Battle display Geoscape

[eleazar]

Rather than attempting a photographic view of the earth from orbit, i think it would be more useful (and more interesting) to create an view such as a commander might use to plan global strategy, such as the roughly done attached image.

The various national blocks each have their own color with slightly glowing borders, and population centers are indicated by white dots.  I think it looks more appropriately science-fictiony, while also being more useful.

I can more carefully produce such a texture at double the resolution of the current one if desired.  Currently the game crashes for me if i give it a 4096x 2048 texture, but there may be a way to avoid that.

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[Winter]

Rather than attempting a photographic view of the earth from orbit, i think it would be more useful (and more interesting) to create an view such as a commander might use to plan global strategy, such as the roughly done attached image.

The various national blocks each have their own color with slightly glowing borders, and population centers are indicated by white dots.  I think it looks more appropriately science-fictiony, while also being more useful.

I can more carefully produce such a texture at double the resolution of the current one if desired.  Currently the game crashes for me if i give it a 4096x 2048 texture, but there may be a way to avoid that.

Rather than replacing the geoscape texture, we would like to use semi-transparent overlays to allow the player to get a more informative map. I.E. political overlay (what you've done here), radar overlay, aircraft range overlay, alien activity overlay, etc. etc.

All of these would be activated by the click of a button on the geoscape interface.

If we have all the graphics for these options, I'm sure the coders would be persuaded to include them in version 2.3.

Regards,
Winter

[eleazar]

Ok, here's a semi-transparent national boundary overlay.  It doesn't quite match the one included in 2.2

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[eleazar]

Also attached is a matching higher res version of the controlling image: "map_earth_nations".  I've added a color to indicate the polar ice caps incase anyone ever wants to distinguish between that and open sea.

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[BTAxis]

You don't seem to realize that we don't have any polar ice caps (well, Antarctica is still there). In 2084, they've melted.

[eleazar]

You don't seem to realize that we don't have any polar ice caps (well, Antarctica is still there). In 2084, they've melted.

Are you being serious?
I didn't see that in the backstory.

If you are going to include Al Gore's fairy-tale as part of UFO:AI, then shouldn't it bring doom (or at least some devastation) to mankind?

At least it would impact that state of the world in other ways that simply melting the caps.  Presumably the sea-level would change, and therefore the coast-line

[BTAxis]

Just erase the polar caps.

[SpaceWombat]

Actually Antarctica in general is gaining ice instead of melting (more snowfall due to warmer ocean surface in tropical regions) and on average it is cooling. Even if Al Gore and some of the IPCC "scientists" (most are political activists and appointed by governments) will make their most exaggerated warming theories come true there is no way of the polar caps to melt until 2084. This will take hundreds if not thousands of years from now. That's fact, no matter what you might think about human caused CO2 emissions and their influence. And no one serious can doubt that by any means even if we would have 10

[BTAxis]

Sigh. I really don't want to have this discussion. All I know is that all of our textures and area layers have consistently omitted any polar ice. I don't mind if anyone has a problem with that, but I don't want to have conflicting textures.

[eleazar]

OK, please, lets table the discussion on the reality of Global Warming.  I shouldn't have made flame-ish comments about Gore.  It's not especially relevant weather Global Warming is real-- most of us would think the Alien Invasion is unlikely, but don't complain about that.

My concern is plausible consistency within UFO:AI sci-fi future-- especially since in my limited knowledge this project is trying to be relatively realistic in technology etc.

[eleazar]

All I know is that all of our textures and area layers have consistently omitted any polar ice.

Actually your night view of the earth includes the northern polar ice, but none around Antarctica.  (visible without the geoscape) It's mostly under the semi-transparent box that displays new messages.

...I don't mind if anyone has a problem with that...

I don't know how to interpret that.

...but I don't want to have conflicting textures.

Of course.  Implicit in this conversation is the willingness and ability of myself to provide new textures (at higher res if UFO:AI can handle them.)

[BTAxis]

Actually your night view of the earth includes the northern polar ice, but none around Antarctica.  (visible without the geoscape) It's mostly under the semi-transparent box that displays new messages.

Strange that nobody noticed that before. That needs to be fixed. Can you file a bug report about it?

I don't know how to interpret that.

I just meant that it's okay if people want to argue that the ice should still be there, for whatever reason. I have no opinion on the whole climate issue, so I'm fine either way. As long as all the maps agree on it.

[Mattn]

there we go

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[eleazar]

there we go

Nifty 

Can you use the 4096x2048 texture, or did you have to shrink it?

[Mattn]

i scaled it down to 2048x1024 - but maybe we can also find higher res globe textures and scale them internally down when the gamers video card can't handle it (the code it there)