North America: to be revisited later

[oaktown]

hurry up with the new draft, and this time control yourself...

I won't be around much for the next week, so a new draft will be slow in the making. I'm having second thoughts about the project anyway.

As for the comment about there being nothing wrong with the current map, I disagree. As a colorblind player I can't play the map without BOB telling me what territory is part of what region... and you are you sure that California and Arizona connect? Both of these can be fixed, however, with a simple touch up, which may be the route I take.

[WidowMakers]

I say do a Montreal style revamp. Same colors and layout just cleaned up.

[oaktown]

I say do a Montreal style revamp. Same colors and layout just cleaned up.

that's where I'm leaning. I have an idea for a nice satellite view map anyway, which I will reveal in due time.

[Scott-Land]

... and you are you sure that California and Arizona connect? Both of these can be fixed, however, with a simple touch up, which may be the route I take.

Yup about 4-5 hours to LA / Vegas from Phoenix

[oaktown]

... and you are you sure that California and Arizona connect? Both of these can be fixed, however, with a simple touch up, which may be the route I take.

Yup about 4-5 hours to LA / Vegas from Phoenix

That's not what I was getting at, and I got the states wrong anyway. Look at the old map and tell me if Nevada and Arizona connect.

Anyway, my point was that the map could use some touch-ups. But perhaps that is all it needs, just touch-ups. Again, I'll figure it out next week.

[lostatlimbo]

Oak - I like the new look so far, though I think the mountains will need some work - as they currently look more like cloud formations than massive rock behemoths.

I know you said you'd rather not change gameplay, but one thing that always perturbed me on the old map was merging Washington State into Oregon, when states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming all hold their own. It makes sense to combine the Dakotas, Carolinas, Virginias and New England, but doubling the size of Oregon and dropping Washington altogether has never made sense to me.

If you're unwilling to add Washington as a new territory, then at least could you change Oregon to "Pacific Northwest"? Its as valid a region name as New England, but much less... er.... clueless.

On that note, how about changing Belize to Guatemala, since the former is about 1/5th the size of the latter.

[Scott-Land]

... and you are you sure that California and Arizona connect? Both of these can be fixed, however, with a simple touch up, which may be the route I take.

Yup about 4-5 hours to LA / Vegas from Phoenix

That's not what I was getting at, and I got the states wrong anyway. Look at the old map and tell me if Nevada and Arizona connect.

Anyway, my point was that the map could use some touch-ups. But perhaps that is all it needs, just touch-ups. Again, I'll figure it out next week.

Old map ( not your old draft)-- yes California, Arizona and Nevada are adjacent and connecting.

[lostatlimbo]

Old map ( not your old draft)-- yes California, Arizona and Nevada are adjacent and connecting.

I think his point is that it is difficult to tell unless you get up real close and squint. Borders shouldn't be so obscured. Hence... you know... touch-ups, tweaks, keeping the baby, but throwing out the bathwater. Get it?

[DublinDoogey]

I know you said you'd rather not change gameplay, but one thing that always perturbed me on the old map was merging Washington State into Oregon, when states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming all hold their own. It makes sense to combine the Dakotas, Carolinas, Virginias and New England, but doubling the size of Oregon and dropping Washington altogether has never made sense to me.

If you're unwilling to add Washington as a new territory, then at least could you change Oregon to "Pacific Northwest"? Its as valid a region name as New England, but much less... er.... clueless.

On that note, how about changing Belize to Guatemala, since the former is about 1/5th the size of the latter.

My thoughts on this are that I wouldn't care if Oregon were changed to "Pacific Northwest." I only called that territory Oregon because I have family there but not in Washington state. As for Belize changing to Guatemala, I wouldn't want that simply because I have really enjoyed my time in Belize. And when I originally designed the map I took that approach with merged territories. Wisconsin and Minnesota are called Wisconsin because I live in Wisconsin.

[barterer2002]

While I like the old map Oak, I really do like your new approach. I've always had trouble figuring out where the impassables are between Western USA and Central USA. Its not bad when looking at just the map but putting a three digit number in there (or more precisely a two digit number with a color blind alpha in front of it)often obscures things. I'd like to see it cleaned up a bit and I also see no reason why you can't take the same artistic licences with rivers etal that DublinDoogey did.

[barterer2002]

(While we're at it, why doesn't DublinDoogey have a mapmakers medal for this one?)

[sully800]

(While we're at it, why doesn't DublinDoogey have a mapmakers medal for this one?)

This map came before the medals, and not all cartographers got their old medals unless they said something... at least that's my guess. There were tons of medals to hand out at once and the non vocal people were missed.

[DublinDoogey]

(While we're at it, why doesn't DublinDoogey have a mapmakers medal for this one?)

This map came before the medals, and not all cartographers got their old medals unless they said something... at least that's my guess. There were tons of medals to hand out at once and the non vocal people were missed.

i've taken a few long breaks. i tend not to play when i'm at college. it's interesting to see what has changed, like medals, ratings, new maps, loss of old maps, etc.

[owenshooter]

new mexico looks really funky now...-0

[ender516]

If you are in the mood to change the place names on this map, I will mention that, if I remember my Grade 7 geography, the area marked Canadian Shield corresponds well with a good portion of what is known as the Hudson Bay Lowlands (fairly different terrain). The portion marked Ontario matches well with the Canadian Shield, and the Ottawa region corresponds to what nearly every provincial map calls Southern Ontario, which is where the vast majority of Ontarians live.
So, if you want to confuse things and get the Northerners riled up, change "Canadian Shield" to "Hudson Bay" (with or without the "Lowlands"), change "Ontario" to "Canadian Shield" and change "Ottawa" to "Ontario". Nobody in Canada likes Ottawa anyway. Heck, lots of people in Ottawa don't like Ottawa!

[oaktown]

There will be no changes to gameplay. There will be no changes to territory names. There will be no new territories added.

This was meant to be a graphical revisit only, and now I'm thinking that isn't even a good idea. Since the conversation has now turned away from the point of this thread I'm requesting that this thread be stuck in the bin until I have time to rethink.

[ender516]

Allow me to apologize for my part in leading the topic astray. I was not serious about the territory names. I was serious in my appreciation of the new look that you brought to this map and I hope you will return to it soon.

[WidowMakers]

Here is what I had in mind. Obviously there needs to be A LOT more work but I don't want to keep going if this is not desired or if oak is still working on it.

[a.sub]

best of the 3 so far imo

[RjBeals]

best of the 3 so far imo

agree.

[WidowMakers]

Trying to copy the old map as much as possible. The mountain impassable are going to be a challenge due to the straight lines and weird layout. Other than that it is fonts type and size plus 88 circle layout and a couple land and sea connections over the water.

[RjBeals]

hmm - you sure you're going to have room for the 88's? Looks a little cramped. Maybe post a sample image - other than that, it's near complete.

[WidowMakers]

I just used 22 pixel diameter circles and added a gradient to cut off the top and bottom. They should work with 888. I know I will need to adjust them along with the text to fit everything. Like I said the big issue is going to be the mountains and the small map.