What to do

Content and general development discussion, including quest scripts and server code. TMW Classic is a project comprising the Legacy tmwAthena server & the designated improved engine server based on evolHercules.


Forum rules

This forum houses many years of development, tracing back to some of the earliest posts that exist on the board.

Its current use is for the continued development of the server and game it has always served: TMW Classic.

Post Reply
User avatar
Othello
Novice
Novice
Posts: 110
Joined: 04 Feb 2008, 11:15
Location: Amersfoort, the Netherlands
Contact:

What to do

Post by Othello »

Hey everyone,

I'm almost done with upgrading the rock-walls of the desert tileset. I don't think it'll ever be very pretty without a complete redraw... but it will hopefully be sufficient for now.

So.. what to do next. The wiki seems somewhat outdated and unclear (I think).

I wish to participate by either drawing tilesets and items, or creating maps, but I have no idea where to start and who is doing what. So, what is needed (besides everything?)

PS Mabye an issuetracking system should be in order, where you can assign yourself a task, and is activly maintained, and maybe a central point to speak to on any development area..
"I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend!" - Barf

My blog
User avatar
ElvenProgrammer
Founder
Founder
Posts: 2526
Joined: 13 Apr 2004, 19:11
Location: Italy
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by ElvenProgrammer »

Othello wrote:Hey everyone,

I'm almost done with upgrading the rock-walls of the desert tileset. I don't think it'll ever be very pretty without a complete redraw... but it will hopefully be sufficient for now.

So.. what to do next. The wiki seems somewhat outdated and unclear (I think).

I wish to participate by either drawing tilesets and items, or creating maps, but I have no idea where to start and who is doing what. So, what is needed (besides everything?)

PS Mabye an issuetracking system should be in order, where you can assign yourself a task, and is activly maintained, and maybe a central point to speak to on any development area..
We already have a tracking system, look for http://mantis.themanaworld.org/

When you want to speak about development you could join our developers channel #tmwdev or #tmwart on freenode.

We usually prefer starting developers to work on what they prefer, as you did for the rock walls, before assigning them needed tasks. When you run out of ideas we could easily find you one, but first we need to know how you work before we can find a suitable task for you.

Else you can start working on a new tileset or something on the like, or refining item icons.
User avatar
Rodge
Peon
Peon
Posts: 22
Joined: 18 Feb 2008, 00:47

Re: What to do

Post by Rodge »

Hey there, if you're looking for something to do, i actually need icons for the new skill dialog http://mantis.themanaworld.org/view.php?id=209.
This is what it looks like right now
Image

We need icons to the left of each skill. There are no magic or craft skills yet, so don't worry about those. Are you up to it? :).

PS: If you do them, they'll have to probably be in svg format so we can export them to other sizes to use elsewhere in the game.
User avatar
Crush
TMW Adviser
TMW Adviser
Posts: 8046
Joined: 25 Aug 2005, 16:08
Location: Germany

Re: What to do

Post by Crush »

Pixeling them in the correct size would lead to better results IMO.
  • former Manasource Programmer
  • former TMW Pixel artist
  • NOT a game master

Please do not send me any inquiries regarding player accounts on TMW.


You might have heard a certain rumor about me. This rumor is completely false. You might also have heard the other rumor about me. This rumor is 100% accurate.
User avatar
Othello
Novice
Novice
Posts: 110
Joined: 04 Feb 2008, 11:15
Location: Amersfoort, the Netherlands
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by Othello »

I'm alright with creating graphics for skills. I can both do SVG as PNG. I think for the game-style pixel-based would be better, so what size should they be?
"I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend!" - Barf

My blog
User avatar
Rodge
Peon
Peon
Posts: 22
Joined: 18 Feb 2008, 00:47

Re: What to do

Post by Rodge »

I'm actually not sure what size atm. I'd like them to be able to fit evenly to the left of each skill name and progress bar, but i'm not sure exactly what scale that is. I'll check in a bit.

