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Paint Reaction Values

How to figure your paint reaction values and plan a color strategy

Based on antichaos' excellent posts on .net

Here are the RGB values for the base ingredients:

Ingredient Short Red Green Blue
Cabbage Juice cj 128 64 144
Carrots cr 224 112 32
Clay cl 128 96 32
Copper Ore co 64 192 192
Dead Tongue dt 112 64 64
Earth Light el 128 240 224
Iron Ore io 96 48 32
Lead Ore lo 80 80 96
Red Sand rs 144 16 24
Silver si 16 16 32
Toad Skin ts 48 96 48

Note that these RGB values are different from the ones in antichaos' thread, and what you will get from measuring them with a color picker. This is because the color swatch on the paint lab window is alpha-channel blended with the background of the window (the marbled tan). You need to correct for this. The best way is to take a 9x9 or 16x16 pixel averaged sample of both the swatch and the background, then apply the following formula for each color component (red, green, blue):

Real = (Measured - Background)/(250/256) + Background
(which is the same as 1.024*Measured - 0.024*Background).

Some, but not all ingredients "react" with each other, and order is important.

So when you want to find your reaction number for Cabbage Juice + Dead tongue, first work out what the expected mix is: (130 + 114) / 2 for red etc... Then do the mix and sample the color. The difference from expected (so substract the expected value from the one you actually got) is your reaction value.

(For more info, see: http://www.atitd.info/forum/showthread.php?t=516 )

60 tests will tell you most of what you need to know.

 Cabbage Juice Dead Tongue
 Cabbage Juice Earth Light
 Cabbage Juice Red Sand
 Cabbage Juice Lead Ore
 Cabbage Juice Silver
 Cabbage Juice Iron Ore
 Carrots Dead Tongue
 Carrots Toad Skin
 Carrots Red Sand
 Carrots Silver
 Carrots Iron Ore
 Clay Toad Skin
 Clay Earth Light
 Clay Lead Ore
 Clay Iron Ore
 Clay Copper Ore
 Dead Tongue Cabbage Juice
 Dead Tongue Carrots
 Dead Tongue Toad Skin
 Dead Tongue Red Sand
 Dead Tongue Copper Ore
 Toad Skin Carrots
 Toad Skin Clay
 Toad Skin Dead Tongue
 Toad Skin Lead Ore
 Earth Light Cabbage Juice
 Earth Light Clay
 Earth Light Red Sand
 Earth Light Lead Ore
 Earth Light Copper Ore
 Red Sand Cabbage Juice
 Red Sand Carrots
 Red Sand Dead Tongue
 Red Sand Earth Light
 Red Sand Lead Ore
 Red Sand Silver
 Red Sand Iron Ore
 Lead Ore Cabbage Juice
 Lead Ore Clay
 Lead Ore Toad Skin
 Lead Ore Earth Light
 Lead Ore Red Sand
 Lead Ore Silver
 Lead Ore Copper Ore
 Silver Cabbage Juice
 Silver Carrots
 Silver Red Sand
 Silver Lead Ore
 Silver Copper Ore
 Iron Ore Cabbage Juice
 Iron Ore Carrots
 Iron Ore Clay
 Iron Ore Red Sand
 Iron Ore Copper Ore
 Copper Ore Clay
 Copper Ore Dead Tongue
 Copper Ore Earth Light
 Copper Ore Lead Ore
 Copper Ore Silver
 Copper Ore Iron Ore  

There are 132 catalyst reactions (Aiiro: I only count 42) - more than you might expect because of the complication between potash and saltpeter.

 Cabbage Juice Potash
 Carrot Potash
 Carrot Lime
 Clay Sulfur
 Clay Saltpeter
 Dead Tongue Potash
 Dead Tongue Lime
 Toad Skin Potash
 Toad Skin Lime
 Earth Light Sulfur
 Earth Light Potash
 Lead Ore Potash
 Lead Ore Lime
 Silver Sulfur
 Silver Potash
 Silver Saltpeter
 Iron Ore Sulfur
 Iron Ore Potash
 Copper Ore Potash
 Copper Ore Lime
 Sulfur Clay
 Sulfur Earth Light
 Sulfur Silver
 Sulfur Iron Ore
 Sulfur Potash
 Potash Cabbage Juice
 Potash Carrot
 Potash Dead Tongue
 Potash Toad Skin
 Potash Earth Light
 Potash Lead Ore
 Potash Silver
 Potash Iron Ore
 Potash Copper Ore
 Potash Sulfur
 Lime Carrot
 Lime Dead Tongue
 Lime Toad Skin
 Lime Lead Ore
 Lime Copper Ore
 Saltpeter Clay
 Saltpeter Silver


Discussion

Hey MJR, I used (and continue to use) antichaos' values for several reasons: 1, most people will be using a color picker to sample and test their reactions, and therefore the values will not only be off by an equal amount on both sides, but the light tan that is used only skew the data by 2 or 3 out of 255, well within a normal error range. 2, although I was peripherally aware of alpha shading, the tolerances of the color bench are high enough that it almost never makes a difference in practice. Do you think there would be value in having both lists available, or is either one fine? -- Gwyr
Actually, I found that the error margin was great enough that I had problems trying to get high-tolerance colors, like lawngreen. The error range isn't a problem for easy colors, like cyan or fuschia, but it can be annoying when trying to get snow or navy. The extra work involved in correcting for alpha channel is a one-time thing, and minimal; you can measure the background once, and have a spreadsheet formula do all the math for you. In fact, I've been thinking about a combined reaction values worksheet app and paint lab simulator. -- mjr
Hey, does it matter whether you are using 16 or 32-bit color? Most games don't use true alpha-blending unless you are in 32-bit color mode... -Mordeus
ATITD only works in 32 bit color mode -TheDude

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Last edited June 21, 2004 3:10 am by jkhouse2.jvlnet.com (diff)
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