Sneak Peeks, Coming Attractions, Works-In-Progress

[dox44]

thanks for the offer!

i'm giving them a go in "endgame at Jenin 6June67...its going to take some time to adjust to
salmon frosted crosshairs in a wargame.

[76mm]

i'm giving them a go in "endgame at Jenin 6June67...its going to take some time to adjust to
salmon frosted crosshairs in a wargame.

Yeah, I might give neon green a whirl if I don't like the pink ones...

[berto]

We're officially opting for the dark gray (and frosted) ones. [;)]

[Crossroads]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

i'm giving them a go in "endgame at Jenin 6June67...its going to take some time to adjust to
salmon frosted crosshairs in a wargame.

Yeah, I might give neon green a whirl if I don't like the pink ones...

Very difficult to pin down them as you have found out. Please post any variations you come up with [:)]

ORIGINAL: berto


We're officially opting for the dark gray (and frosted) ones. [;)]

Grey and frosted on one side, that's the plan for now at least.

[Crossroads]

One more thing to do before work resuming with CS: Vietnam come January is to put the finishing touches in place for the 1.02 UPDATE, due in late January / early February.

This would include the final climatization of the 2D terrain.

See here:

1.00 / 1.01 2D Terrain

Desert panorama:



Mediterranean panorama:





1.02 Work-in-Progress 2D Terrain

Desert panorama:



Mediterranean panorama:

[comte]

I know you guys are busy but is there any chance you are going to add mouse wheel support for zoom? Or is it something that can't be done with this engine. The Tiller games have it. It would be real handy to zoom in and out with the mouse instead of using the menu's. I asked before but just wanted to see if it's possible.

[berto]

No, no mouse wheel zoom in the near term.

"instead of using the menus" -- Why are you not in the habit of using the hot keys 1 through 7 to switch zoom modes?

[comte]

ORIGINAL: berto


No, no mouse wheel zoom in the near term.

"instead of using the menus" -- Why are you not in the habit of using the hot keys 1 through 7 to switch zoom modes?

I am already used to clicking on the menu's and stuff. Just used to playing HPS's Tiller games and they have the mouse wheel Zoom. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

[berto]

When deciding how to prioritize my limited time near term, I decided against doing stuff for which there is a handy alternative. "Handy", as in left hand. So much use of the right mouse hand in JT games! Why not put the otherwise idle left hand to good use?

Hot keys!

[Plodder]

ORIGINAL: berto
Why not put the otherwise idle left hand to good use?

Because it's usually holding the brew!

[Jason Petho]

ORIGINAL: The Plodder

ORIGINAL: berto
Why not put the otherwise idle left hand to good use?

Because it's usually holding the brew!

Hahaha! +1!

[Crossroads]

ORIGINAL: Jason Petho

ORIGINAL: The Plodder

ORIGINAL: berto
Why not put the otherwise idle left hand to good use?

Because it's usually holding the brew!

Hahaha! +1!

Jason, I believe this calls for the expansion of our Campaign Series Accessories Range.

From Wreck Marker T-shirts, to Beer Helmets! Need to be available in proper camo patterns, of course.



Problem solved! [:D]

[TheWombat_matrixforum]

Not to pick nits, but mouse wheel zoom is so much a part of the basic game vocabulary now, across all types and genres of games, that it's sort of not ok not to support it. Using number keys is soooo 20th century . Seriously, though, pretty much every game of any time these days that has any sort of zoom function--whether map or weapon or camera--uses the mouse wheel. Most gamers will expect that as a default. I'd argue it's not ephemeral, and that the number keys are not a handy alternative. They're a kludge.

[Crossroads]

Cheers Wombat,

Mouse wheel zoom is a wish list item for us too. There's a larger and more profound user interface revamp in the drawing board atm. We are finalising the first draft of VN project plan, and once all that is sorted we'll know more as what gets implemented when. In the meanwhile we thank you all for your patience.

