The Foundry Newsletter: 9th Issue
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:11 pm
Hello all,
Yes, we're a week late. The last issue went out the door mid-week and it messed up all of our normal schedules that allowed Spotlight people to have time to respond, Perspective votes to flow in, and the like. So we postponed a week, hope you don't kill us. Despite the week's postponing, we're still without an Editorial. We beg of thee all, we need more authors! I'd hate to ask the same people who not even 5 issues ago gave us something. In slightly happier news, the Foundry has been BUSY these past 2 and a half weeks. Maps have been flying all over the place, getting stamps, changing forums, quenching, the whole nine yards. In fact, two of the Newsletter Staff (myself and Zeak) both had their first maps quenched (The Citadel and Archipelago). Hope you enjoy them! Anywho's, we've got the entire set of information about maps new and old. We're also debuting a subsection of the Community Perspective that is not as poll-bound, called My Perspective. Go check it out and get us some feedback on it.
Hope you enjoy all of the issue,
TaCktiX
In this section we cover every map presently in development. Each map is accompanied by a brief description of the map's theme, graphics, and gameplay, as well as what's been happening in the last couple of weeks. Finally, a link to each topic, the map's creator(s), and what stamps it presently has are noted.
Name: Archipelago
Creators: ZeakCytho and Mjinga
Stamps:
Description: A small chain of islands is at war! This fictional archipelago is fought over by the players in a simple classic-style map. The sharp graphics go hand in hand with the lack of gameplay quirks, a driving impetus behind this map.
Present Development: Quenched.
Name: The Citadel
Creator: TaCktiX
Stamps:
Description: What better place to have a military takeover than at a military college's campus? That is the premise of The Citadel. Based directly off of the campus and its buildings, this medium-sized map goes for fairly straightforward gameplay, with a couple of quirks.
Present Development: Quenched.
Name: Imperium Romanum
Creator: Qwert
Stamps:
Description: The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires that ever existed. This map encourages you to build that empire for yourself by commanding legions, cities, and ships to gain an edge on your foes. Graphics are vibrant and eye-catching, with lots of Rome-related paraphernalia on the edges.
Present Development: Quenched.
Name: British Isles Revamp
Creator: Gimil
Stamps:
Description: One of the most beloved maps in the game is getting a makeover. The creator has redone the look of the map to be much cleaner and geographically accurate to the Isles.
Present Development: Stalled, but more or less complete.
Name: Charleston, SC
Creator: RjBeals
Stamps:
Description: Charleston, famous for its role in the American Civil War, the American Revolutionary War, and...Conquer Club maps? In this take on America's second largest Atlantic seaport, Rj has created a straightforward large map with simple but attractive graphics.
Present Development: An XML is posted, with a stamp expected soon.
Name: Europa
Creator: MrBenn
Stamps:
Description: The creator set out upon a simple goal: make a map about the way Europe really is, even down to Vatican City. He's stayed true to that vision, and the map reflects it, with a clean look to all the countries no matter their size. The map makes good use of natural boundaries to create impassables, adding to the clean feel of the map.
Present Development: Ready for quenching, with a full set of stamps to the side.
Name: Forbidden City
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: The Forbidden City has always been an interesting part of Chinese history since its construction in the Ming dynasty. So the most quenched mapmaker has taken a unique bent in portraying it. Instead of just featuring the City itself, he has added outsiders from all over history that have tried to take over the City in some way. Add to that the simple, illustrative graphics reminiscent of Chinese culture circa 19th century, and you've got the whole enchilada.
Present Development: In the Forge and with a full XML already.
Name: Golfe du St-Laurent
Creators: Lone.prophet and Unit_2
Stamps:
Description: The Gulf of St. Lawrence (French, Golfe du St-Laurent) is the world's largest estuary, but conservation takes a backseat to beating the pulp out of others on this map of the gulf and its surrounding areas. It's an average-sized map with well-done textures and area-appropriate colors. Its classic gameplay is without any gimmicks and should be easy to pick up.
Present Development: Due to the Final Forge slowdown, this map has been very quiet of late. A completed XML is still on the way.
Name: Haiti
Creator: Edbeard
Stamps:
Description: This small map shows the nation of Haiti, the western half of the island of Hispaniola. The simple and clean colors and font choices reflect the purely classic gameplay used in the map.
Present Development: Quickly forging ahead in the Forge with an XML stamp already. Expect quench soon.
Name: Madagascar
Creator: t-o-m
Stamps:
Description: Another small map in the pipeline, this time of the island nation of Madagascar. Gameplay is straightforward, and the territory naming accurately reflects the regions of the country. Graphics are fairly simple, which helps the appeal of the map.
