Official: Centerscape Competition - Round 2!

[Optimus Prime]

If RjBeals did do one, I'm gonna guess it was #4, but if he didn't, I'm still voting for #4.

RJ must have done 4. Apparently he lives for these competitions, because he's running away with it again if it really is him. I do recall stating that I would put my money on his submission if he were to participate....

yup, here it is: from Nov 22 2008 at 13:14 EST

I'll put my money on RJ winning another competition...

that is, if he decides to submit a map.

Yep, I agree 100%

[RjBeals]

Hmmm.. I can't be certain, but I think oaktown has submitted the 3rd entry. Surely not carinswk. hmm..

whoever did it used a Reverend_Kyle style

I remember oak saying he was having a hard time with the borders & layout. The white borders are surely the kyle style. And the stone wall layered on the back is not something I would think oak would do. But the smooth pen borders are - and that statue might be his touch.. Dunno.

I'm not saying if I did one or not. I just wished more people would have at least tried.

[whitestazn88]

Hmmm.. I can't be certain, but I think oaktown has submitted the 3rd entry. Surely not carinswk. hmm..

whoever did it used a Reverend_Kyle style

I can't really see where you get Oaky as #3, but it wouldn't surprise me if you cartoes tried to copy each others' style to throw off the casual foundry glancer...

And I don't get what you mean by Reverend_Kyle style? From what I found in my 30 seconds of research, he made the France map, stylistically different than 3 I feel like.

[Gilligan]

Number 2. I love it.

But we can't judge solely on what it looks like now... It's the work afterward, I think some people have been deciding solely on what it looks like now..

[MrBenn]

I wish I had been able to find the time to get my entry beyond a rough draft. I'm convinced it would have looked awful next to numbers 3 and 4, but hey!

[whitestazn88]

the one thing that i will concede that could make it oaky's work is the story feel of it.

cairns is historical, but the "epic of gilgamesh" surely doesn't fit into his previous schemes that were just plain ww2, or ancient egypt

the story type aspect of gilgamesh brings me to think of duck and cover, his developing india map, the eastern hemisphere map which is overlaid by the story of divide and conquer the unknown world, and lastly the high seas, which i think has some mention of a seafarer from back in the day....

but then again... cairns did age or merchants right? apparently not... but he did do: bamboo jack (although slightly historical), prohibition chicago, and treasures of the galapagos, all of which kinda have a little background story (pows in thailand, gangs in chicago, exploring the galapagos)

i really don' know... and this is why i hate reading everyone elses posts in the voting phase cuz it makes me second guess my ability to "name that carto!"

[RjBeals]

Number 2. I love it.

But we can't judge solely on what it looks like now... It's the work afterward, I think some people have been deciding solely on what it looks like now..

I also love #2, but it's just a complete step-by-step follow of the tutorial on cartographers guild. Here's their finished map tutorial. No offense to the creator - but I hope if this wins, you can change it up a bit. Use a little more of your own creative juices. The pirate theme is indeed cool, and we need a good pirate map here.

[pepperonibread]

4 is hot stuff with those mountains.

[Gilligan]

It needs Barbossa

[whitestazn88]

Number 2. I love it.

But we can't judge solely on what it looks like now... It's the work afterward, I think some people have been deciding solely on what it looks like now..

I also love #2, but it's just a complete step-by-step follow of the tutorial on cartographers guild. Here's their finished map tutorial. No offense to the creator - but I hope if this wins, you can change it up a bit. Use a little more of your own creative juices. The pirate theme is indeed cool, and we need a good pirate map here.

I can't see it, and am too lazy to register on the site... care to just post the image for us?

[Lindax]

Middle Earth was my favorite map on cc. I think all 4 designers have done a great job. Number 2 looks awesome, however, to play on I think I prefer no 4.

Great job all

[whitestazn88]

[Edited to remove bias based on "knowing" the mapmaker of a certain entry.]

I'll just add another "way to go guys! they look great!" here instead of my analysis of a certain cartographers map in development in comparison to one of the maps presented in this competition

[The Neon Peon]

1. This person is a very good map maker, an the style is very good. Although I will say that it looks like the person did not have the time to make a map up to his/her usual standards. It seems unfinished.

2. A very creative idea and good graphics to make it happen. Although I don't personally like playing on something that looks so realistic it is as if it was taken off a satellite photo.

3. Definitely not my style. I won't comment here, just not my type.

4. The more classical style of map. Looks like an actual map in real life and of the old days. I voted for this one. Except, the person who made it seems to have gotten something wrong. Isle of Nugs should connect across the river to the other two territories for gameplay to remain the same. This is a 5 minute fix still all that needs to be done is have the bridge moved north along with the island until they connect to the peninsula, plus some really small color tweaks there. Still encourage people to vote for it.

VOTE FOR #4

(I really wish he continued on the iron curtain map...)

