The map formerly known as World Cities

[Incandenza]

I liked the previous title better, seemed more authoritative somehow... the new one seems a bit too small-town chamber of commerce.

[the.killing.44]

I liked the previous title better, seemed more authoritative somehow... the new one seems a bit too small-town chamber of commerce.

Was gonna say the same thing.

The names are pretty good, I think they'd work better (especially on the left one) if you adjusted them so the numbers are closer to the names: i.e. the 2 on Africa goes more southwest, around the Sao Tome region (how do I not know that name?!); East Asia's 5 more in Siberia, etc.

Also, if you'd move the Eastern Hemisphere globe closer to Oceania so it doesn't run so much by the African coast it'd be sweet.

.44

[sully800]

Bah!

Haha, well thanks for the quick comments just the same

[cairnswk]

I liked the previous title better, seemed more authoritative somehow... the new one seems a bit too small-town chamber of commerce.

Sorry, Sully, i have to agree with Inca. the previous title was much more professional looking.

[ender516]

I agree with everything the.killing.44 and Incandenza said. They are just faster at posting than I am.

6. AOB
I don't think there are any other matters arising

I'm not sure what AOB means.

My guess is Any Old Business, or Any Other Business. Agenda-speak.

[mibi]

Sulz, that new title is hideous. Bring the other one back, quick!.. before other people see what you have done here.

[sully800]

Ha, well I definitely wasn't sure about the banner, but I liked the cartoony skyline I drew. F you all!

Will update ASAP

[Incandenza]

Relish the moment, sully. Moments where the opinion of the foundry is so united are rare indeed.

[The Neon Peon]

When you bring the old title back, could you please make "World" and "Cities" closer together?

(Sorry, just one of my petpeves, it seems too stretched out. I like the central focus of the new one)

[thedon5]

Am not a fan of the single font thing .

I think the Western hemisphere globe needs to be moved closer to Oceania. It could overlap sea then, instead of the whole of Madagascar !

Isn't it Australasia now btw?

And shoot down this idea if you like, but how about using a smaller version of the eventual title font around the globes which show the bonuses? It is kind of boring seeing the same font across the whole bottom of the map. And it is also kind of confusing IMO, and looks a little busy.

I liked the old title better, however, I still think no title shown so far is good enough. How about a skyline like in the current title, but having the buildings more straight, and on a line, as opposed to on a curve? And maybe a glow to show like streetlights or something, and a slightly different colour for the trees and houses and things. Maybe add people too. As for the font itself, how about a squigly font, that isn't in block capitals? Or a skinner font.

How about "By Sully800" under the title as well.

As for the London and New York connect thing, having that white island under the light blue New York does make it a tad hard to read. Maybe move it over to where the word London is, or better yet, move it down a bit. I like having it at the top too.

How about adding a little bit of white land at the bottom, to show Antartica?

[MrBenn]

I agree with everything the.killing.44 and Incandenza said. They are just faster at posting than I am.

6. AOB
I don't think there are any other matters arising

I'm not sure what AOB means.

My guess is Any Old Business, or Any Other Business. Agenda-speak.

AOB = Any other business

Can I sneak the title back onto the agenda?

[SultanOfSurreal]

Really disappointed on the choice of font here... it's so gaudy

[Gustaf Wasa]

Lines that are not straight are more difficult for the eye to follow. It makes me more tired to get an overview of the latest version with the rounded lines here, than of the first version with the straight lines. So I would suggest that as far as possible, use straight lines!

[thedon5]

Really disappointed on the choice of font here... it's so gaudy

The multi-fonts thing was so much better.

Lines that are not straight are more difficult for the eye to follow. It makes me more tired to get an overview of the latest version with the rounded lines here, than of the first version with the straight lines. So I would suggest that as far as possible, use straight lines!

I prefer curved lines.

[Tisha]

why did the land end up getting blurred?

[sully800]

Really disappointed on the choice of font here... it's so gaudy

Yeah, it wasn't my favorite initial choice either but very popular in the polls. I will switch to a more neutral font in the next version because I agree with your feelings.

Lines that are not straight are more difficult for the eye to follow. It makes me more tired to get an overview of the latest version with the rounded lines here, than of the first version with the straight lines. So I would suggest that as far as possible, use straight lines!

I can see how curves would be slightly harder to follow, but in the end all you are doing is connecting 2 points with a line. There are no interruptions, so each curved line should eventually bring you to another clear point. The straight lines are shorter and possibly more clear but they don't look nearly as nice IMO. Also, some cities cannot be connected by straight lines so curves are a necessity, not just a choice.

why did the land end up getting blurred?

The last two images I posted were of a lower quality to reduce file size. I think that may be the cause of the blur you are seeing? I can switch to a slightly higher quality and post the highest quality for graphical checks if necessary.

