Egypt: Nubia [Quenched]

[cairnswk]

What I see right now:
- Taharqa's name got washed out.

Uh huh can fix.

- Well of Rameses II looks cool, but has no purpose for something so good-looking

Does it have to have a purpose other than being a tert in a gameplay?

- The region names are so faint as to be nearly invisible

They're not meant to be too noticeable cox they don't really matter

- Gold Mines seem cramped despite the abbreviation. Maybe resize the territories, since that seems to be a very negotiable part of the map.

HuH??? They're not cramped and i don't think need re-sizing. I'm happy with them but may change them later.

Good changes:
- More interconnections to the Mines
- Rounding looks bling
- The symmetry idea is kept in existence on the legend

Kewl.

[TaCktiX]

I'm referring to the GM text. GM4 is almost unnoticeable.

As for region names, I'd like them a little more noticeable than that. Bonuses are solidly defined, so making the region names more visible won't kill gameplay and will add to the rich Egypt flavor you've suffused the other maps with.

[cairnswk]

The legend area describing the gold mines is very vague. "4 start neutral." Does that mean GM4 starts neutral, or four of the GMs start neutral, or each GM starts with four neutrals, or something entirely different? I think, depending on your meaning, this part could be clarified.

OK...i understand where ou're coming from...will do next version

[edbeard]

did you see my comment? last post on first page

[cairnswk]

wont these games before over almost before they start?

8 gold mines that give +1 as starting territories. one guy in a three player game having 5 or 6 of them will happen.


maybe make the mines a majority held bonus or something?

is that possible in the xml?

did you see my comment? last post on first page

yes just now

[edbeard]

just do a hold any 7


it's the required function.

Code: Select all

<continent>
   <name>7 Gold Mines</name>
   <bonus>5</bonus>
   <components>
      <territory>GM 1</territory>
      <territory>GM 2</territory>
      <territory>GM 3</territory>
      <territory>GM 4/territory>
      <territory>GM 5</territory>
      <territory>GM 6</territory>
      <territory>GM 7</territory>
      <territory>GM 8</territory>
      <territory>GM 9</territory>
      <territory>GM 10</territory>
      <territory>GM 11</territory>
      <territory>GM 12</territory>
   </components>
   <required>7</required>
</continent>


[cairnswk]

just do a hold any 7


it's the required function.

Code: Select all

<continent>
   <name>7 Gold Mines</name>
   <bonus>5</bonus>
   <components>
      <territory>GM 1</territory>
      <territory>GM 2</territory>
      <territory>GM 3</territory>
      <territory>GM 4/territory>
      <territory>GM 5</territory>
      <territory>GM 6</territory>
      <territory>GM 7</territory>
      <territory>GM 8</territory>
      <territory>GM 9</territory>
      <territory>GM 10</territory>
      <territory>GM 11</territory>
      <territory>GM 12</territory>
   </components>
   <required>7</required>
</continent>


Of course doh!!!

[imperialord]

[cairnswk]

:evil:

and what's this for?

[t-o-m]

he's probably just trying to spam

[cairnswk]

he's probably just trying to spam

yes i saw that in another thread in GD.

[bryguy]

1) Im all for the idea
2) Colors are to bright and sometimes blend with the background
3) Some territories look kinda crappy
4) I got the vote for yes an no to:
Yes - 4
No - 3

edit: More later on after this progress' a little

[cairnswk]

Current Version 2

[t-o-m]

nice update however im finding it hard to see what terits connect to where - maybe make the terit link lines contrast with the back ground more?

[InkL0sed]

I have the same problem with "4 start neutral" -- not quite sure what that means.

I like the idea of +1 for each Gold Mine, but not so much the majority held bonus. Maybe the Gold Mines should just start with 1 neutral on each?

Also, maybe I'm just slow (it's late at night, maybe that's what it is) I'm not sure I understand what the cataracts are. Are they impassables? If so, what are they blocking exactly?

[cairnswk]

I have the same problem with "4 start neutral" -- not quite sure what that means.

I like the idea of +1 for each Gold Mine, but not so much the majority held bonus. Maybe the Gold Mines should just start with 1 neutral on each?

The map below might explain that further/better.

