Hex grid (for 1.2, semi-urgent)
Moderator: Forum Moderators
Hex grid (for 1.2, semi-urgent)
The hex grid I committed some time ago wasn't liked by some people (apparently using a lower resolution), so I made another semi-sketchy proposal, which was committed a day or two ago.
The latest one, in 1.2.
The previous one, 1.2 r14489.
Obviously, you need to look at them in-game to see how they actually look.
I don't have time to work on these anymore today, and if 1.2 is to be tagged tonight, I wouldn't mind some of our lead artists to at least take a look at these to at least sort of confirm that the current one is ok. If you can tweak it further (the lines are rather aliased, but you shouldn't make them look much thicker either IMO, and the "shading" on the current one might be a bit off), then obviously that would be even better.
The latest one, in 1.2.
The previous one, 1.2 r14489.
Obviously, you need to look at them in-game to see how they actually look.
I don't have time to work on these anymore today, and if 1.2 is to be tagged tonight, I wouldn't mind some of our lead artists to at least take a look at these to at least sort of confirm that the current one is ok. If you can tweak it further (the lines are rather aliased, but you shouldn't make them look much thicker either IMO, and the "shading" on the current one might be a bit off), then obviously that would be even better.
14790 looks like a raised surface, which is a nice improvement. 14489 looks like it has glowing edges, and that does looks crazy/bad on low resolutions.
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/User:Sapient... "Looks like your skills saved us again. Uh, well at least, they saved Soarin's apple pie."
The new hex grid is better done artistically, I agree. However, it is also visually much more intrusive.
The hex grid before was barely noticeable, and yet served its purpose (to make clear where the hex boundaries were). It wasn't particularly pretty, but it got the job done.
Now, I find the hex grid very distracting. I suspect it is because of the new 3-4 pixel wide semi-transparent border. It makes everything look like it is raised up with slanted edges, which really isn't very visually appealing IMHO and doesn't make a lick of sense either.
I would honestly prefer the old grid to the new one. Does anyone else agree with me?
BTW, do people usually play with the hex grid on or off? I suspect that will have an impact on how people view the new grid - people who usually play with it off will say, "yeah, it looks better", but people who usually play with it on will say, "it's distracting".
The hex grid before was barely noticeable, and yet served its purpose (to make clear where the hex boundaries were). It wasn't particularly pretty, but it got the job done.
Now, I find the hex grid very distracting. I suspect it is because of the new 3-4 pixel wide semi-transparent border. It makes everything look like it is raised up with slanted edges, which really isn't very visually appealing IMHO and doesn't make a lick of sense either.
I would honestly prefer the old grid to the new one. Does anyone else agree with me?
BTW, do people usually play with the hex grid on or off? I suspect that will have an impact on how people view the new grid - people who usually play with it off will say, "yeah, it looks better", but people who usually play with it on will say, "it's distracting".
For I am Turin Turambar - Master of Doom, by doom mastered. On permanent Wesbreak. Will not respond to private messages. Sorry!
And I hate stupid people.
The World of Orbivm
And I hate stupid people.
The World of Orbivm
- Eleazar
- Retired Terrain Art Director
- Posts: 2481
- Joined: July 16th, 2004, 1:47 am
- Location: US Midwest
- Contact:
I agree. It's not necessary to add a huge bevel to distinguish hexes. The point is to make the hexes obvious, not to loudly emphasize the divisions between hexes.turin wrote:The new hex grid is better done artistically, I agree. However, it is also visually much more intrusive.
The hex grid before was barely noticeable, and yet served its purpose (to make clear where the hex boundaries were). It wasn't particularly pretty, but it got the job done.
Now, I find the hex grid very distracting. I suspect it is because of the new 3-4 pixel wide semi-transparent border. It makes everything look like it is raised up with slanted edges, which really isn't very visually appealing IMHO and doesn't make a lick of sense either.
I would honestly prefer the old grid to the new one. Does anyone else agree with me?
BTW, do people usually play with the hex grid on or off? I suspect that will have an impact on how people view the new grid - people who usually play with it off will say, "yeah, it looks better", but people who usually play with it on will say, "it's distracting".
