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Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Flags for MWIF (1/5/2006 4:47:27 PM)
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Here is my conclusion on the flags. I'll revisit it in a month or 2 but for now I am putting it to bed and moving on to other things.
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The Use of Flags in MWIF
(as of January 5, 2006)
MWIF uses flags for two primary purposes: to indicate which major power controls territory and to indicate which major power is on move. In both cases the bitmapped image of each flag, as it appears on the screen, is small, only 48 pixels wide by 24 pixels high in 24 bit color.
There are 238 named countries, territories, and geographical areas in MWIF and 128 of them have units. Potentially, flags for each of these could be included in the game. However, the purpose of MWIF is to enable players to play World in Flames, not be a device for displaying flags. So, there are only 9 different flags used in MWIF, one for each of the 9 major powers that can ultimately control territory as defined in World in Flames, Final Edition. These are the same 9 major powers that can potentially be on move. In no particular order they are:
1 - Nationalist China
2 - Communist China
3 - Japan
4 - USSR
5 - Germany
6 - France (France before Vichy, Free France, and Vichy France)
7 - Italy
8 - Commonwealth
9 - United States
As indicated above, there are 3 different flags used for France. Vichy France is never “on move”. Its units are controlled by either Germany or Italy depending on which of them declared a Vichy France. However, for game play purposes, it is important to indicate which hexes are Vichy France, so a different flag is shown to indicate hexes in Vichy France.
MWIF has a separate subdirectory just for bitmapped images of flags. The players can change which bitmapped image is used for each major power whenever they wish, as one of the standard game interface options. Most of the bitmapped images in the directory when MWIF ships are 256 pixels wide by 128 pixels high, 24 bit color, BMP files. These images are compressed automatically by the program to the 48 by 24 images shown on the screen.
Here is a list of the different flags in the directory. Where more than one is listed, the asterisk indicates the starting game default.
1 just 1 flag
2 just 1 flag
3 official Rising Sun flag of Japan and a “Sun Burst” flag (*)
4 just 1 flag
5 plain Red Cross in White Circle; modified official German flag with Iron Cross replacing the swastika; simplified modified official German flag, with the smaller Iron Cross removed (*); tricolor black, white, and red; tricolor black, gold, and red; official German flag of the late 19th century
6 just 1 of each
7 simple tricolor; official Italian flag of the period; official Italian battle flag of the period (*)
8 official Commonwealth flag, Union Jack (*)
9 official USA of the period
Players can add their own flags to this directory. Each added flag has to be a 24 bit, BMP file but it can be of any width and height. The program will automatically stretch and/or shrink them to 48 by 24 for display on the screen. Note that this can cause distortion to occur if the BMP images are not in a 2:1 ratio of width to height.
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