Hello all,
Welcome to another issue of the Foundry Newsletter. We've got a couple of special announcements from The Powers That Be, including further information on the Brazil Revamp Competition. The Foundry has been a very alive place in the past couple of weeks, with at least a dozen maps moving into the main foundry and final forge, and another one hitting the Quenched stack. For the editorial, we have a unique perspective from a person who has never made a map but has commented on plenty. Spotlight is highlighting an "earlier" map and its mapmaker compared to our previous features. Finally, Community Perspective asked why people visit the foundry. Scroll down to see the results. I hope you all enjoy our latest issue.
TaCktiX
Senior Editor
Special Announcements
This week we got two pieces of great news for you guys out there!
Firstly as many of you have noticed the cartoes team and I have been busy this weekend shuffling and reorganising the Ideas section of the Foundry. This was no small task, but we at the cartoes team feel it will lead to greater efficiency in the map making process. More information can be found in the announcement here:
Map ideas reconstruction and other nonsense
In other news the Brazil REVAMP competition that I am currently hosting will be opening round 1 around the same time as the release of this issue. Competition is fierce with many talented cartographers competing!
Competition REVAMP thread
Thanks for reading!
gimil & the cartoes
Name: Operation Drug War
Creators: edbeard, Telvannia, and zimmah
Stamps:
Description: Multiple objective maps are yet to get into live play. That's what this map is addressing, simulating a drug war with cops, stashes, and much more. There are multiple paths to victory on this darkly rendered city nightscape, and multiple paths to defeat.
Present Development: Quenched.
Name: British Isles Revamp
Creator: Gimil
Stamps:
Description: One of the most beloved maps in the game is getting a makeover. The creator has redone the look of the map to be much cleaner and geographically accurate to the Isles.
Present Development: Stalled, but more or less complete.
Name: CC City Mogul
Creator: DiM
Stamps:
Description: The dice have been complained about since the birth of CC. This map aims to make that a non-issue by making every single bonus 5 times the normal size. Craft a shopping empire on this blueprint-styled map, and erect a manor and shopping mall to declare your mercantile victory.
Present Development: Final images are posted, the Quench is expected very soon.
Name: The Citadel
Creator: TaCktiX
Stamps:
Description: What better place to have a military takeover than at a military college's campus? That is the premise of The Citadel. Based directly off of the campus and its buildings, this medium-sized map goes for fairly straightforward gameplay, with a couple of quirks.
Present Development: XML has been checked and a stamp is expected shortly. Comments have slowed down significantly since Forging.
Name: Conquer 4
Creators: gimil, KEYOGI, and yeti_c
Stamps:
Description: In some ways, Conquer 4 is a simple map: all bonuses are determined by only two rules. But every territory can attack 8 ways and bonuses are where you make them. This map will certainly be crazy to play, with bonuses coming and going simply by conquering one territory.
Present Development: Despite the monumentality of the task, the XML has been posted, though as yet unchecked.
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: Aside from a few muddlings about the map's title and a yet-to-be-checked XML, this map is winding down to a close.
Name: Nubian Egypt
Creator: cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: In what the creator calls the third map in the Egypt Quadtych, the lesser-known part of the Nile, Nubia, is getting covered. It's a small map with fairly easy bonuses, and a dedication to the Egyptian theme that cairns has cultivated in his other Egypt maps.
Present Development: With the current rate of this map's completion and the stallout of quenched maps going live, it looks like all three new Egypt maps will get posted at the same time.
Name: Oasis
Creator: wcaclimbing
Stamps:
Description: Calling Oasis a phenomenon would do it no credit. This graphical feast has taken the Foundry by storm, leaving several regular commenters drooling for the next update. It's based around a central objective Grand Oasis surrounded by decaying desert, and lots of one-territory bonuses sprinkled throughout. Watch out for this map, it's certain to change the way objective maps are made.
Present Development: XML is posted but army coordinate positions are being nitpicked at present.
Name: Poker Map
Creators: yeti_c, Coleman, and WidowMakers
Stamps:
Description: Go all in with this take on a poker game. With a mixed-up deck spread on a well-rendered poker table, gameplay will revolve around creating poker hands through force. No bluffs here, this should turn out to be quite an interesting map.
Present Development: XML has been posted, and the text explanations on the map are being fine-tuned for easier understanding.
Name: San Marino
Creator: Ruben Cassar
Stamps:
Description: The Ruben Cassar formula to a T: a simple map based around a small area. It's attractive to the eye, and while being average size has plenty of bonuses that should be easy to get and hold onto.
Present Development: Making small continent color changes to make the map seem more uniform.
Name: Supermax: Prison Riot
Creators: mibi and Coleman
Stamps:
Description: Rival gangs are at war with each other in a maximum security prison. They're willing to bribe guards, use weapons, and even take over the entire prison to accomplish their goals. This detailed map offers dozens of ways to build forces, and its gameplay is like no other on CC right now. Take a look at this one before it takes you by surprise.
