OK Brad...You Win

I Really Thought the 64x64 Icons Would Be Better

from GalCiv2 Forums

So I lost a battle of wits to Brad this week.

During a discussion about the blurriness of icons when playing on Higher Resolutions (which most of us do), Brad pointed out that 128x128 versions should be a nice improvement, hinting at more work from yours truly (not much extra work, but some).

'The problem with that...' said I, 'Is that, when shrunk down on lower-res games, the interpolation of DirectX's texture manager would start removing pixels and the icons would look REALLY bad.'

'An interesting theory...' the feeble old man replied 'But I'd really like to see a comparison to just...make sure.' This last bit was thick in sarcasim, implying that I knew not of which I spoke.

'Bring it, mofo.' I spat back, and the game was afoot.


64x46 above, 128x128 below.

Unfortunatly, not only did the new icons look better in High-Res (1600x900), the DirectX texture code is preforming some brand of voodoo that makes them look crisper even on Low-Res machines (1024x768).

Long story short, all new improvements will be shipped in their 128x128 format, giving a considerable jump in quality across the board.

Again, I really don't mind. I've made them all high-res, so being able to see extra detail is worth any extra re-sizing time.

I just hate to lose

24,471 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Which reminds of a couple of request (maybe i wasn't clear enough, reading myself back - it certainly felt like it!) i've written up in the "game ideas" section (One, for an enhanced version of a color-picker thingy and the second, for a new Hexagons (variable in size and triangulated (assembled on principles based on contiguous areas invariable to some extent) to provide stuff like "mini-projects" locations, etc.) framework on planet instead of a 12x6 squared grid-like situation).

I may have time before the week-end to illustrate my reasoning with images linked to a personal site... if you'd rather wait to reply or comment about these two issues. As it looks like you are in on some graphics design SD developing section, i'm talkin' to the right person - probably.

More on this, later.

- Zyxpsilon

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Very nice!

You said all the *new* ones will be shipping at 128x128 -- any chance the old icons can be re-shot at the higher res? (are those renders still around? )
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

You said all the *new* ones will be shipping at 128x128 -- any chance the old icons can be re-shot at the higher res?

Dunno on the old ones...I'd like to redo alot of them. Re-shooting them shouldn't be an issue (I have the raw 3d files) but I don't know if they were designed for anything other than 64x64.

I'll look into it

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Next thing you know, you'll be asking for high-res planet textures! Guess it's a good thing i have them .
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Let me get this straight.

You are an artist.
Your boss suggested a technique (which you had to implement) that makes your ideas and images look vastly better.
Your boss gave you a venue to make thousands of people go "Ooh!" and "Ah!" over dozens if not hundreds of items of your work.
Said thousands of people are going to write you in a public forum to slather YOU (not him) with praise.
YOU are grumbling that you hate to lose.

You ARE an artist...Right?


drrider
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Any chance of a similar upgrade for the main map icons (ships, bases, fleets)? They can get pretty weird on an Immense map.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
drrider,
Isn't being an artist: being able to find the small pains in life to whince and feel sad about even when surrounded by success?

Looks nice though!
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
drrider,
Isn't being an artist: being able to find the small pains in life to whince and feel sad about even when surrounded by success?


Oh, right. I forgot. Got to fuel that creativity with conceived pain...otherwise you might lose an ear.


drrider
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You could store the icons as SVG files, then when the game loads render them onto whatever size bitmap is best for the current resolution.