Graphics enhancements for Shandalar 2012

[zombero]

I found all the hardwork people have put into reviving this excellent classic inspiring, so I decided to begin work on a small contribution of my own. While checking out some of the sweet new graphics that have been added in the "default" graphics pack for Shandalar 2012, I noticed that the display qualities on virtually all of these images can be improved. The problem is that none of them were sized to the exact native resolution inside the game. The game is able to compensate for this by resizing the images, however it is using resizing technology from the 1990s which has been vastly improved upon in modern day programs such as Photoshop or even Paint. The results make for grainier, lower quality images.

So I've taken on the task of resizing as many of these images as possible, and I've just reached my first milestone, so I thought I'd make a post to share the progress. Attached are a zip file containing size fixes for most of the duel images as well as a screenshot of how it looks in game. The only thing that still has the grainy look in the screenshot is the library graphic. Sadly, that one may be difficult to fix.

Download of current graphics:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lnai2i8a3i4pibx

Before:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... oldgfx.png

After: (The difference is probably most noticeable on the cardback graphic in the middle-left of the screen)
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... 4/gfx1.png

[zombero]

Progress report: fixed the choppiness on the buttons in Deck Builder (especially the text).

Before:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... /gfx2a.png

After: (the difference is particular apparent on the "Artifacts" button)
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... /gfx2b.png

Now it's on to card art...

[Aswan jaguar]

Although you are only interested in the adventure part of the game you have better chances of answers and help if you post in development forum of Manalink and also you may find interesting info in that forum if you haven't search there already.
viewforum.php?f=56

If I am not wrong now that you have reached 5 posts you are allowed to attach links,pics,zips.....

[CirothUngol]

Well, that's convenient.
I planned on doing this to all of the ArtMods eventually, before the final release... and now it looks like I might not have to. Sweet!

Thanx for your contribution Zombero, and I think it's OK to post here since the topic is so Shandalar-centric.

Reaching your minimum so you can post links should be easy. Just go thank RyanfaeScotland for his excellent Deck Injector, then respond to this post or my reply to you here and you should be good to go.

[zombero]

Although you are only interested in the adventure part of the game you have better chances of answers and help if you post in development forum of Manalink and also you may find interesting info in that forum if you haven't search there already.

Good idea, I can thumb through the forum at some point. For the time being I'm just using this thread to post progress, not really seek help, but if I have any unresolved questions I'll try posting there, also.

[zombero]

Here's what I have on CardArt display so far, this is using the classically styled CartArts:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... /test7.jpg

I'm pretty happy with the "Summon Angel" display as well as the power and toughness. The "Serra Angel" display could stand to be improved on the "g", but I've tried numerous edits to the font and the cardart and I just can't fix that without causing other problems with the text's alignment (not being able to change the text's alignment, only being able to change its size, is a real handicap), so this is probably as good as it's going to get. I haven't touched the font inside the body of the card's text. I think I would increase both of the fonts there by 1 point, though this is really a matter of preference and not quality (would you rather have better readability or less cases of needing expanded card text... *shrug*).

[zombero]

Here's a screenshot of the combat screen (which I have not edited at all thus far):

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... combat.png

Certainly a lot of issues here... the pixelation on the sword, shield, and rope would be simply enough to fix. The background image is cut 39 pixels in and then restarted, which is weird... and is especially noticeable with this background graphic. And I'm not sure I like the rope graphic at all. The old skulls were cool, though tragically 16-bit. Honestly the best solution here might be to just keep the old 16-bit graphics for the battlefield. Given that it pops out as its own window, the lower image quality doesn't clash *too* much with the other graphics. I'm still pondering, though. :/

[CirothUngol]

You don't appear to be using any of the original Microprose fonts (Benguiat, CentSchbook, MPZurich)... do you not like them? I think they add a certain Magicky-ness to the game. ^_^
I'm also still quite dissatisfied with the clipping on the ManaSymbols. I looked at rebuilding them but I haven't tried to tackle that yet. They're present on every single card in the entire game... and they simply don't look nice. Replacing them would be a huge improvement to the general look of the game. I was forced to use the ones from ML2.0 instead of the new gorgeous ones from ML3.0. *sigh*

...the best solution here might be to just keep the old 16-bit graphics for the battlefield

I love the Classic Art more than the next guy, but I'm reluctant to do that. The purpose of Shandalar 2012 is to be new and complete, the last "Go-To" version until some interested assembly programmer steps-up and begins development on the executable. I never liked the rope and I've always felt the background was too bright... cool image though (all thanx to Sarlack and Sonic for the whole shebang). A slightly darker and perhaps better melding background is what we need, and maybe new AttackBones. Of course, I'm not exactly sure how to pull that off... I am certainly no graphics wiz, which is what we need.

