It looks like the link i promised to my proposal for terrain
archetypes wasn't there.
This is the thread i mentioned:
http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8801
But i'll sum up the idea here for clarity.
Definitions:
Terrain:
A graphic you see on the screen. I.E. Elvish Castle and Human Castle
are different terrains even though they have the same properties for
MV/Def. Individual Terrain names need not be presented to the player.
Terrain Archetype:
A fundimental group of terrains with unique MV/Def values. A Terrain
Archetype usually should have multiple terrain graphics, but only one
name— which is not generally the name of an individual terrain.
• Impassable (cave wall, impasable mountains, void)
• Unwalkable (chasm, lava)
• Underground (cave)
• Mountains
• Hills
• Forest
• Mushrooms?
• Fortification (castle, encampment)
• Keep (a special case. has same MV/Def values as castle but has
other gameplay effects, status as archetype: debatable)
• Village
• Frozen (snow, ice)
• Flat (grassland, road, etc.)
• Sand (beach, desert)
• Swamp
• Shallow Water
• Deep Water
Terrain Archetypes may be combined to create hybrid terrains (like the
bridge, flat + shallow water), just as terrains currently are.
Technical Advantage:
The current system of aliases off of displayable terrain is a little
confusing and could be messed up by doing things like making a
circular series of aliases. Though, this is not too hard to avoid.
Player Ease of Use Advantage:
The player doesn't need to be told that he's on a "Savanah" or
"Dwarvish Castle Ruin" hex, in the terrain name display in the upper
right. What he needs to know is what game rules apply to that hex.
It's not otherwise ovbious that "snow" and "ice" (for instance) have
the same mechanics, especially when the name used in the MV/Def chart
is often cut off.
The simplest and most direct way of providing that info the player
needs is via the name of the terrain archetype(s), and nothing else.
As terrain artists we have done a pretty good job with these
graphics. I'm mildly insulted by the idea that the player needs a
text description to tell the difference between the tropical and
coniferous forests (for example)— not that it would hinder anyone's
ability to play the game if the player indeed couldn't tell what they
where supposed to be.
--- j. w. bjerk / "eleazar"
www.jwbjerk.com
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