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QCF Design Community • View topic - Outstanding Palette Swaps
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Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:09 pm
by Darvin
Towards the end of its development, the art assets of Desktop Dungeons have matured and it has become less reliant on palette swaps. For the most part, the remaining palette swaps come across as intentional variants rather than lazy reuse. However, there are a couple outstanding palette swaps that bug me. I'm wondering if there is any possibility of the following getting addressed:

Vampiric Blade / Really Big Sword: this one kinda sticks out like a sore thumb, since the palette swap itself is quite subtle and it's actually possible to prep both simultaneously.

Amulet of Yendor / Witchalok Pendant / Pendant of Mana / Spider Amulet: partially alleviated in the case of the Witchalok Pendant due to being a small item, but in all three cases blue is the dominant colour. Consider at very least a more diverse range of colours for a more distinguishable palette swap. (thanks Lujo for mentioning Spider Amulet)

Dwarven Gauntlets / Martyr Wraps: the colours are very similar and these are difficult to tell apart. The gloves of midas is also a palette swap, but its color scheme is very different so it's a non-issue.

Regular Shop / Potion Shop: as a red/green colour-blind gamer, I need to look carefully to tell these apart. If there is no intent of having different art, could the palette swap at least be made more obvious?

Bandits / Berserkers: these enemies appear identical, and occasionally you can get both the bandit and berserker boss. (thanks FDru for mentioning this)

Slayer Wand / Piercing Wand / Wand of Splosion: these are subtle palette swaps. Justified in the case of the Wand of Splosion due to how quickly it can enter and exit your inventory, but the other wands can sit in your inventory all game. (thanks Lujo for mentioning this)

Blacksmith Sword / Blade of Yin / Yang's Sword / Penance / Bound Blade / Dancing Sword (enemy): possibly one of the game's most over-used sprites. The obscurity of some of these items is a bit of a mitigating factor, but there are so many that it's a bit much. (thanks Lujo for mentioning this)

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:43 pm
by OneMoreNameless
I agree with this topic. Palette swaps in general haven't come across as lazy because, well, graphics are about the least concern to me personally for a tile-based rogueliker puzzler (I would still play this were it ASCII, heh), but there are a few specific instances where it has caused me some brief confusion or irritation. Since I've at times held either in my locker, the close similarity between Yendor and Witchalok has caused me a couple of time to forget or mistake which one I have there at first glance. The other problem is the frequent re-use of sprites without even palette swapping for enemies with different stats or abilities - AFAIR this only comes up in the class challenges and puzzles (... and maybe a subdungeon or two, hello first-striking serpent), but it can be a bit of a headache with the mental associations you've built up during normal play. Some tweaked graphics or distinctly recoloured varieties would help in this case.

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:48 pm
by Wargasm
I pay graphics so little mind I hadn't even noticed those were palette swaps. (Nor did I know potion stores and other stores were supposed to look differen.)

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:05 pm
by FDru
I always confuse bandits and berserkers.

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:19 pm
by Lujo

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:17 pm
by Darvin
Yeah, the basic "sword" gets reused a lot. There the Sword, the Sword of Ying, Yang's Blade, Bound Blade, Penance, and the Dancing Blade (a monster that looks like an item). That's actually probably one of the most egregiously overused sprites!

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:19 pm
by Lujo

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:17 am
by Wargasm
Speaking of Protect.exe, I need that for my codex. Does that subdungeon spawn more in a particular direction/area? I have armour.exe.

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:39 am
by Lujo
It's the same subdungeon, it's spawns in the north (I think), except you need to hand cydstepp to the golem (I think).

EDIT: In reply to the post below since I want to stop being the last guy posting in every thread in on the first page, I'm not sure where that subdungeon spawns, but I sort of think it's in the north.

Re: Outstanding Palette Swaps

PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 1:24 am
by Wargasm
Oh I know it's the same sub, and the wiki gives all the formulae, I just don't recall if it tends to spawn in a certain direction and the wiki doesn't mention. But you say north and I seem to have a recollection of seeing it in both Shifting Passages and the Labyrinth, so you're probably right.