Outpost Universe Forums

Projects & Development => OutpostHD => Projects => Graphics Update => Topic started by: White Claw on August 20, 2017, 10:06:41 PM

Title: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 20, 2017, 10:06:41 PM
First draft of the above ground Martian-esque terrain tiles.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 20, 2017, 10:26:34 PM
And after uploading, I already made some changes for things I didn't like.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 20, 2017, 11:37:05 PM
And the Underground Tiles.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 21, 2017, 11:27:40 AM
Attempt 1 to add a bit of color.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: Hooman on August 21, 2017, 02:09:25 PM
Hey, cool. And I see your mountain slightly exceeds the bounds of the base tile image. That could make for some more interesting variation.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on August 21, 2017, 06:51:33 PM
That it does! Though I'd like to see it exceed the boundaries a little more.

(https://snag.gy/o96s4b.jpg)
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: havkyp on August 22, 2017, 09:50:34 AM
If I may provide a small bit of feedback:

One frustration I had with the original game is that it wasn't visually intuitive to me which tiles were rougher. White Claw's versions of surface and underground tiles are so much better!! That said, is there a way to increase the change in visual roughness between the tiles so that it is even more obvious which ones are rougher?
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on August 22, 2017, 02:23:19 PM
Yup. I want to have more exagerated heights in them. E.g., impassable can stick out more, difficult can just barely pass the tile boundaries, etc.

Going to be an iterative process here but already it's better. It's still a bit dark and muddy for my taste but I leave that up to others to decide for sure -- these worked well when recolored for the other two planet types.



EDIT:

Did a little touching up (adjusting contrast/brightness and increased the yellow components a bit) and it feels a lot better in-game now:

(https://snag.gy/4iX5U3.jpg)

(https://snag.gy/5ztauO.jpg)

Still something a bit off, maybe I'm just not used to it yet. :) It's still a vast improvement from the original tiles!

Also side note -- right-clicking on a tile will bring up the Tile Inspector -- it will tell you the terrain type, location, etc. This is on empty tiles, of course. :)
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 22, 2017, 08:53:36 PM
I can certainly lighten up the textures some (or make them any color I want). Also, I was initially hesitant to make the tiles "too tall," but I can certainly go wild if you guys think the tiles could use more relief.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on August 22, 2017, 08:55:05 PM
Go wild. I like wild.

Though I will say try to keep it within 64 pixels tall. I can adjust the values in the code if it really looks better taller than 64 pixels though so by all means, go wild and let's see how it turns out.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: Hooman on August 23, 2017, 12:07:08 AM
Make something really awesome that's 65 pixels tall!  ;)
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 23, 2017, 12:33:36 AM
Okay, here is another attempt. I'm working on a unified texture so that, regardless of scale and shape, the terrain will (ideally) all look like it goes together.

Here are two tiles: One is supposed to be "clear" (though it could also be bulldozed, I suppose), and the other is "impassable." (I think the impassable is 62 or 63 pixels high.)

Edit: And after posting into the forum, they still look a bit brown...so I added two more with lighter shades.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 24, 2017, 11:26:56 PM
Another round of terrain tiles. :)
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on August 25, 2017, 10:28:43 PM
Have done a bit of experimentation with the tiles you've provided. I have three of the newest tiles in the current tile set and two of the older ones. I think it looks pretty good!

(https://snag.gy/epKZg0.jpg)
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on August 26, 2017, 11:07:00 PM
Are you happy with that color scheme? Or would you like more gradation in the colors between bulldozed brown and impassable yellow?

I was going to make the most recent set with a more brown bulldozed and clear, but was straying away from that based on the previous input.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: havkyp on August 31, 2017, 09:37:19 AM
Are you happy with that color scheme? Or would you like more gradation in the colors between bulldozed brown and impassable yellow?

I was going to make the most recent set with a more brown bulldozed and clear, but was straying away from that based on the previous input.
Looking good! But I think the colour change between the tile types are too big now, it looks kind of unnatural to have such drastic breaks in colour between roughness types... Is there a way to them to match up better without sacrificing the ease with which you can tell roughness levels apart?
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on September 01, 2017, 04:28:12 PM
Another attempt to modify the color scheme...
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: havkyp on September 01, 2017, 04:41:29 PM
Another attempt to modify the color scheme...
Wow... IMHO this is the best version of the terrain files by far!!! Amazing work!
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on September 01, 2017, 07:09:02 PM
I think this is the best tweak so far. In the previous screenshot it was mentioned that there was a large color variation -- I don't see it but that's also because I'm partially color blind. It's enough to make color matching impossible for me. -_- Another reason I don't do the designer thing and just stick with engineering. :D

I'll get these added into the game shortly and provide a new screenshot.

EDIT:
(https://snag.gy/l73WP6.jpg)

And here it is! For me it still feels a little dull but I'm going to wait on the opinions of others who don't have the same sight limitations that I do.

I like the terrain detail for sure though and the height differences make a much better looking environment. Definitely feels like a real planetary surface.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: singthemuse on September 02, 2017, 10:57:26 AM
Well, if we want to go off the idea that supposedly females are better at discriminating colors, I could throw in my credentials of being a female to say that the different terrain tiles blend beautifully together and, as a whole, look just like sandstone in blaring sun. I suppose the color scheme as a whole could be considered a little dull to some (the khaki of the dunes/mountains isn't my favorite personally) , but it will defiantly make the buildings stand out. It would also depend on the planet type wouldn't it? My only suggestion might be to shift everything very slightly in a more bluish/purple (stony mountains) or reddish/orange (iron rust) direction, rather than the current yellow/green. But that is ~totally~ my personal opinion. Yellow is my least favorite color, though I don't hate it. Again though, it looks just like arid soil or sand so I guess it really depends on what you are looking for. For an arid environment it looks great!
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on September 03, 2017, 12:40:49 PM
Very much appreciate the feedback!

