Greetings from the nameless ether!
So it's been a while. So a lot of stuff has happened since our last issue. Lack of motivation is a killer, but never fear! We are back at it, and here's an issue filled with everything you're used to. Maps has been very busy, with the Main Foundry having the most maps I can recall the Newsletter ever covering. A Look Back showcases Oaktown's War of the Triple Alliance, a now-long-since-quenched map. The Spotlight is on lgoasklucyl and his Central America map, the eventual winner of the competition. Finally, in WCA's Tablet he lets loose some of his favorite digital art sites, all of them with tons of free resources.
On a different front, I would like to thank our latest Maps in Development Editor, sailorseal, for his work in making this issue finally come to fruition. Every map without a writeup from last issue was written by him, so give him a pat on the back when you can. Also, school has finally devoured ZeakCytho's schedule near-completely and he no longer has the time for A Look Back and the Spotlight. If anyone is interested in working on these positions, get in touch with me (PM
TaCktiX ).
Promise that the 18th Issue WILL release in about two weeks,
TaCktiX
Senior Editor
Well, we've been scarce and entries into the competition have been even scarcer, so another two week extension (Issue 18's release) for any and all entries. The topic detailing all the requirements is
here , make sure to check it out!
In this section we cover every map presently in development. Each map is accompanied by a brief description of the map's theme, graphics, and gameplay, as well as what's been happening in the last couple of weeks. Finally, a link to each topic, the map's creator(s), and what stamps it presently has are noted.
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Name: Centerscape Revamp Creators: RjBeals and
WidowMakers Stamps: Description: The competition to revamp the Centerscape map has concluded, with RjBeals' entry coming in first place. WidowMakers has taken over the graphical development and made minor tweaks to the beautiful fantasy-like map. Gameplay is identical to the current Centerscape map.
Present Development: XML Stamped and looking to replace the Square Monstrosity in the very near future.
Name: Golfe du St-Laurent Creators: Lone.prophet and
Unit_2 Stamps: Description: The Gulf of St. Lawrence (French, Golfe du St-Laurent) is the world's largest estuary, but conservation takes a backseat to beating the pulp out of others on this map of the gulf and its surrounding areas. It's an average-sized map with well-done textures and area-appropriate colors. Its classic gameplay is without any gimmicks and should be easy to pick up.
Present Development: "5 more minutes of work" to finish it off, or so it's been said.
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Name: Atlantis Creators: Premier2k and Nemesischild
Stamps: Description: Ever want to visit Atlantis? Ok, maybe a myth, but not anymore! Atlantis is unique map that is sure to get CC gamers talking. Great layout and design, with a bounty of colors keeping it lively.
Present Development: Cleaner and more polished, with gameplay alterations in progress.
Name: Balkan Peninsula Creator: ZeakCytho Stamps: Description: This is a plain map of the Balkan Peninsula. The gameplay is classic, with numerous small continents and easy to take bonuses.
Present Development: Under tons of suggestions of name changes and other region-specific additions, coming along smoothly.
Name: Battle of Trafalgar Creator: Cairnswk Stamps: Description: The Battle of Trafalgar was a turning point in Europe during Napoleon's reign With unorthodox naval tactics, Admiral Nelson destroyed the French/Spanish fleet with no ships lost. This map strives to depict that pivotal battle, with cannon bombardments, boarding parties, and bonuses requiring most, but not all, of ships to be held. A clever model depiction and a solid color scheme help to make the map a bird's eye view of naval warfare at its height.
Present Development: Working on bonus discussions and such, with comments being highly encouraged.
Name: Brazil Creator: RjBeals Stamps: Description: The ultimate winner of the well-publicized
Brazil Revamp Competition , Rj has created a map that simply oozes with color, fitting for a nation known for its vibrant culture. Graphics are the order du jour now.
Present Development: Updated for February, and progressing slowly.
Name: Castle Lands Creators: Pikkio &
Thenobodies80 Stamps: Description: This map is a depiction of a castle under siege. The central castle is surrounded by four quadrants of terrain, each with catapults capable of bombarding the castle's tower. For the most part, however, this map has classic gameplay.
Present Development: Undergoing clarifications edits to make the map more understandable, but nearing a Gameplay stamp.
Name: Central America Creator: Igoasklucyl Stamps: Description: Fresh out of the Central America Amateur competition, this map is a representation of the Central American nations with classic gameplay and smooth tropical graphics.
Present Development: Gameplay and accompanying graphical elements are under discussion at the moment.
Name: Chess Creator: john9blue Stamps: Description: A map based on one of the oldest games, to put it simply. It's a lovely rendering of a late-game chess match, with auto-deploys on held pieces and attack routes based on piece movement. That alone makes for a different and engaging gameplay, sure to set this map apart. So grab the speed clock and claim checkmate soon.
Present Development: In the main Foundry now, with very clear explanations for piece movement.
Name: Conquer Mart Creator: lzrman Stamps: Description: Ah, the shopping mall. Home of After Thanksgiving sales, last stands against the zombie apocalypse, and armed conflict. Well, in the past there wasn't any armed conflict, but this map seeks to change that, with fights over the departments and stores of a standard shopping mall being the order du jour. An overhead view shows off the floorplan of conquest, similar to a mall directory.
