Graphics

[Harpalus]

No joy finding palette editing instructions - chuft's are all deleted, and I can't find anything here.  If I'm remembering right that Draz understand the trick, he'll be by sooner than Kilkakon, though I've also left a note for him to come by...

Thanks. No rush. I've made the following faction colour changes for now, without changing the palette. Unchanged factions are on the left, changed factions are on the right. Original colours are on the top. Some of them are very subtle, but I prefer the changes in every case. The differences come out better with animated GIF comparisons, so I'll sprinkle the release thread liberally with them when I'm done. Everything has been tested and works well with the default game. I'm mostly content with this release: if I could change the palette I'd be able to improve things further. The Pirates are the furthest away from their original colours, and the Gaians and Hive have both barely changed and aren't much better. The Spartans have barely changed, but there's now better consistency with the faction's text colours and their flag colours.



I'll wait around to see if the palette can be changed before releasing anything, and then I'll see about re-releasing eventually if improved city graphics happen. I should also do more playtesting.

This will almost certainly conflict (colour-wise) with custom factions. I don't use them and there's no way to address that.

[Buster's Uncle]

You're a prize, Harp.

[DrazharLn]

Unfortunately, I know nothing about changing the palette of SMACX, nor about how SMACX uses the palette file. I'd have tried the same approach as Harpalus' approach of changing the colour palette with GIMP, but I guess that doesn't work.

I'm expecting to receive a much better decompiled version of the source than I've ever had access to Soon(TM), and once that's publicly released it may turn out to be quite easy to get smacx to draw in full colour, I seem to recall that plotinus thought it would be easy.

@Kyriakos,

The best Linux version available is the windows version + patches running in Wine. With PRACX, it seems to work just fine. Without PRACX, the videos didn't play right (audio, no image).

I do have the native Linux version as well, but the important patches don't work with it. I only have it for modding reasons.

[Kyriakos]

Thanks all

Anyway, i made this placeholder "Antciv", to test the colors and some very simple architectural plan, what do you think of it? (juxtaposed to the in-game Gaia walled #1)

[DrazharLn]

I like that the larger base isn't just a scaled up version of the smaller one.

The perimeter defence is a very different style to the SMACX ones, though, which would probably hurt readability. Not sure about the green tops, either: I can't tell what they're supposed to be.

[Kyriakos]

I like that the larger base isn't just a scaled up version of the smaller one.

The perimeter defence is a very different style to the SMACX ones, though, which would probably hurt readability. Not sure about the green tops, either: I can't tell what they're supposed to be.

You can't tell that the green tops are the only actual living environment in the nest? Are you not from Antcity?!?

(just placeholder )

[DrazharLn]

[Harpalus]

Thanks all

Anyway, i made this placeholder "Antciv", to test the colors and some very simple architectural plan, what do you think of it? (juxtaposed to the in-game Gaia walled #1)

Looks great! Making the perimeter defence round (or hexagonal) would help with the readabiltiy that DrazharLn mentioned. I do much prefer the style to the original. Keep up the good work!

The first thing I'll fix are the Gaian's floating walls.

[Buster's Uncle]

The way the game squares lay, that wall would look okay diamond orientation, serviceable straight-front square (I've tried stuff like that a few times, and it looks a little wrong, but not terribly) and very wrong, I think, turned roughly 45 degrees off either like that.

[DrazharLn]

Forgot to post this link I found while looking for palette stuff. Haven't tried it, but Civ3 used the Jackal engine as well, so you'd imagine it would work...

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=500056

OTOH, it's not so far from what Harpalus tried already - though I think it would be sensible to edit the faction pcx files, not palette.

[Kyriakos]

Ok all, can you post some kind of concept art for what you want made? (other than that triangle-filled defensive wall)

Cause it likely will be doable. Any kind of pic would do, eg a pic from a similar object/building in another game would be just fine...

[Buster's Uncle]

That's at Harp, I assume.

Check here http://alphacentauri2.info/My%20Custom%20Factions/Custom%20Factions3.html#Bases for a look at how I laid out a bunch of goody files of bases for anyone to use.  We can never have too many.  They're all bare land bases, assuming the end user can fill in the rest.  I don't know how much you know about SMACX art...

[Kyriakos]

Ok, i will give it a try

Better to start with some stand-alone file, yes, such as those...

[Buster's Uncle]

...Everything I can think of SMACX art modder ought to know -except for a few words about terrain modding, but not much to say to anyone who already can do decent factions- is on page two...

[ComradeCrimson]

Hi! Let me know if i can help with city sets Did a number of those for CivIII...

Oh man, your work is quite beautiful looking.

I am actually sort of stumped on how to make my cities look for one of my custom factions, the Pathos Bastion. In my custom factions page there's more info, but essentially its a city state that requires monolithic structures, somewhat ornate looking- almost like a ziggurat or hanging gardens of bablyon except less focused on greenery and more impressive architecture, as its meant for a singular city state type faction that focuses on talents and peak performance of citizenry at the cost of almost impossible expansion beyond one city.