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Now that I'm upgrading my game's palette a little, I've noticed how painful it <BR>
is to keep track of every graphical element in the game from tilesets to UI <BR>
color options. It seems like one little shift of the color placement can wreck <BR>
months, if not years of work if one's not careful.<BR>
<BR>
I know that a full 16 million color palette is a long way off, if it's ever <BR>
destined to become a feature at all, but how reasonable would it be to split <BR>
the graphical components (tilesets, sprites, backdrops, etc.) into separate <BR>
planes and to allow each plane to use its own palette?<BR>
<BR>
For example:<BR>
<BR>
What if maptiles had a dedicated palette that sprites, battle backdrops, etc. <BR>
did not interfere with?<BR>
<BR>
What if sprites could dip into their own dedicated palette and promise the <BR>
player a consistency of appearance, despite the changes that may happen on the <BR>
surface of the alien world?<BR>
<BR>
I think since we have the option to store a bunch of palettes in our game <BR>
files and since we can switch them on the fly using plotscript commands, why <BR>
not go an extra step and dedicate palettes to various graphical components in <BR>
custom and even allow custom to manage them in-game?<BR>
<BR>
We've already been given the ability to split maps into multiple layers, so <BR>
would it be possible to extend this idea into the area where custom <BR>
handles palette displays?<BR>
<BR>
I figure, each component can stick to its current limitations (maptiles and <BR>
screens with 256 color palettes and sprites with 16 colors (though, 16 from a <BR>
dedicated sprite palette that may canvas 256)), so it's not like we would need <BR>
to display 257 colors or more from a single component at once. But I think it <BR>
would be great if we could maintain the integrity of our character walkabouts <BR>
from the chosen palette, even though the map itself may boast an all new <BR>
flashy palette that the sprite cannot adjust to without its skin turning red <BR>
and its hair blue. It would also be nice to maintain our UI display colors, <BR>
textbox designs, etc., should we choose to maximize our tileset palettes by <BR>
adding a new color to the top left row (colors 1-16) instead of sticking <BR>
ourselves with repeated colors, like the ones we have in the default palette. <BR>
With the ability to store thousands of custom palettes in each game, it would<BR>
seem silly not to allow a position to use them effectively.<BR>
<BR>
And on the note of multiple palettes, would it be reasonable to add the <BR>
ability to load palettes automatically, instead of relying on a plotscript? <BR>
For example, when the player enters a new map or a battle screen, the music <BR>
can change. If we're being picky, we could also claim that the graphics <BR>
change. Would it be reasonable to add a bitset to all relevant gaming areas <BR>
that loads either the "default" palette or a custom palette? Again, this would <BR>
only be helpful if sprites, slices, textboxes, UI colors, and so forth could <BR>
be assigned their own palettes so that graphics don't end up clashing with one <BR>
another. But if any of this is possible, it would certainly upgrade the OHR's <BR>
graphic ability to a stellar level.<BR>
<BR>
This may have already been discussed at some point, but I'd like to bring it <BR>
up again in case the ideas for it had hit a standstill. It's bothered me for a <BR>
long time how uncooperative a single palette can be, especially when one <BR>
considers how many colors are represented in the real world. It also <BR>
frustrates me to know that all those extra palettes sitting in my game's <BR>
storage are there really only to tease me. "Come play with us," they say, and <BR>
yet I can do no such thing because that would mean changing the lead hero's <BR>
ethnicity from Caucasion to Frog. I think splitting the palette display into <BR>
sections and giving Custom the ability to assign specific palettes to specific <BR>
graphic components would really improve a game's overall presentation without <BR>
having to rewrite the entire color code into a massive 16 million color <BR>
display.<BR>
<BR>
Please consider this if it's at all possible to do such a thing. I'm posting here instead<BR>
of bugzilla since discussions about improvements seem more active here.<BR>
<BR>
Thanks.<BR>
<BR>
--Jeremy<BR> </body>
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