[Freeciv-Dev] Re: suggestions

[Ben Webb <ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 13 Jul 2000, Greg Wooledge wrote:

> Ben Webb (ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:
[Graphics for SMAC-style compound units?]

> The way SMAC does it is modular.  For each different chassis (infantry,
> speeder, foil, etc.) there is one "armor" picture for each different armor
> type, and one "weapon" picture for each weapon type.  (E.g., a needlejet
> with a chaos weapon looks just like a needlejet with a fusion weapon,
> except for the nose/weapon part.  The armor picture affects the unit's
> color pattern mostly.)

...and Fusion plant-based units look different to fission-based
units... and some special abilities (e.g. drop pods) have a graphical
representation, too...

> There are exceptions, though -- e.g., a probe team (SMAC equivalent of
> a spy) is an chassis with a special "probe team weapon" instead of a
> normal weapon

...and Formers, Colony Pods and Sea Colony Pods don't look much like
Infantry or Foil units at all...

> The way I'd go about it, if I had any graphical talent, would be to use
> modular graphics with a lot of transparency.

        Yes, I was kind of thinking along those lines. I'm assuming that
the graphics format used by freeciv supports transparency, but I don't
know how easy it'd be to change the clients to combine several images like
that for display. (I also have no graphical talent, BTW.) My tactic at the
moment is to use one graphic per chassis type - so Colony Pods, Formers,
and Impact Infantry (for example) look identical. In the long run this
could make gameplay tricky. ;) I suspect I'll have to allow overrides in
the rulesets for "awkward" units - after all, I do something like this
already for naming purposes (it's somewhat difficult for the computer to
guess that Infantry+Hand Weapons+No Armour+Fission Plant+No ability =
"Scout Patrol" !)

Thanks for the suggestions...

        Ben
-- 
ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx           http://bellatrix.pcl.ox.ac.uk/~ben/
"And earthly power doth then show likest God's
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