Search
Forum Home | Login
CaretFarmer
CaretFarmer
Join Date 10/2004
+1

More Visual Improvements

Functional *and* Fashionable

January 28, 2005 5:13:23 PM from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Happy National Kazoo Day! This week was kind of a mixed bag in terms of what I worked on. After last week's push for the media tour, this week was a time for going back and fixing things that weren't quite right under the hood but that were better left until after the deadline: fixing memory leaks, making things more efficient, etc. Also, it was a time for putting in more features that you can actually see:



First off, you've probably noticed that the overlays which indicate which tiles are usable are a lot brighter now. We wanted to make it crystal clear which tiles were usable. Before brightening (B.B.), the overlays sometimes blended in with the underlying terrain, but no more! A new age of clarity has dawned and there's no turning back!
But, even more interesting is the introduction of those little icons in the lower left corner of some of the planet's sectors. Scott (who we like to call "Scott" here at the office) whipped them up so that we could show which sectors give bonuses when certain types of improvements are placed on those sectors. So, for instance, if you were to build a power plant on the sector with the lightning bolt icon, the power plant would put out a little extra juice when it became operational. If instead you built, say, a farm on that sector, you'd get no bonus. The number and type of bonuses isn't finalized yet, but there will probably be about a half dozen or so. It just keeps getting better.
Locked Post
Search this post
Advanced Search
Subscription Options
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
Solitair
Join Date 01/2002
0
Reply #1 January 29, 2005 7:32:26 AM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Paul
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
Moser_Alchemist
Join Date 12/2003
+14
Reply #2 January 29, 2005 2:53:44 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums
Wow! The planet terrain tiles are starting to look real nice. I'm not sure if color is really needed for the small icons if the shapes are distinctive enough. I'd like to see the other tile highlights for the upgradable tiles first and than see if the colored icons would clash with the other colors in the tiles themselves and the colors of the highlights. Sometimes black and white objects are easier to see when everything else is colored.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
Psyringe
Join Date 01/2003
+1
Reply #3 January 29, 2005 4:42:51 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
es.stardock.com/gc2/smiles/Wink.gif" border=0 ALIGN="absmiddle"> )

Regarding the special symbols: I think some color would help to differentiate between them, e.g. yellow for the lightning, blue fpr the mineral(?) etc.
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
Thor of the Ancients
Join Date 01/2005
0
Reply #4 January 29, 2005 5:48:59 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
ck/magma should have more mineral bonuses. Just a thought.
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
SEB9
Join Date 12/2002
+4
Reply #5 January 29, 2005 7:07:24 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
border as they currently do.
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
Star Ranger
Join Date 12/2002
+6
Reply #6 January 31, 2005 1:46:46 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Looks good - Like the icons and highlighted areas!
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
FuzzyMatrix
Join Date 07/2002
0
Reply #7 January 31, 2005 2:19:35 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
s engaging as these so... way to go!
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
CaretFarmer
Join Date 10/2004
+1
Reply #8 January 31, 2005 6:02:33 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Regarding coloring the icons: I'll pass those suggestions on to Scott; he may have had a reason for making them black and white, but then again maybe he didn't. It's a simple matter to experiment with what looks best now that it's implemented so we'll probably try out different colors to see how they work.

@Shai-Hulud: Centering them in the tile would make them more visible when the tile is empty, but once something is built there it's probably best if it's off to the corner. That way, you can easily see if what you've got built there is compatible with the intrinsic bonus of the tile. Maybe it could be centered when there's nothing there and in the corner otherwise? I'll have to experiment with that....
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
ScottTykoski
Join Date 03/2001
+132 sdemployee
Reply #9 January 31, 2005 6:58:52 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
When it comes to the bonus icons being colored, anything is possible at this stage of the game, but I fear that colored icons won't 'pop' the way the black-and-white ones do. Keep in mind you'll also be looking at the icons when improvements have been built on the tile, so too much color may cause the two to confilct.

Like I said, though, I'm always up for making things better, so we can play around with some colors and see what works
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
CaretFarmer
Join Date 10/2004
+1
Reply #10 February 1, 2005 9:46:50 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
In case you didn't know, BoogieBac = Scott.
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
Grand_Admiral_Thrawn
Join Date 01/2004
0
Reply #11 February 2, 2005 2:41:22 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
h more wide ranging?

Also, perhaps the icon means that one bonus could suffer. Say, a production improvement would have a negative effect on farming, because the soil would not be as good in that sector.
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
CaretFarmer
CaretFarmer
Join Date 10/2004
+1
Reply #12 February 2, 2005 3:32:32 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
For the time being, bonuses will be just that: bonuses. So, if you build a farm on a tile that's better suited for energy production, there's no penalty on the farm's production. The effect of the bonus will be a simple percentage increase in the corresponding production level, so it'll be something like another 10 MW of power, etc.
Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
View all recent posts
Mark all posts as read Delete cookies created by the forum Return to Top
Stardock Forums v        Server Load Time:   Page Render Time:
About us | Contacts | Privacy Statement | Register
©1995-2025 Stardock Entertainment. Galactic Civilizations is a registered trademark of Stardock Entertainment. Steam and the Steam logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Bank Gothic is a trademark of MyFonts and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All rights reserved.