[SUG] Xmas sprite colours/recolourings

[WillLem]

Looking at the xmas sprites again, there are a couple of things I'd suggest regarding the colours. The aim with this suggestion is to strike a balance between the need for in-game clarity and the overall aesthetic of the xmas style.

The floater's umbrella is yellow in-game, which I understand is consistent with the default sprites. However, the intention is rather for it to be green with flashing lights, like a Christmas tree. Whilst this isn't massively important at all, it's a subtle detail which does make a difference when implemented (if for no reason other than that the "flashing lights" detail is more visible on green than yellow).

Attached is the xmas style with green umbrella for both low and hi-res versions (the low-res version now has the flashing lights as well); I have of course chosen a shade of green which is distinct from the athlete clothes (more on that in the next post) and specified it in scheme.nxmi.

[WillLem]

I'm also thinking that the athletes' tunics should be recoloured to dark red. The bright green colour is too similar to the default lemmings and, following the suggestion that the floater's umbrella be recoloured to green, it seems best to keep the athlete states some shade of red.

I generally always mod my copy of NL to have the default athletes' tunics be recoloured to dark blue instead of green, and it's always very easy to spot an athlete even in a tight crowd. I've tried the same with the xmas sprites and I'm personally happy with the result (although I can absolutely see how some players might not be).

Attached is the xmas style with dark red athlete clothes instead of green, plus a test level to play around with this a bit and see how it looks with the lems bunched together. Note that the attached style must replace the existing xmas style in order for the level to display the dark red lems - please back up your existing xmas style before replacing.

[WillLem]

Finally, if people don't like the dark red, an alternative suggestion is to swap the athlete/selected tunic colours so that xmas athletes wear blue instead of green, and vice versa. This maintains the distinction between the green umbrella and the lems' tunics, whilst keeping the overall scheme more familiar to its current implementation.

I've given this one a try and I think it looks pretty good; I'd still prefer dark red, but this version is definitely worth a look. Again, please backup your copy of the xmas style and replace it with this one to test this out.

[Crane]

I haven't got too strong an opinion on this, but I figure this might be a good place to mention a possible error in the original Xmas graphics... the top of the yellow stocking on the fireplace object has a transparent band that should be yellow like the other stockings.  This seems to be an error that occured when the object was two seperate entities... the static chimney (that contained the error) and the animated fireplace.

[WillLem]

I haven't got too strong an opinion on this, but I figure this might be a good place to mention a possible error in the original Xmas graphics... the top of the yellow stocking on the fireplace object has a transparent band

Thanks for mentioning this Crane, here's a fixed version (attached).

Meanwhile, does anyone have any thoughts on the sprite recolourings?

[WillLem]

Really, nothing? There are only 12 days until Christmas, let's get some discussion going!

[jkapp76]

I'm using your new theme with the dark red athletes.

I like it.

[WillLem]

I'm using your new theme with the dark red athletes.

I like it.

Nice one, Jeremy. I'm glad you approve

Anyone else have any thoughts?