Conquer Club

Did somebody say diner table? The table is my own - 1950s red formica table with a chrome edge. (I'm especially proud of my chairs, but there's no room here for them.) I spent some time with the camera this evening - table was easy, the pen was a bitch because a silver pen reflects whatever color its on... bah. If I had a pack of smokes I'd have put them in there as well, but it may be busy enough as is.

Anywho, the postcard itself is now set up as a smart object, warped to both give a bit of perspective and to give the edges some shape. I think it works quite well, though some of my army circles are a bit egg-shaped.

I've had no gameplay comments in, well, months. ??

hmm just a thought, why not print it out, take the picture with the pen, then overlay the photoshop on the printed version in the picture (that way the pen reflects well and you still keep the orig image not a photograph of the print-out)

and nice table btw

a.sub wrote:hmm just a thought, why not print it out, take the picture with the pen, then overlay the photoshop on the printed version in the picture (that way the pen reflects well and you still keep the orig image not a photograph of the print-out)

I thought about it - I even considered printing the card out and taking a shot of the entire thing and using that as the playable map, but that would make updates a bitch!

I played around with shooting the pen on the table (to reflect the red) and on a brown paper that was close to the color of the map. It just looks weird when you drop it into the file... my sense is that reflected color on a pen is something that your brain overlooks in real life, because we just register the color of the pen as silver. But when you blow that same pen and lay it down over a two dimensional image you can't help but notice that the pen is half silver, half red. What we expect from a flat image is different than what we really see and take for granted.

all i did was scrunch up the image, rotate it, crop it and used overlay blend option
i reduced the opacity a bit too
it was a bad job but i did it im 5 mins just for proof of concept
you think its any good?

oaktown, i like the table, nice.
Not sure about the ashtray
Perhaps some postage stamps or an envelope with a stamp on it turned upside down? might go with the pen.
Applaude your experimentation btw.

cairnswk wrote:oaktown, i like the table, nice.
Not sure about the ashtray
Perhaps some postage stamps or an envelope with a stamp on it turned upside down? might go with the pen.
Applaude your experimentation btw.

Smoking was in, in the fifties, so an ashtray is suitable to the theme ..

danfrank wrote:

cairnswk wrote:oaktown, i like the table, nice.
Not sure about the ashtray
Perhaps some postage stamps or an envelope with a stamp on it turned upside down? might go with the pen.
Applaude your experimentation btw.

Smoking was in, in the fifties, so an ashtray is suitable to the theme ..

True enough, I think it'd be better with edge of a coffee cup saucer and change the pen to a spoon, and if you could pull it off, show the head of the spoon with a tiny bit of coffee pooled in center. Either way though, the theme very well satified.

Hi again

I did ask about how the starting territories work- go on, enlighten me.

A good idea I think and I like the whimsical style you've used.
I agree with Cairns about the ashtray though - it seems like another object may say "roadtrip" more effectively... maybe some fuzzy dice, old coke bottle, a 57 Chevy?

DJ Teflon wrote:Hi again

I did ask about how the starting territories work- go on, enlighten me.

It's explained in the first post. Has been all along.

Maybe a coffee cup to replace the ashtray? The ashtray is the only element of the image I lifted off the web anyway, so I'm happy to lose it.

I think the reflection on the pen is a nice piece of work. I have no problem with the ashtray per se, but if you feel the need to drop it, try a saucer with some coffee spilled in it (though I wonder if the scale would be right to fit in a saucer whose centre you could see), or perhaps a plate with a bit of food on it (I like pie, but maybe some French fries would be more recognizable.)

Sorry The starting positions are indeed well explained in the first post.

It looks like very interesting - and, on analysis, very fair gameplay.

The only slight amendment I would suggest is with the explanation of the territory bonus - maybe it should say "Up to 7 cities receives 3 armies"? Or some other re-wording?

Are you going with the idea discussed earlier: non-route-66 coded neutrals having starting with 2 neutral troops?

I've replaced one legal recreational drug with another - the ashtray has become a cup of coffee.

Right now all neutrals are intended to start as 3s. While the opening drops are set to balance 1v1 games, giving some players quick access to neutrals 2s while other have to slog through 3s would upset the early going and give some players easier expansion and access to cards. Best, I think, to make everything 3 or everything 2.

As for the "up to 7 cities receives three armies" bit I think you have a point, DJ. Right now it is incorrect - I'll change that with the next update.

This is all looking really good. What do you have to do to get some stamps around here?

i say bring back the ashtray, and have a look at the "66" reflection in a.sub's image - it looks good. What a fine piece of art you've created here oak - i could care less about gameplay. The map has evolved into something that is so unique and has so much style - that it could be my fav on cc. Well done.

RjBeals wrote:i say bring back the ashtray, and have a look at the "66" reflection in a.sub's image - it looks good. What a fine piece of art you've created here oak - i could care less about gameplay. The map has evolved into something that is so unique and has so much style - that it could be my fav on cc. Well done.

Thanks Rj. I applied a bit of reflection to the pen - a.sub had the right idea but I don't think the reflection should creep up the side of the pen so much.

As for the ashtray, I liked it better as well since it went nicely with the steel pen and the table's side, but it's worth trying something new to see how folks react. Not that anybody seems to be paying attention to Foundry threads much these days!

Oak - I believe the phrase is "Quench"

C.

yeti_c wrote:Oak - I believe the phrase is "Quench"

Wow, I don't have any stamps (beyond drafts) yet the quench it crew is on board already!

i only got 2 graphic nitpicks
it looks a little pixelated on the bottom right edge of the route 66 logo
and super nitpicky the border behind the car to the right fades in different then the other borders that are around it
other then that i think you need some stampin'

Danyael wrote:it looks a little pixelated on the bottom right edge of the route 66 logo
and super nitpicky the border behind the car to the right fades in different then the other borders that are around it

Done and done. I guess I'll write some code, since I have nothing else to do here really.

I believe the phrase is, "epic win."

.44

There's something about the perspective that makes me feel a little dizzy - possibly because the right-edge of the postcard looks almost parallel to the edge of the canvas? Will it mess everything else up if you pull the bottom-right-corner slightly over to the left, to make it look slightly more rectangular than parallelogram-esque?

The reflection in the pen looks like it could be increased a fraction... The coffee cup looks more like a bowl than a mug - probably because you can;t see the base of it??

Anyway, these are really minor graphical nitpicks - are we still waiting for the gameplay brigade to pass this one? As far as I'm concerned, the gameplay was more-or-less sorted out while the map was still a draft Shall I poke somebody to get this one stamped?

I really like this map. Great concept. I think you would get alot of play on it. It has my vote. good luck with it!

I am happy to announce that this map satisfies gameplay standards:



I can see other maps following suit with this unique style of gameplay.

Nice work oak

well deserved