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Re: Paris (April 2) Second draft (pg. 1) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:29 am
by Flapcake
sempaispellcheck wrote:
I'm using GIMP, and I think what I'm going to do is redraw the map following natty's GIMP tutorial


It was just what I had in mind ;) then it cant go wrong, is a very useful tool :)

Re: Paris- V3 (4/17) (pgs. 1 & 2) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:23 pm
by sempaispellcheck
Version 3, finally! I am sorry about the delay, and I hope you find it worth the wait!

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Large:
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If anyone has any advice on how I can get illustrations of my landmarks into GIMP (preferably without having to draw them out), 'twould be appreciated. :D

Also, I realize now that I made the army circles too small. That will be fixed in the next update.

Re: Paris- V3 (4/17) (pgs. 1 & 2) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:51 am
by Flapcake
Hi sempaispellcheck

First one thing thats not about the map, whats easy for every one is that you post the images on the last page aswell as the first, you already have sayd in the headline that you have V3 at pgs 1 & 2, what is the correct way to put it ;) then we dont have to look at both pg 1 and ---> to see what is written and the image (hope i made my self understandble)

Now your new update :) about the blurness, much better, its just about gone (hurray :lol: ) You got all seperate colors for bonuses now, thats good.

I certainly see an improvement in you map but you have some things you need to sort out.

The outer border, its very rough and pixilated, did you use a pencil tool ? use a brush ( 3 pix for outerborders) I have my brush for borderlines set with 90% transparency, it gives a softer look. ofcourse it depend on how the image appears (soft vs. hard)

The armycirkles, same rough and pixilated, I think you can skip the cirkles in the territories and keep the ones for Ligne, but they are also rough and pixilated.

Innerborder from Montmartre/Gare du nord to La villette, delete the littel piece that crosses over ;)

The flag for bagground is much better, the "red" side just seems kind of "pink" to me :-s

I like your improvements and you are on track for a very nice map, keep it up :D

Flap

Re: Paris- V3 (4/17) (pgs. 1 & 2) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:23 am
by DoomYoshi
Image
Image
Image

Here are some graphics I found. I searched :
Code: Select all
sacre-couer paris icon
and it gave the image. Some are stock photos or free-use, others are not. I am only including them here so you can get an idea of what is possible to find on the web.

Re: Paris- V3 (4/17) (pgs. 1 & 2) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:01 am
by sempaispellcheck
Flapcake wrote:whats easy for every one is that you post the images on the last page aswell as the first


Done.

Flapcake wrote:Now your new update :) about the blurness, much better, its just about gone (hurray :lol: ) You got all seperate colors for bonuses now, thats good.

I certainly see an improvement in you map


Thank you. I worked hard on this update, and I'm glad to hear that it shows.

Flapcake wrote:but you have some things you need to sort out.


Of course.That's why it's in the Drafting Room. :D

Flapcake wrote:The outer border, its very rough and pixilated, did you use a pencil tool ? use a brush ( 3 pix for outerborders) I have my brush for borderlines set with 90% transparency, it gives a softer look. ofcourse it depend on how the image appears (soft vs. hard)


I did use a brush - 9 px fuzzy circle at 0.50 scale, as natty suggests in his tutorial. I'll try a smaller brush for my next version and see how it works.

Flapcake wrote:The armycirkles, same rough and pixilated, I think you can skip the cirkles in the territories and keep the ones for Ligne, but they are also rough and pixilated.


If you think I can skip them, I probably will - that way the XML won't give me as much of a headache with centering and all that. I'll work on the ones for the Métro - maybe use a smaller brush or something. I have to make them larger anyway, so that might help.

Flapcake wrote:Innerborder from Montmartre/Gare du nord to La villette, delete the littel piece that crosses over ;)


Sure. That's an easy fix.

Flapcake wrote:The flag for bagground is much better, the "red" side just seems kind of "pink" to me :-s


To me, too. I'll fix that.

