Rail Africa [Quenched]

[cairnswk]

RAIL AFRICA


Version 18.

Click image to enlarge.

Original Version


1. Map developer: Cairnswk
XML: AndrewB

2. The number of territories currently on the map: 78 stations in 48 cities/towns
3 LTR Code : Name : Country
ABA : Ambanja : Madagascar
ABJ : Abidjan : Cote D'ivoire
ACC : Accra : Ghana
ADA : AdIs Ababa : Ethiopia
ALG : Alger : Algeria
ATV : Antananarivo: Madagascar
BAM : Bamako : Mali
BEC : Bechar : Algeria
BGZ : Banghazi : Libya
BGU : Bangui : Central African Republic
BRK : Brazzaville-Kinshasha : Dem Rep of Congo-Congo
CAI : Cairo : Egypt
CPT : Capetown : S Africa
CSB : Casablanca : Morocco
DJB : Djibouti : Djibouti
Dakar : Dakar : Senegal
DSM : Dar Es Salaam : Tanzania
DUR : Durban : S Africa
FTN : Freetown : Sierra Leone
GOA : Goa : Mali
HRE : Harare : Zimbabwe
KMP : Kampala : Uganda
KNG : Kananga : Dem Rep of Congo
KRT : Khartoum : Sudan
KTO : Kuito : Angola
LOS : Lagos : Nigeria
LSK : Lusaka : Zambia
LUB : Lubango : Angola
LVS : Livingstone : Zambia
LXR : Luxor : Egypt
LYN : Laayoune : Western Sahara
MDU : Mogadishu : Somalia
MOU : Moundou : Chad
MPO : Maputo : Mozambique
MYA : Mbeya : Tanzania
NDJ : N'djamena : Chad
NIA : Niamey : Niger
NOU : Nouakchott : Mauritania
NRB : Nairobi : Kenya
NYL : Niyala : Sudan
OUG : Ouagadougou : Burkina Faso
PRA : Pretoria : S Africa
PSN : Port Sudan : Egyot
PTN : Pointe-Noire : Congo
PLZ : Port Elizabeth : S Africa
QLM : Quelimane : Mozambique
RBK : Rabak : Sudan
SWK : Swapokmund : Namibia
TIP : Tripoli : Libya
TLR : Toliara : Madagascar
TUN : Tunis : Tunisia
WDH : Windjoek : Namibia
YND : Yaounde : Cameroon


3. The number of continents, made up of the following:

The Nile Liner (6)
The Great Northern Express (8)
El Pharaoh Exp (3)
The Sahara Express (5)
The Continental (7)
The Ivory Exp (5)
The Inlander (6)
The Equatorial (4)
The Viper (7)
The East Coaster (7)
The Desert Express (3)
Victoria Falls Exp (5)
The Blue Line (4)
The Algerian (3)
La Madagascan (3)
All Rabak Stations
All Pretoria Stations

4. Descriptions of any unique features or areas:
A large map to continue the Rail Series, this time featuring the African Continent, the map starts off where the Rail Europe map left off. Consideration is given to the colour-blind by alpha-naming station lines on the map.

There is no inability to attack other lines at some stations (like in the European map), it is back to multi-line terminals and one territory two-line stations.

Of course, many of these lines don't yet exist, but maps do exist showing how developers would like to open up this continent.
I have therefore taken some of these ideas to provide a cross-section of continent-lines small and large that can be attained.

Design-work will be set around something significant in the African style. Already the small one tert stations sit atop the army station like a vase being carried on one head.

Final XML:
http://h1.ripway.com/cairnswk/_rail_africa_v9.xml

Enjoy!

[LLLUUUKKKEEE]

Of Coarse,
Looks good.

[whitestazn88]

i am not the biggest fan of the rail series, although australia is a really cool one that i actually like...

i think your time could be better spent on other maps though.

[el-presidente]

I have never really been that into the rail maps, and IMO, you should focus on your other 4 maps that are in production. Not that this doesn't look good, but I like your other maps better.

[cairnswk]

i am not the biggest fan of the rail series, although australia is a really cool one that i actually like...

i think your time could be better spent on other maps though.

I have never really been that into the rail maps, and IMO, you should focus on your other 4 maps that are in production. Not that this doesn't look good, but I like your other maps better.

Thanks guys for your honesty, but now i'll give you mine.
It would really help me if you guys and others would get into the other four maps in production & give some feedback. They have stalled for feedback, so i don't know whether it's just because everyone is on summer holds up there in the north or what, but it doesn't help me that no-one comments.

[AndyDufresne]

Ahoy Cairnswk, could you fill in the normal first post requirements...

1. Map developers
2. The number of territories currently on the map
3. The number of continents. (If this makes sense for your map)
4. Descriptions of any unique features or areas.

etc
Thanks,


--Andy

[cairnswk]

Ahoy Cairnswk, could you fill in the normal first post requirements...

1. Map developers
2. The number of territories currently on the map
3. The number of continents. (If this makes sense for your map)
4. Descriptions of any unique features or areas.

etc
Thanks,


--Andy

Done.

[Rocketry]

I hate the way stations are labeled. Having just the three letters like that makes it difficult to understand and also does little for the maps character in my opinion.

Rocket.

[cairnswk]

I hate the way stations are labeled. Having just the three letters like that makes it difficult to understand and also does little for the maps character in my opinion.

Rocket.

Thanks Rocketry. All the rail series maps are labelled like that and will be fully explained in the xml drop list.
I'm sorry you don't liek this method, but it is also a method that is used worldwide by all airline, trains and buses on your travel tickets. It is in fact reality.

[danryan]

I love it. I enjoy all the rail maps, and like the idea of this one and then maybe a south american one? The desert express color is very hard to read on the legend though.

