Graphism-Renderding method and its limit in ST

[colonyan]

Night light.
At 64dots, windows are small, therefore, no problem.
Actually, I find this size very easy to work with rendering method.
Its size allows to use approximatif texture. In some, no texture is necessary.
Thus giving fairy fast pace of production.

At96 and 128 in order.
These are render output at respective size using exact same model and lighting I used for 64 size.
                                         rightclick:show image to view as actual size
                                               
At this size of windows, one window colour for night time will be too obvious at day times.
(well, it is already noticeable at 64 somehow but not inextent that its outstanding in my taste)

Thus, for future projects, I think it is safer to stay at 64 size.
Or maybe buildings with small windows could be worked on but that poses severe limitation on
graphic variety of structures...

[gauthier]

I think it is safer to stay at 64 size.

that's a bit radical ...


A sort of 8 bit filter with special colors on would be better. And many special colors could be used in a 8 bit picture, maybe surfaces lighting at day and night could be controled ...  

I play only pak128, one time I tried pak64, I found graphics ridiculously small, I don't understand how 64 vehicles can be designed 

[colonyan]

A sort of 8 bit filter with special colors on would be better. And many special colors could be used in a 8 bit picture, maybe surfaces lighting at day and night could be controled ... 

This sounds interesting but I fail to understand completely. If you happen to visit here again, can you elaborate...

[gauthier]

for example, with transparent picture (except .gif ones) there are the normal picture (a usual 24 bits one) and 8 bit grey filter which define the opacity.
for example² : a black (0) pixel on the 8 bit filter will make the correspondant 24 bit picture pixel fully opaque whereas a white (255) pixel will make a completely transparant pixel, a mid-grey (128) pixel will make a pixel mid transparant.

... I don't want to put transparancy in Simutrans, a project has been already purposed for that

But my idea is to use a 8 bit filter to have special colors. for example a black pixel on the filter won't change the correspondant 24 bit pixel, but some colors could make a pixel special. for example :
(numbers are grey lighting)
0 (black) = no change
255 = color doesn't change in night
1 = color is darkened by 1/64 in night
2 = '           ' by 2/64 in night
64 = by 64/64 in night (... completely black)
65 = color is enlighted by 1/64 in night => for non darkening colors or lights for example
128 = color is enlighted by 64/64 (completely white) in night

from 129 to 254, we could proceed as this for 16 different colors => for lights instead of current special colors which are black the day and yellow the night.
129 = color is 1/8 mixed with yellow in night
136 = color is 8/8 mixed with yellow in night (completely yellow in night)
137 = color is 1/8 mixed with light blue ...
...
...

on a building ?
1) you have two sides, south and east. You know that south side is ligter than east one so currently you draw a side darker than the other. but during the night, there is no more sun so south and east side are same lighted but in Simutrans east side will keep being darker than South one.
With the 8 bit filter as I purposed, you would draw each side with the same lighting and change the filter as the east side would be darker than south side in day.
=> possible if darkening pixels in night are changed to lightening pixels in day in the 8 bit filter. With the example I gave, you will keep drawing a side darker than the other but change their night darkening so they would appear with the same lighting in night. The advantage would be that old buildings could be kept.
2) on windows : you will change the filter to yellow (or other colors) coloring in night for switched on lights and don't change naything for whitched off lights.

[colonyan]

Ok, I kind of get it. I will keep try understand.
But all you saying is possible only if 8bit filter is implemented in ST graphic?

And thank you verymuch for this much of information.

[gauthier]

But all you saying is possible only if 8bit filter is implemented in ST graphic?

Currently, there is very few of special colors and they're implemented in a only picture so it's only possible with a filter. plus : if special colors aren't anymore in the main picture, color errors (some pixels enligthed in night ...) will also disappear and stop bothering me

[prissi]

In principle simutrans would still allow for 32000 special colors ...

[The Hood]

@gauthier - you can remove accidental special colours using VS's excellent program Shades. 

@prissi - is it possible then to have a couple more special colours?  I'd love a special colour for windows -> night lights which is dark black, so that pak128.Britain style buildings could have illuminated windows at night (I find the existing special colours are too pale grey).