German/Italian Unif.[D, Gp, Gr] BETA, all files p.1

[Industrial Helix]

Thanks Kab for you useful crits!

-why are the mountain treatment different in the two maps? I'm trying to decide which style I like better so I threw both up to see which you people might like best. I'm starting to lean towards the draw mountains but I think I might have to do them again.

- maybe the extra bonus should appear in the legend marked with a box as well, but with a diagonal line dividing it in 2 colours. It's a good idea, I kind of wrote it off because I assumed that numbers over the dash might look too visually confusing. I'll give it a shot and see.

-any reason why the colours in the boxes don’t match the one existing in the regions? Because i didn't turn down the opacity on the boxes, will do

-could you make the army circles a little bit more transparent so they don’t get that huge presence over the board (very beautiful by the way, with that pleasant colour grade) Def. can do

-speaking of colour grade, if you could get a way of differentiating a bit more the neutral gray from the others would work fine. Maybe with a hatch or texture of any kind, maybe the faded flag of the respective neutral country. The hatch texture might work well, I'll give it a shot. I think putting a flag in there might distract too much from the actual map... plus Luxembourg would be a pain.

-those numbers that appear in the regions with the crosses and the shields are starting neutral troops right, could you use the real numbers? Correct. Yeah, I ought to do that... i was just lazy and didn't take the time to do it. Will do this next round though.

-the number circles don’t seem to fit that well inside the icons/symbols.... especially in the crosses case. I’d suggest placing the circles near the symbols but not inside them. Hmm... I rather like it. I moved them from next to the symbol because they were crowding up the territory... I'll turn down the opacity on the dots first, if that doesn't work i'll revert to the next to the icon set up.

-just a personal thing... I prefer the term armies instead of soldier when referring to the bonus.... makes it more realistic. You would not unify Italy with a hand full of soldiers Lol. Yeah, I can do that. Seems to make more sense. Mabe I;ll switch it on my American Colonies map as well.

Keep on the good work!

[captainwalrus]

I like the mountains in the Italian one better. I don't really get the dotted line thing, is it just that those territories are in both bonus regions? Water connections could be a little lighter or smaller, either one.

[Kabanellas]

I also prefer the mountains in the Italian map... far better.

[Industrial Helix]

Alright, got some new versions... I couldn't figure out how to switch to the normal numbers that CC uses... i found the 00s but I can seem to find the actual numbers... any help would be great.

I tried decreasing the opacity on the squares with mixed results. I might switch it up next round. Anyway, here we go:

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

[thenobodies80]

I couldn't figure out how to switch to the normal numbers that CC uses... i found the 00s but I can seem to find the actual numbers... any help would be great.

0-9 CC Numbers.psd

edit: more comments this evening (when i'm not at work)

[Kabanellas]

-The circles in the German map seem to be more transparent... I prefer that option.
-I like the flags on the neutral countries (actually I'm trying them in the Napoleonic Europe project ) - just not sure if they should be more faded out or added a bit more of grey in them, so they won't pop out us much. The red from the Ottoman Empire is maybe too close from one used in The Two Sicilies...
-making the icons a little smaller could work better, I think

[Industrial Helix]

Thanks ian!

Kab, whoops... turns out one of the problems with working on two maps is that when you make a fix you have to do it to BOTH maps. In this case I forgot to tone down the army circles. Will do.

Shrinking the symbols. Yeah. It needs to be done I think. I originally threw them in as an improve but now that this map is a tad more advanced, I could probably play with it some more.

The thing is with the neutral flags, the background/grunge look is the early stages of a watercolor painting I found in a tutorial, and its darker in spots than it is in others. The reason the Turkey flag is so saturated is because of that. I think I'm going to be completely unable to get an even style for the neutral flags, but desaturated turkey is a definite try for the next update. I'll play with it, see what happens.

[captainwalrus]

You should work on the larger version, as long a you know that the small one works, since it is easier to shrink it that enlarging it.

Instead of the dashed line, perhaps fill the territory with a gradient from one color to the next, or use like stripes of one on a background of another, cause as of now, it is hard to tell what is going down with them. Maybe just get rid of the line all together, that would make it more clear that it is all one territory.