Also, maybe I'm just slow (it's late at night, maybe that's what it is) I'm not sure I understand what the cataracts are. Are they impassables? If so, what are they blocking exactly?

no the map doesn't say amything about them being impassables or passables. Simply they are a geographic feature of the Nile river that should not be left out of any map, and yes they do divide the river into sections which i have used in the legend to create continents.

Version 3

[bryguy]

1)The dows are really bright and crappy looking
2) The territory colors are to bright
3) You can hardly read 'Swenet (Elaphentine)' at the top
4) Whats a cataract?
5) Edited out cause i realized that i was reading the map wrong for this one......
6) The background texture is really bugging me....
7) You say '4 Gold Mines start as neutrals' but it looks like it says '+ Gold Mines start as neutrals'

[ZeakCytho]

I agree the the old dows were better. Also, the territories of Cataracts 1, 2, and 3 are too bright on the left side. I'd turn down the gradient there a bit.

For GM 4, 5, 6, and the Well of Ramses II, am I right in thinking that it's a four way border? Same with 4, 6, and Well of Ramses II? If so, you could probably consolidate those into one line with a four way intersection between GM 4 and 6. The paths between Gm, 8, 9, 11, and the Well of Ramses II could also be made a bit clearer. Right now it's unclear as to whether GM8 can attack, say, GM9.

The Desert Road by Tanjur cuts into the text a bit. Could you move the path a bit so it gives the text a bit more room, or move the text to the south side of the territory?

I think I agree with bryguy that the texture is a bit much. I like it, but it's a bit strong right now. Could you tone down the opacity a bit?

I disagree with bryguy's last point, though. I think the 4 is readable as is.

Out of curiosity, what happens with the starting gold mines in a game with less than 8 players?

[cairnswk]

1)The dows are really bright and crappy looking

fixed...somehow they got washed out

2) The territory colors are to bright

changed in V4 below

3) You can hardly read 'Swenet (Elaphentine)' at the top

Fixed

4) Whats a cataract?

A geogrphic feature in a river - look it up and learn

5) Edited out cause i realized that i was reading the map wrong for this one......

Good.

6) The background texture is really bugging me....

Well it's a plaster background same as two other maps, your issue to handle unless there are others who don't like it.

7) You say '4 Gold Mines start as neutrals' but it looks like it says '+ Gold Mines start as neutrals'

That should be fixed.

Version 4.
Changes:
1. Overall, the colours and somewhat new design
2. Bevel placed on terts
3. Mini-map added but still a little untidy, will attend to that next version
4. Taharqa moved atop the Lotus Pillar

[cairnswk]

I agree the the old dows were better. Also, the territories of Cataracts 1, 2, and 3 are too bright on the left side. I'd turn down the gradient there a bit.

For GM 4, 5, 6, and the Well of Ramses II, am I right in thinking that it's a four way border? Same with 4, 6, and Well of Ramses II? If so, you could probably consolidate those into one line with a four way intersection between GM 4 and 6. The paths between Gm, 8, 9, 11, and the Well of Ramses II could also be made a bit clearer. Right now it's unclear as to whether GM8 can attack, say, GM9.

The Desert Road by Tanjur cuts into the text a bit. Could you move the path a bit so it gives the text a bit more room, or move the text to the south side of the territory?

I think I agree with bryguy that the texture is a bit much. I like it, but it's a bit strong right now. Could you tone down the opacity a bit?

I disagree with bryguy's last point, though. I think the 4 is readable as is.

Out of curiosity, what happens with the starting gold mines in a game with less than 8 players?

ZeakCytho...i've just put a new version....sorry i didn't know yours was there....can you review please on the latest V4.

[ZeakCytho]

ZeakCytho...i've just put a new version....sorry i didn't know yours was there....can you review please on the latest V4.

Sure thing.

My comments on the gold mines and desert roads still stand (see my last post, it's the largest paragraph there).

I like the desert background now, but the bevel on the territories is a little strong. Could you tone it back a bit?

Does the Well of Ramses II start neutral? Someone is bound to get it on the drop if it doesn't, which isn't great.

I like Taharqa on the pillar much better, but I don't like the minimap. I guess if you tidy it up like you said it could be better, but I thought the plain old legend was fine.

You've got a bit of dead space at the bottom of the map in the center...any more Egypt images you could put there?

