Famine V.19.3 pg1+35 [I] [Reworking]

[InkL0sed]

Definitely 50%

[bryguy]

I like the last one the best.

And its a shame you cant fix it....

yea, the best i can do is replace it with water

[wcaclimbing]

have you tried doing the borders layer set to Overlay?
Thats what I did on Oasis and it works for me.
Once its on overlay, just mess with the opacity until you get a good balance.
---the image in my sig is NOT done in overlay. if you want to see what it looks like using overlay, click it and see the most current image in the map thread---

[bryguy]

have you tried doing the borders layer set to Overlay?
Thats what I did on Oasis and it works for me.
Once its on overlay, just mess with the opacity until you get a good balance.
---the image in my sig is NOT done in overlay. if you want to see what it looks like using overlay, click it and see the most current image in the map thread---

ill have to try that some time

(meaning soon)

[bryguy]

ok i tried overlay and u cant see any of the desert borders.... or tundra borders...

oh well


so far the poll is leaning towards opacity, but blurred is right behind


wonder what blurred on 50% opacity would look like?

edit: btw

should i add trees?

[Kaplowitz]

The hill is really killing me!
Maybe put it in the key as impassable, or turn it into a forest. That could be pretty interesting because you dont have any forest impassables on the map yet.

[oaktown]

Hi bry...

I voted "other" because I think there could be an option that is more crisp that the "blurred" without being as pixelated as the "regular." The blurred and 50% versions make me feel like my eyes are somehow out of focus.

Gameplay questions/concerns:
• I'd like to see some symbols on the legend so I know what's what... camps versus villages, etc.
• Not sure by looking at it of the Nara/Reat border is passable or not... looks like a gate in the wall, but the gate is closed, unlike Wroy which is open.
• As to your question in the first post about the legend, the "Stormy Waters" isn't perfect, but it gets the point across. I actually think that the line about how "Resources stop the -1" leaves more room for misinterpretation. Do I only need 1 resource to stop all of my negatives? Adjoining resources? Resources on the particular landmass?

Graphically many of the individual elements need some work, but I suspect that's still to come. Kaplow's hills are a good example of how little touches can take this to the next level visually.

[bryguy]

Hi bry...

I voted "other" because I think there could be an option that is more crisp that the "blurred" without being as pixelated as the "regular." The blurred and 50% versions make me feel like my eyes are somehow out of focus.

yea im playing around with it, seeing what other options there could be

Gameplay questions/concerns:
• I'd like to see some symbols on the legend so I know what's what... camps versus villages, etc.

the only main difference is that one type is a starting point, the other is not.

Also, as someone noted it takes up room in the legend for the 'castles/nomad camp' so im gonna put up a poll for if i should change it to a castle, and if i should should i move it outside of the wall (just slightly)

quote]
• Not sure by looking at it of the Nara/Reat border is passable or not... looks like a gate in the wall, but the gate is closed, unlike Wroy which is open.[/quote]

yea i was wondering when someone might comment on that, u can pass through there cause of the territory border (kinda pixely but its visible)

• As to your question in the first post about the legend, the "Stormy Waters" isn't perfect, but it gets the point across. I actually think that the line about how "Resources stop the -1" leaves more room for misinterpretation. Do I only need 1 resource to stop all of my negatives? Adjoining resources? Resources on the particular landmass?

yea the stormy waters was my first concern, clearing up resources 2nd, ill do that after borders are decided on

Graphically many of the individual elements need some work, but I suspect that's still to come. Kaplow's hills are a good example of how little touches can take this to the next level visually.

yea, just as i stated before, i cant do stuff like that all that well anymore since my free trial quit, but im working on figuring out how to do most of what photoshop could do using gimp and inkscape.

[bryguy]

blurred 50% opacity

Click image to enlarge.

[InkL0sed]

The blurred borders make my eyes tear

Also, I think it's been said before, but the borders are overly curved. It looks like you're trying a little bit too hard to make them look realistic; they're like caricatures of each other.

[bryguy]

The blurred borders make my eyes tear

Also, I think it's been said before, but the borders are overly curved. It looks like you're trying a little bit too hard to make them look realistic; they're like caricatures of each other.

oh did they say OVERLY curved? i thought they said the curves were sometimes to sharp... oh well ill try to add some straight lines in also

edit: also if the blurred makes your eyes tear, then u might want to somehow tip the favor for one that u like

[InkL0sed]

The blurred borders make my eyes tear

Also, I think it's been said before, but the borders are overly curved. It looks like you're trying a little bit too hard to make them look realistic; they're like caricatures of each other.

oh did they say OVERLY curved? i thought they said the curves were sometimes to sharp... oh well ill try to add some straight lines in also

edit: also if the blurred makes your eyes tear, then u might want to somehow tip the favor for one that u like

Uh... I voted already...?

[bryguy]

The blurred borders make my eyes tear

Also, I think it's been said before, but the borders are overly curved. It looks like you're trying a little bit too hard to make them look realistic; they're like caricatures of each other.

oh did they say OVERLY curved? i thought they said the curves were sometimes to sharp... oh well ill try to add some straight lines in also

edit: also if the blurred makes your eyes tear, then u might want to somehow tip the favor for one that u like

Uh... I voted already...?

oh true.. oh well u can do 2 options in all. Or get someone to vote for the one u want

[InkL0sed]

Or I could tell you that the lines make my eyes tear, since you ARE the map-maker...

[bryguy]

Or I could tell you that the lines make my eyes tear, since you ARE the map-maker...

oh well im gonna check the poll

edit: ok its still tied, but other is 1 behind now


at this rate im gonna have to make another poll for the option of 50%, blurred or other

[t-o-m]

is this basically a cross between feudal war and oasis??