Flapcake wrote:I like your improvements and you are on track for a very nice map, keep it up :D

Flap


Thank you!! And thanks for all the feedback, it really helps.

Re: Paris- V3 (4/17) (pgs. 1 & 2) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:02 am
by sempaispellcheck
DoomYoshi -

You are amazing. That is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. Thank you so much.

Re: Paris - V4 (4/23) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:45 pm
by sempaispellcheck
OK - Here it is: Version 4.

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image

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Changes: Fixed flag background so red didn't look pink, redid bonus borders and removed outlines on army circles to fix pixelation, and FINALLY figured out how to add landmark illustrations - many thanks to DoomYoshi for that last. :D

Re: Paris - V4 (4/23) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:54 pm
by nolefan5311
Have you thought about making the background look more like a waving flag, like Image?

I think it adds a nice little touch to it.

Re: Paris - V4 (4/23) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:08 pm
by sempaispellcheck
I have, actually, but I went about it the wrong way when I tried it, so I gave up.
Now that I think I know how to do it, I'll try again.
V4.1 to be posted shortly.

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:54 pm
by sempaispellcheck
HERE we go.

Version 4.1:
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image

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image


Changes: Replaced flag background with WAVING flag background. :D

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:53 pm
by sempaispellcheck
At the risk of sounding impatient (which I am :D ), about how far is this map from its Draft stamp?

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:07 pm
by isaiah40
For the flag, I think it would look better and cleaner if you do what Flapcake did with the Danish flag on his Denmark map.

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:31 pm
by sempaispellcheck
My whole idea has been that the French flag would be the background for the map. I can't use water like Flap does - Paris is landlocked, and it's not like a country or a state where it borders 4 or 5 other places - Paris has a LOT of suburbs, and they all have fairly long names (Issy-les-Moulineaux, for example).

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:56 am
by koontz1973
I think the three big issues right now for me are these...

The current flag background is not very nice, isaiah40 idea of using the same thing as Flapcake on Denmark should really bring the map to life.Not with the water or on a small scale, but covering the whole of the maps background. (Look at the style)

The images you have for the landmarks are so so. None of them fit the map as it is, all of them have different orientations and all are drawn different ways.

The amount of text for such a small map is overbearing. Try to cut some if not half out. Should be able to do that simply.

koontz

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:01 pm
by sempaispellcheck
Oh! My apologies, isaiah, I misunderstood you. I'll find a better flag.

The images were the best I could find. I'll look some more and find better ones.

I'm assuming you mean the text at the top? Aw, I liked it. I thought it was funny. :( Oh well. I can cut it.

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:02 pm
by isaiah40
koontz1973 wrote:isaiah40 idea of using the same thing as Flapcake on Denmark should really bring the map to life.Not with the water or on a small scale, but covering the whole of the maps background. (Look at the style)

No, I meant on the small scale like on Denmark. If you do have it covering the whole background, then you will need to subdue it so that it is barely visible. Just enough that you can see it, and just enough that it doesn't detract from the playable area.

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:38 pm
by koontz1973
sempaispellcheck wrote:Oh! My apologies, isaiah, I misunderstood you. I'll find a better flag.

Look below.
The images were the best I could find. I'll look some more and find better ones.

Why not draw them yourself. That way you do not have copyright to deal with.
I'm assuming you mean the text at the top? Aw, I liked it. I thought it was funny. :( Oh well. I can cut it.

Thats right, the text. Some of it can stay and some you will need, but see what can be cut without losing the flavour.

isaiah40 wrote:
koontz1973 wrote:isaiah40 idea of using the same thing as Flapcake on Denmark should really bring the map to life.Not with the water or on a small scale, but covering the whole of the maps background. (Look at the style)

No, I meant on the small scale like on Denmark. If you do have it covering the whole background, then you will need to subdue it so that it is barely visible. Just enough that you can see it, and just enough that it doesn't detract from the playable area.

Did not mean to put words into your mouth. But you are right. A barely there map would be best. Why not something like nattys London with an image as well?

