Visual Diagonal Roads

[Tich 1,389]

Visual Diagonal Roads

These are a pain to make and look horrid, my suggestion is that either the client works it out and draws a diagonal highway-tile with 1/2 highway and 1/2 grass OR the person laying the highway has to use a menu to set it as a diagonal highway.

Advantage of wurm client doing it, is for when a road interconnects with it. As if the person had to do it, how could a 'road' join it.

Example of a 2 lane Diagonal Highway

+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+

.ggg.ggg.ggg.ggg.tt/.HHH.HH/.ggg. g = grass

.ggg.ggg.ggg.ggg.t/H.HHH.H/t.ggg. H = Highway

.ggg.ggg.ggg.ggg./HH.HHH./tt.ggg. . = tileborder

+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+ / = edge of diagonal road

.ggg.ggg.ggg.tt/.HHH.HH/.ggg.ggg. t = determined tile type

.ggg.ggg.ggg.t/H.HHH.H/t.ggg.ggg.

.ggg.ggg.ggg./HH.HHH./tt.ggg.ggg.

+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+

.ggg.ggg.tt/.HHH.HH/.ggg.ggg.ggg.

.ggg.ggg.t/H.HHH.H/t.ggg.ggg.ggg.

.ggg.ggg./HH.HHH./tt.ggg.ggg.ggg.

+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+

.ggg.tt/.HHH.HH/.ggg.ggg.ggg.ggg.

.ggg.t/H.HHH.H/t.ggg.ggg.ggg.ggg.

.ggg./HH.HHH./tt.ggg.ggg.ggg.ggg.

+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+...+

The tile type on the diagonal tiles, (e.g. t above) should be determined according to its adjacent tiles, so needs to take into account the 4 tiles next to it, and ignore the Highway ones. Easiest way would be to just replicate the tile between the two bits of the road, so show the same tile type as coloured above, but need to 'normalise' the tile type, so if its a tree, should use grass.

[headhunter 100]

Omg yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

+1

[Tich 1,389]

Taking it a stage further we could also get the client to show a white line down middle, and possibily a curb stone on sides (may have to be added by player)

[Cunk 45]

Making it client generated would mean Rolf wouldn't have to do anything to support it. However this could be tricky to do and require a lot of client resources to analyze the terrain prior to painting it. Every time the client sees a paved tile it would need to run through an algorithm that looks at the surrounding tiles to figure out how to draw it. For every single paved tile in view, not just what we would consider roads.

And painted lines and curb stones would be a bit much. Those are features associated with modern, industrial nations and would look out of place in a setting like Wurm.

[Laiwyn 188]

This has been suggested before somewhere, but I still like it. I do agree, diagonal roads at the moment look horrid.

/>http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/69462-diagonal-road-tiles/page__hl__%2Bdiagonal+%2Broads

Edited December 26, 2012 by Laiwyn

[Moxie 271]

YES. +1

[MrGARY 12,421]

It's needed, but it also needs the player choice if they want diagonal or not, as there's instances they'd want one or the other.

[Saddist 82]

There needs to be a way to stop it too. Can't be having the game making a diagonal tile where I have crops and or orchards

[Saddist 82]

Personal choice is probably only way to guarantee a diagonal goes where you want it. And not where you don't.

[Saddist 82]

Only way I can think that it may work is actually making triangular slabs or bricks. That way the game would know ye intentions.... And of you stood at the corner where the paved section would be widest the game would know desired orientation too... Which in itself could lead to some awesome paving art..., pinwheel pattern anyone.

[Klaa 4,872]

Theres several ways it could be done.

Personally it may be better to make it more along the same lines as building a wall for both game mechanics and standardized gameplay for the player.

You have your materials (existing and new like previously mentioned triangular cuts) and tool activated, and then you choose from a menu what sort of paving: full tile, half tile, diagonal half tile, northeast-curved, northeast-bordered curve, etc.

Perhaps even make some of the more fancy paved options unlocked by higher paving skill levels.

EDIT: Creating decorative mosiacs for example would be a pretty high level ability (30 or 50?)

Edited December 27, 2012 by Klaa

[yarnevk 257]

There are already alpha blends existing in game for the more organic tiles that should not be clean edged.

Easy example is look at your garden a furrowed tile next to a cultivated tile, the furrows extend beyond the tile edge, past the tile borders, and into the next tile. The option for this is in your settings. It is not just the texture but the grass/crops sprites that do this.

The way to do is not by making new tiles, but using existing graphics subpixel antialiasing algorithms, and apply them to the alpha blends of the tiles (as if each tile was a pixel of subpixels)

Things like concrete slabs and pavers are not included in this because they are designed to have a clean edge on installation, the issue there is being able to optionally slice tiles on a diagonal since an algorithm cannot determine what the person intended. I personally do not want my diagonal slab road to be cut on the diagonal, I like the zig zag look and planted trees where the hill intrudes into the corners.

Edited December 27, 2012 by yarnevk

[Tich 1,389]

The whole point of this suggestion was... that it requires zero changes on the server.