As for bitmaps versus svgs, I think it'd be more prudent to have the images be resolution independent so we can export them to whatever size we want and then touch them up for that size if needed. We have no idea what we might use them for in the future, so better be safe and save ourselves the trouble then, no? These're really basicly icons that we want, right? Icons take very well to being made this way anyway.
User avatar
Len
Knight
Knight
Posts: 1479
Joined: 05 Feb 2007, 06:17
Location: Lurking in the shadows

Re: What to do

Post by Len »

Crush wrote:Pixeling them in the correct size would lead to better results IMO.
I don't see any problem with doing the icons in Vector :?:
Image
Pixel Battalion
User avatar
Othello
Novice
Novice
Posts: 110
Joined: 04 Feb 2008, 11:15
Location: Amersfoort, the Netherlands
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by Othello »

If you do it properly (the vector graphics) its easy to retouch and use at (almost) any size. I attempted to make a sword in Inkscape. I'm not very familiar with it yet, but it works nice.
Attachments
sword1.svg.zip
Original SVG
(2.76 KiB) Downloaded 102 times
A bitmap of the vector image
A bitmap of the vector image
sword1.png (3.58 KiB) Viewed 3749 times
"I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend!" - Barf

My blog
User avatar
Crush
TMW Adviser
TMW Adviser
Posts: 8046
Joined: 25 Aug 2005, 16:08
Location: Germany

Re: What to do

Post by Crush »

Ah, this sword is a good example why it is not a good idea to use vector graphics for icons. Don't get me wrong: It looks really good in a larger scale. But when you render it to a 32x32 bitmap (tmw inventory icon size) you will notice that all the details on the hilt are reduced to unrecognizable blur.

But a sword that has been pixeled especially for a resolution of 32x32 looks much better.

The big advantage of vector graphics is that they can be upscaled without any loss of quality, but the same does not always apply to downscaling.
Attachments
weapon-sword-bastardsword.png
weapon-sword-bastardsword.png (724 Bytes) Viewed 3739 times
sword-vector.png
sword-vector.png (1.57 KiB) Viewed 3756 times
  • former Manasource Programmer
  • former TMW Pixel artist
  • NOT a game master

Please do not send me any inquiries regarding player accounts on TMW.


You might have heard a certain rumor about me. This rumor is completely false. You might also have heard the other rumor about me. This rumor is 100% accurate.
User avatar
Rodge
Peon
Peon
Posts: 22
Joined: 18 Feb 2008, 00:47

Re: What to do

Post by Rodge »

Othello, thanks alot, that looks very nice. Keep up the good work.

Crush, your point is valid. I wish you'd said it exactly from the begining though :). I think the way it's done is that svgs are made for a certain size range. This looks more like something for a larger range though. Nonetheless, it still seems pretty good. Maybe some optimizations for the hilt, but other than that, it doesn't seem much worse than your other example. Especially for our purposes.
User avatar
Othello
Novice
Novice
Posts: 110
Joined: 04 Feb 2008, 11:15
Location: Amersfoort, the Netherlands
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by Othello »

I don't really totally agree with that. :)

The original SVG the lines where 1 pixel wide at 64x64 pixels. When you resize that to 32x32 (even in SVG) the lines are only 0.5 pixels wide, which makes them unclear.

However, if I then modify the line width to be 1 pixel at 32x32, and export it to PNG then you don't have that issue so much. Besides that everything in vector graphics is editable, so I can always make lines darker if needed, and retouch it afterwards to make it better.

I always make a vector-image first when creating illustrations, and retouch it later pixel-wise if needed.

compare orignal:
sword-vector.png
sword-vector.png (1.57 KiB) Viewed 3579 times
with optimized for 32x32
sword1small.png
sword1small.png (1.67 KiB) Viewed 3582 times
"I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend!" - Barf

My blog
User avatar
ElvenProgrammer
Founder
Founder
Posts: 2526
Joined: 13 Apr 2004, 19:11
Location: Italy
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by ElvenProgrammer »

Nice example of a sword
User avatar
i
TMW Adviser
TMW Adviser
Posts: 1114
Joined: 07 Mar 2005, 17:29
Location: Poland
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by i »

oh well...
maybe it will be helpful:
http://noirstudio.pl/tmw/concept-arts/c ... eapons.svg
User avatar
Othello
Novice
Novice
Posts: 110
Joined: 04 Feb 2008, 11:15
Location: Amersfoort, the Netherlands
Contact:

Re: What to do

Post by Othello »

Nice work 'i'! Brutal blades ;)

So, is everyone alright with the vector-based graphics for these icons? I personally think its the best option, you can always retouch later.

So in short: Rodge, I will make those skill icons, like the sword done above, if thats alright. However, what pixel dimensions should it be optimized for? my guess would be 32x32... else it'd be to big
"I'm a Mog, half man, half dog... I'm my own best friend!" - Barf

My blog
User avatar
Rodge
Peon
Peon
Posts: 22
Joined: 18 Feb 2008, 00:47

Re: What to do

Post by Rodge »

Othello wrote: So in short: Rodge, I will make those skill icons, like the sword done above, if thats alright. However, what pixel dimensions should it be optimized for? my guess would be 32x32... else it'd be to big
Ja 32 x 32. And thanks, I'm looking forward to them :).
Post Reply