Just ironing out a few bugs... nearly there!

This is now LIVE! There is a new version of the Player which adds in this support.

Any problems please post here.

thanks

Wooo!

IT LOOKS SO GOOD

http://www.wargear.net/games/view/10304

Tom, you should really get a medal for implementing this. Toaster, props for the idea.

Awesome job on this Tom, today marks a major development for the site. I also really like the custom fog tool -- very, very cool.

So I got to playing with the new toys right away, and have a (semi) new map in development. It's also open for beta testing.

kjeld, could you kindly give an explanation of what the custom fog tool is?

Is it something like a 60x60 pixel panel that replaces the hash-mark fog, or do you put in an image like the fill layer that appears instead of the hash mark, so that the fog could appear different in different territories? Or something else?

It's more the latter. If you look on my board, I've got a semi-transparent gray-hashed fill with the text "Here be dragons" and a couple outlines of dragons. That layer displays instead of the fill layer if it's fogged, so if you're losing and can't see half the map, at least you get a cool dragon as solace for your imminent elimination.

Kjeld wrote: It's more the latter. If you look on my board, I've got a semi-transparent gray-hashed fill with the text "Here be dragons" and a couple outlines of dragons. That layer displays instead of the fill layer if it's fogged, so if you're losing and can't see half the map, at least you get a cool dragon as solace for your imminent elimination.

Spectacular.

Tom do you consider the Board image on the Board Info page, Board page (Boards tab of WG and the Board Preview in Games Lists), and Board pop up Flash window thingy to be complete?
It appears as if the Board Info page displays the Board Image Layer with the Fog Image Layer beneath it and does not display the Fillmap Image Layer.
The Board page and Board pop up Flash window thingy appear to just show the Board Image Layer without the Fillmap or Fog layers.
Seems like in both scenarios the Fillmap should be shown (which means the Fog layer would only be seen in games). Is that correct thinking?

You say semi-transparent. Have you tested doing something like putting a fully transparent hole in the fog layer? Can you then see the fill layer behind it? I could see using that to essentially create your own levels of fog.

Kjeld wrote: That layer displays instead of the fill layer if it's fogged, so if you're losing and can't see half the map, at least you get a cool dragon as solace for your imminent elimination.

Need a map that just says YOU LOST real big on the Fill layer :P

This layer could get confusing/deceiving if color was used though.

I think that the fog layer actually is behind the fill layer -- Tom creates the fog by turning the fill layer transparent under that territory (I think this is what I read), thus revealing the fog (which seems completely counter-intuitive when put like that).

Yertle wrote: Tom do you consider the Board image on the Board Info page, Board page (Boards tab of WG and the Board Preview in Games Lists), and Board pop up Flash window thingy to be complete?
It appears as if the Board Info page displays the Board Image Layer with the Fog Image Layer beneath it and does not display the Fillmap Image Layer.
The Board page and Board pop up Flash window thingy appear to just show the Board Image Layer without the Fillmap or Fog layers.
Seems like in both scenarios the Fillmap should be shown (which means the Fog layer would only be seen in games). Is that correct thinking?

I've noticed this as well -- looks kind of goofy. The default for both the browse and thumbnail should be to show both the board and fill images with normal opacity.

This layer could get confusing/deceiving if color was used though.

Very true for both the board and the fog layers -- I think it would be best to advise mapmakers to keep these layers completely grayscale, or at least close enough that they don't interfere with the color fill underlay.

Kjeld wrote: I think that the fog layer actually is behind the fill layer -- Tom creates the fog by turning the fill layer transparent under that territory (I think this is what I read), thus revealing the fog (which seems completely counter-intuitive when put like that).

That's my guess.  From tom's original post here.

Territories      <-- TOP
Board Image
Fill Map
Fog Map         <-- BOTTOM

Kjeld wrote: I think that the fog layer actually is behind the fill layer -- Tom creates the fog by turning the fill layer transparent under that territory (I think this is what I read), thus revealing the fog (which seems completely counter-intuitive when put like that).

This makes sense. I think this is a good way to go.

I agree that using color will have the potential to severely confuse things. At the same time, it has the potential to do some pretty awesome things. Just use common sense and let the review crew filter out those who don't.

I don't get it. I don't understand how or why to use either of these tools. Granted, great graphics aren't really my thing but I really don't even understand what the heck they are supposed to do.

RiskyBack wrote:  Granted, great graphics aren't really my thing but I really don't even understand what the heck they are supposed to do.

Do you see the difference on the maps?  Instead of a flat same color territory, they now have the ability to have "texture" when a transparent layer is placed on top of them.

Yertle wrote:

Kjeld wrote: I think that the fog layer actually is behind the fill layer -- Tom creates the fog by turning the fill layer transparent under that territory (I think this is what I read), thus revealing the fog (which seems completely counter-intuitive when put like that).

That's my guess.  From tom's original post here.

Territories      <-- TOP
Board Image
Fill Map
Fog Map         <-- BOTTOM

 

 

Yep this is correct. I suppose it is a bit counter-intuitive but it's the only way I could think of for it to work nicely - otherwise I'd have work out how to do transparent fills into the textured fog area which would be tricky.

The fog image has to be the same size as the board - it's not tiled like the default fog image.

re: the questions about the board images, I agree they don't quite look right and will look at that.

I think color clarity is definitely going to be something to watch out for with the extra layer, will take a bit of getting used to I guess.