Present Development: Quench-worthy, despite the creator getting forum-banned.
Name: Oasis
Creator: wcaclimbing
Stamps:
Description: Calling Oasis a phenomenon would do it no credit. This graphical feast has taken the Foundry by storm, leaving several regular commenters drooling for the next update. It's based around a central objective Grand Oasis surrounded by decaying desert, and lots of one-territory bonuses sprinkled throughout. Watch out for this map, it's certain to change the way objective maps are made.
Present Development: A solid, complete, and centered XML! At long last, now where's that XML stamp?
Name: San Marino
Creator: Ruben Cassar
Stamps:
Description: The Ruben Cassar formula to a T: a simple map based around a small area. It's attractive to the eye, and while being average size has plenty of bonuses that should be easy to get and hold onto.
Present Development: XML should come soon from someone, though the original creator is bogged down in that pesky thing known as real life.
Main Foundry
Name: Antarctica
Creator: e_i_pi
Stamps:
Description: Conquer Club has featured at one time or another all continents, save one: Antarctica. To avoid the problems of "boring chunk of ice with only research stations on it" and the treaty protecting it from conquest, the mapmaker has cast the map forward in time to 2060, when ice has given way to land, and everyone is vying to conquer it all. The graphics are suitably cold yet colorful, and the conquest basis of the map has been well-thought-out. The map merely asks that you conquer the previously unconquerable Antarctica.
Present Development: Balancing concerns have been the topic du jour since this map has moved to the Main Foundry.
Name: Cairns Metro
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: In yet another map by the seemingly tireless Cairns, he's covering the metropolitan area of his hometown, Cairns. Adopting a slightly more pastel color scheme than his recently-released Sydney Metro, the map also employs fewer continents and territories, making it have a significantly different gameplay than Sydney. So for yet another top-quality Australian experience, look for this map in the coming weeks.
Present Development: Concerns over map readability have been the most recent comments.
Name: Das Schloß
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: This map is unique in several ways. For one, it is the only map that can only be won by completing the objective. For two, it's gone back from quenching into the foundry with a major rework of the map's mechanics to fix some unforeseen balance issues.
Present Development: Discussions about the bonuses and the reworked gameplay are the main focus right now. Once issues are resolved on those and all present games on the older map are completed, the map will get re-quenched.
Name: Eastern Hemisphere
Creator: Oaktown
Stamps:
Description: What happens when you slice the world in half then age it 90 years? This map showing the far side of the world around 1910! It's the time when the great European empires are crumbling, and the creator has worked hard on making gameplay appropriate to the time setting. Expect a fresh world experience soon.
Present Development: With an ingenious Naval Superiority fix to things, gameplay is starting to reach finality.
Name: Europe 1914
Creator: Qwert
Stamps:
Description: Another covering of World War I, this time from an overall theater look. With eye-popping colors, rigorous detail, and a slew of bonuses, this map definitely gets one's attention. With two objectives that aren't mutually exclusive (unlike Operation Drug War), the gameplay looks to be a mix of classic and complex. Overall it's a new look on a oft-forgotten war, which is bound to turn out interestingly.
Present Development: The entire map has been brought into play to some extent, while making bonuses on the whole easier to attain.
Name: Famine
Creator: Bryguy
Stamps:
Description: 8 players, 8 castles, and a famine on the land. Grab your empire's territories, but also grab the resources to feed it. It's a unique premise gameplay-wise, and should make play on it fairly exciting and ruthless.
Present Development: Undergoing game balance comments and further graphical refinements.
Name: France, 18th Century
Creator: Pamoa
Stamps:
Description: The French Revolution changed the course of European history, so having a map based on the country at that time only makes sense. It's a simple, attractive small map, with classic gameplay. The clean approach to the map has made it very interesting to watch as it has progressed.
Present Development: Small graphical edits are bringing the map closer to Graphics stamping.
Name: Halloween Hollows
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: Holiday-themed maps have been absent from Foundry production thus far, and this map seeks to break that trend. Taking the plethora of creatures and items associated with Halloween, this map incorporates riddles and standard gameplay into a dark All Hallow's Eve look.
Present Development: Quickly capturing Gameplay and Graphics in its web, this map looks to be on track for its titular holiday.
Name: Holy Roman Empire
Creators: Grayhawke and Pamoa
Stamps:
Description: The Holy Roman Empire has been said to neither be Holy, nor Roman, and most certainly not an Empire. At least CC players can fix the last part by building their own on this map detailing the HRE and surrounding nations. Taking a combination continent/influence bonus gameplay, the map tries to bring out some of the history of the HRE, all the while backing it with simple, solid graphics.
