1.8

[Araja]

The new drakes look even bigger and better than before, I feel good while controlling them.

Firstly, I'm addicted to Wesnoth to the point where I spend hours on it each day and roleplay it during my spare time. Secondly, I have some serious respect for those with the skill to create it and the attitude to let us have it free of charge. My world would be a very different place without it

The popularity of the game is a testament to it's success, and it's a testament to it's design that no overpowered strategy has been discovered. I admire the developers for the ability to keep improving the game despite repeated contact with criticism and trolls.

I don't believe in corrupt moderation and have no illusions that I could do better myself. I only hope I've made my standing clear before I go on. I've done everything I can think of to make my position clear before I take this chance. So...now to take the plunge. I'll be brief.

Why is the unit's terrain defence listed in the sidebar? It's already shown when you move the cursor over the terrain, and then appears in a top bar. Having it displayed in two places at once seems like a strange idea. Maybe the coloured defence was moved down to make it more obvious to new players, but in that case why keep the top bar? Was it for the sake of the older players? Whilst I'm here, why do a unit's alignment bonuses take up space in it's stats? Can new players not be expected to remember what lawful and chaotic do? I know there must be good reasons for these, but I can't see them from my angle. Final risky step for me...What's with the small host sizes in the lobby?

I know 1.8 and it's changes are a sensitive subject among the development team, and I have a certain fear of getting into trouble, hence my opening paragraphs. I love the game and really don't want to get into trouble, I would just like to know, out of curiosity, why these puzzling changes were made.

I can already see people quoting my praise and criticsm together and pointing out where I've contracted myself. Aww man...

[Shagal]

Hi, in my opinion the new drakes look too cute. The new drake graphic just does not fit to the graphics of the other factions because the new drakes are drawn in a different style. Although the new drake graphics are perfectly drawn and who ever made it, did a great job and is very talented, I prefer the old drake style because it looks more mature. Animation of units is generally a good idea and should be continued with other factions as well, but please keep the 'old' graphics.

Beside the already mentioned bugs by other posts good points of the new gui are that one can see now who plays a game and who only watches a game before observing/entering the game. Furthermore, including the amount of lost gold in the statistics of a battle is also a very nice improvement.

[thespaceinvader]

Our opinion is precisely the opposite of yours - I think the styles match a lot better, the drakes look bigger, more vicious and more brutal.

Our opinion wins.

And no, we will NOT revert the drake graphics. FOR THE LAST TIME.

[Zerovirus]

Our opinion is precisely the opposite of yours - I think the styles match a lot better, the drakes look bigger, more vicious and more brutal.

Our opinion wins.

And no, we will NOT revert the drake graphics. FOR THE LAST TIME.

The new drake graphics are better.

Do you guys want a debate? We can use the socratic method. I really don't want to spend time on this but if that's what you need then so be it.

[bloodyloch]

Since I don't see any other threads with this problem, is the MP server down at this time, or is there something wrong with my attempts to connect? My friend is also having the same thing - loads then says could not connect to host.

[Para]

New drake graphics are definitely better. The new ones make the old ones look like relics of the past.

[Shagal]

Hi again,

probably you guys are going to kill me now but in my opinion

it looks like that the drake fighter wears a bow tie. That doesn't look very aggressive.
The head of the clasher reminds me a bit on the head of Donald Duck.
The "trousers" of all drakes look like nappies.
Last but not least, the head to body ratio of the drakes resembles rather that of a baby than that of an adult.
With all due respect i still think the graphics of drakes are a masterpiece, but they do not fit into the game imho.

[Pentarctagon]

Last but not least, the head to body ratio of the drakes resembles rather that of a baby than that of an adult.

a) WINR
b) they aren't even human, maybe they have a different ratio?

[Noy]

Well I think its time to lock this thread. We disagree with the criticism of the art and complaining at this point is moot.

I'll probably post something soon about the mp lobby.

[Jetrel]

Although the new drake graphics are perfectly drawn and who ever made it, did a great job and is very talented, I prefer the old drake style because it looks more mature. Animation of units is generally a good idea and should be continued with other factions as well, but please keep the 'old' graphics.

The same artist, neoriceisgood, drew both sets of drakes. (I animated the first batch, TSI and I animated the newest batch.)

Last but not least, the head to body ratio of the drakes resembles rather that of a baby than that of an adult.

a) WINR
b) they aren't even human, maybe they have a different ratio?

Or, more resembles the head-body ratio of a crocodile, which is a very sane comparison. Vis-a-vis many dinosaurs.


We're not changing it, because the whole art team thinks it's an improvement, and I've had enough experience with the videogame industry to be very, painfully aware of nostalgia/familiarity bias. You don't like the old drake graphics because they're better, you like them because you're familiar with them - and you're fooled into believing they're actually better because of that "positive response". It's basic psychology - people just don't like change.

If you dislike the drake graphics, your choices are 1] grow out of the nostalgia bias, or 2] stop playing. This is not a democracy, we who do all the work to create the game, have absolute power over what goes in it. Live with it.

[thespaceinvader]

Finally finally: If you really, really dislike them that much, you're welcome to download the old graphics from SVN, which are still floating about in the 1.6 branch, and put them back yourself.

I'd personally far prefer if you did not, but it should not cause OOS problems if you *only* change artwork and animations, so it is a viable option.

None of the art team will put any effort into a patch for this, however, since we see it as a distinct back slide. If you really, really want it, you'll have to learn to make the change yourself.