Northwest Passage [Quenched]

[shakeycat]

Ever evolving:

Click image to enlarge.

Changed the colours of breakups (water: white, land: grey)
Changed names, got rid of the general "greenland" and "nunavut" type names. Will probably need to make clear the difference between some colours (NWT + Ellesmere?)
Changed some borders - Ellesmere Island now has three isolated territories making it up. Eureka links to Axel Heiberg, probably unclear.
Added some impassible areas on Nunavut and Baffin.
Became friends with the opaque ice.

[natty dread]

Ok... The ice looks nice. But now I'm stuck with the bonus areas, the colours you use are way too similar. I cannot find a single bonus area...

You should either a) change the colours or b) use a minimap. I'd prefer option b, as the colours do fit the theme.

[MarshalNey]

I think Natty's right here- the ice is wonderful, and this map has me excited, but the bonus territories are too similar in color.

I'm not a fan of minimaps, however, so I'd vote for changing the colors.

Also, the sea borders crisscrossing the expedition lines get a little visually distressing.

But this is all graphics or graphics-related-to-gameplay stuff.

The idea/concept seems good enough. The look is certainly a very strong start. Why is this map still in the Melting Pot?

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

I could go for the same mini-territory style I used in Vancouver to make the bonus list, if it doesn't leave us looking too cluttered. The colours could change too.

It's still in the Melting Pot because I was very slow in getting my Design brief in.

Visually distressing ... ouch. I do need to work on those. What in particular is it about the crossing that makes it distressing? (or perhaps, which area makes your head ache most to look at?)

[natty dread]

Well, the lancaster - Parry channel area is kinda mind boggling. It's just too busy... I'd prefer just removing the lines and just using the army circle colours, like you've done in the latest.

As for bonuses, I don't know, I'd kinda prefer a minimap. The bonus areas are such funny shapes, it's hard to match the ones in the legend to the ones on the map IMO...

[shakeycat]

I'll admit, Barrow St was doomed from the start. Updated (see above).

[natty dread]

Still looks busy. I'd like to see a version with no lines at all.

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

Well that does look much easier to read. I think you need to ditch the lines. Just use the coloured army circles like you had in the previous version, to mark the routes.

Also, some of the smaller territories that are surrounded by ice & water (such as King William island) could be made a bit larger, for legibility. It's allowed to botch the geographical accuracy slightly for gameplay/legibility purposes.

Also there's some places where you need to fiddle around with the territory names & borders so that they don't overlap. Viscount melville sound being one...

Also, Thule is a bit confusing, does it only border Nares strait or does it also border Baffin bay?

That's all I got for now...

[shakeycat]

Updated.

Click image to enlarge.

Made thin lines. If possible to make dotted lines in Fireworks MX, may try that too.

[MarshalNey]

Better, and at the same time worse.

My eyes aren't as boggled by all of the lines crisscrossing, but the expeditions are much harder to pick out now... and they are the centerpiece of this map, methinks.

I wish I could give you some clear-cut suggestions here... Natty says to just use the army circle as a guide, but there's a downside to that. People (myself included) are comfortable with seeing routes depicted as lines on a map. Trying to follow the colors on the circles might not flow so well... can't say that for sure, but that's the feeling I get.

The real trouble for me is the lines used as sea borders. They stand out, often perpedicular to the expedition routes.

Meh, maybe Natty is right. I say, try the map without the lines, just the colored circles that you've got. You'll be able to judge its merits from the response it gets.

Oh, and you could always add the Barrow St. back in again, if you get rid of the lines. It bugs me that you had to take out a territory and thus shortened all of the expeditions by one.

As always, great work.

[natty dread]

I have to say, the Tundra isn't working. It's too similar to the other colours... impassables need to stand out.

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

It doesn't really work without the lines.

[natty dread]

How about coloured outline on the territories? Could be worth a shot...

[MarshalNey]

Is there anything you can do to eliminate the sea territory border lines? I think those are the lines that really make the map look over-the-top busy.

Maybe if colored outlines don't work, you could try just different shades for each sea territory... dunno. Just shooting out ideas.