Official: Central America Competition - complete!

[djak.]

I don't have the graphic skills to make a map nearly as nice as any of these, so take the cons as being from someone who admires your work but who's a stickler for play usability.

1) 70%
Pros: Best usability of all the maps.
Cons: Colors a bit harsh for continuous play.

2) 45%
Pros: Nice design.
Cons: Too uniformly green - "continents" should be different colors to easily distinguish them. Would be more usable if steering wheels are replaced with attack route dotted lines.

3) 30%
Pros: Pretty, and the connecting lines and flags are great.
Cons: WHY SCREAM USING ALL CAPS for country names? Too little contrast with the white country names. No bonus map. The compass rose is wrong.

4) 35%
Pros: Nice clean design and I like the relief (copyright?), the globe is better than all those compass roses.
Cons: Colors are not distinct enough. Weird, hard to read and ALL CAPS FONT for the bonus description box.

[AndyDufresne]

Headlined. Hopefully we'll get some more votes in here again.

Regarding the entries:

#1 -- The brightness should be toned down a little, but I like the overall feel of this map. It says tropical, it says fruity, it says Central America, at least to me. El Salvador's color I'm not a fan of...the compass rose neither. The legend needs some work, the current "bubble" effect doesn't do it for me, but I'm sure a proper themed legend can be made. The territory text also needs quite a bit of work to make it easily legible.

#2 -- I've never been a big fan of a Midkemdil style of showcasing the territories in a continent (I.E. by colored names rather than colored territory land), so take that for what it is. This map also feels oddly dark, perhaps a lighter green would do the trick? And a little more tropical ocean instead of the cold arctic waters we have now. The text is readable, though I'm not sure its the right style for this type of map. The addition of the icons seems a little gimmicky and cluttery, and it may look more clean and sleeker without them.

#3 -- I like the general look of this map, it has a certain feel to it. But I hate isolation maps (like the current Germany map that is being revamped and the current Brazil map that is also being revamped). The color choice is pretty good, though I'd probably alter one or two, perhaps Belize. Another thing---for those unfamiliar with the area, it may be difficult for some to connect what continent is "Belize" and what continent is "Honduras," etc, since the only distinguishing correlation between the names in the legend and where they are on the map is the order of the legend. The texture is a little rough, and could be toned down I think. I'm not sure this map says Central America, I almost feel this style would be better suited for a different geographical map.

#4 -- This map feels much too dark also, similar to #2 in that respect. Lighten it up, and maybe give it a warmer theme. Division territory lines are difficult to distinguish, at least without looking closer. The legend text is a little much, but I understand the general computeresque/Google Earth theme that you have going. I'm just not sure it really works with the map. Like #2, cold arctic waters seem out of place.

Good work map makers though. I've cast my vote.


--Andy

[the.killing.44]

R.I.P., the Rd. 2 #3. I voted for #1 this time

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[amazzony]

I'll start from the 4th because this is how they line up for me (with number 1 getting my vote).

#4 is just too dark for me and it takes too much time to understand which territory belongs to which continent. I actually like the legend and the globe on the bottom left, I find it one of the coolest things in all of the maps.

#3 is interesting and different and I really love the legend but there's something that disturbs me, I think that the fact that reading the names isn't easy everywhere plus I don't get which continent gives me which bonus.

#2 is my second favourite and maybe I'm not fair to it but it's a bit too dark and reminds too much of South America map. I'm looking at the 3 America maps (North, South and this one) as a set and therefore we are getting to...

entry #1 which IMO looks really great, is easily readable/understandable and suits great with N. and S. America. It needs work but I really hope this one wins.

Just a few thoughts by somebody who mostly just reads foundry section and hardly posts.

[edbeard]

#2

it was my second favourite before.

it easily has the best legend and font choices of any of the six maps

[gimil]

Just an FYI guys.

