Testing Branch Updated to Version 1.1.0
[h2]Brand New Lighting![/h2][p]Based on player feedback, I have decided to overhaul the whole lighting system. The previous version just used fog to show darkness. But this meant that any distant lights would not be visible until you got pretty close to them. It was not realistic at all in this sense. [/p][p] While the game never really set out to have realistic rendering, I felt being able to see far away lights in dungeons could add some interesting atmosphere to the game. So there have been a few, cool differences that have been introduced as a result, as well as what I would call disadvantages. [/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]The first improvement is obviously, that you can see lit areas from far away. Another side effect of this is that in one level (shown above), you can see that there is an open sky, which was hidden by the fog previously.[/p][h3]Disadvantages[/h3][p]A disadvantage is that the lighting is based on each tile's position, so you can see a rather sharp distinction from one tile to the next. Another thing I see as a disadvantage is that the levels do not get completely dark as they did before. Here is a scene demonstrating this, where the player has no torch, nor any night vision, as they approach the entrance to the Crag.
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I also don't quite like how the background color gets so much darker than it used to. I did not mind this in the optional, high contrast mode, but I feel like the main game should maintain the distinct monochrome style that I have in mind. I am still working on tweaking this a bit. It was easy to do with the fog effect, but it is a bit trickier to color the actual tiles in the exact shade I want. When I give them too much color they no longer appear dark, and you can see the whole dungeon, which is not what I want at all. [/p][p]Another disadvantage is that I had to adjust the dungeons to allow for all this to work, so old saved games will not work properly with the new system. So I am releasing this under the "testing" branch until I am sure it will work well, and people are ready for this next phase. [/p][h3]What Say You?[/h3][p]So if you like this idea, or hate it, let me know in the comments. [/p][p]To try it, go to "Cyclopean > Properties > Betas" and select "testing" from the drop down menu. Make sure you don't save over your current game if you want to play it again. [/p][p]I have also fixed a few outstanding bugs in this version. Once I am 100% sure I like this, and I get it to look just right, I will make it the default. For any players who want to continue their current game, I will, as always, make the current version available as a legacy beta branch. [/p]
I also don't quite like how the background color gets so much darker than it used to. I did not mind this in the optional, high contrast mode, but I feel like the main game should maintain the distinct monochrome style that I have in mind. I am still working on tweaking this a bit. It was easy to do with the fog effect, but it is a bit trickier to color the actual tiles in the exact shade I want. When I give them too much color they no longer appear dark, and you can see the whole dungeon, which is not what I want at all. [/p][p]Another disadvantage is that I had to adjust the dungeons to allow for all this to work, so old saved games will not work properly with the new system. So I am releasing this under the "testing" branch until I am sure it will work well, and people are ready for this next phase. [/p][h3]What Say You?[/h3][p]So if you like this idea, or hate it, let me know in the comments. [/p][p]To try it, go to "Cyclopean > Properties > Betas" and select "testing" from the drop down menu. Make sure you don't save over your current game if you want to play it again. [/p][p]I have also fixed a few outstanding bugs in this version. Once I am 100% sure I like this, and I get it to look just right, I will make it the default. For any players who want to continue their current game, I will, as always, make the current version available as a legacy beta branch. [/p]