Splash Screens

[Shannon V. OKeets]

I received a second pass on the splash screens from Rob tonight. Here are 4 of them.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

These are oversized (1280 by 1024) and designed to be cropped to 1024 by 768 without loss of anything visually important. if the player has a monitor that can support the larger image, then that will be shown.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

The program will show these while the program is loading. Now that happens very quickly, so I expect I will also show them when a new game is started or an old game is restored. Both of those actions take much longer. I expect I'll show just one image when the program loads and the other 5 when a game is started/restored.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

4th and last in the series.

There will be 6 all told: 2 ships, 2 of tanks, and 2 airplanes. The missing 2 need some more work.

What do you think?

[warspite1]

Steve - dumba*** question coming up - what are splashscreens for - where do they appear?
 
By the way - They look brilliant (I don`t suppose we can have a Royal Navy ship as the second Naval screen and either a T-34 or Tiger for the other Tank or have the subjects already been decided?)

[Froonp]

I would have liked to see a re-make of the original WiF FE cover, that is the 2 sides of the globe, a BB, a B-17 and a soldier, so see how it could look revamped that way.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Steve - dumba*** question coming up - what are splashscreens for - where do they appear?

By the way - They look brilliant (I don`t suppose we can have a Royal Navy ship as the second Naval screen and either a T-34 or Tiger for the other Tank or have the subjects already been decided?)

Glitz, pure and simple.

When you start the program, they are loaded first and immediately displayed. Then the rest of the program is loaded and the splash screen is replaced (or overlaid) by the first screen that permits the player to make a decision. For MWIF, the first decision screen (Opening form) is to: (1) look at the tutorials, (2) start a new game, or (3) restore a saved game.

Either of the last two choices will take a while to execute since all the map and unit data and graphics are then loaded. I plan on showing splash screens while that is happening.

Now that I have some actual files to test with, I'll work on the code to do that.

[marcuswatney]

A couple of minor points about the splashes. There is a vertical and a horizontal line in the vicinity of Queensland that need to be removed. And for some reason the Kiel Canal appears, making Denmark look like an island.

ORIGINAL: Froonp
I would have liked to see a re-make of the original WiF FE cover, that is the 2 sides of the globe, a BB, a B-17 and a soldier, so see how it could look revamped that way.

I am delighted that the original artwork is not being repeated. I have the 1985 box in front of me now and, even after twenty years, it still looks to me like an erect penis and two testicles. Or am I just sick?

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

ORIGINAL: Froonp
I would have liked to see a re-make of the original WiF FE cover, that is the 2 sides of the globe, a BB, a B-17 and a soldier, so see how it could look revamped that way.

I am delighted that the original artwork is not being repeated. I have the 1985 box in front of me now and, even after twenty years, it still looks to me like an erect penis and two testicles. Or am I just sick?

I did not mean the exact one, I mean one that reminds of the old one. But in modern style.

[Joshuatree]

The screens look awesome. Very well done, I especially like the top one with the battleship.
 
 
@ Marcus
" it still looks to me like an erect penis and two testicles. Or am I just sick?" .....   You want an honest answer?? [:D]

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

A couple of minor points about the splashes. There is a vertical and a horizontal line in the vicinity of Queensland that need to be removed. And for some reason the Kiel Canal appears, making Denmark look like an island.

ORIGINAL: Froonp
I would have liked to see a re-make of the original WiF FE cover, that is the 2 sides of the globe, a BB, a B-17 and a soldier, so see how it could look revamped that way.

I am delighted that the original artwork is not being repeated. I have the 1985 box in front of me now and, even after twenty years, it still looks to me like an erect penis and two testicles. Or am I just sick?

The vertical and horizontal lines are where the image will be cropped to fit 1024 by 768 monitors.

The Kiel canal enlargement is because the map graphic is taken from the game's maps. That is exactly how the Kiel canal appears in the game map.

Matrix Games will make the decision about the box art. And I am quite happy to not be involved in that decision.

For the Splash screens, I did want to get my 2 cents in, since I feel that they are an integral part of the program and therefore associated with the programmer in most player's minds. I didn't want something that I would be unhappy with for years to come.

[Norman42]

They look alright, although the battleship one seems...off. 
 
Maybe its the blue layer on the ship, but it looks like there are too many layers in that area making it all a jumble; the forward gun has a red 'splotch' that just kind of blurs it all out.

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
The Kiel canal enlargement is because the map graphic is taken from the game's maps. That is exactly how the Kiel canal appears in the game map.

The Pacific map too is taken from the game map ?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Froonp

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
The Kiel canal enlargement is because the map graphic is taken from the game's maps. That is exactly how the Kiel canal appears in the game map.

The Pacific map too is taken from the game map ?

I don't know.

[terje439]

I like them, espesially the Me-262, however does not the Adriatic stick out a little too clearly in that image?

[Zorachus99]

I like the tank.  Why not rotate the splashscreens randomly?  They are all nice

[Manack]

I'd probably prefer to see a re-make of the original WiF FE cover also. Other than that I think I'd like to see the 'world' as the background map, not just a segment of it. I'd also like to see images of combatants from all the major powers depicted if it can be done without being too cluttered.

[Neilster]

IMHO they are too busy and garish. I'd like to see more world and less flames [;)]. I agree that the old box-art was clean and the black and white, 1940s-style hemispheres with the arrows etc look great.

Frankly, these are a bit "over the top" and not really in keeping with the sober, serious style of this game.

Cheers, Neilster

[SLAAKMAN]

I cast my vote here; [:D]

And if you could add another one with these on it I would be most elated;

[Astarix]

I don't know, I've been playing WiF since the late 80's. I think the splash screens add something fresh. Maybe they can include a screen that has the box cover?

This probably is more of an issue for those of us who have played several editions of the game than it is for what I believe is the larger audience. Besides, if the game works as well as I think we all are hoping, I'm not sure that we will notice them. [:D]

Jason

Edit for spelling.