The impossible dream? #'s on overlays?

esprcorn

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Feature request... will it one day be possible to get the board hex ID to show up on the overlays? Not usually an issue unless you have a very large overlay in which case it would be very helpful.
 

jrv

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Could be implemented by having a set of board ids as a separate layer on a mostly transparent image, then masking the board id layer with the overlays and putting it on top of the board. The layer with with ids might be static, or it might just be drawn using dynamic graphics functions.

JR
 

zgrose

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What would it be useful to do? Not that it might not be handy for something, but there are so many easy ways to get the hex ID during play. Perhaps there is any easy way to get the info you need/want without changing anything?
 

jrv

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What would it be useful to do? Not that it might not be handy for something, but there are so many easy ways to get the hex ID during play. Perhaps there is any easy way to get the info you need/want without changing anything?
How can you get the hex id of an overlay hex, other than counting out the ids by hand?

edit: Ah, checking LOS will show the ID even though it can't check LOS.

JR
 

zgrose

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You can also select (or place) a counter on the hex.
 

jrv

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Even though there are work-arounds, having the actual feature would be better. The question then is whether this feature is more important than some other.

JR
 

zgrose

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Even though there are work-arounds, having the actual feature would be better. The question then is whether this feature is more important than some other.

JR
Personally I would look at removing the on-map hex ID text first and using the VASSAL generated hex IDs in their place. Those might display on top of every that is a board image. If they don't that's why I'd direct development efforts. There are tons of useful VASSAL features that VASL doesn't leverage due to the age and size of the module.
 

DougRim

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I am not really a graphics guy but removing the hex ID text from all of the existing .gif files seems like a LOT of work to me. Generating the hex IDs is actually done in VASL I believe, but in any event, it is done. But then displaying them is another issue (what if the board is flipped?). Since, as you say Zoltan, there are easy ways to find the hex ID, I personally don't think the benefit is worth the effort.
 

jrv

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I am not really a graphics guy but removing the hex ID text from all of the existing .gif files seems like a LOT of work to me. Generating the hex IDs is actually done in VASL I believe, but in any event, it is done. But then displaying them is another issue (what if the board is flipped?). Since, as you say Zoltan, there are easy ways to find the hex ID, I personally don't think the benefit is worth the effort.
Whether it would be hard depends on the .psd file. For bd1 the hex numbers are on a layer that they (unfortunately) share with the hex lines and the (standard) center dots. To remove the hex numbers you'd would have to remove this layer and add, I recommend, two layers, one with hex lines and one with hex centers. You'd have to generate the two new layers, which would take a bit, then assuming all the all the other bd files are the same you'd have to repeat this for all the boards. Not a few minutes work but not more than a day or two. You might opt to have two different behaviors: boards that already have numbers and boards that need them drawn. That would allow legacy boards and boards that are unlikely to have overlays (e.g. CG boards) to be used as they are today, while geomorphic boards would have vasl draw the hex numbers for them.

JR
 

DougRim

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Well, good luck to anyone who feels like taking this on.
 

zgrose

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But then displaying them is another issue (what if the board is flipped?).
Great question. I don't know if VASSAL internally understands flipping. That might be a roadblock. Either way, I wouldn't mess with anything major until we know if VASSAL 4 will ever see the light of day.
 
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