New Panzer Campaign Graphics

[Strela]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the comments to date.

In response to a few that I have seen, the Gold Graphics will be included with any new patches/released titles. You will be able to swap items like the the 'thicker' NATO symbols as these will be included with the Gold graphics updated for the hi-resolution graphics. So both the thin and 'legacy' thick NATO symbols will be there as required. Same for all the Gold graphics. You can just swap out all the new for the versions that will be included under a directory in Map.

As far as the 'duller' terrain. There are three reasons for this;

The first and probably the biggest is the reduction in flash bulb. This lightens about 30% of a hex and obviously has a bigger impact on a darker background. Reducing this effect makes the hexes more uniform but also duller. I can post some side to side images to better demonstrate this if required.

The second is that the Holland maps use the lowest two height levels of the fourteen available. These are by far the darkest in the palette. Usually you only see these levels in watercourses with most maps being in the 'mid' height levels - such as the Vienna shot shown previously. These dark colours are a big factor in the overall 'drabness'. What I may do is do a special palette for Scheldt '44 lightening the levels that are used to make the game clearer. I did something similar with the Middle East titles. More on this to follow.

The last is, as mentioned in my commentary is that these shots were in mud, which is an overlay and drab in itself. If I lighten up the underlying colour that will help here as well.

The aim is to be like Topographic maps. We use a common topographic map colour ramp for the hexes.

Here is the basic ramp;



And here it is in hexes with various effects applied;


Note how dark the first two rows are. This is what is being shown (with a mud overlay) in the images. I may experiment in moving down a few rows into the lighter greens for Holland.

Here is an example of what I mean by dark colours around watercourses and why I will adjust Holland. This screen shot is at the highest zoom-out level. You can see how dark the hexes are around the river and how it follows the streams. The yellow you are seeing is at height level 8 vs the river being at height level 1.



As far as mines/obstacles, I'm going to keep playing with these, but I expect they will be closer to what you're seeing now than what I showed originally. As far as fortifications, I believe we're done with this latest format.

One last thing with roads etc. I have attempted to emulate some of the better GMT maps that operate at a similar 'operational' scale. Below is an example. That said, I need to differentiate the primary/secondary better, because there is a similarity when the ground state is soft or mud. Still WIP but I may lighten the secondary roads further.





As you can also see this is a juggle to simplify information, make it legible, work under various ground states and altitudes as well as pleasing to the eye. Ultimately we won't please everyone, but with the Gold graphics included there should be some choice to swap out dislikes as required.

David