I did a little clean-up of the one i previously did for the trunk. It could be fine-tuned, perhaps the opacity of the white part lowered a little, but this is the basic pattern the grid should follow.
I can't commit to 1.2 since i have already deleted it off my HD and i don't have much time today.
- Attachments
-
- grid.jpg (164.65 KiB) Viewed 8058 times
Feel free to PM me if you start a new terrain oriented thread. It's easy for me to miss them among all the other art threads.
-> What i might be working on
Attempting Lucidity
-> What i might be working on
Attempting Lucidity
I agree with turin that the width of zookeeper's edits were distracting, but I didn't feel they were very distracting, so I was willing to accept it on the basis of artistic improvement. As far as "that doesn't make a lick of sense" I couldn't help but laugh. As long as you're showing the hexes, why not let them stand right on top of it like some kind of a pretty quilt? WINR
Eleazar may be headed in the right direction, but that is way too much white for my tastes. It looks good on snow, at least.
Eleazar may be headed in the right direction, but that is way too much white for my tastes. It looks good on snow, at least.
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/User:Sapient... "Looks like your skills saved us again. Uh, well at least, they saved Soarin's apple pie."
I think Eleazar's version is simply too narrow/thin. I can't really see anything but thin white lines with a parallel black lines here and there (except on for example snow, of course, where I see only black) unless I start looking really closely.
I do agree that the previous one was tad bit too thick and intrusive, but I think this, in turn, is too much in the opposite end of the spectrum.
I do agree that the previous one was tad bit too thick and intrusive, but I think this, in turn, is too much in the opposite end of the spectrum.
I like Eleazar's. They don't look too thin to me, though that may be because I'm on an old, about-to-die CRT...
For I am Turin Turambar - Master of Doom, by doom mastered. On permanent Wesbreak. Will not respond to private messages. Sorry!
And I hate stupid people.
The World of Orbivm
And I hate stupid people.
The World of Orbivm
- Eleazar
- Retired Terrain Art Director
- Posts: 2481
- Joined: July 16th, 2004, 1:47 am
- Location: US Midwest
- Contact:
So?zookeeper wrote:I can't really see anything but thin white lines with a parallel black lines here and there (except on for example snow, of course, where I see only black) unless I start looking really closely.
The point is to delineate a boundary, not to make sure that all aspects of the boundary line are equally visible. The black part shows up against light terrain, and visa versa for the white part. Such is the intention.
A valid criticism would be "i can't see any part of the border against terrain X." The borders should be obvious enough to be noticed against any terrain, but no more obvious.
Feel free to PM me if you start a new terrain oriented thread. It's easy for me to miss them among all the other art threads.
-> What i might be working on
Attempting Lucidity
-> What i might be working on
Attempting Lucidity
It doesn't look as nice. Nothing more to it than that, really. And yes, I think that the better-looking the graphics, the better, and that there's no reason to make an exception for the hex grid (since clarity and good looks aren't mutually exclusive).Eleazar wrote:So?zookeeper wrote:I can't really see anything but thin white lines with a parallel black lines here and there (except on for example snow, of course, where I see only black) unless I start looking really closely.
I think, best would be to have 3 instead of 2 grid settings. The old one was just a visual aid to see the hexes, and that's all I want personally.
On the other hand, zookeeper's version makes the map into real tiles, like you play now on a game board. This gives of course the visual boundaries as well, but also changes much more.
So, I think, there should be "no grid", "grid" and "tiles" as the three choices. I would prefer the "grid" version then, and it could be even less obtrusive than the old one or Eleazar's, probably just the old one but with only 25% opacity instead of 100%.
On the other hand, zookeeper's version makes the map into real tiles, like you play now on a game board. This gives of course the visual boundaries as well, but also changes much more.
So, I think, there should be "no grid", "grid" and "tiles" as the three choices. I would prefer the "grid" version then, and it could be even less obtrusive than the old one or Eleazar's, probably just the old one but with only 25% opacity instead of 100%.