diff -r bd74fd83929a hedgewars/uGears.pas
--- a/hedgewars/uGears.pas	Tue Dec 28 10:31:48 2010 +0100
+++ b/hedgewars/uGears.pas	Thu Jan 06 10:11:34 2011 -0500
@@ -1830,7 +1830,7 @@
     if (x < 4) and (TeamsArray[t] <> nil) then
         begin
             // if team matches current hedgehog team, default to current hedgehog
-            if (i = 0) and (CurrentHedgehog^.Team = TeamsArray[t]) then hh:= CurrentHedgehog
+            if (i = 0) and (CurrentHedgehog <> nil) and (CurrentHedgehog^.Team = TeamsArray[t]) then hh:= CurrentHedgehog
             else 
                 begin
             // otherwise use the first living hog or the hog amongs the remaining ones indicated by i
@@ -1847,12 +1847,15 @@
                     inc(j)
                     end
                 end;
-        if hh <> nil then Gear:= AddVisualGear(0, 0, vgtSpeechBubble);
-        if Gear <> nil then
+        if hh <> nil then
             begin
-            Gear^.Hedgehog:= hh;
-            Gear^.Text:= text;
-            Gear^.FrameTicks:= x
+            Gear:= AddVisualGear(0, 0, vgtSpeechBubble);
+            if Gear <> nil then
+                begin
+                Gear^.Hedgehog:= hh;
+                Gear^.Text:= text;
+                Gear^.FrameTicks:= x
+                end
             end
         //else ParseCommand('say ' + text, true)
         end
diff -r bd74fd83929a hedgewars/uGearsRender.pas
--- a/hedgewars/uGearsRender.pas	Tue Dec 28 10:31:48 2010 +0100
+++ b/hedgewars/uGearsRender.pas	Thu Jan 06 10:11:34 2011 -0500
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@
     if (Gear^.State and gstHHDeath) <> 0 then
         begin
         DrawSprite(sprHHDeath, ox - 16, oy - 26, Gear^.Pos);
-        Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color);
+        Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color shl 8 or $FF);
         DrawSprite(sprHHDeath, ox - 16, oy - 26, Gear^.Pos + 8);
         Tint($FF, $FF, $FF, $FF);
         exit
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@
                                 i*DxDy2Angle(CurAmmoGear^.dY, CurAmmoGear^.dX) + hAngle);
                             if HatTex^.w > 64 then
                                 begin
-                                Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color);
+                                Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color shl 8 or $FF);
                                 DrawRotatedTextureF(HatTex, 1.0, -1.0, -6.0, ox, oy, 32, i, 32, 32,
                                     i*DxDy2Angle(CurAmmoGear^.dY, CurAmmoGear^.dX) + hAngle);
                                 Tint($FF, $FF, $FF, $FF)
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@
                                 32);
                             if HatTex^.w > 64 then
                                 begin
-                                Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color);
+                                Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color shl 8 or $FF);
                                 DrawTextureF(HatTex,
                                     1,
                                     sx,
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@
                     32);
                 if HatTex^.w > 64 then
                     begin
-                    Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color);
+                    Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color shl 8 or $FF);
                     DrawTextureF(HatTex,
                         HatVisibility,
                         sx,
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@
                     32);
                 if HatTex^.w > 64 then
                     begin
-                    Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color);
+                    Tint(HH^.Team^.Clan^.Color shl 8 or $FF);
                     DrawTextureF(HatTex,
                         HatVisibility,
                         sx,
diff -r bd74fd83929a hedgewars/uStore.pas
--- a/hedgewars/uStore.pas	Tue Dec 28 10:31:48 2010 +0100
+++ b/hedgewars/uStore.pas	Thu Jan 06 10:11:34 2011 -0500
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@
 for ii:= Low(TSprite) to High(TSprite) do
     with SpritesData[ii] do
         // FIXME - add a sprite attribute
-        if ((cReducedQuality and rqNoBackground) = 0) or (not (ii in [sprSky, sprSkyL, sprSkyR, sprHorizont, sprHorizontL, sprHorizontR, sprFlake, sprSplash, sprDroplet])) then // FIXME: hack
+        if ((cReducedQuality and rqNoBackground) = 0) or (not (ii in [sprSky, sprSkyL, sprSkyR, sprHorizont, sprHorizontL, sprHorizontR, sprFlake, sprSplash, sprDroplet]) or (((Theme = 'Snow') or (Theme = 'Christmas')) and (ii = sprFlake))) then // FIXME: hack
         begin
             if AltPath = ptNone then
                 if ii in [sprHorizontL, sprHorizontR, sprSkyL, sprSkyR] then // FIXME: hack
diff -r bd74fd83929a hedgewars/uWorld.pas
--- a/hedgewars/uWorld.pas	Tue Dec 28 10:31:48 2010 +0100
+++ b/hedgewars/uWorld.pas	Thu Jan 06 10:11:34 2011 -0500
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@
       highlight:= bShowFinger and (CurrentTeam = TeamsArray[t]) and ((RealTicks mod 1000) < 500);
 
       if highlight then
-         Tint(Clan^.Color);
+         Tint(Clan^.Color shl 8 or $FF);
 
       // draw name
       DrawTexture(-NameTagTex^.w - 16, cScreenHeight + DrawHealthY, NameTagTex);