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:20 pm
by sempaispellcheck
koontz1973 wrote:Why not draw them yourself. That way you do not have copyright to deal with.

Because I can't really draw. I could try, but they would be barely recognizable, if at all.

isaiah40 wrote:If you do have it covering the whole background, then you will need to subdue it so that it is barely visible. Just enough that you can see it, and just enough that it doesn't detract from the playable area.


Meaning reduce the opacity? I can do that.

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:06 pm
by sempaispellcheck
koontz1973 wrote:Why not something like nattys London with an image as well?


Because it would make the landmark illustrations redundant.

Or should I scrap the landmark illustrations and go with that?

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:15 pm
by happy2seeyou
I like the layout, not sure about the flag in the back gound when there are random bright colors on the map. Also, the wording on the top is hard to pay attention to. Maybe the flag could be lighter, like the state flags in the "Great Lakes" map (flags are more muted but still seen). Also, maybe fix the legend on the side a lil. Great job so far though

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:21 pm
by sempaispellcheck
happy2seeyou wrote:the wording on the top is hard to pay attention to.

Yeah, I've cut a lot of it. I put it in because I thought it was funny, but it's not really necessary.

happy2seeyou wrote:Maybe the flag could be lighter, like the state flags in the "Great Lakes" map (flags are more muted but still seen).

I'll try that in my next update.

happy2seeyou wrote:Also, maybe fix the legend on the side a lil.

How? Can you be a bit more specific?

happy2seeyou wrote:Great job so far though

Thanks!

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:00 pm
by happy2seeyou
sempaispellcheck wrote:
happy2seeyou wrote:Also, maybe fix the legend on the side a lil.

How? Can you be a bit more specific?


ND with the auto bonus doesn't need to be explained that it is not apart of any other bonus. If you figure out your background flag, you can have the legend without an eyesore of a large white box. Also, you could make their fonts in the legend more bold with the font being the appropriate color of each bonus (Africa, London, Montreal, San Francisco..) OR... have a mini diagram with the bonus numbers large on them (Japan, Kingdom of Denmark, Land and Sea..)

Make the fonts less like you are typing a paper for a report.

Do something cool with your name on the bottom and get rid of the "mapmaker:", if your name is on it, they know who made it.

Do you really have to state what places start as a neutral?

Try making the bridges better, instead of a straight line use a thicker curve.

I'll leave you alone for now. :P

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:35 pm
by sempaispellcheck
happy2seeyou wrote:ND with the auto bonus doesn't need to be explained that it is not apart of any other bonus.

happy2seeyou wrote:Do you really have to state what places start as a neutral?


I did that so that people in the foundry would know, but I guess I can just put that stuff in the first post.

Good suggestions, man. Thank you for those - I should have some fun working on them. :D

Re: Paris - V4.1 (4/24) (pgs. 1 & 3) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:47 pm
by happy2seeyou
sempaispellcheck wrote:
happy2seeyou wrote:ND with the auto bonus doesn't need to be explained that it is not apart of any other bonus.

happy2seeyou wrote:Do you really have to state what places start as a neutral?


I did that so that people in the foundry would know, but I guess I can just put that stuff in the first post.

Good suggestions, man. Thank you for those - I should have some fun working on them. :D


Anything that doesn't really need to be on the map but you want the foundry to know can just be posted in your first post. :)

I look forward to seeing your updates

Re: Paris - V5 (4/28) (pgs. 1 & 4) - FEEDBACK PLEASE!!

PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:49 am
by sempaispellcheck
Version 5:
Small - 600x540
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image

Large - 800x720
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image


Changes: Better flag background with reduced opacity, cut unnecessary text (even though I liked it :( ), revamped legend (bye bye, white box), cool new sig (people may not get it, but that's OK), and new landmark illustrations.

Still to do: Experiment with fonts (I've been using GIMP's default (Sans) for convenience, but apparently that's too academic). Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated.