[CF-Devel] xpm removal???

[Michael Toennies]

Because i was the person who starts the "png only" discussion,
let me say some word about it.

As all know, we had a big problem with artists - means we had no one
who really draw for us. Pungapointer and DB draw some, but they
don't really work on the set.

What most don't see is, that the artist who draw the natural xpm
set was a real good one - and one which draws a lot.

But the xpms are a 2-4 color set in most pictures. Only a few had
more than 10 colors.

Also, xpms are NOT good in performance. They are NOT fast on slow systems.
Because, they start to be big with more data. And they must be parsed when
first
loaded!

A normal png has same length as a xpm - and starting be smaller with more
colors
compared to a xpm. So make a xpm with >128 colors and you will be VERY upset
about
the file length.

I can thing only about a non caching, low connect low memory system which
will only run
with 2 colors xBm's .

But really, we NOT want to block all the new thing future brings for playing
on old terminals.

Also on smaller systems or black white systems a good implementation for the
pngs should
be NOT much slower than xpms. And the pnglib can transform a png in nearly
every screen format
that exists.

In fact, the pngs can all what a xpm picture can and much more.
So changing to pngs is not doing things different. Its simply do it BETTER.
Its not a STYLE question - its a simply technical step to be up to date.

I found the discussion about the good xpms and bad pngs very stupid - as god
has
send us the pngs or make the xpms unique.

Of course, we must do some work to bring the set up. But there is no reason
why then
the png set will not be nicer than the xpm. In fact, they will be nicer in a
few weeks.

Look for the real new pictures and monsters - they are great!

I found the way some people say, "let all how it is, because i want play it
on xy" very
egoistic.

Also, i had a bad taste about the first mail of this thread from rower.

Well, when we really not need new gfx and only maps... Why you don't start
up making them?
Where are all your great maps? Where is your work in this area?

Xpm get removed because people in the dev start to work on them. We had
created a goal
and we start to working on it.

Its simple to cry about the things - but you had not worked for it.

We do. I had wrote about 75 mails to artists. And i had got only 5 serious
answers!!
And its hard to include them in the work.

They don't come out and say: "Great we want to work for you, tell me how can
i serve you."
Forget it, it will need time and work to include them in CF.

One thing we had to do is, to make the things easy. To think about how in
future the development
can be done. Future means to create a serious, easy to use gfx interface for
CF.

Using 3 sets and black&white gfx for old unix systems is not the way.
There are many project out there, which died because they get smashed from
there own
weigth - from stuff no one want or need anymore but can't be removed.

I can't ask a serious artist yet or in future to draw in 3 or even in 2
different styles, sets
and formats for CF. NEVER!!

Holding xpms and xbms means to skip FOR ALL TIMES the gfx development for
CF.
(Drawing all few month a new xpm means no development, really.)
Even think about it or saying thats good or useful is stupid.
This will end in the end of CF, believe me.

Going to PNGs means to have a stable, cross platform, future save system.
The pnglib is easy to use, the format can used for many other ideas (alpha
mask, blending).

I don't like the way the technical part of changing to pngs is mixed with
sentence like:
"xpms looks better" or "they can do the same" or "we don't need it".
Thats all not very serious to talk like that. And its not clever to remove
the option
to makes thing better because people fear to lose something they don't
really know.
That human like, but not clever.

What we need is better gfx!
What we need are better maps!
What we need is a new and better map editor / resource editor!

But we had to work for it! And there will be no POOF and all is done and
fine.
And no one will pay us money. And perhaps some things will going/looking
strange.

But thats normal in a project who goes on.

In the moment, we find all is perfect and there is no more work to do, CF is
dead.
But at this time, CF is really on the road.
There is so much done in the last year, like in many years ago not.
I hope, this will be going on!