Gold Rush [32 bpp mod]

[ArmEagle]

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/3585/o ... dtiles.jpg

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8926 ... odtown.jpg

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/4512 ... dameri.jpg

My god those look awesome. How have I not seen this thread before? I'd buy that gfx pack if it was for sale and didn't cost a fortune. Really, very very good graphics indeed. I hope if you're thinking of doing a total conversion (new climate), you'll first just settle for a gfx pack for the desert climate and then start working on original stuff, because total conversions tend to wither and die - just a fact. In any case, if I may speak on my own behalf a bit, please upload your stuff (code, models, bitmaps) at my graphics repo - that way inspired individuals can work on additional items, forks, or if you'd like, continue work on the whole pack while you're busy.

Wait, what... where did that come from? That looks amazing! Everything fits together just perfectly!

[Bad_Brett]

Here's a screenshot of how the "plains" may look like:

It doesn't fit together very well yet, but let me know what you think.

[Jupix]

It's perfect, move on to other sprites.

[maquinista]

I like it.

[Lord Aro]

nice. although i agree with jupix, we need more of the originals to be finished!

also, i notic that you are using an old version of the patch, would it not be beter to upgrade to a newer version?

[Ben_Robbins_]

Really beutiful work in this thread, although very none-OTTD in style. I think thats because it's so atmospheric and not simply upliftingly happy like the originals. I particularly like the way the bleak somewhat hostile environment of the desert comes through visually. The very adaptive use of sprites to add randomness is nice too. i.e. the station. I would say though that I think the initial shots of rocky terrain look great with a very rough landscape in a small spot, but I'm sceptical of 'ease of viewing' with large repetitions of sprites. I think a lot of these details/variations/objects work best when randomly scattered as eye candy over a landscape made up of plainer sprites.

[Bad_Brett]

Really beutiful work in this thread, although very none-OTTD in style. I think thats because it's so atmospheric and not simply upliftingly happy like the originals. I particularly like the way the bleak somewhat hostile environment of the desert comes through visually. The very adaptive use of sprites to add randomness is nice too. i.e. the station. I would say though that I think the initial shots of rocky terrain look great with a very rough landscape in a small spot, but I'm sceptical of 'ease of viewing' with large repetitions of sprites. I think a lot of these details/variations/objects work best when randomly scattered as eye candy over a landscape made up of plainer sprites.

You're absolutely right about this. The good thing is that there usually aren't any mountains in the desert parts of the maps, which means that the cliffs will only be cliffs and not parts of enormous mountains. The elevated "grass tiles" will look more like the original sprites. Also, other zoom levels will contain much less details to make the maps smoother. Grids will probably be used on the standard zoom level tiles to make building easier.

I actually wanted to make these graphics in a none-OTTD style. I don't believe that it's better this way, it's just... different. I've followed the work the "new graphics" thread almost every day the last years and it's been a really big inspiration source. Originally I wanted to contribute to that project, but after a while I realized that my models just didn't fit in. I began modifying some desert tiles to see if I could make them fit better, but after a while I felt that it was better to make an entire Mod instead.

[Hyronymus]

I really love watching the desert this time. Can't wait for your other tiles .

[neob]

Wow, the screenshot's in this thread look amazing, great work

[Bad_Brett]

I've been working on some kind of Town Hall, but I guess it could be used as a police station, school or something like that. It's a bit too dark though.

Grass slopes and more trees are underway as well.

[Jupix]

I instantly connected that to a police station in my mind.

However the US flag is a bit out of place 'coz first, we're not supposed to have nationalities in OTTD, and second, I've always taken subtropical as being located somewhere in South America (Bolivia or somewhere similar).

[Bad_Brett]

I instantly connected that to a police station in my mind.

However the US flag is a bit out of place 'coz first, we're not supposed to have nationalities in OTTD, and second, I've always taken subtropical as being located somewhere in South America (Bolivia or somewhere similar).

Remember that these are not the "official" graphics; It's going to be a "wild west" scenario taking place in early 19th century. In this specific case I think that flags add flavour to the environment, even though I generally agree with you. The plan is to somehow included historical events, such as the gold rush and the civil war. For example, barracks could show up as a new kind of industry for a very limited amount of time. I will also record some traditional american tunes, so leaving the flag blank would be rather strange since its so obvious that the scenario takes place in America.

However, someone suggested that I should release a graphic pack first since these huge projects have a tendency to die. If I do that, I may put a neutral flag there so that people could use it as the standard desert set. My hope is still to release a NewGRF though.

[Jupix]

However, someone suggested that I should release a graphic pack first since these huge projects have a tendency to die. If I do that, I may put a neutral flag there so that people could use it as the standard desert set. My hope is still to release a NewGRF though.

It was me who suggested that, and I still do, strongly, because you're being quite ambitious at a seemingly early stage of development. Ambition is good but cutting large projects into small portions is a good idea when you're going at it alone.

And anyway, what you've got here is way better visually than most of what we've got the subtropical climate, mostly because there aren't that many artists working on it.

But if/when you do finish a wild west conversion, I'm with you 100% in thinking it should shout "American".

[Bad_Brett]

A house... It may look a bit moisty to fit in, but I'm probably going to add some green around the pond (which currently looks like a clay pit )

[Benny]

You have some serious 3D modelling skills, Brett. There's lots of attention to detail in every sprite.

And I think the flag should be american. I mean, this does not look like anywhere else in the world to me.

[Zephyris]

Still looking very good Which software do you use? And are you also working on the building stages?

[Varivar]

Wow, looks truly awesome. A complete climate with these graphics would be great

[Bad_Brett]

Still looking very good Which software do you use? And are you also working on the building stages?

3ds MAX... In fact I believe that this is the second house I make that actually has building stages and there's still a few things to change, but I will try to the building stages this weekend. It won't take too long, since the model is already includes most of the beams on the inside.

By the way, I think the tileset is looking better and better, but the problem is that it will be hard to see the shape of the tiles clearly, which may get frustrating when you're building. If I had the power, I would include a feature that automatically activates the gridlines every time you push a building button. I actually think this is a really great idea since it's a shame that all these new tiles should be ruined by ugly lines (In the official project as well of course).

If no one wants to or know how to program a feature like that, I will add gridlines to the standard zoom level, but not to the extra zoom levels. I think very few people will use the extra zoom levels while they're building, so they will do just fine without gridlines.

[Zephyris]

Bear in mind that all building tools show a gui element which snaps to where the object is going to be built... It may be a little harder to build but rarely counterintuative...

[Bad_Brett]

Bear in mind that all building tools show a gui element which snaps to where the object is going to be built... It may be a little harder to build but rarely counterintuative...

I know. The way I see it, if you play and "sandbox-mode-game", the absence of gridlines won't do much harm, but if you use the graphics when you play online (like the the City Mania server) it might get frustrating. That's why I think it would be best to add gridlines to the standard zoom level or at least included that option.

The plan is by the way also to improve the GUI element you talk about. I'm thinking about adding coloured shades that will make it easier to recognize slopes.