03-14-2007, 07:42 PM
I forgot about the standard/custom categories. I don't know whether that's happening or not. That would make things easier, but there don't seem to be very many people who have the tech know-how to do the custom graphics. You did a whole tutorial on it, though, so everybody who wants to put the time in to learn should be on equal footing.
But you're right: part of the expansion's purpose is to showcase MM's ability to support easier custom graphics, and I'm sure Vern would like to encourage mansion designers to include them. For my part, I consider the basic design of the mansion before anything else, but if a mansion designer makes custom graphics, and they contribute to the atmosphere and fun of a mansion, then that's a part of good design.
I just wanted to emphasize that if we do judge mansions with custom graphics directly against those without, the newness and brilliantness of the new graphics would not give a mediocre mansion an unfair advantage over a great mansion.
And let's remember, the expansion will come with a full set of new and fresh graphics for everyone to play with. So to a certain extent, everybody who participates will be using custom graphics.
And lastly, the way the program has worked since 1.0.7 (or 1.0.6, I forget), is that you can add as many or as few custom tiles to your mansions as you like. You don't have to overhaul the whole graphics engine. A mansion could use one or two new tiles very effectively. We just haven't seen a lot of that yet, what with the trend towards total mods. You can get some very nice effects without having a lot of graphic art skill. Take it from me.
But you're right: part of the expansion's purpose is to showcase MM's ability to support easier custom graphics, and I'm sure Vern would like to encourage mansion designers to include them. For my part, I consider the basic design of the mansion before anything else, but if a mansion designer makes custom graphics, and they contribute to the atmosphere and fun of a mansion, then that's a part of good design.
I just wanted to emphasize that if we do judge mansions with custom graphics directly against those without, the newness and brilliantness of the new graphics would not give a mediocre mansion an unfair advantage over a great mansion.
And let's remember, the expansion will come with a full set of new and fresh graphics for everyone to play with. So to a certain extent, everybody who participates will be using custom graphics.
And lastly, the way the program has worked since 1.0.7 (or 1.0.6, I forget), is that you can add as many or as few custom tiles to your mansions as you like. You don't have to overhaul the whole graphics engine. A mansion could use one or two new tiles very effectively. We just haven't seen a lot of that yet, what with the trend towards total mods. You can get some very nice effects without having a lot of graphic art skill. Take it from me.