[bryguy]

is this basically a cross between feudal war and oasis??

no

the oasis idea was created like 2 months after i started work on this

at first tho everybody thought that it was something like feudal wars 2..... so gimil helped me do a graphix redo

[InkL0sed]

You know, maybe it's similar to Feudal, but I don't see the Oasis connection

[t-o-m]

lol no i only said oasis coz it has an oasis lol,
its nt much like oasis other than one of the terits!
-
and i only said feudal war coz of the castles.
otherwise it looks good

[bryguy]

lol no i only said oasis coz it has an oasis lol,
its nt much like oasis other than one of the terits!
-
and i only said feudal war coz of the castles.
otherwise it looks good

thanks, im gonna get to work on it again, looks like blurred got more votes by 1. Ill add the changes to the opacity also just in case at some time people say that they like the opacity better.

edit: Poll results:

Blurred: 32% (8)
Opacity: 28% (7)
Other: 28% (7)
Normal: 12% (3... i think)

man im so glad normal wasnt chosen

[mibi]

This map is like one of those "Best Of..." albums that gets released by a label who couldn't afford to license any of the hit songs and so put a compilation of B-sides and chart floppers, and then sells the thing on late night TV and eventually ends up in dollar bins at the local consignment shop.

Its basically feudal .5 or .2 beta with some AoM mixed in. I am just not sure who you can justify a map like this.

The castles look like diminutive tinker toys, the text is sans flavor, the territory shapes appear totally random and therefor lacking in purpose or interest, the wall looks like highway cement blocks as well as completely irrelevant and lacking of any context, the villages look like small pox, the bridges are lacking any kind of transportation infrastructure and are out of place as a result, infact the whole map lacks infrastructure and generally looks like someone spilled a box of ugly engineering iconography all over the place, the legend lacks care, as does the rest of the map, but please learn how to track those letters so they don't bleed into the ornament.

My honest advice would be to abandon the map is it will never live up to the styles of those its emulating. Take what you have learned from creating it thus far and put it into a new and original work. That way it would be constant disappointment.

[bryguy]

This map is like one of those "Best Of..." albums that gets released by a label who couldn't afford to license any of the hit songs and so put a compilation of B-sides and chart floppers, and then sells the thing on late night TV and eventually ends up in dollar bins at the local consignment shop.

Its basically feudal .5 or .2 beta with some AoM mixed in. I am just not sure who you can justify a map like this.

The castles look like diminutive tinker toys, the text is sans flavor, the territory shapes appear totally random and therefor lacking in purpose or interest, the wall looks like highway cement blocks as well as completely irrelevant and lacking of any context, the villages look like small pox, the bridges are lacking any kind of transportation infrastructure and are out of place as a result, infact the whole map lacks infrastructure and generally looks like someone spilled a box of ugly engineering iconography all over the place, the legend lacks care, as does the rest of the map, but please learn how to track those letters so they don't bleed into the ornament.

people have already complained that this looked like feudal, so gimil helped me give it a complete make-over

and i would probably try to give it another make-over if i could do the photoshop free 30 day trial again

My honest advice would be to abandon the map is it will never live up to the styles of those its emulating. Take what you have learned from creating it thus far and put it into a new and original work. That way it would be constant disappointment.

ive already abandoned more maps then i would care to, and ive had some ideas that have not made it out of the depths of one of my folders. This is my first map to make it this far, so im not gonna abandon it.

Also, ive seen that u say that about alot of maps now adays.

[oaktown]

I wouldn't say that you need to abandon it, but I agree with Mibi that it lacks inspiration. We've now seen a few maps go up for play that have castles and resources and short, funny territory names - this looks like one of those maps, but with a wall. And what does the wall do really?

A graphic make-over is one thing - what I think it needs is its own flavor. What if it was on a beach, and the castles were actually sand castles and the resources kids' toys? What if it was on a picnic blanket, and the castles were ant hills and the resources snacks to collect and take back to your hill? There's nothing wrong with the gameplay or the graphics, there's just nothing exciting about it either. There's no hook.

[bryguy]

I wouldn't say that you need to abandon it, but I agree with Mibi that it lacks inspiration. We've now seen a few maps go up for play that have castles and resources and short, funny territory names - this looks like one of those maps, but with a wall. And what does the wall do really?

I needed an impassable in the desert region, and people said to do a wall instead of a canyon

A graphic make-over is one thing - what I think it needs is its own flavor. What if it was on a beach, and the castles were actually sand castles and the resources kids' toys? What if it was on a picnic blanket, and the castles were ant hills and the resources snacks to collect and take back to your hill? There's nothing wrong with the gameplay or the graphics, there's just nothing exciting about it either. There's no hook.

I almost expected u to suggest something like that lol

the only thing is that I like fantasy maps, so could u suggest something along the lines of fantasy? Cause right now i have 2 delimas

1) I really like this map/idea but people want me to change it to something else....
2) I forgot what i was going to say here....

how about i continue on with this, and start a new map in Ideas called 'Age of Sand Castles"

edit: Oh and what do u mean by 'no hook'?

[Mr. Squirrel]

In a way, I also think you should just abandon this map. In my opinion, a map has to have at least one of three things in order for it to be successful:

1) an entirely new gameplay with original gimmicks
2) a classic style map with no gimmicks but new area of the world map
or
3) Amazingly good graphics

As far as I see it, this map has none of those and will never have any of them unless you completely restarted from the beginning. This is the same old conquer-all-castles style of gameplay and has no original gimmicks. On top of that, the graphics have no appeal at all. I suggest you go out and buy photoshop instead of just using a trial and start a brand new map. Take one of Oaktown's ideas and just start anew. If you don't want to do that, then leave the mapmaking to more experienced players.