Stronghold - updated 29/01/2015

[RedBaron0]

I like green for sure, however you are going to need to keep an eye on the color blind test since green in a part of the most common type of color blindness.

[ManBungalow]

Okay, here's an update:

Click image to enlarge.

I've decided to stick with the green theme.

This update doesn't show everything I want to update right now, but it'll do to be going on with.

Brief summary of changes:
All borders have been refined and should hopefully appear more uniform now.
Water basically smoothed over.
Mountains rounded off and shaded differently.
Different look for forests - I'm not happy with these...will have another look later.

[degaston]

...Different look for forests - I'm not happy with these...will have another look later.

Have you tried using real trees? I made this in a few minutes with a screen capture from the birds-eye view of bing maps. Kind of reminds me of those tilt-shift videos. A satellite view might also work, or It might look better if you lined it up with the edge of a forest.

[ManBungalow]

Thanks, I'll try that with the next update.

The trees in previous versions of this map were actually a composite of a birds-eye image of a real forest, like you're saying. I think the scale was a little off though.

EDIT: the bonus values shown in the legend of the current image are incorrect (see the previous page of this thread for correct values). will change this in the next update.

[RedBaron0]

A drawn tree wouldn't look bad either, something generally uniform but with slightly different shades of green for the color of the tree, Something like this maybe:

[Dukasaur]

I like green for sure, however you are going to need to keep an eye on the color blind test since green in a part of the most common type of color blindness.

Could he use different shades of green and use textures to make it visible for the colour blind? The black/white contrasts in the textures should be visible even to those who are 100% colour-blind, no?

[ManBungalow]

I ran it through a colourblind filter a few days ago, and it looks okay.

Lake Rebels/Salty Coast are quite similar.

But on the whole, I think having such thick borders to mark the edges of the bonuses makes it pretty unambiguous. Will go over it again though.

[RedBaron0]

That's fine MB, we all need to see these tests too though, the more people that can judge, the better.

[ManBungalow]

Just an FYI....I'll update this map very soon. Real life is pretty hectic right now.

[koontz1973]

Just an FYI....I'll update this map very soon. Real life is pretty hectic right now.

A little one is better than nothing. Try to get one done this week for us.

[RedBaron0]

Just an FYI....I'll update this map very soon. Real life is pretty hectic right now.

A little one is better than nothing. Try to get one done this week for us.

What he said.

[RedBaron0]

[moved]

Seems the progress of this map has stalled. Should the mapmaker choose to continue the production of this map, all they need do is contact any CA and ask it be moved back to the Foundry, once an update has been made. Be aware that the vacation this map will be put on will be for a period of no longer than 6 months. Should that time period pass without update this map will be consided abandoned, meaning its various gameplay elements will be free to used by any other mapmaker. Even if this map returns to the Foundry it may be reevaluated for gameplay worthyness due to possible changes in Foundry standards that may occur in the meantime. At that time the gameplay stamp may be recinded temperarily to denote its status.

[ManBungalow]

I've got this. Should have some time soon.

[dakky21]

Anything new about this? Like, almost 5 months passed?

[ManBungalow]

Hi, I'm hoping to revive this map!

Does anyone still visit the foundry? Mods?



Here's an update. Can I get it back in the main foundry please?

Click image to enlarge.

Summary of update:
*New trees
*New connection between Crown Plains and Cobble to eliminate the bottleneck which was there before
*Neutral 2 moved from Trout Bay to Minty Fields so nobody starts next to the Sun Rebels, as that can only be attacked by one region
*Minor tweaks

[sempaispellcheck]

Hi, I'm hoping to revive this map!

IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!

I support this being revived.
Good to see you back, ManB.

sempai

[waauw]

great map.
Though one question, why are the bonuses for Crown plains and Gargoyle different? They both have the same number of territories and borders and they both stand on equally dangerous positions.

[iancanton]

glad to see an update! moved to the main foundry workshop!

ian.

[ManBungalow]

great map.
Though one question, why are the bonuses for Crown plains and Gargoyle different? They both have the same number of territories and borders and they both stand on equally dangerous positions.

I guess because the Cobble <-> Crown Plains border wasn't there until the last update, so Crown Plains was easier to defend!

I'll have a good look at and review the bonus values this evening. Hopefully I'm allowed to tweak them a little bit even though I already have the gameplay stamp?

Cheers guys!

[Endgame422]

Looks great.
Love a map with an objective(esp with fog)
Im glad you stuck with the green i much prefer it.
Are the 3 neutrals next to stronghold killer?

[ManBungalow]

Looks great.
Love a map with an objective(esp with fog)
Im glad you stuck with the green i much prefer it.
Are the 3 neutrals next to stronghold killer?

Thank you kindly!

Those neutrals are NOT killer neutrals. They would be a good candidate for killer neutrals, but there are 2 reasons why they sadly cannot be:

1) I'm aiming to have this map be as simple as possible, such that you don't have to check the legend more than once - so many other maps have me reading ancient texts to work out how to attack now
2) As this map was the product of a competition - the competition determined specific gameplay criteria which I'm not allowed to deviate from (eg by introducing killer neutrals)

Thanks for your interest!

[Dukasaur]

Good to see you back, ManB!

I still love this map!

[ManBungalow]

Small update:

Click image to enlarge.

Summary:

More balanced bonus values - @cartographers, sorry about this change, I don't think I'm supposed to change gameplay after getting the stamp? I think it's for the best though!

Slightly changed colours to make some kingdoms more distinct

[iancanton]

now that u've bumped up the easier bonuses, the harder ones in the middle are looking unattractive. to fix that, try sherwood +5, gargoyle +6, crown plains +6 and darwin +4. expanding the western forest to separate raven from coven rebels will help to bring the latter into play, as its the only rebel region adjacent to 3 other regions. on an open map such as this, players usually try to avoid wasting their troops on attacking neutrals, so reducing the rebel starting neutrals to n2 will encourage players to attack the rebels (cut the auto-deploy from +2 to +1 to compensate).

from what i can see, the new greens make each bonus zone stand out well from its neighbours.

ian.

[Balsiefen]

On a graphical note, perhaps a subtle backglow to the names of the territories that share names with the continents? (Sherwood, Gargoyle etc.) Just to make them a little easier to pick out when skimming over the bonus values. Nice map btw.

Also, if your software supports it, it might be good to add an extra pixel or so to the letter spacing for the yellow bonuses text. a couple of them look a little crammed together at the moment and you have extra space to spread them out into.