlay that is added on top of separate base water tiles, or do you use a distinct animated gif for each type of water?
I'd be tempted to fiddle with the colors for added depth (see samples - the lighter part is before), but I don't realize yet how much work that represents and how many different images would need to be edited.
How does this work for the different types of water terrain (shallow, tropical, deep, ...) ? Is the animation an overlay that is added on top of separate base water tiles, or do you use a distinct animated gif for each type of water?
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Re: New water
It's not much extra work; the deep water is 21 images, shallow 17. The normal variants use the images as-is, with the tropical and gray variants being produced automatically via color-shifting.LordBob wrote:Those waves look awesome.
I'd be tempted to fiddle with the colors for added depth (see samples - the lighter part is before), but I don't realize yet how much work that represents and how many different images would need to be edited.
How does this work for the different types of water terrain (shallow, tropical, deep, ...) ? Is the animation an overlay that is added on top of separate base water tiles, or do you use a distinct animated gif for each type of water?
I'll try it out and see what the adjustment looks like in-game and in some other contexts.
Re: New water
It looks nice to me. Big improvement compared to the old stuff. Personally I would recommand to use the greyish blue you are having for the flat water and the blueish water from Lord Bob for the deep water.
I would stay away from crazy color variation, which make it undistingishable again. However to go really exotic would be nice. Maybe some greenish/brownish version for tropical?
I was wondering lately if the wesnothian water is actually to dark at day time in general. Maybe some more sunny reflections at day time would be nice.
I would stay away from crazy color variation, which make it undistingishable again. However to go really exotic would be nice. Maybe some greenish/brownish version for tropical?
I was wondering lately if the wesnothian water is actually to dark at day time in general. Maybe some more sunny reflections at day time would be nice.
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Re: New water
Ok, that sounds neat. If it's any help I only adjusted levels, so the fix should be quick enough once you settle for satisfying valueszookeeper wrote:It's not much extra work; the deep water is 21 images, shallow 17. The normal variants use the images as-is, with the tropical and gray variants being produced automatically via color-shifting.
Now that I look at those screenshots, I'm also tempted to do scenery work: regular castles pale in comparison to those beautiful new waters .
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Re: New water
Applying adjustments which match your mock-ups (upped contrast, then saturation) to the images would give this (compare to the original in first post).
Shall I commit that? I'll probably wait a day or two anyway, in case there's something else to tweak at the same time.
Shall I commit that? I'll probably wait a day or two anyway, in case there's something else to tweak at the same time.
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Re: New water
Perfect! As an added bonus, it makes the land stand out better thanks to the increased value contrast, so it's even more of an improvement. You can commit it when you're ready.
By the way, does this new water affect the swamp terrain as well ? I'm guessing not so I'd be curious to see how they look next to each other, and then maybe I'll ask some more questions and give it a shot.
By the way, does this new water affect the swamp terrain as well ? I'm guessing not so I'd be curious to see how they look next to each other, and then maybe I'll ask some more questions and give it a shot.
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Re: New water
It doesn't affect swamps. There's basically no difference in how the water-swamp transitions work; they were almost completely hidden under the reeds before, and still are.LordBob wrote:By the way, does this new water affect the swamp terrain as well ? I'm guessing not so I'd be curious to see how they look next to each other, and then maybe I'll ask some more questions and give it a shot.
I did ponder briefly about whether I'd do a new swamp as well, but it seems pointless because you'd practically never see it, and the current reed-covered style seems fine. Maybe the swamp transition onto water should be wider, though, so it'd be more visible instead of the reeds just popping out of the adjacent water.
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Re: New water
That works well enough indeed. I'd forgotten that our swamp tiles were mostly reed and very little water...
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