cattle farm winter image

[Vladki]

Hello,

I have noticed that in winter some cattle farm fields appear completely empty. It is quite confusing when you cannot build road over them.
Also some non-snow cattle pastures appear almost empty.

[jamespetts]

This is intended as the cattle would be clustered together eating hay rather than grazing in the fields, as grass does not grow in winter. Unfortunately, there is no algorithm for fencing only the outside of fields so as to allow the extent of the cattle farm to be represented visually.

Perhaps we need cow pat graphics...?

[wlindley]

Perhaps some feeding troughs and the odd shelter or barn?

[RealAmerican1776]

Could we build fences around the outer fields to let us know that there is a field there? That would of course solve the issue of fencing as well.

[Vladki]

Perhaps we need cow pat graphics...?

Something would be very useful. I found the even the summer image is sometimes empty, and that is very confusing when building roads to the farm. For example - stephenson-siemens (649,709) - (651,707)

EDIT: march turned into april and cows were allowed on the empty fields...

[jamespetts]

Could we build fences around the outer fields to let us know that there is a field there? That would of course solve the issue of fencing as well.

The trouble with this is that we would need new code to demarcate the "outer" fields, and then more new code to have distinct images for "inner" and "outer" fields, and that would be a very major project. If somebody would like to do it, that would be splendid, but it is not a priority at present.

[RealAmerican1776]

Oh, in Pak128 German, you have the ability to use walls while the French made fence addons so I was thinking of something along those lines, not specifically code. I agree, I wont attempt it. I need to focus on my Pakset.

[jonbridg]

One, admittedly crude, solution would be to place a translucent plane over the tile, like a filter, so that the field was always a slightly different colour to the terrain. Otherwise, I like wlindley's idea of placing the odd barn, rusty tractor or other detritus that is common on farms. As it happens, the ground around the winter trough is far too clean, could certainly do with a few cowpats there!

[RealAmerican1776]

We can add more water troughs, or maybe hay barrels or perhaps a lone cow. In my family we call this cow Steve and he's alone because he's the smelly one and no other cow want's to be around him.

[jonbridg]

What do people think about this as an alternative to empty winter fields? Snow and no-snow use the same image here, but I could create a specific image for snow with a lighter texture so that it blends in better.

I admit, it's crude, but I'd say it's better than nothing. I'll produce graphics with water troughs/farm clutter as a comparison when I've a moment.

[RealAmerican1776]

It makes since to change the colors as cows that are not in a particular area  the grass is higher, so we could say that the different colored tile is just higher grass.

[Vladki]

It is definitely much better. Perhaps just covering the whole tile so that there is no gap between tiles?

[jamespetts]

This seems to work well and does make sense in that grazed land will tend to have less grass coverage than ungrazed land. Thank you for this.

[jonbridg]

New render, with no gaps and different texture. If people like this I can push it asap.

[Mariculous]

Imho the former fits better to the paksets style.

[jamespetts]

That does look good - that is worth incorporating, I think. Thank you for that.

[jonbridg]

A compromise then, perhaps. Less blurry than the first image and with a smaller aggregrate than the second.

[jamespetts]

Even better - the lack of the hard edge of the original does look better. This is good work.

[Vladki]

Yeah the third variation looks best

[Mariculous]

Yes, that one is great!

[jonbridg]

Great, I've pushed to this my repository. The pushed version is a fraction darker to make the grass image easier to see.

[jamespetts]

Great, I've pushed to this my repository. The pushed version is a fraction darker to make the grass image easier to see.

Splendid, thank you: now incorporated.

[Ranran(retired)]

Could we build fences around the outer fields to let us know that there is a field there?

I think it will be possible if we can create multi-tile fields. Make multiple parts and place them. For example, 4x4 ranch(surrounded by fence), 3x3 ranch(surrounded by fence), 1x2 stables, 1x1 huts, vacant lots (appearance), etc.

We need to create the logic to place it properly. I think the 1x1 field is essential to fill the gap.

It will allow to build a more realistic look.

The problem is that players are always looking for opportunities to remove their fields, but the cost of removing a multi-tile field can be high.
It might be better if there is a process that complements other than the clicked tile.

[RealAmerican1776]

Well, how do they do cattle ranching in Britain? Here in the States, we have massive ranches spanning hundreds sometimes thousands of acres of land. It is fenced in with barbwire due to law, but what about over there? Is it more closed in or spread out?

[jamespetts]

I am not sure that multiple tiled fields are a good idea because of the difficulty that Ranran describes with building roads or railway lines through fields. The lack of fencing is a very minor cosmetic issue in the circumstances.

In the UK, cattle fields tend to be smaller than in the US, separated from other fields or roadways either by fences or hedgerows and ditches.

[RealAmerican1776]

Also, here in America, not every state has cattle ranches, I read that in Texas, there are thousands of herds of cattle in the state. Meanwhile, in my home state of Rhode Island, there is a herd.