[Freeciv-Dev] Comments on the Engel tiles

[Daniel Burrows <Daniel_Burrows@xxxxxxxxx>]

  Hi, I don't know who's responsible for this artistic work, so I'm posting this
message here in the hopes that the right person will hear it. :-)

  I just got the new tiles file for 1.7.2, which I believe correspond to the
'Engle' tiles (designed by someone named  Engle? ) that were being discussed
for the CVS version.  (I got the file from the page for the GTK+ client)

  Overall, I really like the new tiles.  They're much more attractive than the
old set, even just in little ways. (like visible shorelines)  In particular, the
grasslands/plains, the deserts, and the water are done very well (haven't
looked in the polar regions), resources show up much better than in the older
version, and overall the appearance of the game is much smoother.  The units
are also quite good--my explorer really looks like an explorer! :-)

  Now the bad news. :-)  There are three terrain types that (I think) need work.
Most importantly, the mountains.  I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but they look
like a crumpled-up pile of kleenex.  They need to be much more mountainous.
Second, the hills--they do look somewhat hilly, but just barely.  A little more
hill-ness is in order.  The forest has a less dire state, but it's tough
to distinguish it from the grasslands.

  In general, the main problem with the tileset is that it's so smooth that
the terrain types are difficult to distinguish from one another.  I think the
forests are pretty good, but they should maybe be a slightly darker green or
incorporate another color as well (brown?)  The hills and mountains really
need some work, though.  I think that maybe displaying them from an 'overhead'
perspective would help (right now it looks like they were drawn isometrically)

  I believe that CivI handled the overhead hills/mountains quite nicely, so
it's possible.  Overall, though, I really like these tiles.  I can live with
the forest the way it is, just ..please.. fix up the hills and mountains.
-- 
  Daniel Burrows

  Nothing is hopeless.

  PROOF:
(a) Assume the opposite.
(b) If something _is_ hopeless, then its condition can only improve.
(c) If its condition can only improve, then there must be hope for it.
(d) Therefore, nothing is hopeless.  QED.

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