Present Development: It's come a long way in a short time, and still improving. Graphical and Gameplay comments are requested.
Name: England Creator: MrBenn Stamps: Description: Green and Pleasant Land indeed. This map displays England and only England, in many shades of green. Wonderful graphics make this map a showcase of real talent unless you happen to not like green. No special features except for a inset to include London.
Present Development: Currently concerned with balancing out the north and the south for bonuses.
Name: Feudal Epic Creator: Gimil and
Yeti_C Stamps: Description: The long-awaited sequel to the original conquest map, Feudal War. Whereas Feudal War was restricted to only 6 players, Feudal Epic has enough for 8 people, with wide and expansive village regions in between to clash and vanquish your enemies in. Otherwise, the gameplay is the same, if not better, than the original Feudal War, making this a certain favorite when it quenches.
Present Development: A less-green look has been suggested, what the mapmaker does with it is to be seen.
Name: Gilgamesh Creator: Oaktown Stamps: Description: This map is unique in at least one way: it grew out of a rejected revamp entry. Now divorced from the confining Centerscape gameplay, the maker has crafted a vibrant and mythologically-informed look at the Fertile Crescent during ancient times. Utilizing portions of the Gilgamesh epic, the map has both standard and special bonuses, leading to a very diverse gameplay.
Present Development: Looking to be approaching a Gameplay stamp in the very near future.
Name: Greenland Creator: the.killing.44 Stamps: Description: Greenland, you get the icy chills just from looking at it. Nothing but blue, white and a battle. Circling around an impassible zone, this map looks to give a new challenge to players. Icy graphics done by
the.killing.44 makes this map a real looker.
Present Development: Draft-Stamped and already updated post-move.
Name: Indian Empire Creator: Oaktown Stamps: Description: Taking a cue from another, more modern attempt at India and its surrounding countries, Oaktown has taken the period of time when India was a British colony, and translated it onto a beautiful rendering of a history book (Editor's Note: he used the same book for the Brazil revamp contest). Combining simple colors and a hand-drawn look for terrain features and the like, the map is fairly simple on gameplay, with classic continents and a railway bonus to spice things up. Rewrite history for who controlled the region in the 1800's, or join those building the next railway for the ruler. The choice is yours.
Present Development: Very recently Gameplay stamped, with a few graphical edits sure to be in the works.
Name: Jamaica Creator: cairnswk Stamps: Description: Colonial style graphics on a Jamaican setting. This map takes the player to a battle where many European countries have landed on the Jamaican shores encountering neutral after neutral as the player searches for resources to give them the edge over their enemies.
Present Development: Working on ironing out gameplay features and understanding.
Name: Korea Creator: the.killing.44 Stamps: Description: A rough Asian looking map littered with astonishing mountains that divide territories. two islands interrupt the flow of the main land but still fit in amazingly. Two killer neutrals, designed to play to the north south divide and bombard routes are the only features on this map.
Present Development: Has been in the Main Foundry for a while now and
the.killing.44 is working on the Gameplay Stamp. Expect a complete graphics do-over as kill tells us that he is starting from scratch graphically.
Name: Land and Sea Creator: Edbeard and
Gimil Stamps: Description: This is a map of the world including both land and water territories. The graphics are basically non-existent right now, but the gameplay is undergoing serious discussion. The main feature of the game is that land and water territories only connect at certain points.
Present Development: Nearing a forge with minor edits to be done.
Name: Long Island Creators: sailorseal and
LED ZEPPELINER Stamps: Description: A long thin block of territories surrounded by boats forking off at the end is the basic design of the map. A medium to small map with very few bonuses will give a new challenge to any player that decides to take it.
Present Development: Moving through the foundry at one of the fastest paces ever receiving Draft on the third update, a highway will be added to take the places of the airports.
Name: Oceania Creators: Thenobodies80 and
Pikkio Stamps: Description: This is a map of the continent of Oceania, including Australia and the numerous island chains of the South Pacific. Its graphics aren't anything too fancy, but they convey the essentials of the classic gameplay on this map.
Present Development: Graphics stamped and work on the XML has begun in earnest. Comments for tweaks appreciated.
Name: Poison Rome Creator: cairnswk Stamps: Description: The Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire has a family tree complicated by multiple marriages between the members of the gens Julia and the gens Claudia. This map is currently in version 8, with a unique family tree layout. It will make for some interesting gameplay.
Present Development: Recently Gameplay stamped, with work on the graphics to follow.
Name: Rose City Creator: lostatlimbo Stamps: Description: lostatlimbo has a very creative premise for this map: highlight all the unique features of Portland and turn them into gameplay features. That coupled with a bright and borderline garish color scheme creates a different map that likely will break the "limited appeal" problem that other city maps have run into.
Present Development: Graphically updated but still bright and colorful. Comments are tending toward gameplay right now.
Name: Switzerland Creator: Kaplowitz and
Wcaclimbing Stamps: Description: Switzerland is famed for its bank accounts, neutrality in war, and sweeping mountains. So have a hostile takeover on this average-sized map of the country. Graphics are simple and the gameplay matches, with only classic continents and impassables.
