[Suggestion][Editor] Adding a plain black bg to the bg selection list

[IchoTolot]

People have a demand of using a black bg on tilesets with custom single colored bgs.

Adding a plain black bg to the list of the selectable custom image bgs would fix this.

This way even when the black bg is used on tilesets where the custom single colored bg is advantageous you can turn it off and use the intended one again. This way the player is not forced into it.

Then everybody can get a black bg for their level if they want to, without having to change the main tilesets theme as a workaround.

[GigaLem]

One thing I did was make an 8x8 black background piece. If anybody wants i can make a few colored BG pieces and add them to the graphic set addition thread.

[IchoTolot]

One thing I did was make an 8x8 black background piece. If anybody wants i can make a few colored BG pieces and add them to the graphic set addition thread.

I think different plain colors would be a good addition to the bg image list - I see a use for them, but I want to be able to turn them of to the get the tileset's standard one.

[Nepster]

I would rather not add single-colored backgrounds, because of the long-term plan to support completely customizable background colors (independant of the main style). This goes especially for the completely black background, as level designers can already achieve that by picking another main style (as IchoTolot mentioned).

[IchoTolot]

I would rather not add single-colored backgrounds, because of the long-term plan to support completely customizable background colors (independant of the main style). This goes especially for the completely black background, as level designers can already achieve that by picking another main style (as IchoTolot mentioned).

I am ok with that as long as I can turn off a customised background in favor of the main tilesets original background. As I sense great trolling potential there and I want to be able to turn it off.

[nin10doadict]

Did somebody say trolling potential?
That said, I've found a more creative way to use the background to troll than this. So far I haven't released said level yet, though.

[namida]

Did somebody say trolling potential?
That said, I've found a more creative way to use the background to troll than this. So far I haven't released said level yet, though.

A few very useful features (especially for the artistic side of things) have been culled due to their use in trolling levels. And even when they have no other negative effects, trolling levels are generally disliked. Not to mention that clear physics mode renders most kinds of level design trolling moot anyway. It's best to avoid them.

[Proxima]

This goes especially for the completely black background, as level designers can already achieve that by picking another main style (as IchoTolot mentioned).

To reiterate what I said in chat the other night: this is not really acceptable, because the main style determines things like the colour of one-way arrows and builder bricks. Brick colour isn't even displayed anywhere, so the only way to find a style with a matching brick colour is to tediously go through styles one at a time and enter playtest mode for each, or equally tedious examination of the text files.

Having a plain black background should be the simplest of all and should not require a workaround that wastes so much time. I want to take two seconds to select a background and get on with building the level!

[Gronkling]

shouldnt have to rely on hacky workarounds to get a black background, which is a simple request, easy to just add a plain background in the background list, and remove it if/when background colour picking is added
theres a few other block colour backgrounds already anyway

[Nepster]

First of all: Style creators are encouraged to only use background colors when it is absolutely necessary. Like the dark blue background in the crystal style to be able to see the black terrain. Therefore level designers that do not want to use the default colors (which is black in most cases anyway), should think for a bit whether they actually want this. I know you two do that, but still I prefer to make going against the style's wishes non-trivial.

Having said that: I totally agree that the current situation is not perfect. But we are at the moment moving from "You have to decide on one style" to "You are totally free in mixing styles and colors". So long-term I would prefer to remove "main styles" completely and put the colors directly in the level files (of course keeping backwards compatibility), which then can be modified separately in the editor. But we are not there yet. So for the meantime I would really like to discourage stuff that would have a proper solution later on, while adding extra things I have to keep supporting.

...remove it if/when background colour picking is added
theres a few other block colour backgrounds already anyway

You have missed all the huge discussions when I wanted to remove stuff from NeoLemmix. The lesson for me is: Oppose the addition already, because removing is soooooo much harder. Unfortunately, I was too late for the other single-color backgrounds...

[Proxima]

Bump.

Now that new suggestions are no longer allowed, it's clear that NL will not be getting the "levels can specify any background colour" Nepster envisaged in the above post. That being the case, I want to go back to my original suggestion: could the default "special" style include a single-colour black background, to make it easy to select black when the level uses a style with a non-black background colour in its theme.nxmi?

[WillLem]

could the default "special" style include a single-colour black background, to make it easy to select black when the level uses a style with a non-black background colour in its theme.nxmi?

I support this suggestion as an easy way for designers to find what they need

[namida]

could the default "special" style include a single-colour black background

Sure, this seems reasonable. I'll add that now. And on that note - I can also now close this topic, as the custom colors won't happen and the plain black BG as an option is soon to be added (check the style manager in about 15 minutes).

EDIT: And it's up.