Cut off tall textures to see behind trees

[Brambor]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

When I wander in a forest with the UtiliCa tileset, I cannot see what is behind trees. I can "look around" ;, but that gets tedious.

Solution you would like.

I want a toggle I can bind to keybinding. It would "cut tall textures" in a radius around the character. Or cursor, if it doesn't point to the character (look around).

Mouse cursor pointing is almost as annoying as cursor pointing since your mouse cursor won't be pointing at the same tile when you move

I'm not talking about the mouse cursor, but the centre of the screen.

The radius is a subsequent setting, if a single optimal value isn't found. It shall be set in Options > Interface > Accessibility Options > "cut tall textures radius".

I would expect a simple cutoff for textures that don't support additional features (cut off everything that "leaves" the current tile)
Example: only this stump would be rendered, tileset: UtiliCa:

I don't care if it is pretty, it is a live toggle with a keybinding.
Later, we could add some fade or something.

In Utilica_iso does do some transparency around the cursor:

Related code:

Cataclysm-DDA/src/cata_tiles.cpp

Lines 2408 to 2411 in 5ca7f4e

	if( prevent_occlusion_transp && retract > 0 ) {
	res = find_tile_looks_like( id + "_transparent", category, variant );
	if( res ) {
	tt = &res -> tile();

docs:

Cataclysm-DDA/doc/TILESET.md

Lines 124 to 126 in 5ca7f4e

	#### Optional transparent variant
	Defined by adding `_transparent` suffix to any tile entry `id`. For example `"id": "t_wall_transparent"`. The transparent version is used to prevent occlusion by high tiles, especially in ISO tilesets.

Implementation notes:

• If the tile texture has a _transparent defined use it otherwise, use a rough cut.
• Make sure to use the tile dimensions, ISO isn't a simple rectangle:
  • 

Describe alternatives you have considered.

If only we could rotate the camera, walking towards the bottom of the screen would leave enemies on the visible side of the large sprites.

That is implemented in Don't Starve. But I think CDDA can do better. Rotating the world can be disorienting. (INSERT Don't Starve gif)

This also wouldn't necessarily solve my problem. I am not looking at where the enemies are. I am looking at the forest floor to see where should I step. This is not unique to running from enemies. I would probably have it on all the time in some capacity.

I think rotating the view could be a nice additional feature. Personally, I wouldn't use it as rotating breaks my brain, it disorients me.

Additional context

This issue is a summation of ideas from Discord. I am not the only author. I'm citing the others.

The conversation started here: https://discord.com/channels/598523535169945603/642349261320880128/1237733201758130237

[KHeket]

Some time ago there was a bug #66052 , fixed in the past, and this bug makes items and creatures ignore the high furniture and threes, as you can see at screenshots in linked issue
And I made an issue to make this bug as a feature #66275 , because it was very helpful, you can easily see creatures and items in the woods
So, as an idea, if it will be ok for programmers, they can just use the logic of this bug and make it as a toggleable function

[Brambor]

That could be an easy and good solution. Put what you suggest on a keybinding toggle.

Note: Factorio has arm inserters in front as a feature: https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1005

[Qrox]

they can just use the logic of this bug and make it as a toggleable function

As said in that issue, it would result in an illusion of height which could be confusing. Besides, maintaining multiple versions of a single feature is tedious and prone to error. I think it's better to automatically generate retracted/transparent sprites for tiles that do not have one specified, as suggested in this issue.

[Brambor]

This PR about occlusions and hotkeys is very relevant:

• Prevent occlusions via (auto)-semi-transparent sprites #63089

[github-actions]

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