1. Design the image
Using your favorite graphics program and a bit of inspiration, design a map. The type of image file must be PNG, GIF or JPEG. You have to design two versions of the map, small (up to 600 px wide) and large (up to 800 px wide). Height is flexible, but I recommend that you do not exceed 350 px on small maps and 600 px on large maps so that users will not need to scroll down to attack. Publish your map online, using Photobucket.com or some other web/image hosting service. Be proud of your work and sign you name in the corner!
2. Get feedback and revise
Start a topic in this forum containing the name of your map in the title. Include links to the large and small versions so that we can check them out. You should receive plenty of feedback from our most excellent Conquer Club community, and with their help you can perfect your map.
3. Create the XML file
Conquer Club uses XML files to define the borders and coordinates of the territories in each map, and you need to write one for your map too. Don't worry you don't need any technical skills for this, just some patience and a text editor like notepad. Save one of our XML files in www.conquerclub.com/maps to your computer and modify it as necessary. It should be fairly obvious what goes where. The only thing I'll point out is that to define one-way borders, like Inner Mongolia -> Mongolia, only list the territory that can be attacked as a border of the territory that cannot be attacked.
- Code: Select all
<country>
<name>Inner Mongolia</name>
<borders>
<border>Mongolia</border>
</borders>
</country>
4. Test your XML
Go to www.conquerclub.com/mapmaker and use the forms to fine tune your XML. Make sure that the numbers show up in the right paces, and adjust the x and y coordinates of each territory as necessary. Also check that the armies are easy to see. If the background colour or texture makes the armies difficult to read, consider adding dark circles, plain coloured rectangles, or some other placeholders to your map.
5. Submit for approval
Send me a PM when you think your map is ready for production and email your xml file to info at conquerclub dot com.
The copyright agreement...
The author retains copyright on their work, and gives Conquer Club permission to use the imagery free of charge, as Conquer Club sees fit for as long as Conquer Club sees fit on the Conquer Club website. Conquer Club cannot sell, lease or lend the rights to use the images to anyone else. The author swears that their map is their own work or a legal derivative work and by submitting it, do hereby claim all responsibility for that being true.
The selection process...
There are many quality controls in place at Conquer Club, and we obviously need to ensure a certain level of quality with the maps. Something that looks like it was designed in Microsoft Paint may not make the cut. If you don't have any graphical talent, please don't proceed, because I'd hate to say no after you've invested a lot of time. But to those with some skill, I invite you to try and thank you in advance for contributing your work.