Present Development: A finalized XML version has finally gotten posted, and checking should happen shortly.
Name: Allegheny Forest, PA, USA
Creator: seamusk
Stamps:
Description: This map has been a bolt from the blue. It's a complex map with lots of rules and bonuses, but all the rules fit with the way the map has been structured. Gameplay will likely be very varied when this map gets further along.
Present Development: Map understandability is being worked on, and gameplay balance is being heavily commented on too.
Name: Archipelago
Creators: ZeakCytho and Mjinga
Stamps:
Description: A small chain of islands is at war! This fictional archipelago is fought over by the players in a simple classic-style map. The sharp graphics go hand in hand with the lack of gameplay quirks, a driving impetus behind this map.
Present Development: Small graphical elements are being overhauled to make the map fit thematically better.
Name: Das Schloß
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: This map is unique in several ways. For one, it is the only map that can only be won by completing the objective. For two, it's gone back from quenching into the foundry with a major rework of the map's mechanics to fix some unforeseen balance issues.
Present Development: Discussions about the bonuses and the reworked gameplay are the main focus right now. Once issues are resolved on those, the map will get re-quenched.
Name: Eastern Hemisphere
Creator: Oaktown
Stamps:
Description: What happens when you slice the world in half then age it 90 years? This map showing the far side of the world around 1910! It's the time when the great European empires are crumbling, and the creator has worked hard on making gameplay appropriate to the time setting. Expect a fresh world experience soon.
Present Development: The creator is still working on gameplay, changing connections and other abilities to balance things out. Map text is being moved around to make things easier to read as well.
Name: The Era of the Three Kingdoms
Creator: Gimil
Stamps:
Description: After the Han dynasty fell, three kingdoms arose to fight for dominance in China. Re-enact that bloodthirsty time period with this simple recreation of the region. The map is of average size, but the subcontinents make getting and keeping bonuses fairly easy and gameplay fast.
Present Development: Development has slowed by a fair margin, though comments are still rolling in to improve the map.
Name: Europa
Creator: MrBenn
Stamps:
Description: The creator set out upon a simple goal: make a map about the way Europe really is, even down to Vatican City. He's stayed true to that vision, and the map reflects it, with a clean look to all the countries no matter their size. The map makes good use of natural boundaries to create impassables, adding to the clean feel of the map.
Present Development: More versions are getting posted, allowing people to voice their concerns and see results quickly. Presently there is a poll relating to title possibilities.
Name: European Revolution
Creators: Gimil and yeti_c
Stamps:
Description: The Dark Ages were a time of political turmoil, with empires nonexistent and whole kingdoms subject to the occasional peasant revolt. That's the premise of this map, that offers a novel game play twist in the form of a mini-map, or rather the fact that the mini-map has attackable territories. Unite through force your kingdom then assault the other kingdoms when your armies can do so. Dark, yet simple graphics accentuate this darker time in Europe's history.
Present Development: The workability of the gameplay is a cause of concern. Small gameplay and graphics issues are being discussed aside from that.
Name: Famine
Creator: Bryguy
Stamps:
Description: 8 players, 8 castles, and a famine on the land. Grab your empire's territories, but also grab the resources to feed it. It's a unique premise gameplay-wise, and should make play on it fairly exciting and ruthless.
Present Development: Graphics are in need of improvement, and small gameplay tweaks are being suggested.
Name: Forbidden City
Creator: Cairnswk
Stamps:
Description: The Forbidden City has always been an interesting part of Chinese history since its construction in the Ming dynasty. So the most quenched mapmaker has taken a unique bent in portraying it. Instead of just featuring the City itself, he has added outsiders from all over history that have tried to take over the City in some way. Add to that the simple, illustrative graphics reminiscent of Chinese culture circa 19th century, and you've got the whole enchilada.
Present Development: Lots of little tweaks to improve the look and feel are driving the comments right now. Graphics have been improving with every version.
Name: Germany Revamp
Creator: Pepperonibread
Stamps:
Description: The current Germany map, as many German members have pointed out, is quite inaccurate. In this revamp, Pepperonibread is redrawing many of the borders to more accurately reflect the real Germany, as well as changing many of the territory names. Finally, the graphics will be completely overhauled and replaced with, in the words of Gimil, "super cool, shit hot graphics."
Present Development: The "pimp graphics" version finally got released with the new color palette and borders. It certainly looks like Germany now, though the graphics are still up for discussion.
Name: Holy Roman Empire
Creators: Grayhawke and Pamoa
Stamps:
Description: The Holy Roman Empire has been said to neither be Holy, nor Roman, and most certainly not an Empire. At least CC players can fix the last part by building their own on this map detailing the HRE and surrounding nations. Taking a combination continent/influence bonus gameplay, the map tries to bring out some of the history of the HRE, all the while backing it with simple, solid graphics.
Present Development: Slightly slowed due to a vacation by Pamoa, but looking to be getting back into gear.
