[CF-Devel] multi tile monsters - one png

[dnh]

Assuming this all works... I am very pleased to here this concept. While
we have autocutting scripts for monsters, it gets very tiresome.

dnh

On Fri, 13 Jul 2001, Michael Toennies wrote:

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      Hi
     
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      As i look at the new mapcmd code from mark, i notice that this opens the
     
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      door
     
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      to a nice feature - to avoid the cutting of multi tile monster pictures.
     
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      First, lets remember what multi tile monster means. They are needed for
     
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      server to
     
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      control monsters which reach over more than 1 tile.
     
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      In this process isn't a face(=png picture) involved or used - they are only
     
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      used on client side.
     
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      The client itself don't know anything about multi monsters nor about the
     
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      shown monsters -
     
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      it just print the pngs. A multi tile monster is for the client nothing
     
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      different than x single
     
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      tile pieces.
     
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      Well, to send all this parts, the server goes through the objects in a map
     
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      tile, collect and sort
     
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      them and send the attached faces/animation faces to the client.
     
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      Its easy now to include here a control. Every multi tile monster part knows
     
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      which his "first" tile
     
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      (=head) is and which his relative position to his own position is. So, its
     
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      easy to send this to the
     
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      client. Means this:
     
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      If (multi tile monster part)
     
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       goto head
     
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         if (this monster not shown this map update)
     
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           send client face + x offset of head + y offset of head
     
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           mark monster as shown this step
     
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      continue
     
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      This will of course invoke 2 more bytes at this point to the map cmd, but
     
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      because only ONE time a face
     
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      information get send from a multi tile monster, this will safe some byte at
     
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      the end.
     
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      On client side, there are many ways then to draw this right. Easiest way is
     
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      to clip it or to presort
     
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      it... Its not hard and there are some working ways.
     
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      What will give it to us?
     
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      For all clients, this is a great sacrifice for the artists. It will drawing
     
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      & storing of bigger monsters
     
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      some more easier. And this is REALLY a good thing.
     
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      For the iso client but even for the normal client, this will open the way
     
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      for some nicer layering.
     
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      I had worked with this before in other games, and you will really not miss
     
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      the picture tiling when
     
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      you had done this.
     
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      Its really needed for the iso client, because the cutting for iso multi is
     
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      very tricky and a pain in
     
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      a ass if you must do it with hands. And i don't want introduce here a
     
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      programm (scripting will not work
     
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      easily because you need some trick masks).
     
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