[edbeard]

white, kyle's egypt map (which was a ripoff (at least in layout) of another site's map) had the same basic graphical style though this one is done much much better


on to the maps themselves...

1. this one is the most unfinished. this person would freely admit with more time he/she could do a lot more. problem is the options seem limitless (bad because there doesn't seem to be a direction for the details which could put it over the top) and the concept doesn't grab me so much.

2. this one is the most unique and had the best concept. love the beards. the territory names are quite good all around (rodrom mountain). perhaps tone down the lines a bit to blend them in a bit more. There is a lot going on in the image. It'd be nice to have more than one ship type. The lake by Captain Hook looks weird.

3. cool concept. very finished/well done. I don't think much could be improved here. honestly not as exciting as Pirates though.

4. like 3 it's finished and I don't see how another round can improve it. the left side of the map is quite cool. I think the layout of this map stays most true to the original. it looks very good. very very good. the arrow probably could be a bit larger/more noticeable. the Brena-Isle of Nugs connection is missing. the Stones Pass - Alexandria connection looks bad.



I'd say 2,3,4 will definitely be good choices and whichever don't win should be made into maps anyway. 1 is unknown since to me it's not complete. 2 is my favourite because of the pirates. 3 like I said is well done but not enough to grab me to win over 2 and 4. 4 might be the most finished and best looking at the moment. I think 2 can improve with a few detail touch ups and win.

[RjBeals]

[Edited to remove bias based on "knowing" the mapmaker of a certain entry.]

I'll just add another "way to go guys! they look great!" here instead of my analysis of a certain cartographers map in development in comparison to one of the maps presented in this competition

Nice (deleted) post though White - Or should I say... Detective.

You think you know huh... I wish I could say.. O how I wish.

(edit) Oh, I voted for number-1. Is it brygry or wca - i forget, but it's got my vote.

[whitestazn88]

upon a thorough search of the abandoned parts of the foundry, i found reverend_kyle's map of ancient egypt.

based on the sole image i was able to view, i could see how the styles are similar because theyre very hieroglyphic in nature. but that map would definitely never meet foundry standards now. thankfully, cairns made 4 ancient egypt maps for us to enjoy over that one...

but back to map 3. it is sexy in its nature, and no matter who made it, i am happy to say that i am its sole proponent.

[whitestazn88]

[Edited to remove bias based on "knowing" the mapmaker of a certain entry.]

I'll just add another "way to go guys! they look great!" here instead of my analysis of a certain cartographers map in development in comparison to one of the maps presented in this competition

Nice (deleted) post though White - Or should I say... Detective.

You think you know huh... I wish I could say.. O how I wish.

(edit) Oh, I voted for number-1. Is it brygry or wca - i forget, but it's got my vote.

bryguy hasn't finished a map yet... famine is in... final forge? vacation? i forget, but i'm looking forward to that one bry...

[samuelc812]

I voted for Number 4

My guesses
1. wcaclimbing
2. Mibi
3. oaktown
4. RjBeals

[ZeakCytho]

I voted for Number 4

My guesses
1. wcaclimbing
2. Mibi
3. oaktown
4. RjBeals

My guesses exactly. And I voted for 4, too. I'll write up a bit on how each can be improved shortly.

[ZeakCytho]

1: That texture looks really familiar. Oasis/winter much? It looks good, but it's kind of plain. The bridges could use work, and the title is rather bland. Also, I think a new name would be better than Centerspace. And the trees...are those supposed to be trees? They need work. But the mountains are really good (clearly Oaktown didn't make this ). I would also suggest make mountains alongside the one-way attack to make it even more clear that it's one-way.

2: Not sure who made this. The graphics are good, but very jarring, similar toAoR:3. Pirates is a great theme, but the borders and attack lines are really, really bright. I can't help but feel that this map would be much prettier without any borders on it . Points for "No" Beard, though. That got a lot of chuckles out of me. My biggest problem with this map is that I can't follow what attacks what easily. While pirates is an awesome theme, I don't think it works well with this gameplay. There are too many neon attack lines - it gives me a headache.

3: A nice concept, but I'm kind of neutral about it. The graphics are well done and very fitting with the theme, but I just don't like them very much, for the same reason I don't like ConquerMan's graphics. The rainbow mountains are what really did it for me - that's just too goofy looking. Also, this doesn't really have much to do with Gilgamesh...maybe rename it to reflect that it's the Ancient Middle East, since I don't see a way of including more Gilgameshian things (the Epic really doesn't refer to places at all, other than Uruk).

4: I like this one a lot. A lot. It reminds me of an ancient fantasy map, something that one might find in, oh, I don't know, something that Tolkein wrote? . I don't love the font, but it's really not a bad font, that's just the only thing I can find wrong with it. As with entry 1, perhaps put mountains along the 1-way attack to make it more clear that it's 1-way. Also, the continent names leave a lot to be desired. And the connection issue Yeti pointed out needs to be fixed, but that's simple.