Present Development: Sporting continent names, minor graphical tweaks are bringing the map closer to the Forge.
Name: Iron Curtain
Creator: RjBeals
Stamps:
Description: The Soviet Union and its constituent Warsaw Pact nations formed the basis of the feared Iron Curtain. This map takes that large region and turns it into a 96 territory map colored in shades of iron. Its construction is very clean, and the gameplay fairly open with a minimum of impassables. Recreating a symbol of oppression never was so much fun.
Present Development: Numerous suggestions have been made on the title of the map, with a new (and ultimately satisfactory) version soon to come.
Name: Rail Australia
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: Cairns is becoming a master of serial maps. Following up Rail USA and Rail Europe is this third map, Rail Australia. It brings, as expected, the rail system from Down Under into vivid color. Unlike the other two though, there are added twists to the map that should make play very interesting and varied.
Present Development: Bonus visibility and related graphical needs are the major comments right now.
Name: Romania
Creator: Foregone
Stamps:
Description: Romania is a little-known country in Eastern Europe, yet steeped in history dating back to the Roman Empire (hence its name). This map takes the country and infuses a piece of parchment with a no-frills depiction of the country, with a touch of hand-drawn charm.
Present Development: Skyrocketing through the main foundry, this map is poised to hit the Forge with a completely done XML.
Name: Scandinavia
Creator: CoolC
Stamps:
Description: Scandinavia is the region of Norsemen, Danes, and people who contemplate the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (at least Shakespeare would have us believe that). Taking the NYC idea of separate regions within greater ones, this map covers in fairly simple gameplay the Nordics, with cold colors to match the region's northern climes. Accurate region lines and names complete the representation of Scandinavia as it exists today.
Present Development: Having proven that 888's can fit on the map reasonably well, this map begins life in the Main Foundry.
Name: Switzerland
Creator: Kaplowitz
Stamps:
Description: Switzerland is famed for its bank accounts, neutrality in war, and sweeping mountains. So have a hostile takeover on this average-sized map of the country. Graphics are simple and the gameplay matches, with only classic continents and impassables.
Present Development: Finding still further graphical difficulties, the creator is trying to solve them all so this map will get finished at last.
Name: Trench Warfare
Creator: Mibi, Incandenza, and Yeti_C
Stamps:
Description: This map brings WWI style Trench Warfare to life! Two opposing fronts are separated by a large no mans land. Players will scramble for bonuses in trenches and use gameplay features such as mortars and artillery to bombard a path across no-mans land before rising from the trenches and blasting through to the other side. The high-quality and realistic graphics compliment this gameplay style very nicely.
Present Development: Map understandability is of concern, with the mapmakers working toward resolving all raised issues.
Name: War of the Triple Alliance
Creator: Oaktown
Stamps:
Description: This map captures the War of the Triple Alliance, South America's bloodiest war, fought on one side by Paraguay and on the other by Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The muted colors and faded images help make this map truly feel 19th Century. The gameplay is classic, lacking any sort of twist or gimmick.
Present Development: Nearing the Forge, and likely a very quick Quench thereafter.
Name: WWI: Ottoman Empire
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: World War I has also slipped into the void of uncoveredness, but thanks to Trench Warfare and this map the War to End All Wars will get its just deserts. The map takes on a lesser-known part of the war (though the famous battle of Gallipoli was fought here), focused around Turkey and the Central-allied Ottoman Empire. The general theater is portrayed in simple, understandable colors and the gameplay is fairly standard on this medium-sized map.
Present Development: Worries about the interplay between the map inset and the map proper are being worked through.
Name: WWII Europe
Creator: Qwert
Stamps:
Description: Long stalled due to its large size, this map has undergone a weight-loss program and now fits within the size requirements. Taking his WWII Eastern and Western Front maps and meshing them with a Central front in the middle, this is a map that covers the entire theater of the war in Europe. With a large scale, and lots of opportunities, it will definitely be the WWII map to play when it's quenched.
Present Development: Recently concluded a poll over how the territory text should be accented on the map, a version with the new change should happen soon.
Name: British India
Creator: Oaktown
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: Taking a cue from another, more modern attempt at India and its surrounding countries, Oaktown has taken the period of time when India was a British colony, and translated it onto a beautiful rendering of a history book (Editor's Note: he used the same book for the Brazil revamp contest). Combining simple colors and a hand-drawn look for terrain features and the like, the map is fairly simple on gameplay, with classic continents and a railway bonus to spice things up. Rewrite history for who controlled the region in the 1800's, or join those building the next railway for the ruler. The choice is yours.
