company colours

[Alltaken]

ok guys basicly for the New GFX engine we need to determine a new way of creating company colours (different from the current method)

since we are starting with a clean slate we can get it right.

its potentially easy enough to have a system that the user chooses the Hue (possibly also the brightness/darkness, and saturation, but maybe not)

the other alternative is to have a set of predefined colours which are specifically choosen to look good and be far enough from any other company colour on the list for users to distinguish between them.

a predefined set of colours could be up to about 64 colours before it would get to cluttered and hard to do. (BTW i have just done colour theory so would be able to choose some fairly nice colours, and would also choose colours to correspond with major transport companys people want me to add)

the problem with letting a user choose their own colour scheme from all the options is users could choose very close colours to each other (unless the computer were smart enough to work out how close the colours look to one another and not let them be within a certain range.

choosing one method would not necisarily stop more being implimented later, but it would give me a better direction to think of sollutions towards.


another question i want to ask (you will need to answer in your replys)

is how many company colours do we want to allow per company?
i.e. you can choose a combination of 2 colours from a list fo 32 colours total.

i am thinking we either offer 1 company colour with many options of colours, or we offer 2 company colours (like fedex's orange and purple combo) but offer a slightly more limited pallet to choose from. maybe 32 hand selected colours, with 2 colours showing up on the vehicles.
black and green
yellow and orange
purple and pink..... you could have many many different company colour choices.

Alltaken

[peter1138]

Some of the colours currency are a bit close to each other. If it was a hue selection then it could easily be limited to not being near the existing companies' hues.

I like the idea of having two colours though

[Arsenal]

I was undecided between 16 & 32 - Eventually plumped for 16.

It would help a lot better if we knew what the colours were.
There are two main requirements, as far as I can see.
1) Colours must be distinctive from other companies.
2) Colours must not clash (too much) with game graphics. (Does anyone use green in temperate?)

[init]

the other alternative is to have a set of predefined colours which are specifically choosen to look good and be far enough from any other company colour on the list for users to distinguish between them.

This is probably mostly an issue in multiplayer. I think that the user should be able to select any colour in single player, especially without AI players. Restricting colours is probably necessary in multiplayer games though.

[Asterix]

Voting for 32 colours with few ideas:

->
Make two of those selectable (if my maths-skills dont tell me wrong this would be 32 x 32 = 1024 possible combinations, 528 if i dont count doubles... should be more than enough even for multiplayer )
use them for computer opponents, too

->
If you think 32 is too much reduce it to 16 ( 16 x 16 = 256 combinations for the players should still be sufficient (132 without doubles)) and use the remaining 16 colours for computer opponents
those 16 computer-colours probably wouldnt have to be too far from each other (who plays with AI on anyway )

[MeusH]

It's a difficult topic to discuss, since most of us wants different methods.

I think HUE+LIGHT (white\light color\dark color\black) would be good, but after player picks his hue+color, all nearby hues gets blocked. Check image I've made.
Also, secondary color (as not being main) should be choosen free by player


Take a look at image I've made, I think this option would be awesome

[LKRaider]

I also like Meushes () idea. Was thinking of that too.

I just wonder how many primary colours would that allow to be used simultaneously.


On the other hand, I reckon there are people that don't like the colour wheel method, and a good 32 colours list with beautiful combos would be nice too, and fits well with the game (because it is something like this already).


Maybe add the two options? I mean, you first are presented with the list, and a "custom" button wich opens the colour wheel thingie then ?

[Villem]

2-4 company colours per company owned object(i.e 2 company colour stripes on a train for example, other is primary, other secondary, then the other 2 are optional), and 32 colours to choose from should suffice.

[Purno]

I would vote for the same system Locomotion has. IIRC it uses a combinations of 2 colors used of 32 (or something) predefined colors.

[Alltaken]

oh i never realised that purno, i guess locomotion had it well thought out

Alltaken

[StavrosG]

I voted for 32 colours,
And I like the idea of myltiple colours per company a lot.

[Dextro]

I would vote for the same system Locomotion has. IIRC it uses a combinations of 2 colors used of 32 (or something) predefined colors.

That would be a very good idea

[Hackykid]

I voted for 32 pre-defined colors, but 64 may be better....
Remember, some day the 8 player limit will be gone, and you still want to have some choice of colors even in games with lots of players....