Present Development: Updates are coming along at a reasonable rate, with graphics comments encouraged.
Name: Treasure Map Creator: LED ZEPPELINER Stamps: Description: A colorful take on a classic nautical "Treasure Map" featuring skull and cross bones with a few classic sailing ships thrown in. An objective style game play with a island hopping setting gives the player the feel they are hunting for a treasure. Arrr!
Present Development: Very recently admitted to the main Foundry.
Name: Vancouver Creator: Shakeycat Stamps: Description: This is a map of the greater Vancouver area. It has mostly classic gameplay, with attack routes between ports and special bonuses for holding various transportation modes, i.e. train lines.
Present Development: Updated post-move, and in need of lots of comments.
Name: WWII: The Invasion of Poland Creator: samuelc812 Stamps: Description: Sporting the colors of World War II, this starting positions map has many special features keeping you always interested such as planes, tanks and bonuses for commanders. Take a look at this map and you just might learn something.
Present Development: Very recently moved to the Foundry.
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Name: Europe 1099 Creator: Beko the Great Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: The Crusades, you can hear the clashing of swords and the crying of peasants just from a glance at this map. Look closely and you will see it was painted on cloth. The setting of this battle, Europe and a touch of Africa during the 1099 Crusade. This map plays to the religious aspects of the time period and looks like it will make a great game.
Present Development: Called for preliminary review, so likely to receive the drafts stamp soon.
Name: Japan Creator: InkL0sed Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: Ink style graphics with a few game play twists including an inset and inter-continental assault routes. Japanese characters can be found all across the map giving it a very Asian feel. Many island surrounding the main land giving this map the full Japanese experience.
Present Development: It has been said (By MrBenn) that the map needs a better sense of connection between the three parts before it moves on.
Name: Zodiac Map Creator: rsacheli Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: The Zodiac has been a centerpiece of astrology for generations, enshrined most noticeably by the naming of constellations in the stars. This map portrays their constellations and has bonuses centering around the seasons and the elements those constellations comprise. It also features a super-connected Black Hole territory, allowing a lot of mobility for such a large map. The map beckons that you decide your own fate among the stars.
Present Development: Presently plagued with bad image hosting, which will likely be fixed in the near future.
In A Look Back, we look at either a recently quenched map or a mapmaker who has contributed to CC but hasn't done so recently. It's a great retrospective that is certain to be an interesting feature as time goes on. This issue, we look at Oaktown and his recently quenched map (well, one of them), War of the Triple Alliance.
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What is your favorite map currently up for live play? Why that one? What interested you in mapmaking? How did you form the idea for this map? How much research went into studying the actual war during the course of the development of the map? What ended up being the most rewarding part of making this map? Any other thoughts on what it was like to make this map?
In the Spotlight, we typically cover a staff-selected map and mapmaker in an interview. Mapmaker motivations, inspirations, and the like have been covered, with plenty of surprises in between. This issue we look at the Central American map by lgoasklucyl.
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How old are you/what gender are you/where do you live? Answer specifically, vaguely, or not at all. How did you find out about Conquer Club? What is your favorite map currently up for live play? Why that one? What interested you in mapmaking? What kind of feedback do you like getting the most? How did you decide what graphics styles to go with? What do you think of the foundry process in general?
Hello everyone!
After a long time without a newsletter, I'd like to present you with a few of my favorite digital art websites.
All three of these sites are great resources for any aspiring digital artist or mapmaker.
While these sites are not directly related to mapmaking, the huge number of tutorials and resources available on these sites are sure to bring your maps up to the next level.
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http://abduzeedo.com/ This site is overflowing with so much digital art stuff, there is no way a person could read through all of it. It has tons of tutorials, wallpapers, interviews, basically everything you could want packed into one website. This is probably my favorite digital art website; I've spent a few hours on this site just getting lost in how much awesome stuff they have. I strongly recommend this site to anyone interested in digital art. http://www.cgtextures.com/ This website is a great resource for any artist. It has thousands of huge texture images of everything you can imagine, and they are all FREE to use. http://www.3dtotal.com/ps100/pstut100.html (it has two or three NSFW pics, not a big deal) Though this site doesn't have as much content as abduzeedo, it makes up for it with its great tutorials. It has everything from 3D to digital painting to photomanipulation. It would definitely be worth it to take a look around this one. There is tons of great stuff in the list. The only downsides are that the site as a whole focuses on 3D graphics and most of the tutorials are pretty advanced. Still, there are plenty of good tutorials in this top-100 list.
Until next time, happy mapmaking!
~wcaclimbing
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Wrap up We would like to thank you all for taking the time to read and enjoy our newsletter.
See you next time!
gimil - Graphics
InkL0sed - Formatting Editor, Proofreading Editor
reelkmcn - Maps In Development Editor
sailorseal - Maps in Development Editor
TaCktiX - Senior Editor, Editorial Editor, Perspectives Editor
wcaclimbing - Graphics, WCA's Tablet Editor
ZeakCytho - Spotlight Editor, Maps In Development Editor, A Look Back Editor