Out of curiosity, what happens with the gold mines drop when there are less than 8 players?

[cairnswk]

Thanks...mate...i'll be brief coz i have to get to RL work shortly.

ZeakCytho...i've just put a new version....sorry i didn't know yours was there....can you review please on the latest V4.

Sure thing.
My comments on the gold mines and desert roads still stand (see my last post, it's the largest paragraph there).

I will review the gold mine section this evening.

I like the desert background now, but the bevel on the territories is a little strong. Could you tone it back a bit?

Yes

Does the Well of Ramses II start neutral? Someone is bound to get it on the drop if it doesn't, which isn't great.

Yes i could do that, either that or remove it as a feature bonus

I like Taharqa on the pillar much better, but I don't like the minimap. I guess if you tidy it up like you said it could be better, but I thought the plain old legend was fine.

I'd like to put the mini-mpa in there but just have to find the correect graphics for it....it would keep it consistent with the other two maps.

You've got a bit of dead space at the bottom of the map in the center...any more Egypt images you could put there?

Yes.

Out of curiosity, what happens with the gold mines drop when there are less than 8 players?

Good ?? edbeard proposed that combo bonus, so i'll drag him back in here for comment on that fact.

[bryguy]

1) I agree that the bevel is a little strong, but it still adds a cool look
2) Sicne the 4th cataract is 1 territory, yet has to defend 3 borders, i think it should be moved up to a bonus of 2
3) Dows look better now
4) You cant really tell if you can go from kurgus to tumbus, or kurgus to GM2. If you can i suggest upping the kurgus bonus to 3
5) Sorry, nitpicking here, i dont like how the desert road between kawal and jebel barkal slightly goes onto the pink of jebel barkal
6) Googling cataracts now....

edit: i searched

Define: Cataracts

and got

An increased thickening and clouding of the lens of the eye that can lead to vision loss.

also as to make this edit not useless, if found u something on nubian egypt
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/AncientKnowledge/NUBIA.html

[cairnswk]

1) I agree that the bevel is a little strong, but it still adds a cool look

OK...well i might adjust it as it has the same level of bevel as the other maps....trying to create consistency here.

2) Sicne the 4th cataract is 1 territory, yet has to defend 3 borders, i think it should be moved up to a bonus of 2

OK...i'll consider that.

3) Dows look better now

Good.

4) You cant really tell if you can go from kurgus to tumbus, or kurgus to GM2. If you can i suggest upping the kurgus bonus to 3

You must need glasses if you can't tell that. i 'll consider the bonus.

[/quote]5) Sorry, nitpicking here, i dont like how the desert road between kawal and jebel barkal slightly goes onto the pink of jebel barkal[/quote]that's good nitpicking

6) Googling cataracts now....

edit: i searched
Define: Cataracts
and got
An increased thickening and clouding of the lens of the eye that can lead to vision loss.

Wow, i gotta say you didn't look very hard
i did a search in Google for "nile cataract" and got this - i think it'll give you good enough explanation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataracts_of_the_Nile
Doesn't that make better sense as a search subject?? (even thought your definition is correct, but wrong area of study)

also as to make this edit not useless, if found u something on nubian egypt
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/AncientKnowledge/NUBIA.html

now that is good use of that noggin, thank you, i will read and absorb.

[edbeard]

You said that 8 start with one player each. at first I thought that was 1 army each which I thought was horrible, but then someone else made a comment so I think you're giving each player 1 gold mine to start.

I'm not sure how code works for starting positions. That's very important to know how it works before more changes are made to the map I think. I'm guessing it splits them evenly amongst players like its own map. If this is the case, you won't ever start with 3 gold mines because 8 is not divisible by 3 (remember 2 player games include a neutral player).

I'm not sure giving each player 1 gold mine is the way to go. It seems to limit the map. How often will Gold mines come into play if the most you start with is two and you need to hold seven? Well I guess people will go for that +7 bonus but someone grabbing the two territories that are worth +1 seems more like a winning move. Do that first and weaken everyone.


I'm just not really liking the gameplay so far on this map.

I don't like the criss-crossing attack lines. I don't like that the territories on the left are almost purely linear.

I know it's different, and maybe others will disagree. We don't want all maps to follow the same formula. I'm just not sure I like this one.