Indian Empire [Quenched]

[oaktown]

I'm working on it, really I am... in going through historical maps of India it's next to impossible to find two that use the same region names and border divisions during the 18th century, but I think I've come up with a nice gameplay twist that the old attempts didn't have.

[InkL0sed]

yoohoo...

[ZeakCytho]

I think Oak's on vacation right now

[InkL0sed]

I think Oak's on vacation right now

No, that's gimil...

EDIT: wait, oaktown's apparently on vacation too...

[oaktown]

Click image to enlarge.

Well, I finally found some time to get this together. I still haven't figured out where the bonus regions will be, but I wanted to get something posted.

The basics so far:
43 territories (unless I counted wrong)
Haven't sorted out what the regions will be yet; as independent states, Nepal and Bhotan will be territories, but not a part of a bonus region.
I would like to include bonuses for connecting cities via the rail lines - my hope is that this will encourage players to go after some of the central territories early rather than scuffling for the corners as on most maps.

[ZeakCytho]

Mountains that don't look like veins!



I think it's a great first draft. I'm a bit hesitant to support rail-lines and city bonuses. For geographical maps like this, I think classic gameplay really works best. The whole thing might be less confusing if the rail lines looked like rail lines instead of just plain lines. Right now it's a bit hard to tell them apart from the territory borders. I think you also need to define "connect by rail" - do you mean "hold X cities and the territories between them that the rail goes over" (which I think you mean), or just "hold X cities"?

[oaktown]

I think it's a great first draft.

shukriya

I'm a bit hesitant to support rail-lines and city bonuses. For geographical maps like this, I think classic gameplay really works best. The whole thing might be less confusing if the rail lines looked like rail lines instead of just plain lines. Right now it's a bit hard to tell them apart from the territory borders. I think you also need to define "connect by rail" - do you mean "hold X cities and the territories between them that the rail goes over" (which I think you mean), or just "hold X cities"?

Hmm, needs more explanation I see... the red lines are simply representing where rail lines will fall - didn't want to spend the time drawing them unless I thought it would be supported. The idea is that the territories along a line connecting two cities is a bonus region - it's still "classic" in that it's just territories and regions, but the twist is that some bonus regions share territories with other bonus regions.

[oaktown]

Click image to enlarge.

A lot of pieces of the map so far are just there to provide material for discussion - I am aware that I need either a mini-map or region titles.

There are five traditional bonus regions, plus three sub bonuses for holding rail line between cities... the two southern lines cross multiple regions, and the Calcutta-Delhi line runs through the heart of a huge region that will be all but impossible to hold - thus the mini-bonuses to encourage activity in the center.

Note that I have not yet colored in the big central region (Bengal Presidency) because I'm not yet sold on whether or not I should break it up.

Two territories - Nepal and Bhotan - are NOT a part of a region.

[foregone]

I think the gameplay will be better if you leave it as a large continent rather than breaking it up. It'll provide a sticky point for players after taking the smaller side continents.

Any particular reason those regions are not part of a continent? Asking out of interest.

I have no particular feeling as to the rail bonus. Could be cool with or without it.

[Juan_Bottom]

I have no opinion one way or the other about the rails either.

The red bonus doesn't seem dark enough, compared to the green... And it almost looks like there are too many yellow territories.....
And I would split the middle up...probably a couple of times... Which is why you're the mapmaker...

The book crease seems to disappear in the middle of the map too... there It looks more like a gentle fold.



Other than those small quibbles, this map is beautiful. She looks ready to go...

[whitestazn88]

sweet

[e_i_pi]

Two things:

A) The mountains in Cashmere don't seem to serve a purpose other than aesthetic
B) This is three different flavours of kick-ass

[wcaclimbing]

Interesting map so far.

one issue I do see is related to the color scheme.
You've got the old paper/book thing going on, but used bright neon colors that you wouldn't see on an old paper. I suggest that you tone down the brightness of teh colors just a bit, so it fits better with the old theme of the image.

And the red lines (roads, I think) are too solid and bright right now, to the point that they color over some of the territory names. Could you make it a bit darker and put it behind the text layers? It's still be plenty visible and then you wouldn't have the problem of the lines getting in the way of other parts of the image.

[edbeard]

what about doing West and East Bengal because I think that area is way too big. the only problem is they'll still be almost impossible to hold. any more impassable borders you can put in here?

One thing I don't like is areas that don't belong to anything. I don't know what you'd do with Nepal and Bhotan but that really takes away from the map for me.


I see what wca is saying about the colours and agree a bit.


I like the rail bonuses. Adds to a no mans land area.

[oaktown]

Click image to enlarge.

Version 3! Please note the big announcement about colors and how I'm trying to work on gameplay.

What's new:

• Re-drew the Bombay Presidency to better reflect true geography. It is now five territories with three borders - a nice +3, and equal to the northern region.
• Split the giant Bengal Presidency into two regions, but now how one might expect; added the Central Provinces as a 5 territory, four border +4, and reconfigured those territories. I'm quite pleased with the huge central region because it features the railroad sub-bonus.
• Total regions not including Nepal and Bhotan = 42... doesn't get more classic.
• Total regions if we include Nepal and Bhotan = 44... I'm thinking perhaps we start them neutral, 2 armies each, and if somebody wants to hit them for a card that's their choice. Otherwise they won't see any action, which is fine because they aren't a part of British India.