[76mm]

Crossroads, thanks for your feedback, but I'd like to agree with Wombat on this one; also, this seems to be one of the most requested features, so please keep it as high as possible on your list.

[Crossroads]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

Crossroads, thanks for your feedback, but I'd like to agree with Wombat on this one; also, this seems to be one of the most requested features, so please keep it as high as possible on your list.

Duly noted.

To be honest the purpose of this pre-Xmas beta was not to add new coding as such, rather just new graphics, scenarios and some bug fixes.

But given how the old cursors were something that forced a few users to consider hacking the game executable in order to have a game they can play, it was obvious that could wait no longer.

[Crossroads]

From the 1.02 UPDATE Open Beta thread and regarding the elevation changes on 2D map and the subtle color scale that goes with the each elevation:

ORIGINAL: berto


It was decided to up the number of elevations from 20 to 50. We live with the consequences.

Yes, the 'c' (Contour) and '.' (Elevations) hot keys are, in part, the answer.

Decision was indeed made, for there is a need for that. We've been talking about this on our internal dev forum as well. See here:

ORIGINAL: K K Rossokolski

I have no comment, but here is a part of a map of mine (WIP) featuring the solitary Nui Ba Den in Tay Ninh province, a hot area throughout the war. Delta is 20, peak is just short of 1000 m high, rising from land barely above sea level. Feel free to play with it

And play I did, placing the CS:ME 1.02 Mediterranean tiles on an early CS: Vietnam build:

ORIGINAL: Crossroads

Thanks Rod, most helpful! Doesn't look that bad now does it! This is with 1.02 Open Beta terrain, so the clear terrain tiles with 35% desaturation and terrain, vegetation effects with 20% desaturation.

And with elevations visible:

ORIGINAL: Crossroads

Here's the above with Elevations toggled ON. 2D Normal View in real size, saved as PNG files, from my dropbox. Gorgeous!

I got this sudden urge to tell my men to fix their bayonets and charge up that hill...

[Crossroads]

Work in progress of course. I will next do a version of terrain elevations with desaturation growing higher the elevation. The most dark, highest elevation can be more washed down, while lower terrain could be a tad crisper than what with 1.02 Beta.

That's the theory anyway [:)]

[Nicholas Bell]

ORIGINAL: Crossroads

Work in progress of course. I will next do a version of terrain elevations with desaturation growing higher the elevation. The most dark, highest elevation can be more washed down, while lower terrain could be a tad crisper than what with 1.02 Beta.

That's the theory anyway [:)]

I like your approach, Crossroads. Really tough to depict all those elevations using the same desert palette, but proving it is possible without getting garish.

[Crossroads]

ORIGINAL: Nicholas Bell

ORIGINAL: Crossroads

Work in progress of course. I will next do a version of terrain elevations with desaturation growing higher the elevation. The most dark, highest elevation can be more washed down, while lower terrain could be a tad crisper than what with 1.02 Beta.

That's the theory anyway [:)]

I like your approach, Crossroads. Really tough to depict all those elevations using the same desert palette, but proving it is possible without getting garish.

Thank you Nicholas

The next 1.02 UPDATE Open Beta will try out the following set-up:

[*] Elevation levels 00-09: 20% desaturation, lightness (all vegatation, terrain, sides tiles etc are with 20% as well)
[*] Elevation levels 10-19: 25% desaturation, lightness
[*] Elevation levels 20-29: 30% desaturation, lightness
[*] Elevation levels 30-39: 35% desaturation, lightness (as all the 1.02 beta clear terrain tiles are at the moment)
[*] Elevation levels 40-49: 40% desaturation, 35% lightness

It is quite a manual process to process each section of each file in this manner, but hey once the proper balance is found it needs to be done only once. I've just now managed to modify all 2D Zoom-In View level files in this manner, and should have the sets completed over the coming long weekend.

It's the maps such as the VN map I showed that makes all this worth the effort. Playing those maps with high elevation deltas looks like a lot of fun!