Present Development: Bonus discussion and text positioning are some of the most recent feedback.
Name: Castle Battle
Creators: Marvaddin and Telvannia
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: This map is a siege of a fictional castle. The top-notch 3-D graphics give this map a perspective that not many other maps have. The gameplay heavily utilizes elements such as autodeploys and bombardments.
Present Development: Overtext and other confusions are being wrestled out of the map.
Name: Conquer Club Golf
Creator: Ethitts
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: Conquer Club lacks any Sports maps. Not a single one. This map is on course to change that, as it takes on the sport of Tiger Woods, the green jacket, and countless upper management: Golf. Taking 9 holes thematically named after some of CC's finest maps, this map tailors the various elements of golf into a system of bombards, decays, and ranged attacks. Surprisingly, the map isn't that complex as a result, but seems to make sense, most likely due to the simple small-scale graphics scheme on the entire map. Look to be yelling "Fore!" when you start your turn in the near future.
Present Development: Different path types are being polled on, as well as concerns of the map's overall "green-ness" and resemblance to a normal golf course.
Name: Conqueropoly
Creators: Bryguy and Gilligan
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: The game of monopoly, turned into a CC map! The map features numerous gameplay elements to make it similar to the board game, including battle ships (trains), cards, and even the dreaded sales tax. The graphics on this map are pretty much hammered out already.
Present Development: This map, once in the final forge, was sent to the scrap heap due to inactivity. But it has arisen now, hopefully on its way to quenching this time.
Name: War of the Roses
Creator: bspride
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: The War of the Roses was a pivotal moment in English history, replacing one dynasty of rulers with another, setting the stage for England's Renaissance, among a slew of other things. But that's not as important as the numerous bloody battles fought across southern England during that time, inviting a CC map to be made based on it. Bonuses are varied, being a combination of traditional continents and collections of single territories. The overall map look is of one written on parchment, depicting an old-time view of the region. Be prepared to claim the throne for your own soon.
Present Development: Updates have been delayed due to an intervention by real life.
Name: Zodiac Map
Creator: rsacheli
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: The Zodiac has been a centerpiece of astrology for generations, enshrined most noticeably by the naming of constellations in the stars. This map portrays their constellations and has bonuses centering around the seasons and the elements those constellations comprise. It also features a super-connected Black Hole territory, allowing a lot of mobility for such a large map. The map beckons that you decide your own fate among the stars.
Present Development: A constellation bonus has been added, and questions about bonus amounts are driving discussion now.
Sadly, we don't have an editorial this week. Want to write one for next issue? PM your submission to either TaCktiX or InkL0sed.
In the Spotlight, we typically cover a staff-selected map and mapmaker in an interview. Mapmaker motivations, inspirations, and the like have been covered, with plenty of surprises in between.
This week we covered Qwert, famous maker of several WWII maps, and more recently Imperium Romanum.
How old are you/what gender are you/where do you live? Answer specifically, vaguely, or not at all.
aim old enough, male - from Serbia, Vojvodina.
How did you find out about Conquer Club?
Aim look on site (I forget name) where is been list of 100 best online games.
What interested you in mapmaking?
I don't know, i'm try to create map and i realised that i can do these.
What was your first map? Why that one?
WWII EASTERN FRONT - i'm a fan of these part of human history,or any other history.
How many quenched maps do you have?
So far 5.
What kind of feedback do you like getting?
Any who is honest and help with development of map.
What "keeps you going" through getting a map through the Foundry?
People who give me support.
What inspired you to create this map?
I don't know,maybe because i like to create maps,and these come suddenly.
How did you decide what gameplay and graphics styles to go with?
Now these is difficulty, because map maker not quite decide what gameplay and graphic style want to put on map; sometimes you must add something what you don't like, and these is how things work here.
If you have a unique gameplay style, why?
Well definitly IMPERIUM ROMANUM have unique gameplay; gameplay where every one have same chance to win a game. And that why these map every day is more popular. I don't like maps where you have advantage after 2-3 turns, here you can not win very fast and I will want to see more maps with similar gameplay.
How much time do you spend on each update? How much of that time do you enjoy?
Too much time, every map what I create have very long process to be finish. I enjoy in beginning, but now because some people creating map its not fun like is was in beginning.
Were there any suggestions that you absolutely loved? Or any that you really hated?
One thing what I respect is when some people very carefully follow map topic, and these is best than all suggestion, because some time when people don't follow process,give suggestion what all ready some other people give..
