FreeOrion

i know this isn't vital, but it is easier and quicker to make than other things.

Since i got a working copy of 0.3.11, i've been messing around with the gaseous substance sprite sets. I've recently uploaded my favorites. You can manually switch them around by moving a set of "gaseous##.png" files from a subdirectory to the root of the "galaxy_decoration" folder. The change will take effect when you restart FO.

I'm pleased with how these turned out, though i haven't quite got the effect i originally planned with any of them. The colors of classic images of the eagle nebula for instance clash hideously in this format... at least my attempts did.

I've moved "Ultramarine" to the default spot for now to switch things around

enjoy...

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I think they are a bit too dark and prefer the previous ones(blue(aqua) and red). I also think it's important to have some of the textures in a set blured a lot.This will result in "nebulae" where some areas are loosely defined and others are more detailed - this enhances depth and is visually richer.

Based on the quickness of your reply, i expect you are reacting based on memory, and didn't take the time to actually compare in-game. I think if you had you'd realize the old sets weren't as flawless as you remembered.

The gas is background... it shouldn't try to overpower the main, foreground content. It's not just art, but the backdrop against which the player needs to deal with stars, ships, names and empire colors. The aqua one to some degree, but especially the red set tends to fight with, and even wash out the empire colors and/or star colors. The red is not a good backdrop to play the game on.


I agree that a variety in the density of detailed convolutions in the gas is a good thing. You'll notice that my newest texture (ultramarine) has more of that variety than the oldest one (obsidian). Maybe it should go further.

But if you'll examine the old sets, it should be clear that they go too far in the other direction. There is one highly convoluted sprite, and three highly blurred blobs with absolutely no internal detail. They don't mesh well, and there's no intermediate levels of detail.

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I didn't mean to imply that the previous sets are flawless. They are fast modifications of your initial set, just trying to play with different color harmonies. I had a closer look at the new ones in-game and they seem much brighter than in your screenshots for some reason, which I like.


Those are valid points in theory, but I don't think they aply. I never had the feeling that the gas backgrounds fight with any forground elements. Could you provide examples, perhaps?



Because it's not a necessity. The game does the blending and mixing for us. I also don't think it's a bad thing to have some harsher transitions, on the contrary.

Anyway, if the new sets get fixed regarding the uniform density/structure issue, I'm fine with them. But I also think it's a good idea to have some brighter(similar to aqua) ones. Variety doesn't hurt. Let's see how everything looks with the changes Geoff made lately.

edit: Do you have a save game of the galaxy, you've used above? Or what settings have you used?

The galaxy i used for the screenshots is a 300 star, irregular, young galaxy. There's a lot of space between the stars, and so the overall effect is less bright than the center of a large spiral galaxy for instance.


This is what i'm talking about, and am trying to avoid. In dense parts of the galaxy the red is approximately as bright and as saturated as an empire color of medium brightness.

Though in fairness, my new color sets don't work well as i want with the darkest empire colors. Something needs to be adjusted.

Only when the stars are close together. In the red screenshot in my previous post there's little "blending and mixing" happening, just two rather different types of gas graphics jumbled together.

What i'd like to experiment with next is the inclusion of sprites that combine very convoluted areas and large "smooth" areas.


Certainly tweaking the minimum star distance and the way gas sprites are sized will change what works and what doesn't.

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How do you start wiht all stars displayed like that?

This has been like that since the beginning.

Maybe next time I'd notice it defautls to 10 starts before asking.