New title coming soon. I will also begin work on the large map because it seems like most of the graphical concerns have been hammered out.

Am not a fan of the single font thing .

Benn, what are your thoughts on the uniform font since you were encouraging it? I think the uniformity looks nicer and makes the map more coherent but it seems the camp is still split. It's funny that some people didn't even realize I was using multiple fonts, despite the mix of caps and lower case and different styles.

I think the Western hemisphere globe needs to be moved closer to Oceania. It could overlap sea then, instead of the whole of Madagascar !

Isn't it Australasia now btw?

I have trouble with asymmetrical layouts, so I was trying to place the bottom two globes symmetrically. I can definitely shift it to the East so it doesn't cover Madagascar, then we'll just have to see how the balance looks

And shoot down this idea if you like, but how about using a smaller version of the eventual title font around the globes which show the bonuses? It is kind of boring seeing the same font across the whole bottom of the map. And it is also kind of confusing IMO, and looks a little busy.

Yeah, the font is too wide to be used in a circle like that I think. Will change.

How about "By Sully800" under the title as well.

I don't know yet. I might include some sort of symbol to stamp the work, but I don't feel the need to plaster my name all over this piece. At least not until I make a title that someone actually likes

How about adding a little bit of white land at the bottom, to show Antartica?

That would be pretty far south of the current bottom of the map. As you can see I am already cutting off the tip of South America, and I don't want to extend the map vertically because of scrolling issues. So I think I will avoid this change.

[sully800]

V17 - All changes mentioned above, I believe.

Click image to enlarge.

[cairnswk]

Sully, where's our Opera House in the title?

[sully800]

Sully, where's our Opera House in the title?

No purposeful landmarks in the title, because I wouldn't be able to fit/find one from each city. It is meant to be a generic city skyline.

[whitestazn88]

i like the new title. very nice

[thedon5]

i like the new title. very nice

Agreed.

Still prefer the multi-fonts thing.

[SultanOfSurreal]

Much better choice in font. Very readable and "modern", fits with the theme of cities better than the stone-age type thing that won the poll.

The skyline title is better too, but is there a way to make it look less... sketched? Cities are all about rigid angles and gleaming surfaces, the image of a skyline should be sharper and more arresting. (also not liking the font you chose for the title... sorry to be such a font nerd. may I suggest Helvetica, or even better, Futura? those are both great modern-style fonts

[sully800]

Thanks Sultan, I'm glad you like the new fonts too. I think it is a lot cleaner and therefore more legible.

As for the sketched appearance of the title - I can try to adjust it a bit, but it actually is sketched so I don't think that will be an easy change. The left side of the skyline needs to be crisper, and I can outline the buildings a bit more clearly to try and make things sharper. In the end I think it will still appear to be a sketch though.

I will try out Helvetica and Futura for the title. I think the Papyrus matched well with the sketched appearance of the title but a more futuristic font could fit better with the theme.

Anyone else? It's been somewhat quiet on feedback other than the title. Everything else looks good?

[MrBenn]

Hello!

The new title looks great - you've mentioned a couple of tweaks that you intend to make (changing the font to a standard/clean sans-serif sounds like a good choice); although the title looks good and blends in well. The only additional suggestion I would make, would be to fade the sea a bit more, so that you can see the land behind it - either by adding a gradient transparency, or by erasing some of the blue water with a largish fuzzy brush.

The territory labels look heaps better with the uniform font across the map. At the moment, there is a slight jarring in style between the territory labels and the title, but the alteration of the title to a sans serif will help the two typefaces blend together.

The positioning of the globes (almost misstyped as gloves) is better. It bugs me that there is writing over Madagascar - while this is not a serious complaint, I wonder if it would help a bit if the opacity of the continent labels were to be reduced a bit - this would probably help the eye to focus on the globes, rather than the text around the edge?

The only other tiny nit-pick I can see, is that there is possibly an extra pixel-width of black border to the top-right edge of the flag-border.... Although I'm not too sure if it is actually a pixel wider, or just the fact that there is a pixel-width highlight on that side of the flag. On closer inspection, it looks like the German flag starts a pixel lower than its neighbouring flags...

We're on to the tiny nit-picks now, so well done, and keep up the good work - the finishing line is in sight

[sully800]

Yay for tiny nitpicks!

I looked at the futura font, and it is awfully narrow so I think Helvetica might be a better choice. I will post both samples.

I definitely need to blend the title better, especially at the bottom edge as you mentioned Benn. I will try your suggested approach.

As for the flags, they should all be in the correct place, but some were not completely uniform images. So the Germany flag is aligned correctly vertically, but there is a light gray line at the top of the flag because some shadow or gleam became a line after shrinking it. I will go through the flags individually and try to fix such problems.