[zombero]

You don't appear to be using any of the original Microprose fonts (Benguiat, CentSchbook, MPZurich)... do you not like them? I think they add a certain Magicky-ness to the game. ^_^

Every font used in that image *is* from the game, though you're right I did re-arrange them some. I can switch some or all of them back, I was just toying with other fonts to see if any of them changed the position of the characters, but all the ones that did only made the position worse haha.

I love the Classic Art more than the next guy, but I'm reluctant to do that.

Yeah, I didn't so much mean it as make the new graphics unavailable in Shandalar 2012, just that for a player choosing their graphics to play with, that's what I'd recommend right now... I could look around online and see if there are any suitable replacements.

I'm also still quite dissatisfied with the clipping on the ManaSymbols.

Mana symbol clipping eh? That should be an easy fix, although...

I was forced to use the ones from ML2.0 instead of the new gorgeous ones from ML3.0. *sigh*

Why were you forced to do that?

[CirothUngol]

Why were you forced to do that?

Ah, that's incorrect. I just checked and Shandalar 2012 is actually using the newest ManaSymbols.pic, which looks fantastic, but it wasn't designed for it... hence the clipping. I'm sure it's just a spacing or re-sizing issue.
Also, rebuilding the ManaSymbols from the original for use in the "Classic" ArtMod was something else I had looked at. I'm unsure if it's worth the bother.

[zombero]

I'm sure it's just a spacing or re-sizing issue.
Also, rebuilding the ManaSymbols from the original for use in the "Classic" ArtMod was something else I had looked at. I'm unsure if it's worth the bother.

I tried resizing the mana symbols and it got rid of the clipping... but it also got rid of the transparency in the background. This is because I'm using Paint to convert the image to something Photoshop can open, and using Paint again to convert it back to .pic. And Paint always strips out transparencies. :/

EDIT: Scratch that, I've found a work around that I think will work

[zombero]

Well, on the mana symbols, the game takes whatever symbol graphic is inputted, resizes it to 16x16, but only gives the symbol a 15x15 space in game, clipping the left most and bottom most rows of pixels. So I resized the graphics to 15x15, then placed them on a 16x16 canvas and re-positioned them. This was the result:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/ ... itled6.png

The mana symbols definitely look better by themselves, although it does seem rather obvious that they ought to be 16x16 to line up perfectly with the cardback.

What I could try is resizing to 14x14 and giving them a full border of empty pixels, this would center the symbols better, though they'd also be smaller.

EDIT: Actually, I should say: resizing them to 14x14 would make them symbols smaller AND place them further apart... which would probably look really bad.

[zombero]

I updated the download link to include all the current changes, as well as a readme.txt with the information about those changes. I've done just about all the changes I plan on doing, at least for now. Some images left to edit are obscure duel pics that only show up in very specific situations. I'll be playing the game a good amount pretty soon, and as/if I find them, I'll fix those graphics as well (if they could use it). There's also some chance I'll wind up modifying card graphics (not the pictures for individual cards like "Serra Angel" but things like the backdrop used for all white cards, etc.), but for now it is uncertain. And finally: Battlefield graphics. I may wind up modifying the current ones to look *better*, but there isn't much that can be done to make them look good, due to the layout. For now, I'm just using the classic battlefield graphics in my playthrough. :/

I would strongly recommend applying everything in the "Fixes" folder to the Default graphics pack in Shandalar 2012. I would also recommend applying the "Recommended" folder. This contains font size changes, and the font sizes fit much better with the card graphics (partially in my opinion... partially in fact). No font *types* are changed in this file, only font sizes. And finally I would recommend applying the "Optional" folder to the classic graphics pack. This folder contains a cards1.dat that makes the game only load the classic graphics for individual card arts, skipping over the images from newer editions of MtG.

[ceshiwuhao]

Also, rebuilding the ManaSymbols from the original for use in the "Classic" ArtMod was something else I had looked at. I'm unsure if it's worth the bother.