Kursk patch & Panzer Battles 2. WARNING Image Heavy

[Volcano Man]

Looking very nice. Keep up the good work Strela! I like the new look of the top down icons. :)

In general (not a criticism to anything shown here) I have always thought that most wargames tend to make the terrain/map too saturated in color. A good example of this is the Nappy/ACW games where the map burns the retinas out of my eyes every time I look upon it. I offered a set of 66% saturated graphics to use in future updates and I hope they eventually show up in those titles. Lowering the saturation was like magic too in those games as it suddenly made the unit counters more noticeable, taking emphasis off the terrain and making it easier to look at. In regards to map graphics that are filling 99% of the screen, less saturation is usually more.

I am not saying that this is an issue here, I am just talking out of my rear end (which may or may not be helpful). :)

Good to actually see experimentation going on! Now if onlythe Luddites would realize that progress and experimentation is a GOOD thing. Good luck with that one. ;)

[-72-]

Of course in a perfect world we'd get to use png's instead of bmp's -so you could have a truer transparency as well ... although I am not going to be the one to suggest it. I would love to be able to use actual shadows instead of the alternating black pixel routine.

Since there is no actual transparency on a bmp -I am guessing that is basically more or less adjusting the white balance? Interesting- I ought to try that and see what happens. All that you would need to do is create a layer of the background, adjust the file to whatever percentage -then slap the background layer over on top of it -- touch up any areas as needed.

I think I might just do a trial of adjusting the transparency and not mess with the layers unless I actually have to do it.

My personal feeling is that the use of elevation hexside graphics obviates the need for elevation definition by color -but that is another story all together I guess.

Edited ... I tried it... granted on my own combination (with just the hexes) not sure -but I think it does solve the alt files for the CWB series.

[Strela]

Another mini update for you all.

The patch is essentially ready but we are just testing a few late changes (and letting the people in the tournament enjoy the new scenario versions).

Essentially there are 11 changes to the game system, 20 scenarios changed/updated, one new scenario (#0708_07 Gresnoye) created by Jeff Conner (Squad Battles designer) and lots of graphical changes including new top down graphics.

I continue to tinker with new terrain graphics.

The below series are pretty close to final. You will see in image two, three and four that the villages are more 'Russian', that grass is more obvious, there are new bunker graphics, primary roads are darker and marsh has been desaturated. All of these terrain changes will be optional.

Happy for any commentary.

David


Original terrain;






New terrain;






With hex grid overlay - starting to look a little like Squad Leader...!;






And finally for Ed, a desaturated view;

[Volcano Man]

And finally for Ed, a desaturated view;

Maybe a bit too desaturated, but I wasn't implying that you needed to desaturated your maps, I was addressing the criticism that some said about the new terrain features being too bright (or so I thought someone said).

Personally I like the second and third images. :)

That said, if you wanted to include an optional less saturated version of the map then that would be good, but maybe it should be something in between what it is and what it was. For example, if that was 66% saturation, then maybe 80% saturation would be good, because the saturation level in that image causes the ground to no longer appear green.

Don't you just love the peanut gallery???

[Strela]

And finally for Ed, a desaturated view;

Maybe a bit too desaturated, but I wasn't implying that you needed to desaturated your maps, I was addressing the criticism that some said about the new terrain features being too bright (or so I thought someone said).

Personally I like the second and third images. :)

That said, if you wanted to include an optional less saturated version of the map then that would be good, but maybe it should be something in between what it is and what it was. For example, if that was 66% saturation, then maybe 80% saturation would be good, because the saturation level in that image causes the ground to no longer appear green.

Don't you just love the peanut gallery???

I love the peanut gallery!!! They keep me 'awake'!!!

The second & third are my choices also. The desaturated was -20 so was at 80%

This Eastern Front terrain is just slightly less saturated than the Western Front (think 5% difference) and has more region specific buildings and other infrastructure.

As I mentioned this is getting close to final to a look that I like...

David

[ComradeP]

I'll try to get used to the new height level graphics, as I guess I can't pick whether I want the other terrain graphics, but not the height level graphics. In my opinion, using more of a similar colour of green is a downgrade compared to the current system, where more truly different shades of green (some nearly brown) are used.

The first and second old/new terrain screenshots offer a good example: in the old/current version, the central hill stands out much more than in the new version, where it blends in more with the background and other terrain colours.

[Strela]

I'll try to get used to the new height level graphics, as I guess I can't pick whether I want the other terrain graphics, but not the height level graphics. In my opinion, using more of a similar colour of green is a downgrade compared to the current system, where more truly different shades of green (some nearly brown) are used.

The first and second old/new terrain screenshots offer a good example: in the old/current version, the central hill stands out much more than in the new version, where it blends in more with the background and other terrain colours.

Brown was there, just one level different. Moving everything down one level gives this look.




Please note there are three different graphics files; The terrain levels, the terrain overlay (towns, trees etc) and the entrenchments. If you like the old terrain levels but want the new towns you can mix and match. There is some flexibility here...

David

[Xaver]

Great work!!!

Maybe in art i think add something to show the minefield strenght is a must have but... the diferent colours for terrain... use all options and like with counter art give an option to activate in game what kind of terrain art you want, darker or not.

When we are going to know a list with the improvements for game in first patch???

Well, good luck with the hard job.

[Strela]

Hi All,

We're planning to release the Kursk patch imminently. We have asked for one or two late changes and once we know if they are in we will release the patch to you all. We have updates for 20 odd scenarios, fixes and enhancements for the game engine as well as revised graphics (terrain & top down).

We believe we have the final version of the terrain graphics;

Normal Ground Conditions;





Soft Ground Conditions;





Mud Ground Conditions;






Snow Ground Conditions (Still WIP);





I'd like to ask all if they believe the above terrain should load by default in the patch (the original graphics will be included) or if the new terrain graphics should be optional and require the player to copy the appropriate files over?


In other positive news, the play testers are really putting Panzer Battles 2 through the wringer and some great suggestions and adjustments are being made overall. We are close to having all the scenarios done and will be tweaking from this point on. The new designers have done a great job and I'm really impressed with the range of different situations that are going to be included in the new game.

David

[ComradeP]

I'd be fine with the new graphics being the default, perhaps with a small "how to" text or .pdf file explaining where the files are that you need to switch to get the old things back and which file does what.