* [Vacation - valid till Sept. 2013] Classic Cities: Cairo

[koontz1973]

No, the line is a burn layer. None of the layers on this apart from the backing are normal layers. All layers filters have been utilised from burn to merge to dodge to overlay. Only then have layers had the opacity turned down or increased.

Changed the outline. Having the curvy outline with straight borders did not sit well. The straight lines now all sit together.
Finished of the GP.
Sorted out the holes.

Click image to enlarge.

[nolefan5311]

Maybe I'm late with this, but I don't really like the new look of the map. The playable area doesn't stand out at all from the background.

[koontz1973]

Maybe I'm late with this, but I don't really like the new look of the map. The playable area doesn't stand out at all from the background.

Still very early nole. Tried the stone, tried papyrus, if they do not work for you, then what would you like to see? Happy to try anything.

[nolefan5311]

I liked the stone a lot more.

[koontz1973]

Will have another go at the stone then.

[ManBungalow]

Will have another go at the stone then.

If this is the one you mean, then I don't approve:

Click image to enlarge.

[koontz1973]

Will have another go at the stone then.

If this is the one you mean, then I don't approve:

Click image to enlarge.

Never asked your permission ManB.
But yes, that one is a no go now.

[nolefan5311]

Is this one not the stone one?

Click image to enlarge.

This is the version I was referring to, and I like it a lot more than the papyrus.

[koontz1973]

Cheers nole, I liked that one to, and in a way it is still valid. But I am not sure it is the way to go. Reason for the change to papyrus in the first place. Will have a think about it and see what I can come up with.

[koontz1973]

After a couple of days and this is by far no way complete, here is the new route taken. Legend is going to go back to papyrus as I do like that look but the map has more of a stone feel to it.
Other things done is to make the centre of the board larger while the two sides have been shrunk. Thanks to cairns for that idea. The territ lines have now gone from blue/red to green/red. The Nile is blue and may cause players confusion. Legend has had to be split up because of the new size of map and also this allowed an increase of text size. Kept some things from previous images that I did like. Like the legend font and bridges.

Click image to enlarge.

[koontz1973]

Excuse the double post. Hows the legend with the papyrus?

Click image to enlarge.

[nolefan5311]

I do like the papyrus. However, the stones don't look right (not "sandy" enough?), and honestly, I have no idea on a suggestion to make them look better, lol.

I think you need to make the border regions different colors. I'm colorblind and can't tell the red and green apart.

[koontz1973]

I do like the papyrus. However, the stones don't look right (not "sandy" enough?), and honestly, I have no idea on a suggestion to make them look better, lol.

I think you need to make the border regions different colors. I'm colorblind and can't tell the red and green apart.

Will look into the stones. Surprised about the CB though. Will change after I find better stone.

[Dukasaur]

Why is it so big? It's 42 terts but just barely fits on a screen; can't it be made smaller? There are 80 tert maps smaller than this.

[ManBungalow]

What does it look like without the shadow behind the playable area?

It has a bit of the Jakarta Effect.

I do like the papyrus. However, the stones don't look right (not "sandy" enough?), and honestly, I have no idea on a suggestion to make them look better, lol.

I think you need to make the border regions different colors. I'm colorblind and can't tell the red and green apart.

Will look into the stones. Surprised about the CB though. Will change after I find better stone.

You could try putting a layer of random noise (or basically something with no patterns) behind the stone layer and trying some of the layer filters (like grain merge) on the stone layers.

And you could try messing with the dodge/burn tool and see what happens. It can look quite different if you pick a weird brush or one of the blurry brushes, maybe set it to liek size 5.00 and just go over stuff a few times.