[Kde-games-devel] Oxygen (was Re: KMines SVG)

[Mauricio Piacentini]

Johann Ollivier Lapeyre wrote:
 > one. I know theses rules are limiting the artistic's freedom (yours like
 > mine), but kmine is not a single app, it's only a part of a bigger 
project,
 > KDE,  and if every apps is using its own colors,  KDE will be a mess for
 > the
 > eyes. This is the same things for lights and shaddows position
 > (something to
 > fix too, i think i will do after). On Oxygen, light is comming from the
 > top-right.

I personally do not think that the all game themes are subjected to the 
Oxygen guidelines in such a strict way, specially the rules regarding 
cartoony look, shadows, things like outlines in shapes, and others that 
are suggested for the icon set.
Of course, an Oxygen-labeled theme should try to comply as best as it 
could, and in this aspect I think that Johann has valid points, and has 
a lot of experience working with the Oxygen theme. If the theme is 
labeled Oxygen, then it should adhere to the palette.
But in my mind Oxygen "rules" were not designed with games artwork in 
mind as a primary concern. As an example, it is next-to-impossible to 
make an Oxygen KTuberling. Some of the guidelines regarding color usage 
and shadows were imo defined with icons in mind, and do not translate as 
perfectly to design of game elements.

I believe this is something we probably need to discuss in more depth, 
maybe in the next IRC meeting? I agree on the need to try to have an 
Oxygen-like theme for most games, if possible. And if the theme is 
labeled as Oxygen, it should follow the guidelines as strictly as 
possible. But I believe the maintainer and the artist working on a 
particular piece still need to have some weight on final decisions, 
allowing different theme sets if it fits the game style. Kpat cardsets 
for example do not follow the Oxygen palette, and it probably makes no 
sense to do so. The same is true for the traditional KShisen tileset 
submitted by Robert, which is great. I do not think these need to change.

Also, some distros (or users) will not use Oxygen (the icon set.) Some 
may use Tango, or stick with their own custom sets. If we only ship an 
Oxygen-themed artwork for all games, or enforce Oxygen rules for all 
themes, then games will look out of place in distributions like Meduxa 
or others, which have their own style. And they may look dated very 
quickly, so the ability to switch themes is imo the real key for games 
in KDE4.

But still, having at least one Oxygen-compliant theme should be a goal, 
in my opinion. What do you guys think of this?

Regards,
Mauricio Piacentini