Flag Generator v1.1.0

For instructions see instructions.txt in the downloadable zip file (FlagGenerator_x.x.x.zip).

CHANGELOG v1.1.0

• Reworked color handling
  • Colors will now more consistently be reused, so flags with a big amount of different colors should be less common (still possible)
  • Expanded framework so color types now support multiple shades of that color
    • Added color shade variants for various colors
  • Added a small chance for a full random color to be used in a flag
• Improved procedurally generated coat of arms
  • Fixed bug that caused the generated coat of arms to be way too small sometimes
  • Improved center position calculation of generated coat of arms so the "appearing to be slightly off-center" should be gone
  • Fixed moon shapes sometimes being drawn inversed
  • Fixed generated pattern sometimes going out of bounds
  • Increased commonness of procedurally generated coat of arms
• Improved Cross pattern
  • Straight and diagonal lines can now have different attributes from each other regarding style, colors, width and line modifier
  • Added new line styles Parallel2 and Parallel3
  • Allowed more color variety for all elements
  • More variety in draw order of different elements
  • Allowed thinner crosses
  • Fixed bug that caused diagonal crosses to be too wide
  • Fixed bug that caused diagonal crosses to have a slightly off angle
  • Fixed bug that caused line modifications on diagonal crosses to look weird
  • Big reword of pattern architecture
• Improved Stripes pattern
  • There are now different options of which stripe is considered the main stripe (first / center / last)
  • There is now variety on which location content (symbols, coat of arms) is drawn (main stripe / center)
  • When a wide stripe is used, the size of the other stripes may now be randomized
  • When a wide stripe is used with a coat of arms, the coat of arms may now be offset from the center
  • There is now a chance that a coat of arms covers multiple stripes
  • Improved variety of top left rect overlay
    • Symbol grids can now have alternating offsets
    • Simplified version of cross pattern may appear on overlay
  • Improved variety of left triangle variety
    • Inner triangle is now more common and can appear in South African variety (additional to Timor-Leste variety)
• Improved Checkers pattern
  • Added new circular pattern with many variations
• Improved CoaOnly pattern
  • Coat of arms can now appear in top left corner instead of center
• Added option to run program with debug messages (5th arg = "debug")
• Added this changelog
• Lots of code refactoring and cleanup

Flag Generator v1.0.4

How to use the generator

The generator is a simple console application. To generate flags, simply follow these steps:

• Download the release (FlagGenerator_x.x.x.zip)
• Unpack the .zip file.
• Open the CLI of your choice and navigate to the unpacked directory (containing FlagGenerator.exe)
• Run FlagGeneration.exe with your parameters

The generator requires 4 parameters (in this order):

• directory: The path (absolute or relative) to the directory, where your new image files with the flags will be saved.
• type: Must be "s" or "m". s generates a single flag with a specified seed, m generates multiple random flags.
• number: Must be a number. When generating a single flag, this number represents the seed. When generating multiple flags, this number represents the amount of flags.
• format: Must be "svg" or "png". The format of the generated image files.

Examples (default Windows terminal):

• To generate a single flag as a png with the seed 1312 in the current directory, run the command line with: FlagGeneration.exe . s 1312 png
• To generate 10 random flags as svg's in the current directory, run the command line with: FlagGeneration.exe . m 10 svg

Customizing predefined symbols

Flags can contain various symbols. Often these symbols are procedurally generated, but there is also a chance that a symbol of a predefined set can appear.

These predefined symbols are defined as .svg Files and are located in the Resources/CoatOfArms/ directory. A set of around 200 predefined symbols is already included in the project.

The set of predefined symbols that can appear in flags can be easily customized by just changing the content of the Resources/CoatOfArms/ directory. All files in there can appear in flags with an equal chance.