[Industrial Helix]

Ok, no one seems to like the idea of the dotted line which means its got to go. The concept is that a territory has a dotted line then it can be used as part of two bonuses. For example, the dotted line on S-H shows that holding the Denmark bonus yields 1 army, if you hold the Denmark bonus AND S-H, then it yields 2 armies, but if you hold North Germany you get 6 Armies, if you hold North Germany AND S-H you get 7 Armies. So the territory of S-H is part of two bonuses and hence it has two territories and a dotted line to act as the bonus region border.

But anyway, I tried to take a page out of Kab's book and do the hatched area, which will then corresspond with a hatched square in the bonus legend. BUT, it looks out of place and a tad strange I think. I had to convert the territory name to White so it would show up. I need some opinions on whether it looks alright or not.

Also, I made large versions of both maps... it was surprisingly uncomplicated. Take a look.

Click image to enlarge.

[Kabanellas]

Hi Helix!

Could you make the hatched lines a bit less darker? maybe grey....

The large version is looking good, the army circles seem a bit large though.

[drwho1979]

I think the maps are both looking real good .. I agree with the other post that the circles for the armies are a bit large. I also think that both maps show get potential. One question, have you ever giving thought to a future concept of combining boths maps into one large version kinda like the WWII europe map. I think that as a trio that would be really neat.

[Industrial Helix]

Kab, Yeah, i can turn it gray... I'm thinking about maybe turning down the opacity could be a solution as well.

Dr.who - Thanks for the support and suggestions. Interestingly enough, the two maps could be linked to form a nice map of central Europe.. CC just won't allow it because it will break the rules regarding map size and all that.

[thenobodies80]

Hello Helix,

some hints for the italian map from an italian guy

• use Aosta instead of Monferrato (monferrato is where you have piemonte circle now)
• The correct name is piemonte
• Liguria is Genoa
• Parma and Modena aren't a part of toscana during 1860 but indipendent countries.
• This map could help you with borders and regions http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Unification_of_Italy_1815-1870.jpg
• There aren't mountains between venezia and bezecca (but there are between bezecca and tyrol)

I like the idea to add some name of battles to the map (lissa, bezecca, custoza) , they weren't regions during that period, but they were important places during italian unifications. Good choice
If possible I'd like to see Roma with 5 troops? Roma was an hard objective during the unification and the last one to raise the white flag. (1870)
If i'm not wrong, Nice was a part of kingdom of Sardinia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/TannerMapKingdomSardinia1839.jpg

I tried to take a page out of Kab's book and do the hatched area, which will then corresspond with a hatched square in the bonus legend. BUT, it looks out of place and a tad strange I think.

Agree, it looks out of place.

More suggestions (also for the german map) come soon

Nice maps, go on!
Have a nice day
Nobodies

[Industrial Helix]

Hello Helix,

• use Aosta instead of Monferrato (monferrato is where you have piemonte circle now)
• The correct name is piemonte
• Liguria is Genoa
• Parma and Modena aren't a part of toscana during 1860 but indipendent countries.
• This map could help you with borders and regions http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Unification_of_Italy_1815-1870.jpg
• There aren't mountains between venezia and bezecca (but there are between bezecca and tyrol)

The problem with Toscana, Parma and Modena is that they won't work as individual bonus regions given their size, but they do work as a grouping in the area, which is what I chose to run with. If anyone can come up with a gameplay aspect that would give them the proper recognition then I'd be happy to use it. We'll see what happens. As for the rest, these are all awesome suggestions, they will definitely b implemented. Thanks a ton!

I like the idea to add some name of battles to the map (lissa, bezecca, custoza) , they weren't regions during that period, but they were important places during italian unifications. Good choice
If possible I'd like to see Roma with 5 troops? Roma was an hard objective during the unification and the last one to raise the white flag. (1870) yeah, that seems like a good option, perhaps the autodeploy for it could be a tad higher.
If i'm not wrong, Nice was a part of kingdom of Sardinia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/TannerMapKingdomSardinia1839.jpg Nice and Savoy were originally part of Sardinia but were sold to the Second Empire of France in exchange for help during the wars of Italian Unification.

I tried to take a page out of Kab's book and do the hatched area, which will then correspond with a hatched square in the bonus legend. BUT, it looks out of place and a tad strange I think.

Agree, it looks out of place.

More suggestions (also for the german map) come soon

Nice maps, go on!
Have a nice day
Nobodies

[Industrial Helix]

Ok, this should address all the previously mentioned concerns.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.