DD/Buildsystem/Building dimensions

From Unknown Horizons

Proposal

Summary

To define the dimensions of a building in tilesize (tile 64x32px) there are currently 4 factors to start with:

• The size of residents is 2x2 tiles which should define the basic size of a common building in UH.
• The size of the market place is 6x6 tiles which is the dimension of 3x3 residents which consequently defines a block and the maximum size not to exceed.
• A building is wether occuring in one increment only and dimension has just fit into town planning definitions OR it will appear over several increments and the building's level is upgradable what means the dimensions have to be fixed.
• A building is likely to be placed in a block or not.

There are currently 6 sizes in definition:

• SMALL - 1x1 tiles (streets, walls, trees and other small structures)
• MEDIUM or NORMAL - 2x2 tiles (residents as indicator for common buildings including production and service buildings like weavers, schools or a gallow)
• LARGE - 2x4 tiles (bigger production and service buildings like a inn, a smith or a real church)
• VERY LARGE - 4x4 tiles (buildings like a university, a fortress and such)
• SUPER LARGE - 4x6 tiles (buildings like a cathedral and a palace)
• EXCEPTIONAL - tilesize depending on need

The last size definition (EXCEPTIONAL) covers all buildings wich need different sizes to look right or to be effective. Buildings like the market place (6x6 tiles), farms (3x3 tiles), plantations (3x3 tiles) and branch office (which should be bigger than it is know - like 2x6 or something).

One of the most important thing to think about is if a building is likely to be placed within a block of residents or not. If it is we will have to avoid white space. A church with dimensions of 2x3 tiles will leave a gap of 2x1 tiles in a block. This should not happen because it is annoying for players trying to achieve a clean town planning. In this case a church should wether be 2x2 tiles or 2x4 tiles. The maximum size of a block is 6x6 tiles and should never be exceeded. If a building is not likely to be placed in a block (like a farm or a mine) it is possible to be less carefull with dimensions. E.g. current decision is to leave farms and plantations e.g. with a size of 3x3 tiles because 2x2 tiles is to small and 4x4 tiles is definitly to big because agricultural structures (fields and so on) are meant to be the same size of the farm or plantation.

Another likewise important thing is to keep in mind if you need fixed dimensions or not. Building level upgrades happen every increment. The residents will develope from tents to cottages to houses to villas. A tent could stick to a size of 1x1 tiles, BUT as soon as it developes it will need more space. Before creating a new building the artist should think about how many increments a building will be updatable and how much space it will need when development is finished. There are three possibilities to handle this problem:

1. Define a fixed size which will provide enough space for all development levels of buildings and let the player update them w/o destroying and building the new version (optimal).
2. Define new sizes for each development level and contrain the player to destroy the old one and replace it with the new version (worst case).
3. Define a fixed size for the building until a new development level exceeds this size and then constrain the player to destroy and replace it with a newer version (solid work around).

The first case should be used as much as possible, but of course will not work for every building. The most obvious example is a resident which will be 2x2 tiles in size for all increments as well as the market place will be 6x6 tiles for all increments. The branch office should be of the same size either, but it is difficult to provide nice graphics for a low level building which will be pretty large in the finale state of development. Maybe an exceptional solution is needed then.

The second case should never really happen or just if the next level of development is rather a complete new building. There is currently no example and hopefully never will be!

The third case will happen most likely even more than the first one. A common example is the lumberjack which will develope from a tent to a blockhouse to some framework building. After the third level of development the player can keep it as it is, or replace it with a saw mill which will be bigger in size. Another example is the church which will develope from from a tent/sunsail to a wooden chapel to a framework chapel which against could be replaced by a framework church in the same increment which will develope to a stone church and maybe to a nicer stone church just to be replaced by a cathedral in the final state of development which will be definitely super large in size.

Those paragraphs are guidlines not detailed definitions for the different buildings. In the end it will have to be carefully discussed how to solve the occuring problems for each building individually.

Open questions

None so far.

Phasing

General

Essential.