These is recent what I hated - In Europe 1914 MrBenn tell me that Ireland is not a part of United Kingdom and say "well it's your map, you can decide what you want". Now if he honestly want to know what about these map is, he will visit some sites and will find that in year 1914 all Ireland was part of United KIngdom.Well I have more these thing, and I can write book about that.
What do you think of the Foundry process in general?
In beginning, its was good process, I believe that when Cairnswk was Mod, its was gold age of leading Map Foundry. Now with so many Mods and Stamp Lickers, and when Andy give power to all these people to do what they like, process is very bad, and all new map maker will have big problems from beginning. Every time when someone new start a topic and when present very bad map image, people jump and say "these is bad, not worth nothing, its better to leave these, and stop drawing map". They don't want to give a chance to new map makers. Some maker who manage to move in main Map Foundry, and not in good relations with Mod, will be blocked for very long time, even if hes maps have everything required for FF.
Definitely need to change some people. When Keyogi was in charge,and when things become hard, new man come Cairnswk and thing become good; now it's time for new fresh people.
Well after that I can expect sancion from Mods, but these is what I feel now, and in future some other map maker will be in same problem, and then will say that I waas right.
My Perspectives
What's YOUR Perspective? PM ZeakCytho or InkL0sed with the answers to your questions!
InkL0sed wrote:How did you get involved with the Foundry?
Well, I'm not quite sure how I was first drawn into the Forum itself (though I suppose I just clicked on it out of this odd concept called curiosity), but I know the words "Map" and "Foundry" must have immediately caught my eye, especially in such juxtaposition. You might say I have a fetish for maps (what else do you call it when an 12 year old starts drawing a map one day in class and spends the rest of middle school adding to it and perfecting it?), and I get urges to create kinda like I get urges to eat. So I immediately knew the Foundry would be my kind of place. The only setback I had was that I needed skills at a computer graphics program, something I'm still struggling with a year later. Oh, and school coupled with the worst work ethic in existence have probably contributed to my lack of a quenched map. Nevertheless, it was love at first sight for me regarding the Map Foundry, and my love has only grown since then.
Plus, the people aren't so bad either
What is your favorite map? Why?
That depends on the settings and day. I have several favorite maps, which include Feudal War, New World (go gimil!), NYC, Dustbowl and Duck and Cover get a shout out, and plenty others. I've enjoyed many a game on pretty much every standard map out there, and some of the more complex ones as well. I'll tell you one thing, though: I'm tired of Classic, and haven't played that map in a non-tournament game in months, it seems. I like trying new maps and game plays; Classic just bores me to death.
What do you like most about maps and/or mapmaking? Why?
Hmm. I think I rambled a bit answering the first question, didn't I? Well, to reiterate: the creativity is really what draws me the most. I can't resist a chance to make something, especially if it actually serves a purpose. And the Foundry presents a wonderful chance to do that.
TaCktiX wrote:How did you get involved with the Foundry?
After finally joining this site after seeing a fellow EE major on it a lot, I poked around the forum looking for a Suggestions spot, similar to the last browser-based game I got involved with. I saw the Foundry, and thought it was cool, but at first glance was a bit much for me to look at. I came back to it a month later (January 2008), and made my first forum post, expressing my distinct interest in creating a map of my school's campus.
What is your favorite map? Why?
My own: The Citadel. It's of a location that is very beloved by me (why else would I make a map of it?), and the gameplay possibilities on it are much greater than what is seen on first glance. Now aside from that, I love King of the Mountains. The map offers so many strategic possibilities on so many settings.
What do you like most about maps and/or mapmaking? Why?
I love the ability to think of an idea and pour both creative thought (gameplay) and creative expression (graphics) in at once. No map stands without the two together, and trying to craft the right map for the original idea is always an enjoyable challenge.
Subscription
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Then feel free to subscribe to the newsletter by sending a PM with your name to the Newsletter's senior editor, TaCktiX (clicky). By subscribing you will receive every new issue of the Newsletter straight into your inbox, keeping you up to date with all the new latest developments in the Foundry.
Wrap up
We would like to thank you all for taking the time to read and enjoy our newsletter.
See you next time!
ZeakCytho - Perspectives Editor, Spotlight Editor, Maps In Development Editor
wcaclimbing - Graphics
gimil - Formatting Editor, Graphics
InkL0sed - Proofreading Editor
TaCktiX - Senior Editor, Editorial Editor, Maps in Development Editor
EDIT: Noted that you're getting interviewed. Some things get lost while compiling all the pieces of the Newsletter into one post.