[Purno]

If you've more than 8 players, it would be better to have a combination of 2 out of a 32 color-choice, then a 'combination' of 1 out of a 64 color-choice. You can see the difference between all 64 colors, I think.

[Alltaken]

ok, next question.

how many players do you think we will likely have above 8?

also i am thinking that the two colour approach will work well for teams in Multiplayer.

a team has a colour, and each player has a "sub colour"

i.e. team Green

player
Green-blue
Green-red
Green-gold
Green-black

green-green would be disallowed.

also subsiaries could have their colours changed to Main/minor of the compnay you currently control (for single player)

how would people feel about that?



the system i will design (on the graphics side of things) will be able to take all hues, and all saturations into account (possibly brightness could be decreased but not increased (white would be light grey, black could be a dark dark grey, this of course taking shading into account)

but for the frontend (the user selecting colours) the system could be set up now with slightly more limited options (pre choosen) that will be far easier and faster for the users. an advanced tab could be added if people are that picky, but it shouldn't be confusing for any users who just want to pick nice colours.


so how it stands now.

32 pre choosen colours, spread fairly well across the spectrum, hues, and saturations,

2 colours per vehicle (it is virtually impossible to change how many colours each vehicle has after we set it to two, so if you think we need three (which i don't) then you need to argue your case now before its a problem.

Major and Minor colour choice, (multiplayer teams get a colour, players get one more choice) (single player subsidaries get major colour and another minro colour)

any other ideas as to how these colours can be utilised well? to the best advantage of the game?

Alltaken

[DaleStan]

Are subsidiaries possible in MP, or is that just getting absurd?

[Alltaken]

Are subsidiaries possible in MP, or is that just getting absurd?

i don't see why they shouldn't be possible (i.e. buyign out team mates companies...)

perhaps there is some deal about the money not being transfered, just the vehicles and routes.. i dunno.

Alltaken

[Dextro]

Are subsidiaries possible in MP, or is that just getting absurd?

i don't see why they shouldn't be possible (i.e. buyign out team mates companies...)

perhaps there is some deal about the money not being transfered, just the vehicles and routes.. i dunno.

Alltaken

What about taking over another company and handing over it's control to the original owner?
But that's something for another thread.

As for the colours I think your system would be just right even though I think we could live without the advanced option

[Storwin]

I think, regardless of the number of colors available, there should be a fixed selection. Selecting a custom hue is neat, but grossly unecessary - and it would require a great deal of effort to make sure that chosing the same color(s) as another player would not be possible.

Generally, I think someone, alltaken perhaps, should come up with some colors. I don't think we should decide on a specific number beforehand. Perhaps we should stick to 16 or fewer.

That besides, two-color liveries would be a very nice idea. It would also reduce the need for large variety of colors.

a team has a colour, and each player has a "sub colour"

That would be a very nice idea

[Villem]

ok, next question.

how many players do you think we will likely have above 8?

also i am thinking that the two colour approach will work well for teams in Multiplayer.

a team has a colour, and each player has a "sub colour"

i.e. team Green

player
Green-blue
Green-red
Green-gold
Green-black

green-green would be disallowed.

also subsiaries could have their colours changed to Main/minor of the compnay you currently control (for single player)

how would people feel about that?



the system i will design (on the graphics side of things) will be able to take all hues, and all saturations into account (possibly brightness could be decreased but not increased (white would be light grey, black could be a dark dark grey, this of course taking shading into account)

but for the frontend (the user selecting colours) the system could be set up now with slightly more limited options (pre choosen) that will be far easier and faster for the users. an advanced tab could be added if people are that picky, but it shouldn't be confusing for any users who just want to pick nice colours.


so how it stands now.

32 pre choosen colours, spread fairly well across the spectrum, hues, and saturations,

2 colours per vehicle (it is virtually impossible to change how many colours each vehicle has after we set it to two, so if you think we need three (which i don't) then you need to argue your case now before its a problem.

Major and Minor colour choice, (multiplayer teams get a colour, players get one more choice) (single player subsidaries get major colour and another minro colour)

any other ideas as to how these colours can be utilised well? to the best advantage of the game?

Alltaken

What about people who want to have 4 company colours per vehicle, i mean it should be atleast coded in that you can draw a train with 4 company colour fields, but default vehicles would have 2.