I moved the gameplay discussion and first competition thread for central america in foundry discussion (for the sake of house keeping). If you are looking for them you can find links to them at the bottom of the first post

[jako]

I chose #2 last round but i have to go with #1 because the colours fits more with the country that is being displayed.

I agree with what Andy said about #2 so if those changes were made, I think I would have chosen #2 instead.

Still, both are great maps. Good luck to all the maps.

[musteriuz]

This from a guy who can't even draw a decent stick man, so take it or leave it, but this is how I feel about the 4 candidates:

1) I don't like the compass and feel that,at first glance, the colour of Belize is too difficult to distinguish from those of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, especially with the connecting lines.

2) I like the helms as a means of connecting the territories, as this means that you'll have to pay attention when you play, and I like the area symbols on the right, as this is something different. The map could do with a slightly lighter shade of green and maybe clearer borders between the countries.

3) The colours are "too harsh?" and there is nothing obvious to connect the legend with the map itself.

4) I like the small globe showing where we're at, but the map is too dark and needs clearer borders.

[bigreuben]

The way it looks right now No. 2 is gonna run away with it and then become a new farming map... with the different name colors it's much more difficult to understand what gives bonus and what not... and when a new recruit will play this map he/she won't understand it until it's gonna be too late...
It's a good idea making a Central America map, but this entry will only make new City Mogul, at least that's how I see it.

[RjBeals]

The inner stroke on #2 around the borders looks bad. I voted for number 1.

[reptile]

what happened to the other entries? i dont really like any of these all that much.

was there an elimination round or something?

[bryguy]

what happened to the other entries? i dont really like any of these all that much.

was there an elimination round or something?

No


Original Entry 3 by e_i_pi dropped out. Original Entry 5 (who won last round) was caught with multis. That took the 2 best maps out of the competition, so we have to have another vote

[Beadle]

#1

[acores2005]

#1

[oaktown]

Original Entry 3 by e_i_pi dropped out. Original Entry 5 (who won last round) was caught with multis. That took the 2 best maps out of the competition, so we have to have another vote

well, it's bit more complicated than that. Suffice it to say that there were irregularities in the voting in the last round, so in the interest of fairness we started over. The two maps in question were withdrawn with the consent of the mapmakers involved, both of whom are still welcome and encouraged to participate in Foundry activity.

[MarathonMax]

Short answer: #4. I kinda like that it "looks real", not "gamish". I do however concur on someone else's comment that the font used makes the "continent bonuses" hard to read.

[oaktown]

Short answer: #4. I kinda like that it "looks real", not "gamish". I do however concur on someone else's comment that the font used makes the "continent bonuses" hard to read.

That's the kind of thing that we can still hammer out after a winner is chosen. The way I look at it these are still drafts - and each one of them looks considerably better than my typical first map draft! Once the winner hits the Foundry for feedback we can expect that problems like font size can be hammered out.

[samuelc812]

Colours can also be lightened, darkened or even changed after this. I think people need to vote for style instead of, colours and brightness which can both be easily changed

[wcaclimbing]

Since entry 5 is gone, I voted for number 2.

[oaktown]

72-69 for map 1 right now... shaping up to be yet another close vote.

(I was kinda hoping we'd have a nice landslide with a clear winner, but oh well... just shows that we have more than one solid entry, I guess.)

[samuelc812]

Perhaps if the votes are too close, the Admins and Foundry C.A's can vote amongst themselves rather than have another public vote It would be a shame if one map got 1 more vote than the other like last time...

[edbeard]

no

take the fonts and legend from #2

take the style from #1


stir it all up. bingo bango bongo. you've got a good map.

[cairnswk]

i voted # 1.
Clear, crisp, vibrant, very legible.

[Godlike-ness]

I think number 1 and 2 are goin to be pretty close...i voted for Entry 2...but i think i like Entry 1 better lol

[the.killing.44]

i voted for Entry 2...but i think i like Entry 1 better lol

Something I'm missing? The title says which one you would most like to have as a map …

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