adS
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Has anybody played Advanced concepts2 with Drod 4?

The Aumtlich rooms look disgusting - attachment.see

Does anybody know how to change the style?

adS

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Chaco
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That's what they always looked like - Dischorran selected the custom Basalt style for his level, and used it to design the rooms you see.

The only way to change the style the level plays in is to delete the Basalt style and play it using City.

If you have any specific criticisms, you might want to talk directly to either Dischorran, or Jutt, the style's author.

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adS
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File: ADV2b.jpg (83.8 KB)
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Chaco wrote:
That's what they always looked like - Dischorran selected the custom Basalt style for his level, and used it to design the rooms you see.

Have you seen my attachment?

With "The City Beneath" it looks MUCH better - see see jpg attached to this posting.

adS

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mxvladi
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You don't have Basalt style installed in TCB. You *do* have Basalt installed in GaTEB(if you're wondering how: after recent changes required custom styles download automatically when you download hold which uses them). Simple as that.

If you want it to display as default style(City), then do what Chaco said:

The only way to change the style the level plays in is to delete the Basalt style and play it using City.

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[Last edited by mxvladi at 08-05-2012 02:27 PM]

Trickster
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adS wrote:
With "The City Beneath" it looks MUCH better - see see jpg attached to this posting.

o·pin·ion /əˈpinyən/
Noun: A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

I happen to like Basalt.

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[Last edited by Trickster at 08-05-2012 04:29 PM]

skell
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I am not giong to say that basalt is bad, because I have only seen it here, but in this particular case it is very unreadable when compared to City.

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Trickster
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skell wrote:
I am not giong to say that basalt is bad, because I have only seen it here, but in this particular case it is very unreadable when compared to City.

I understand what you are trying to say, but something can't really be "unreadable when compared" to something else. It's either readable, or it's unreadable. I think this room is almost perfectly distinct where it needs to be.

In this room, all one needs to see are walkways (bright off-white), aumtlich beams (neon orange lines), ortho squares (obvious on the tiling), pits (very dark and green), and pillars. I do agree the pillars are not clear standing in the center of pits, since the sides of the pit look similar to the pillar tops. I would probably have chosen to make them floor instead, and use a striking obstacle there, like a rock, or something lighter in hue but still natural-looking.

But since the pillars are always dead center in the pits and have a distinctive shiny texture, it's pretty clear over here. Maybe turning up gamma on the monitor might help.

In any case, the reason I respond to this is I don't believe the purpose of every architecture is to be clear. A fair amount of clarity is a requirement, but mood and aesthetics are also worth something, and style is a big part of the game experience. City is a very clear, sterile-looking style. Aumtlichen look completely out of place there. I think this room looks much, much uglier in City than it does in Basalt. Sure, it's a little easier to see the pillars, but if I'm able to see them without significant difficulty (which I am), I'd choose Basalt hands-down (which I do).

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[Last edited by Trickster at 08-05-2012 08:26 PM]

Jutt
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As creator of the style I'm going to agree here with Skell. Basalt should work pretty well most of the time, but in this particular case it's a bit too hard on the eye. I think part of it is the high contrast of the pathways against the pits that looks jarring (people may experience this differently though). That's all very unfortunate, but I'm not sure if I can or want to change anything about it. Updating the style has become a bit more complicated now that it's available for download on CaravelNet.

So, if you have any specific remarks on the style, feel free to post them. All feedback is welcome and I'll certainly keep it in mind for future style development. For now I can't help you any more though—the solutions already offered in this topic are your best options.

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hyperme
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Basalt is neat. It's an alternative to Fortress if you want a more natural dark feeling place. I don't really like the pits, but the rest of it is nice. Hexagons all over the place.

Also when is Garden coming for DROD RPG? More styles are fun. And pretty.

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Jutt
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hyperme wrote:
Also when is Garden coming for DROD RPG? More styles are fun. And pretty.

