[32bpp] Temperate climate grass set: Release !

[GeekToo]

This subject started in the blender thread, with a request from Ben Robbins. He asked me to do some resizing of the wonderful 256px grass tiles he created. At that time I thought it would be an easy job, but was not satisfied with the result after resizing in Gimp. So I learned to use Blender and created a set for use on 64 px tiles.
After posting some screenshots, and feedback from the forum members, and after removing the worst tileability effects I think it is time to do the next step:

Test it in the game !

Because in my opinion that is the best way to see how it looks. So nothing is final yet, any feedback is still appreciated. When the 256px tiles full zoom is implemented, we'll have to see how they combine with Ben's set.

I have created a set of 19 32bpp grass tiles for use in the temperate climate.
They are already PNGCODEC'd

UPDATE:
Because the tarloader is now present in trunk, installation is different from version 1 !
This make installation even easier
-If you've used version 1 of the grass set, remove sprites 3981.png..3999.png from the directory bin/data/sprites/trg1r. Because the untarred png have higher priority over the tar loader, if you don't do this, you'll see no difference with the previous set.
-Check if you have tar files that are not intended for the newest tarloader in the data directory or it's subdirectories. On Linux, from the data directory: find . -name '*.tar' , on Windows do a file search. If the tarloader encounters tar files in the wrong format, it'll give an assertion, so move tars not meant for the new tarloader outside the data directory
-Check if you have a nightly build >=11119, otherwise the new tar loader is not present.

So far the preliminary actions, now for the installation:

copy the grass2.tar file into the bin/data directory.
That's it! Ready.

start openttd as usual with a 32 bpp blitter ( you'll need a nightly build, you can start a 32 blitter with the -b option on the command line (check present blitters with openttd --help ) or specifying it in the config file: blitter = xxx )

If you have the new terrain grf (8bpp) active, I guess you'll have to disable it.

Have fun and let me know what you think.

edit: trees in screenshot are SAC's stolen trees, some road tiles are 32 bpp tiles of Ben Robbins

[XeryusTC]

There's something wrong with some of your roads.

I'm also missing a grid .

[PouncingAnt]

I've given it a quick 20 min test and found nothing wrong with it. I dont know what that road bug is in the image of the first post, but I assume its exclusive to your computer, GeekToo?

I dont terribly miss the grid personally, my bad taste perhaps

If I get time I'll test this a little more thoroughly. And thanks for the time and effort, I really like this!

[Jupix]

In the screenshot, some of the slopes look a bit blurry / dirty to me. I've circled what I mean in the attached pic.

Edit: Another thing I noticed, the pattern circled in blurry2.png doesn't fit the pattern of the neighboring tiles...

[Psistorm]

Im having some issues with making this work, unfortunately:

I created the folder that was mentioned in my data directory (so inside data there is now /sprites/trg1r/ ) and copied the .png files into that folder. yet when I load up a game or start a new one, the sprites are unchanged. Im runing ChrisIN, so it should work since that build is based upon the OTTD nightlies. I believe it is because I didnt start with a blitter, but I have read the 32bpp information .txt, and various other sources such as the wiki, and I couldnt find any information on how to set which blitter is used.

any help is of course appreciated, since I really want to test this replacement

[glx]

You need to specify the blitter: "openttd -b 32bpp-simple" or "openttd -b 32bpp-anim"

[athanasios]

Jupix is right. Some ugly spots and lines still remain. Lines are everywhere so not bother about them. The bright spots are the problem.

Also I noticed a glitch (white and sometines red dots) from the terraforming ball pointer. Is this known code problem or is itgenerated from the specific sprites as their dimensions are not the same with original terrain sprites?

Nevertheless I love these sprites because grass has height (not flat).

What really looks annoying are the rough terrain and rock sprites, since they display grids. I suppose those will be the next sprites to deal with.

[Roujin]

Great! Actually they fit so nicely that i drifted off playing and forgot i was testing your ground tiles that's proof that it fits nicely and doesn't disturb the eyes.

One thing i noticed is that hills sometimes are harder to find, but i guess this is a drawback from not having a grid... so nevermind, it's awesome

[PouncingAnt]

I have to say, I've not noticed any of the above problems, I think the majority of people wouldn't notice anything wrong unless they were looking hard for it/had experience in that sort of thing.

(and since these forums are rampant with lingual over-analysers) I don't mean I'm against you touching up what you've done, I'm just saying I didn't notice anything bad

[GeekToo]

Thanks for the feedback and the nice comments, updates will follow soon

What really looks annoying are the rough terrain and rock sprites, since they display grids. I suppose those will be the next sprites to deal with.

Athanasios, you should start a career as mindreader: the rock tile are the next thing I'll be modelling. I did start some fingerpractices last weekend, don't expect them to be finished soon. Just to show what I'm busy with.

[Indraunt]

You need to specify the blitter: "openttd -b 32bpp-simple" or "openttd -b 32bpp-anim"

Does anyone know how this would be done under OS X??

[glx]

Since r11092, you can use blitter=<blitter name> in openttd.cfg

[Indraunt]

there's no mention of blitter in the cfg file, can i just shove it in anywhere?

[Roujin]

i put

Code: Select all

blitter = 32bpp-optimized

at the end of the [misc] section, and it works.

[Indraunt]

Game won't load when I try that... Just freezes or crashes.

When I try to start the game I get the logo in messed-up colours witha grey background, the music starts, then the game freezes or crashes depending on which blitter I specify. Am I doing something wrong? Am I missing a file? Is there some kind of incompatibility with OS X?

I'll keep playing around.

[LordAzamath]

hmm. I think I found a bug of this graphic. Maybe someone else has already found that, but I'll post anyway.
And this happens with every bridge head of that direction

[GeekToo]

Lord,
Nobody has posted that bug yet, but I did see it myself in athanios' post. It happens because the grass tiles are a little higher than the original ones, to get that 'grassy' look when moving the white square over it.
I will see if I can fix it, without losing that look. I think that it only happens on bridges that connect to a slope, so maybe a little change in the pngcodecing of the sloped tiles will correct it, or else I'll have to cut the sloped tiles a bit.

Thanks for the feedback, this is exactly the reason why I called it a test set, to find these kind of things.

[Tom0004]

seems to happen to me also

[Lakie]

It would appear that the slope sprites are larger than they should be, hence the clipping of the tile behind...
(Could be wrong though, I'm sure a OpenTTD would have a more accurate answer)...

I base this off the fact that the stock TTD 'grassy tile' is clipped over its 'border' and that bridge parts are put on top of the slope sprite and thus it must be the time behind being clipped...

~ Lakie

[GeekToo]

I've updated the grass test set (download in first post):

-format is now suitable for the new tar loader (see first post)
-The problem with the bridges and sloped tiles is less noticable, I could not remove it completely without introducing glitches, but I think it is acceptable now.
-The tiles with half a level tile, and half a slope, now match the other level tiles
-Removed some ugly spots and too bright pixels
-Removed the glitch mentioned by Athanasios
-Softened the transitions on the tiles half level / half slope, I thought the transition was too "sharp" for grass