These were all good submissions, but I kind of expected more of them

Great job guys!

[oaktown]

huh, could've sworn I posted in this thread already... stupid work connection.

For starters, I truly appreciate the fact that there are four maps that are entirely different from each other in style and subject. It's becoming clear that everybody around here has found their niche - had I gotten it together enough to submit my usual late-19th century map with hand-drawn mountains there'd be another artistic voice represented. Ho hum, it'd be nice to have more entries, but we have quality to choose from. For what it's worth, here's my two cents...

#1 - clean and simple. A bit too straightforward for my tastes perhaps, but absolutely playable.

#2 - nice look and a theme that is in demand. Serious kudos for the Tolkien nod. If this map doesn't win, the regions and territories could and should be tweaked to retain the theme.

#3 - a theme that would make Tolkien proud, with some interesting liberties taken with actual geography. Again, a map that could be reworked to retain the look and theme.

#4 - in my opinion the easiest to look at of the four entries (love the bridges), and I appreciate any map that doesn't insist on being 840 x 800 pixels. I do wish that both this and #1 had some kind of theme that pulled me into the map, as my preference is for maps that have some kind of historical significance.

I'm leaning toward voting #4 - if it had a theme (or even a name) I would probably vote for it now.

[wcaclimbing]

my only guess is RJ for #4.

EDIT: replaced my earlier comment about number two with this, since I think it explains what I was trying to say better:

I don't think mibi made map #2. With his impressive graphics for other maps, such as Trojan War, I would expect graphics more trojan war-ish from him, drawn with the style he has used before. I don't think he would use a tutorial for inspiration on how to create realistic terrain, because he has already showed that he has excellent realism skills from Trojan War. I wouldn't expect him to switch his style from what he had with trojan war to something so different. So I think it was someone else. I may be wrong, though. that wouldn't surprise me either.

I wish I had more time to finish my entry.....

[WidowMakers]

my only guess is RJ for #4.

And that mibi did NOT do number two. I would expect him to draw his own terrain, like he did for Trojan War, not use a tutorial.

That does not really make sense. Basically you are saying that anyone who uses a tutorial is not "doing" real work. SO anyone who uses mibi's tutorial is not really doing work either? Only the original artist of a concept can claim that it is his/her work.

Basically I am saying a tutorial is not bad. It was not copied (it appears) just followed to get the same effect. How many tutorials or techniques have you developed yourself wca?
Great job everyone.

#1-Simplest of the bunch. Does not have the flare to grab the attention of the player.
#2-Only map to switch up themes. The other three are all land, this has ships. The theme is what makes this map great. Needs new font, different ships for each fleet, tone down colors.
#3-Very interesting design. I don't like the brick texture. Good soft colors and easy to read.
#4-IS this the small or large map. VERY easy to read. Good texture. Almost 95% the same layout as Middle earth. Great funny names. needs title but that is easy.
WM

[wcaclimbing]

my only guess is RJ for #4.

And that mibi did NOT do number two. I would expect him to draw his own terrain, like he did for Trojan War, not use a tutorial.

That does not really make sense. Basically you are saying that anyone who uses a tutorial is not "doing" real work. SO anyone who uses mibi's tutorial is not really doing work either? Only the original artist of a concept can claim that it is his/her work.

Basically I am saying a tutorial is not bad. It was not copied (it appears) just followed to get the same effect. How many tutorials or techniques have you developed yourself wca?

I think I worded what I said wrong, I didn't mean it as an insult, if thats what it sounded like.
I didn't mean for it to sound like "he's not doing work", either.
Or anything like that...
I'm just saying that with mibi's impressive graphics for other maps, such as Trojan War, I would expect graphics more trojan war-ish from him, drawn with the style he has used before. I don't think he would use a tutorial for inspiration on how to create realistic terrain, because he has already showed that he has excellent realism skills from Trojan War. I wouldn't expect him to switch his style from what he had with trojan war to something so different. So I think it was someone else. I may be wrong, though. that wouldn't surprise me either.

... is that worded any better?

I'm not trying to go against tutorials or people that use them. I've used many tutorials for guidance, including the ones mibi made. I guess I put too much emphasis on "tutorial" in my first message. I meant it more as "learned a completely new technique for mapmaking", not a comment against tutorial use.

Map 2 (the one we're talking about) looks great, I really like the graphics. I just wouldn't expect that style from mibi...

Sorry if I made anyone mad.

[MaleAlphaThree]

1- Simple, but too simple.

2- Very interesting theme. Wouldn't mind seeing this map modified and outside of the centerscape replacement line up, just to have it available guaranteed.

3- Also very interesting, see #2.

4- Very nice colors, very close to old map layout, and most importantly of all.... easy to read. My vote.