Winter Graphics Upgrades

[Tazuras 16]

After having talked to people in game and reading over the forums it seems like winter is one of the more unpopular seasons in game. I believe there are some graphical changes that could be made to greatly improve the appearance and popularity of winter.

Mu suggestions address what I believe to be at the heart of the issue, everything in winter looks the same, it's all snow, and relatively plain snow at that. While I believe this to be a fairly realistic portrayal, it is nonetheless monotonous and somewhat boring.

Here are some things I have thought of that may reduce the monotony:

1. Add some shading to the snow texture to imply unevenness such as that caused by wind or wet snow. Here is a link to a gallery of images of snow in other games of a variety of graphical styles and resolutions that may provide some inspiration.
   
2. Have some terrain tiles look like something other than snow or muddy snow. I believe ice or ice with snow on it would be a very nice addition. I think rock tiles could work as ice, as could marsh and if possible reed and other primarily aquatic tiles. Here is a nice closeup image I found of the texture of ice that may provide insight into what I am thinking about:
   
3. 
   
   
4. While the winter tress are, on the whole, very aesthetically pleasing, the smaller plants I have seen (most especially flowers but also grape vines) are rather unattractive. While there is a certain realism to this, I believe to improve the overall look of the season, some artistic license should be taken. I think the most attractive winter versions of these plants would be if they had just been covered in ice from a freezing rain storm, or perhaps if mid-season melt had cause some ice crystals to form on them or maybe even a version very similar to the original, but just covered in a light frost. Here are some examples:
   

Obviously implementing some of these suggestions would take a fair amount of artist time/resources, but I think it would significantly improve the season that gets the least love and would help them all be more equally beautiful.

If anyone else has any suggestions or comments they would be very welcome .

Edited October 26, 2012 by Tazuras

[Makarus 458]

winter is my favorite season.

i prefer bleak, oppressive winter to pleasant.

but improvements to winter are improvements i like improvements.

+1

[Acheronia 18]

+1

I love the winter and it was sad to see the flowers completely disappear, except for some tufts sticking out. While realism does dictate some effects, we can also let realism take a backseat to prettiness.

[Makarus 458]

My ideal winter.

[Tiberias 4]

+1 Winter is coming

[EliasTheCrimson 348]

+1. Winter looks great already but there's always room for polish!

Edited October 26, 2012 by EliasTheCrimson

[joedobo 1,187]

Your suggestion doesn't address the main problem. Many tiles look the same. Just for reference, I don't care about realism.

-- My first ideal solution is to let each player choose what season they want to see. You might chose among 5 options: standard cycle, summer, fall, winter, spring. All the graphics are present on your machine.

--The second best option is to change winter terrain textures so we can clearly distinguish all terrain tiles from both close up and at a distance.

[Shrimpiie 3,665]

I like the idea of improving the graphics for winter textures, but not to darken the snow up as I use that as a light source because it's so bright at night lol.

+1 to improved textures on winter, Wurm could always use some extra improvements

[meiyeeer 78]

I think winter is very pretty, but I do have to deal with the practical concern that grass looks just like rock. Change the snow to look a bit different on each tile, and I think the main issue would be solved. Snow on grass can coat the grass and be more ruffled, while snow on rock...will, either flat, or be on the top of the rock and not flow down or something of the sort.

[Hordern 2,177]

I did have to giggle at the link in the first point. Pic 3 is a perfect opposite of the piint you're trying to convey I understand what you're getting at though

[Clatius 455]

++++1

Snow on buildings. Snow on fences. Snow on rocks. Snow on tree crotches. Snow drifts. Snow blowing. Ice on water. Snow on boats. Snow snow snow. Oh, and snow skis to improve movement downhill. And more impressive snow falling from the sky. If you are going to make us all miserable by having winter then do a proper job of it.