[barterer2002]

As someone who enjoys the Rail series Carins I'm looking forward to this one. The one issue I have with the initial is that the hub cities are a little tough to figure out which line they attach to. For instance RBK has 8 lines coming into it and 6 stations. Now E flows through as does A so clearly they're are there but I cant tell which one is J and which one is G. I have the same issue in PRA on G and J as well, the colors are just too close for me.

[john9blue]

I like the rail maps, but I think Australia was a step back. If you do this, I hope it ends up more like the first 2.

[Night Strike]

Cool, another Railroad. All these comments are with the small map, since that's what I play on.

Some of the mini-letters seem a little cramped, especially in the middle of the map. And won't they get covered up on triple-numbers?

On the PRA hub, your colors are switched in relation to the incoming lines (the lighter is on top of the hub, but is the lower rail).

I think the continent could move a tad to the right so the key can fit on the page comfortably.

Not sure if I like all the colors in the map title. It makes it harder to read on that green tint.

The light blue rail color should probably be on a different part of the map because it currently intersects with the main water sections.

You may want to consider using a lighter rail color in place of that dark purple around the north and west because you have a dark line next to a dark border.

DJB is the wrong color.

In my opinion, having all those rails right on the border of the continent makes the map look a bit tacky. I know they're all ports, but maybe getting at least the single-rail port cities to be completely enclosed in the continent will help the map to feel like it is not falling off the continent.

Did you forget the army circle at BEC-N?

Alright, I'll cut off my critiques for now. Hopefully I'll remember to keep coming by for this one.

[cairnswk]

I love it. I enjoy all the rail maps, and like the idea of this one and then maybe a south american one? The desert express color is very hard to read on the legend though.

Thanks danryan.
Soutb America. we'll see.
The colours will probably change a couple of times...keep watch.

[cairnswk]

As someone who enjoys the Rail series Carins I'm looking forward to this one. The one issue I have with the initial is that the hub cities are a little tough to figure out which line they attach to. For instance RBK has 8 lines coming into it and 6 stations. Now E flows through as does A so clearly they're are there but I cant tell which one is J and which one is G. I have the same issue in PRA on G and J as well, the colors are just too close for me.

barterer2002...please review V2, I have changed many things as the design comes more together. You should be able to determine what it what now.

[cairnswk]

I like the rail maps, but I think Australia was a step back. If you do this, I hope it ends up more like the first 2.

Once again, might be a little different from the first two to capture the flavour of the continent, john9blue.

[cairnswk]

Version 2.

Click image to enlarge.

[cairnswk]

Above is a two station xml result showing that the armies will fit in those stations, but i am thinking that they could be one pixel bigger. What do others think, bearing in mind that this will have an overall effect on the map of increasing the size of all the stations/terminals.

[Bruceswar]

Bigger is better. .. While these rail maps offer a different view to CC, and many do not like them , I say keep on going.

[cairnswk]

Bigger is better. .. While these rail maps offer a different view to CC, and many do not like them , I say keep on going.

Those stations have been upsized on Version 2, thanks Bruceswar

[captainwalrus]

Does it have to be do dark and drab? I like how Africa is in a silhouette but the area around that is really dull too. It sort of seems like it doesn't have any attraction to the map. It is like almost as if it is just the rails and nothing else.

[cairnswk]

Does it have to be do dark and drab? I like how Africa is in a silhouette but the area around that is really dull too. It sort of seems like it doesn't have any attraction to the map. It is like almost as if it is just the rails and nothing else.

So you just think that the drop shadow should be removed on the continent?

[el-presidente]

Does it have to be do dark and drab? I like how Africa is in a silhouette but the area around that is really dull too. It sort of seems like it doesn't have any attraction to the map. It is like almost as if it is just the rails and nothing else.

So you just think that the drop shadow should be removed on the continent?

I agree with him, but just getting rid of the drop shadow won't fix that. The only colors in the background are browns or grays. I really don't know what is needed but something needs to be added. I am bad witih feedback, sorry.

[Night Strike]

Does it have to be do dark and drab? I like how Africa is in a silhouette but the area around that is really dull too. It sort of seems like it doesn't have any attraction to the map. It is like almost as if it is just the rails and nothing else.

So you just think that the drop shadow should be removed on the continent?

I agree with him, but just getting rid of the drop shadow won't fix that. The only colors in the background are browns or grays. I really don't know what is needed but something needs to be added. I am bad witih feedback, sorry.

Maybe a dull gold/brown with a very grainy feel would be good for this map since the Sahara is the most prominent physical feature of the continent. Putting pyramids on the map would also be nice.

Did you forget a couple of D army circles and a few others? If you want the stations to share the army circle, perhaps put the letters on each side of the circle rather than top/bottom. The top one looks empty with the top/bottom approach.

I don't know if having the letter identifications between each army circle is going to work on the hubs because I can see some major colorblind issues with it.

The DSM station on the right side looks horribly beefed: L should actually be a K and the colors are switched.

H and K lines have too similar of a color to stay together both in the hub and coming out of it.

[MrBenn]

I know there's been some recent discussion about more maps of Africa, but I'm not really convinced that this is what people had in mind.

i am not the biggest fan of the rail series, although australia is a really cool one that i actually like...i think your time could be better spent on other maps though.

I have never really been that into the rail maps, and IMO, you should focus on your other 4 maps that are in production.

While these rail maps offer a different view to CC, and many do not like them , I say keep on going.

As someone who enjoys the Rail series Carins I'm looking forward to this one.

Some people like them, some people hate them - I think it's a bit like marmite...

(if you like it, turn your head 90 degrees...)

It would really help me if you guys and others would get into the other four maps in production & give some feedback.

I'd rather see some of the other stuff make it