Show off your REXPAINT creations

[Kyzrati]

Nice, b_sen! I'll have to send you some more info and advice on fonts

[b_sen]

Now in the proper font, and looking much better for it!

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a05LYHA.png

[close]

And a spoilers-redacted version, for those who want to get a taste of how the Complex sees things without seeing any spoilers:

[Kyzrati]

Beautiful! <3

[b_sen]

A composite piece depicting what can happen if you choose to test the defenses of your Complex (parts and matter display turned off because they would clog things up immensely):



And some more Cogmind spoilers:

Spoiler

It delights me that laying Complex 0b1 out with the same floor names as Complex 0b10 is sufficient to keep the above image spoiler-free; anyone who doesn't already know about MAIN.C deliberately attracting attention from the Sigix has no reason to think the @s are anything other than a band of marauding Cogminds attacking from the surface.  On the other hand, anyone who does know need only check the in-game time to confirm that the "defense test" is indeed from the Sigix ship MAIN.C lured in.

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Fun facts:

• When working on the original New Game mockup, it took me more time to work out what to show (astronomical properties of the star system, interlocking continent outlines, appropriate UI element positioning, etc.) than to actually draw it in.
• These mockups continue to be excellent practice for using REXPaint quickly on tests, which I managed to get it approved for!
• I've been thinking that this hypothetical prequel would be even better than Cogmind for getting players used to reading ASCII maps - because on top of all of Cogmind's accessibility features, designing and naming a robot or part includes picking its glyph and color, allowing the process of learning to read an ASCII map to be separated from the process of learning to decode most of the glyphs for a new game.  Plus it's much easier to accommodate player-designed content with picking glyphs and colors than it is with picking tiles, which would make the design choice to use ASCII maps make sense to more potential players.

[Kyzrati]

Wow this has really turned into a nice series. And pretty cool that it's become a helpful tool for tests

Haha so much stuff packed in these fun images...

Robot destroyed on -1/Access <x202>

I've always wanted to hold an event where everyone uses REXPaint to create roguelike/game mockups, but have been too busy with things. Will definitely do it one day, though... (along with even better RP updates)

[b_sen]

Wow this has really turned into a nice series. And pretty cool that it's become a helpful tool for tests

Thanks!  The series is definitely a fun way to push for tool and skill mastery in the features I need to be able to use fast; if I can do alternate-color-scheme map palettes for playing as the Complex, I can probably choose an appropriate set of grays to keep my lines distinct on a black-and-white printer.   (Which is not something I've had much trouble with before on assignments, but it's nice to know that mastery of expressive skills won't be a problem when I need it.)

Haha so much stuff packed in these fun images...

Robot destroyed on -1/Access <x202>

Haha, it is a mass defense test after all.  It's not like a late-game combat Cogmind strong enough for the bright red rating can't destroy a Complex robot every few turns or better when in battle, and that map view implies that over 400 attackers are in Access, so the math works out fine.  Plus the spread of debris implies some serious explosive power... there's a reason the Complex is sending its reinforcements in unending streams of ARCs.

On the other hand, the production logs show that the Complex is readily replacing all those lost robots, and probably picking the replacements to exploit the attackers' weaknesses.  There are even Mechanics behind the front lines to repair the few robots that are merely disabled, and Haulers to resupply the Mechanics with backup parts.  The thing about choosing to have your defenses tested is that you can come prepared.

I've always wanted to hold an event where everyone uses REXPaint to create roguelike/game mockups, but have been too busy with things. Will definitely do it one day, though... (along with even better RP updates)

Would be both fun and a good game interface design exercise; maybe by then I'll have something to mock up that's not running with an existing IP.  (Not that there's anything wrong with fanworks, but building a UI style is also good practice.)

[Laida]

some attempt to draw nature 

[b_sen]

Very nice gradients for objects from close to far!  That's tricky to do well in ASCII.

[Kyzrati]

Yeah the gradients look cool, and love the birds

[gumix]

I love the way trees are getting gradually smaller in this perspective from /|\ to ^

[Laida]

Very nice to see kind comments for my little works, thanks for all

[b_sen]

Another entry to the mockup series, this time depicting a little AI updating in the face of Derelict incursions:



(Also shown: the Technology log, and the reason why the Status window is sized as it is.)

[Kyzrati]

Oh nice, love the look of this. That dotted background came out great, and the tech log... overall lots of fun details in here

I like the UI concept you have there in the Saved Modules window, with the left/right interior edge shaded to show there's more to scroll!

[b_sen]

Oh nice, love the look of this. That dotted background came out great, and the tech log... overall lots of fun details in here

Thanks!  The look is the product of quite a bit of thought, since nearly all of it is features not present in Cogmind, so I'm glad it turned out well!    At first I was worried that the dotted background might be too much like the map (it's centered dots like the Cogmind map, but in dark green and different positions relative to the map grid), but with the very different objects on top it works out nicely.  As for the tech log, I made sure to put in research fitting the concerns the Complex would have at the time.

There are also lots of other fun details aimed at making a good interface.    For example, the light gray used for the "boot" initial state indicator appears nowhere else in the entire AI editor system, because the traditional FSM indicator for initial states isn't suitable for this and the boot state must be recognizable on sight as a matter of readability.  Likewise, the default context menu boundaries look a little too much like the transitions and sub-FSM containers in context, so for the top-level configuration menu I had them take on a hint of the color from the module they modify - it's not much of a change, but it helps the menu not be read as a module itself, ties the menu (which is module-specific) to that module, and improves the reading of the context sub-menus (since they often pop outside the top-level menu).  And the whole AI editor is set up to provide as much horizontal space as possible, since that space is in high demand for module labels.  Plus the many cross-screen color ties: combat AI states take their color from combat robots, noncombat states take related colors to noncombat robots (being used by both robot types), Fabricator status bars take their purple color theme from their close ties to matter, Research Group status bars take their color theme from their noncombatant nature and to leave green-red free for its usual UI purposes (which turn up both in the indicator boxes and in the region status bars), ...

I like the UI concept you have there in the Saved Modules window, with the left/right interior edge shaded to show there's more to scroll!

That was another detail I enjoyed, inspired by the scrolling in Cogmind's inventory (and also shown in the status window when the player has more than 26 regions / production units to show).  The background scrolls along with the modules, too - look closely and you'll see that it's not aligned with the main window background. 

[b_sen]

Another creation, this one animated!  Cogmind players may have a good idea what's going on here...



I've also started my own (spoilery!) thread for the prequel project, including a post in which I discuss some of the animation choices I made in this piece.

[1nfinitezer0]

Been playing around with RexPaint a lot since I recently discovered it. Eating up all my spare time, haha.

I've been working on concepts and mock ups for a 4X space game. Think StarFlightII meets Trade Wars 2002.

Made the attached before I discovered ASCII Patrol. Aiming for that era of games for the look.

Fond memories of 8 bit and MUDs but didn't have the chops to make anything beyond crappy text adventure games at the time.

[Kyzrati]

Nice work! This is really pretty, and I love checking out mockups, do share more of your concepts when you have them

Having really enjoyed some of those back in the 90s (MOO2!) I've wanted to make a 4X myself for a long time, and think it'd be really suited to the ASCII style.

[1nfinitezer0]

Thanks!

It's mostly just exploration of screen layouts and placeholder graphics I'm making right now - to have something to evoke mood while we polish the core game loops. And I don't consider myself that good of an artist {/apologetic Canadian}

I was familiar with DFs & love rogue-lites, but it wasn't till I started to do some art research for this project that I discovered the amazing modern ASCII/ANSI developments happening. Both Cogmind and Brogue are particularly striking. You're bringing something fresh and exciting to the world.

Lots of nostalgia in this style, but it's a tricky form... particularly the drastic changes to appearance of details with changing font sizes. Fun to explore a new medium though.

[gumix]

Your planet looks gorgeous on 'a new medium'

[Kyzrati]

It's mostly just exploration of screen layouts and placeholder graphics I'm making right now

Yeah I do a lot of this, too--REXPaint's become invaluable for helping guide development. And we definitely run into lots of tricky situations to handle with the medium, but as you say the exploration is fun.

Great mockup! I believe this should end up in the gallery when I next update it

[gumix]

After long time I have something to post here - inventory window prototype with few examples of items.

[Kyzrati]

Hey gumix, thanks for sharing, I'll definitely include this in the next gallery update. Nice to see your project still going after all this time! Even at this early stage it's gotten quite popular and I've seen it mentioned across numerous sites and chat rooms these months

[gumix]

Thx, it became so popular after bluedrake42's video on YT, shortly after Polyducks retwitted my old stuff.

[SHADOWELITE7]

Decided to create a new profile using rexpaint

[Xii]

Oh yea, I used this for gamedev technical sketching.