Re: New Tileset and some questions

[Jens Granseuer <jensgr@xxxxxxx>]

Matthias Grimm wrote:

> Due to the great demand of help in the art area I started a new tileset.
> The first tiles are attached for first review and comments. I removed
> most of the other tiles to keep the tileset size small.


Note to Windows users: The file was created using a version that
supports compressed data files. The official Windows build does not.
If you want to try the set nevertheless, simply rename it to
grimm.tiles.gz and unzip it using gunzip, WinZip, or whatever.

On to the tiles: I must admit I have some problems identifying the
new ground tiles. Maybe that's just because I've never seen a map
use them the way they are supposed to be but I'm very much unsure
what they represent. Could be me, though.

On another note, if you would like to help in the graphics
department I think it would be even better if you would help
finishing the default set instead of starting another. Some of
the things that need to be done are listed in the wiki. I'd say
a complete set is worth more than several incomplete ones.


> 1. Is there a documentation of the *.tsrc file out there?


No. The .tsrc format is still very fresh and undocumented...


> 2. I saw there is one section for each tile but the class is defined
>    globally. The calls seems to me a property of the tile. Why don't you
>    define class inside the tile section?


I haven't yet come up with a way to actually do, but I'd like to
get rid of the global class definitions altogether. The only thing
they are used for right now is the unit info dialog. The 'classes'
(the first 7 or so anyway) are the tiles which are used to show
where the unit can move so they are not really tile properties.


> 3. It seems that some tiles need a well defined position in the tile
>    map. Which rules do I have to observe?


There is one rule you have to follow for the tsrc: Shop entrances need
to be defined in the order [player 1, player 2, neutral]. Concerning
the images the meta tiles (cursors, shadows and the like) have fixed
positions. Everything else is configurable.


> 4. Which tiles are necessary (functional) and which are optional (only
>    to beautify maps)? May I choose this on my own?


There are no required tiles except for the meta tiles.


> 5. Are we limited to 256 colors or may tilesets have more? How about
>    alphablending? Currently you use only transparency but libSDL_image
>    also supports PNG which have full alpha channel support.


We don't use SDL_image. Therefore we can only read BMP images which
don't support alpha AFAIK. And yes, we currently only support up to
256 colors, but that's a restriction in the image loading/saving code,
not in the engine and thus not too difficult to change.


> 6. How about tile size? Currently all tiles have the size 32x28. I draw
>    all tiles with size 64x56 amd scale them down. Would it be possible
>    to support larger tiles and scale them inside the program if
>    necessary. This would allow map scaling in future. On high
>    resolutions the tiles are quite small.


The tile sizes are hardcoded at the moment. I don't see why this
couldn't be adapted to support different sizes, though.


> 7. Would it be possible to create the hexagon form (with a mask
>    operation) inside the program and use square tiles as source? This
>    will make tileset generation more easy and avoid gaps between tiles
>    due to scaling. Currently a tileset designer has to perform this mask
>    operation on each tile (and for each size).


Theoretically possible, but if we choose to do it this way it should
be done in mk{tile,unit}set so that it's only done once and doesn't
unnecessarily slow down the rendering.


> And last but not least an feature request :-)

> Please add an additional layer for buildings, streets, rails, cannals
> and other things built by humans. Divide the ground from the buildings.


I agree this would be nice to have. Patches welcome ;-)

>  That's it for now ;-)

Oh? I was just getting warmed up ;-)

Jens