I agree that it could be shifted toward the yellow/ocher palette a bit to give a more 'Marsy' feel to it. The good thing, at least, is that these can be easily recolored in one shot in Photoshop -- I did that with a more purplish/blue hue for the 'Mercury' planet type and pretty much grey for the 'Ganymede' planet type though those were the older tile styles.

Also welcome to the forums! :D
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: havkyp on September 04, 2017, 06:18:13 AM
Well, if we want to go off the idea that supposedly females are better at discriminating colors, I could throw in my credentials of being a female to say that the different terrain tiles blend beautifully together and, as a whole, look just like sandstone in blaring sun. I suppose the color scheme as a whole could be considered a little dull to some (the khaki of the dunes/mountains isn't my favorite personally) , but it will defiantly make the buildings stand out. It would also depend on the planet type wouldn't it? My only suggestion might be to shift everything very slightly in a more bluish/purple (stony mountains) or reddish/orange (iron rust) direction, rather than the current yellow/green. But that is ~totally~ my personal opinion. Yellow is my least favorite color, though I don't hate it. Again though, it looks just like arid soil or sand so I guess it really depends on what you are looking for. For an arid environment it looks great!

Great points!

Technical question: In order to save time, is it possible to simply shift the colours of the tiles to make them more Mars-like (or other-planet-like for other planet types in the game) without actually drawing new tiles from scratch? In fact, can there be just one master set of terrain tiles, and have *the game* dynamically shift their colours based on planet type?
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on September 04, 2017, 02:28:53 PM
Technical question: In order to save time, is it possible to simply shift the colours of the tiles to make them more Mars-like (or other-planet-like for other planet types in the game) without actually drawing new tiles from scratch? In fact, can there be just one master set of terrain tiles, and have *the game* dynamically shift their colours based on planet type?

Yes and yes.

They can be recolored on the fly within the engine. While this works, it won't allow for special tweaking. That's something that can only be done within a graphics editor.

In a graphics editor like Photoshop, it's very easy to adjust colors. Either desaturate to greyscale and then apply a color overlay (easy) or shift the color palette using a hue or color shift. I can do it very easily... but as is evident I'm hardly in a position to do it well (have trouble with greens and reds, they look the same as yellows, browns and greys).
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: Hooman on September 06, 2017, 01:18:31 AM
Quote
Well, if we want to go off the idea that supposedly females are better at discriminating colors, I could throw in my credentials of being a female to say that the different terrain tiles blend beautifully together and, as a whole, look just like sandstone in blaring sun. I suppose the color scheme as a whole could be considered a little dull to some (the khaki of the dunes/mountains isn't my favorite personally) , but it will defiantly make the buildings stand out. It would also depend on the planet type wouldn't it? My only suggestion might be to shift everything very slightly in a more bluish/purple (stony mountains) or reddish/orange (iron rust) direction, rather than the current yellow/green. But that is ~totally~ my personal opinion. Yellow is my least favorite color, though I don't hate it. Again though, it looks just like arid soil or sand so I guess it really depends on what you are looking for. For an arid environment it looks great!

Well that is some awesome feedback! Heh, "like sandstone in blaring sun". I love the artistry of that statement. The new tiles do blend well together. And very good actionable feedback about shifting the colors towards bluish/purple for stony mountains, or reddish/range for iron/rust.

Welcome to the forums!
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: JetMech1999 on October 14, 2017, 04:32:35 PM
Definite improvement on the original terrain tiles.  I especially like the coloration on the impassable terrain tiles.
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: singthemuse on October 20, 2017, 10:10:38 AM
Thank you for the warm welcome! I LOVED Outpost when I was a kid so its awesome seeing it being reworked like this!  :)
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: White Claw on October 22, 2017, 01:02:51 PM
Thanks for the additional feedback about the terrain tiles. There's a lot of subjectivity that can go into this, and I think part of the problem is that there's not really a set "theme" for the geology of the hypothetical planet. (Is it full of iron, silica, sandy-windblown, or frozen methane, etc...)

For the blue/purple shift, I believe there's a whole 'nother planet tile set planned for such a view. Something in the white/gray/bluish tile set (but I defer to Leeor). I can tint things more orange/rust and see how that comes out.

Also, from what I've experienced while trying to diversify color a bit, the scale of these are such that adding too many colors starts to make the whole thing look like noise and it gets hard to distinguish terrain shape (basically it starts to camouflage).
Title: Re: Terrain Tiles
Post by: leeor_net on October 22, 2017, 05:13:02 PM
Since the 'mars like' planet is the one I'm doing almost all of my testing on and the one that most users are going to be using, I'd focus on something that has that look (like the original tileset). Later we can customize for Lunar (moon like), Ganymede, Murcury, Venus (lots of volcanic activity), etc. I wanted to basically start with three basic types: Mercury, Mars and Ganymede. These offer the range of hard, easy and medium, respectively in terms of difficulty levels of the individual planets. Later on we can develop other tilesets or customize them. Once the mars is done for the time being I can just recolor them to indicate differences.