I dunno… I wasn't planning on doing that any time soon. Most exciting new things seem to be happening around DROD, not RPG, so there's not that much incentive to work on a conversion. It also depends on whether I anticipated an RPG version and kept high resolution textures during development (I can't remember). If I didn't, things would get more complicated.
Anyway, don't get your hopes up yet.

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Trickster
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Jutt wrote:
I dunno… I wasn't planning on doing that any time soon. Most exciting new things seem to be happening around DROD, not RPG, so there's not that much incentive to work on a conversion. It also depends on whether I anticipated an RPG version and kept high resolution textures during development (I can't remember).

As soon as I finish my current DROD project 2 yrs. in the making (ack) I'll be doing my best to revive RPG, for what it's worth.

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skell
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Trickster wrote:
I understand what you are trying to say, but something can't really be "unreadable when compared" to something else. It's either readable, or it's unreadable. I think this room is almost perfectly distinct where it needs to be.

I haven't been clear. I meant that it is unreadable for me, and when compared to the City it is even more apparent. Perhaps you have better eyesight, because even though I have sharp eyes they are not very good with dark colors.

In any case, the reason I respond to this is I don't believe the purpose of every architecture is to be clear. A fair amount of clarity is a requirement, but mood and aesthetics are also worth something, and style is a big part of the game experience. City is a very clear, sterile-looking style. Aumtlichen look completely out of place there. I think this room looks much, much uglier in City than it does in Basalt. Sure, it's a little easier to see the pillars, but if I'm able to see them without significant difficulty (which I am), I'd choose Basalt hands-down (which I do).

I've looked at the image again, this time when it is dark in the room (with no sun shining through the window) and it is clear enough. ButI won't agree with you preferring visuals over usability - I had to play most of the Gunthro with alpha blending turned off because too often it was too dark for me to play comfortably without squinting my eyes. Sometimes it is better to sacrifice the visual effect for the sake of playability for those who are handicapped in some way, because I n GatEB I could just switch the alpha blending off, but if the style was too illegible for me, what options would I have left? (I am not saying Basalt is illegible) 'Tis all I wanted to say.

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adS
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skell wrote:
I am not giong to say that basalt is bad, because I have only seen it here, but in this particular case it is very unreadable when compared to City.

That's exactly my point. I can hardly recognize what is going on in the room.

The style may well look much better with other rooms.

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Zaratustra00
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Possibly a feature request for an option to revert to default tileset is in order?

mrimer
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Zaratustra00 wrote:
Possibly a feature request for an option to revert to default tileset is in order?

By default, do you mean showing everything in the City style?

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Trickster
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How about an option to change the gamma so you can see things better when the colors are darker (like F11/F12 or something)? I don't think "revert everything to City" is the solution to "I don't like the style this architect used here" if there's a less drastic one that preserves the intended appearance.

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Dischorran
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I think it makes a good deal of sense from an accessibility standpoint to permit the player to override room styles to avoid ones with low contrast, dichromacy issues, and so on. For all I know, maybe it's already possible via drod.ini. If it also resolves, shall we say, differences in aesthetic judgment, so much the better.

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Trickster
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Dischorran wrote:
I think it makes a good deal of sense from an accessibility standpoint to permit the player to override room styles to avoid ones with low contrast, dichromacy issues, and so on. For all I know, maybe it's already possible via drod.ini. If it also resolves, shall we say, differences in aesthetic judgment, so much the better.

If this would be an acceptable alternative, I can offer to whip up a Virtual Hypnotist script to make our users prefer Basalt.

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[Last edited by Trickster at 08-07-2012 05:08 AM]

Banjooie
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....

I'm going to pretend I'm surprised you're familiar with that program, Trickster.

Trickster
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Banjooie wrote:
....

I'm going to pretend I'm surprised you're familiar with that program, Trickster.

Wait, there's actually a program called Virtual Hypnotist?

cough

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Banjooie
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This thread's godawful anyway, don't think I have any compunctions about derailing it.