Praise

[Brokenbone]

Corpse sniffing dog.

The halfling is Creslyn's.

[Creslyn]

Shhh, you'll give away my secrets

[Zelknolf]

I have the TGA version if needed.

Would need the image as a 32-bit TGA, or as something of high-enough quality to be added seamlessly to one. The resolution of the screens in the haks is 1800 x 800, and it needs to look good at that resolution (as it can display at it) though obviously the edited section doesn't need to rock those numbers (it just needs to fit in when dropped into place and look good). Can find a full-size image here: https://github.com/ALandFarAway/ALFA-Ba ... ric_01.tga : if it's needed.

Would also strongly recommend research into paving and how it was done in the ancient world, especially among the Caliphates from the 6th to 10th century. Best to be suspicious of folk who insist that ancient people weren't sophisticated and didn't use available materials to improve their own lives in creative (and often silly or ironically fatal) ways. Kinda hard to stop humans from doing that.

[kid]

Zelk,
I want them all to read at my leasure...
I never manage to read them all the way through...

Can you link them somewhere?

(didnt check what you linked to swift cuase I assume thats just the sune one...)

Also... pretty... but you already know that.

[Zelknolf]

(didnt check what you linked to swift cuase I assume thats just the sune one...)

And it was precisely my plan, for I may now call you a fool for it. Bwahaha. AHAHAHA.

Ahem.

More to the point, ALFA's core content remains free for anyone to view at their leisure (and is likely to stay there in the forseeable future. All of the folk who we have who can do the TA's job seem to agree that the common player should have as much transperency as he or she is willing to keep up with). You could indeed get to all of the loading screens by clicking around after following that link, or could peek at the actual list, as it exists in current development, here: https://github.com/ALandFarAway/ALFA-Ba ... fa2_pr.hak

That'll be the most recent versions, though, and won't always reflect what's in game (for instance, most of the screens erroneously report ALFA's url as being a .com instead of a .org in game, and that's not a problem any more on the copies on the repository).

And, obviously, the .xml and .2da files require a little more proficiency to read, though you're entirely welcome to look at those too. You want the area transition event in alfa2_acr.hak if you want to see how we decide what to display.

[I-KP]

Best to be suspicious of folk who insist that ancient people weren't sophisticated and didn't use available materials to improve their own lives in creative (and often silly or ironically fatal) ways.

Yes, quite. As it happens I live about 15 minutes walk from an uncovered original Roman road surface that's nigh on 1800 years old. Parts of the bedding sand and mortar are exposed but a large section of it still sports lengths of square stone paving, and some of the rolled hard core set into a concrete is incredibly well preserved given its age. The excavation is widely studied as being one of the finest accessible examples of not only Romano-Etruscan but also classical antiquity road construction technology outside of the Mediterranean region itself - with Mesopotamian bitumen and hard core mix surfaces being crude and comparatively loose by comparison - and as far as memory serves not one single inch of it was ever made of machine-rolled tarmac.

Point being that the road in the above image is machine-rolled tarmac, and what is more I am probably older than that road surface (and probably look it to boot). In the interests of making the image slightly less jarring and 'immersion breaking' by giving it a paved, cambered look at practically no cost to myself or anyone else, this can only help. We can continue to argue the toss over ancient road building techniques if you wish to but in the meantime I will email the full 32-bit TGA image edit to a location of your choosing because I've ran out of hosting capacity on my web host; alternatively, I could drop it into either the BG or MS ftp sites. Please let me know.

EDIT: I've dropped it into the MS ftp space with filename of ALFA_generic_01_ikp.rar.

[maxcell]

I-KP, rumor has it you do look older. That being said, I really like the tweak of the road on the right in your side by side.

on a side note, Zelkly, where did you get that photo? I love the composition, I collect art that has that greyed out dreary-dead look speaks to me

[I-KP]

I-KP, rumor has it you do look older.

I'll have you know I look bloody fabulous clad neck-to-foot in all of my LARPing regalia, but that's a photograph for another thread.



And yes, it is a very pretty photograph [man walking dog] - worthy of tweaking to fit IMO.

[Zelknolf]

Imagine it would be foolish to continue a debate that references different cultures in different centuries, especially when we agree that a road made from discernable stones would be the more-likely road (and thus the more generic, which is rather connected to the next point...).

Can we get the spear out of the image? The goal was a generic image that could be re-used when we lack any visual at all for a screen, and spears begin to identify a figure with culture and profession, when we can really only identify the common PC in ALFA as traveling more than a reasonable person would.

As for source the image, Max, it was shamelessly plucked from Googling. I think I searched on "black forest" or "grey forest" or such? It definitely took some editing after I got my hands on it, but the core is/was pretty untouched.

[I-KP]

Can we get the spear out of the image? The goal was a generic image that could be re-used when we lack any visual at all for a screen, and spears begin to identify a figure with culture and profession, when we can really only identify the common PC in ALFA as traveling more than a reasonable person would.

Someone carrying a spear (a simple weapon IIRC) offends ALFA's DnD pedigree but machine-rolled tarmac doesn't? Please explain if I've missed the plot somewhere around here but this strikes me as being monumentally petty.

Look, I edited the image in an effort to bring it more into line with the feel of the game but you continue to find fault. If this has offended your ego to such a spectacular degree, then leave it. It really isn't worth the agro.

[Heero]

Many classes receive Handle Animal as a class skill which would enable them to easily train a dog. Furthermore, a regular dog aint normally on the lists of animal companions.

[I-KP]

Many classes receive Handle Animal as a class skill which would enable them to easily train a dog. Furthermore, a regular dog aint normally on the lists of animal companions.

In before the edit.

Realised that, and changed tack.

[Heero]

Well I like your edit, but I do agree a bout the spear. The person in that image is clearly my PC, and my PC doesnt use a spear.

[I-KP]

Well I like your edit, but I do agree a bout the spear. The person in that image is clearly my PC, and my PC doesnt use a spear.

It can't be your PC because that's too specific. In fact, it's about as specific as it can get. So you LIE! I'm onto you - and your pooch.

[Castano]

I like the image the way it is you can't tell what the non paved road is made of...could be dirt etc. A whole selection of images like that would be hot as load screens. That's my two-cents.