Alexander Wagner wrote:
> Joost 't Hart wrote:
>
> Hi!
>
>> Alexander Wagner wrote:
>>> Joost 't Hart wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi!
>>>
>>>> $ Error in startup script: image format "png" is not supported
>>>> while executing
>>>> "image create photo FICSrelayedgames -format png -data {
>>>
>>> Till now we only used GIF for the icons troughout Scid mainly to
>>> avoid this problem and keep deps low.
>>>
>>> Should this be changed?
>>
>> Hm, I think it is not an either/or,
>
> In a way it is, cause this lib required is not in the
> default TCL install for many Unix/Linux distributions, and
> as we do not have packages that handle deps yet... Thats why
> I brought up that point.
Got that, yes. What I wanted to say is that it need not be a goal as
such to keep deps low if they can easily be satisfied, as in this case.
The release notes or userdoc or whatever tells me I have to have tcl8.5
running for scid to run, which is fine. The same could be the case for
other packages, provided that they are at least available for some set
of distros that we want to "support."
As you suggest below, I feel it is a matter of politeness to actually
check the availability of these packages during startup, if possible.
The crash I saw is certainly not the way to go.
>
>>> Of course, droping the limitation of 256 colours in PNG
>>> gives nicer controls, usually. However, I discovered that
>>> Gnome industrial/Gnome stock looks pretty good 256
>>> colours as well. (Thats why I used them for CC controls.)
>>>
>>
>> Yeah, I actually was not aware that an alternate
>> (supposedly better) png piece set was being used with
>> libtk-img installed, if Pascal had not mentioned it
>> explicitly.
>
> Ok, they're around for quite a while, and it's "hidden" in
> ChangeLog for 3.6.24. However, probably at least a startup
> message shoud show up if this package is not found? (Does it
> already? I have this package for a while now.)
Nope. Pretty sure about that. I get such message because of a missing
sound package. Never mind, I do not even have a sound card installed :-)
>
>> Only then I recognised some minor imperfections along the
>> edges of some pieces at some board sizes (quite irregular,
>> I must say) that I had not noticed with the gifs before
>> :-)
>
> Well, ther're several sets that actually look a lot nicer in
> PNG. Namely Merida 1 and 2, the two Fantasy sets, Kindom and
> USCF.
Ha, the Merida 1 and 2 are better quality, yes! I like Merida 2 best,
although on my screen the pieces seem slightly 'unsharp' on black
squares (scheme 6, that is) - somehow. But this might be really awkward
blending...
>
>
>>> Or should we have two sets?
>>
>> Hm, no not perse, I think; as long as is clear what is
>> required to get stuff going.
>
> See the pont above.
>
>>> I gather those icons were chosen from some existing set. Of course,
>>> personal preferences enter here. I acutally do not care to much but
>>> would suggest not to use icons with to low a contrast. E.g. I've
>>> some problems with the Crystal set quite popular in the KDE world.
>>> (For me it's contrast is to low.)
>>
>> I tried the FICS interface for the first time today (managed to
>> actually play a guest game, after I had discovered I had to disable
>> timeseal).
>
> FYI: You need to install a timeseal binary you can download
> from FICS for it to work and point to it properly. This one
> is closed source binary only, therefore it is not in Scid.
Sure, but what "need" is there to install it? My game ran pretty much ok.
>
>> Looks pretty good; maybe the icons look a bit lonely in
>> their panel if you make the freechess dialog wider...
>
> Well, I took it as message from Pascal: more to come here :)
> I'll stay tuned.
>
>>> Additionally, should we also come to an agreement about the sizes of
>>> the individual controls to get a similar look and feel troughout the
>>> app? (I just wonder as till now the tendency was to make all
>>> controls as small as possible while in FICS currently the Icons are
>>> quite large.)
>>> Also for consistency of the GUI, where should we use textual buttons
>>> and where should we use icons only?
>>>
>> Hm, this is truely a matter of taste. I prefer to stay away from
>> those discussions. Maybe we should find a UI designer and put the
>> thing in his/her hands.
>
> If you have one at hand...
>
Not readily available, no. But having this discussion in public may have
its merits ;-)
Cheers,
Joost.
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