Board Game Arena

(I posted this in "Suggestions" before but it seems that forum is unfortunately not used so I will post it on the forum that is actually used.)

I posted about this in the forum for a specific game here https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... 61&t=14598 but actually it is something that also goes for other games on this site too. So the problem is the images from the games have very, very low resolution, so they are blurry or even have visible pixels. You can see examples of this in the link above and I will also give some examples here:

Elfenland:
Actual image:
Image when playing on BGA:

Takenoko:
Actual image:
Image when playing on BGA:

I could post more images, but I think you get the point.

I think it's sad because these games, and others, have very beautiful artwork. Now of course you don't play just for the artwork, but you have to consider the game creator did decide to make the artwork beautiful, so it is definitely a part of the game. For me (and I'm sure for others too) beautiful artwork also makes the game more enjoyable.

Another reason the images should be better quality is because sometimes they have symbols on them which you need to know what they are because they represent something in the game. It's hard if you almost can't see them. Especially for older people and/or people with bad eyesight this can be a bigger problem.

Please fix this, thank you.

Technon wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 11:46 (I posted this in "Suggestions" before but it seems that forum is unfortunately not used so I will post it on the forum that is actually used.)

There is no need to post in multiple forums. If a response were appropriate, it would have been done. And, "suggestions" was the appropriate forum, since you were suggesting a change to the site.

But, since you are impatient, and need a response...

The higher resolution images you suggest would greatly increase the loading time for each game. While the time increase for each individual game may not be that great, the cumulative time (especially for the people who play mostly turn-based games, and load several games in a relatively short period of time) would be significant.

This extra load time would also translate to lower overall gaming performance even for real-time games, as bandwidth would be dedicated to graphics, rather than game moves.

The extra resolution would not even be seen, as the images are not viewed in their physical world sizes, but sized to the screen. Unless someone is playing with a 40+ inch monitor with better than 4K resolution, the image will be smaller. For the large number of people who play on mobile devices it will have no chance of actually being seen. (Screen size is approximate, I haven't done exact calculations to see how big it would actually need to be. The Elfenland board is 30 inches wide by itself, though. Monitors are measured on the diagonal, and extra room is also needed for the player area.)

Many of these graphics are not simply scanned in by someone associated with BGA, but from files provided by the publisher/copyright owner. It is their choice for the resolution, and convincing them to provide higher resolution images may be difficult.

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 14:40This extra load time would also translate to lower overall gaming performance even for real-time games, as bandwidth would be dedicated to graphics, rather than game moves.

That's actually not true, it depends on how you program the site. So yes, you could program it in that way so images have to be redownloaded every time they are shown, but that would be extremely ineffective. The way to properly program it is so that every image is only downloaded once, and then only a super short piece of code which triggers showing that image - which is now local on the user's unit - is needed.

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 14:40The extra resolution would not even be seen, as the images are not viewed in their physical world sizes, but sized to the screen. Unless someone is playing with a 40+ inch monitor with better than 4K resolution, the image will be smaller.

It's up to every user what resolution they want to use on their own machine of course. But the original images should be as high resolution as possible, since that gives a much bigger flexibility how to display them for each user.

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 14:40Many of these graphics are not simply scanned in by someone associated with BGA, but from files provided by the publisher/copyright owner. It is their choice for the resolution, and convincing them to provide higher resolution images may be difficult.

That I can understand. But it could be done by anyone who owns the physical game. For some games it might be a bit of work to scan everything (for some there is not so much since the same images are repeated), but it's a one time job, once it's done, the images are there.

Hi Technon,

In Elfenland, the unicorn sprite is 54x85 and the one you show is magnified 2x.
Obviously, it can't be pretty.

You can ask for a bigger size of map and cards or a better display on Elfenland or Takenoko.

More over, i'm not quite sure something like " but you have to consider the game creator did decide to make the artwork beautiful, so it is definitely a part of the game" is the best way to ask for some improvement...

tchobello wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 16:24You can ask for a bigger size of map and cards or a better display on Elfenland or

I disagree. I’m currently playing a Elfenland game and there are Unicorns in my hand. If I was colour blind, I would not be able to identify the symbols on the card and I cannot determine their number (1 or 2).
Therefore, because of the low resolution of the card, the player can consult a help that provides the information given by the land symbols. This help contains a correct resolution image, which is 3 times larger than the card.

I think the help should show a magnified version of the card, and no card, magnified or not, should look blurred as it does now.

Technon wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 15:25

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 14:40This extra load time would also translate to lower overall gaming performance even for real-time games, as bandwidth would be dedicated to graphics, rather than game moves.

That's actually not true, it depends on how you program the site. So yes, you could program it in that way so images have to be redownloaded every time they are shown, but that would be extremely ineffective. The way to properly program it is so that every image is only downloaded once, and then only a super short piece of code which triggers showing that image - which is now local on the user's unit - is needed.

I believe it is currently programmed to download only at the game load screen. But even still, sending larger graphics files only once still is sending larger graphics files. Larger files equals greater bandwidth for images. Greater bandwidth for images equals less bandwidth available for game move information.

Technon wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 15:25

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 14:40Many of these graphics are not simply scanned in by someone associated with BGA, but from files provided by the publisher/copyright owner. It is their choice for the resolution, and convincing them to provide higher resolution images may be difficult.

That I can understand. But it could be done by anyone who owns the physical game. For some games it might be a bit of work to scan everything (for some there is not so much since the same images are repeated), but it's a one time job, once it's done, the images are there.

And, this is a direct violation of copyright laws. BGA cannot legally just scan in any graphics since they are going to be redistributed. If the owner of the copyright has provided the files for distribution BGA cannot modify or replace them.

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 20:34 I believe it is currently programmed to download only at the game load screen. But even still, sending larger graphics files only once still is sending larger graphics files. Larger files equals greater bandwidth for images. Greater bandwidth for images equals less bandwidth available for game move information.

Actually, if you do not have your browser set to not cache content (which I believe majority dont have), then it is not at each game load screen but only first time you play the game.

But even still, sending larger graphics files only once still is sending larger graphics files. Doesn't matter if it is once per image use, once per table load, or once in the lifetime of the user. It is still at least once.

Well, image size is always a compromise (there is a cost to bandwidth too). But the main reason why the images are not crisp when zooming on some games is because they were developed a long time ago.

Will they be uplifted someday? We certainly would like to improve the look and feel for some of the most popular games. And for any game, that can be suggested in the forum of those games and/or through a suggestion for those games in the reporting tool (community / report a bug or make a suggestion). Maybe a volunteer developer would decide to help.

diamant wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 18:45If I was colour blind, I would not be able to identify the symbols on the card and I cannot determine their number (1 or 2).

Good point, having colour vision privilege I didn't even think about what impacts it may have on colour blindedness. But really anyone with a non-perfect vision would be better off with higher quality images.

Jest Phulin wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 20:34And, this is a direct violation of copyright laws. BGA cannot legally just scan in any graphics since they are going to be redistributed. If the owner of the copyright has provided the files for distribution BGA cannot modify or replace them.

So copying a whole game, adapting it to digital format and making it fully playable for free is all completely legal - as long as you use lower quality images, but it suddenly becomes illegal if you use better quality images?

Een wrote: ↑15 March 2020, 21:16Will they be uplifted someday? We certainly would like to improve the look and feel for some of the most popular games.

What's stopping you?