I grew up with the red dirt in U6, but recently I've seen some versions around that have brown dirt (SNES and Amiga apparently) and since I'm making my own Ultima VI style textures for my own project, I am not sure I should go with the red dirt, even though I love it. In a 3D environment it might burn peoples' eyeballs or feel oppressive in an environment that I want to feel like the Arthur Claude Strachan paintings that inspired much of Ultima VI's art.
Do you think making the dirt red was an artistic decision for the original DOS game, or was it a result of the technical limitations of the VGA default 256-color palette? In VGA, there's a default color palette, but instead dev teams could use their own 256-color palette, meaning maybe they created a palette and used this color for art reasons. I've even heard they wanted extra reds to ensure the gargoyles looked really red.
If the artists remade the game today, would they still use the red dirt?
But first, some suggestions by other FB UDIC commenters:
I was thinking about that. Having an alternate "classic colors" texture atlas that can be swapped in and out with an option. I worry about potential copyright issues with that, since I FEEL like a 256 color texture palette could be copyrighted? if it were like CGA or EGA, where everyone on those computers had access to the same palette, there's no worry, but in VGA where the artists carefully select 256 specific colors for their palette? It makes me wonder if painting with bob ross's color palette is illegal? Maybe i'm just over-worried! I later asked ChatGPT4o this question:
ChatGPT4o (2024-09-09):
Your concern about copyright and color palettes is understandable, but in practice, you don't need to worry much about this. Color palettes themselves, especially in the context of computer graphics like CGA, EGA, or VGA, are not generally considered protectable by copyright law.
Even with VGA, where artists may have chosen specific colors, the palettes are still fundamentally a technical limitation of the hardware, not an original creative work. The VGA 256-color mode, for example, provided a fixed range of colors from which artists could select; these color choices don't grant copyright protection.
Copyright could potentially apply to an artwork or design that uses a palette, but the palette itself remains free to use... Using a specific artist's color palette, like Bob Ross's, is also not a copyright issue. Colors and color combinations are considered basic elements and not protectable. You can freely use colors that resemble an artist's palette in your game.
While copyright doesn’t apply, trademark law might restrict the use of specific names or branding associated with palettes (like “Bob Ross’s Palette”), but simply using the colors themselves would not be an infringement.
You're right that the act of selecting colors can be an artistic decision and can contribute to the originality of a piece of art. However, color selection alone—without additional creative elements—typically does not meet the threshold of originality required for copyright protection.
Back to the Ultima VI dirt roads, on the Facebook UDIC, D.R. said this:
"I'd say that it depends on what constitutes the dirt / impurities, and could make for interesting lore. If the reddish were clay, potters would set up shop nearby, and NPCs would have a routine of fetching clay somewhere in their schedule. The brownish dirt would be more loamy, able to grow vegetables and plants. Farms would set up around such dirt."
That's actually really interesting to consider. There could also be a more sandy style of road, or a silty one, too. Others said to use both for variety. I can see me in a few weeks now:
I legit may eventually ask him that, haha. This would be a cool community project to detective this info out using the games and lore as reference.
Some also said to use the red near the Bloody Plains, or where Blood Moss grows.
"If I were doing it today, I wouldn’t be required to make the characters bright and the background dark because I’d have the benefit of a translucent darkening outline to make them stand out. They would also have translucent shadows. The road color would come from the Roman roads. For a time, Britain was part of the Roman Empire — not just a little bit in the south, but most of it. The Romans were maniacs for laying down roads.
The Roman roads may be light or dark, but there’s always a brownish to reddish tint. They were called “metalled” roads because the material came from the “metallum” (Latin for ‘quarry’). They do contain a little metal. The iron content made them very strong rock. Would I make them blazing brick, though? Nawww."
Roman roads, the actual original inspiration for the Ultima VI dirt roads in England.
Here's the original fb UDIC post.