Name: Imperium Romanum
Creator: Qwert
Stamps:
Description: The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires that ever existed. This map encourages you to build that empire for yourself by commanding legions, cities, and ships to gain an edge on your foes. Graphics are vibrant and eye-catching, with lots of Rome-related paraphernalia on the edges.
Present Development: Text options have been posted to ease map readability, and a recent sticky has made comments faster.
Name: Madagascar
Creator: t-o-m
Stamps:
Description: Another small map in the pipeline, this time of the island nation of Madagascar. Gameplay is straightforward, and the territory naming accurately reflects the regions of the country. Graphics are fairly simple, which helps the appeal of the map.
Present Development: Small graphical issues are getting addressed, making this map look very likely to enter the Forge soon.
Name: Roma: Second Punic War
Creator: Ruben Cassar
Stamps:
Description: This map depicts the Second Punic War, in which the Carthaginian general Hannibal famously led elephants across the Alps to attack Rome, while the Roman General Scipio routed him and led an attack on Carthage. The graphics of this map use simple colors to show the Roman and Carthaginian spheres of influence. The conquest gameplay allows for players to expand into Roman or Carthaginian territory to collect bonuses before meeting one another face to face.
Present Development: The current development has stalled because of the map maker's real life business, but once things are less busy, development will continue.
Name: Switzerland
Creator: Kaplowitz
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: Ongoing concerns about the "Swiss-ness" of the map are being fielded.
Name: War of the Triple Alliance
Creator: Oaktown
Stamps:
Description: This map captures the War of the Triple Alliance, South America's bloodiest war, fought on one side by Paraguay and on the other by Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The muted colors and faded images help make this map truly feel 19th Century. The gameplay is classic, lacking any sort of twist or gimmick.
Present Development: The gameplay is being hammered out right now, along with a few graphical tweaks. Some stamps should come in the near future.
Name: Baltic States
Creator: l3eater
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: This is a map of the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The graphics are still looking for a definite style, but significant improvements have been made from version 1. The gameplay looks to be mostly classic, but also utilizing a system of continents and subcontinents.
Present Development: The graphics have been improving by leaps and bounds. This map will be out of the Drafting Room in no time.
Name: Bering Strait
Creator: Lanyards
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: This is a geographic map of the region of the Bering Sea. Half of the map is in Asia, half in America. The game play is all classic, with the minor exception of a few territories that are not part of any continent. The graphics are fairly simple, and capture the cold feeling of the Arctic.
Present Development: With an amazing 100% approval rate, this map looks poised to skyrocket straight to the Final Forge! The only issue at the moment is in making the color scheme cool, but differentiable to colorblind players.
Name: Hurling
Creator: Seamusk
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: This is a map of the Celtic field sport Hurling, the fastest sport in the world. The game play attempts to mimic the play of the actual sport, using different bonuses and auto-deploys for various field positions. The game is won by holding a certain amount of territories in the goal zones. The graphics of this map are purposefully simple so that they do not add to the confusing nature of the game play.
Present Development: Following a redesign update, not much has happened with this map.
Name: South Africa
Creator: Crowley
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: This is a map of South Africa, including the two landlocked countries Lesotho and Swaziland. The colorful palate and legibility are two of the map's strongest aspects. The simple, classic game play has a bit of a twist: by holding landlocked countries and adjacent continents, you get a larger bonus. On the whole, though, this map is visually pleasing and simple.
Present Development: Further inactivity is keeping the map from advancing further.
Name: WWII Europe
Creator: Qwert
Stamps: [Advanced Draft]
Description: Long stalled due to its large size, this map has undergone a weight-loss program and now fits within the size requirements. Taking his WWII Eastern and Western Front maps and meshing them with a Central front in the middle, this is a map that covers the entire theater of the war in Europe. With a large scale, and lots of opportunities, it will definitely be the WWII map to play when it's quenched.
Present Development: Resizing issues are still being addressed, particularly regarding text readability.
This week's editorial is by Incandenza, a person active in offering feedback to maps in development, but has never developed a map of his own.
Incandenza wrote:Maps have always fascinated me.
As a small child, I obsessed over atlases before I could even read. I ran my fingers over my now-ludicrously-outdated globe, imagining distant mountain ranges that demarcated borders between impossibly exotic countries. In middle school I sat in the back of class and drew maps of fantastic lands, chock-full of elaborate archipelagos and shimmering forests and demilitarized zones and brooding cities. I had an inkling even then that I wanted to be a professional writer (a goal I have arguably attained, to some degree), but what I loved even more was world-building.
So of course the Map Foundry is like fetish porn for me.
I started lurking in the Foundry from almost the moment I joined CC, back when World 2.0 was just starting to really come together (and was still called 2.0, with that charming little dogleg in Indonesia). It was some time, a month or more, before I felt comfortable posting, as the Foundry can be an intimidating place for a newcomer. But I kept reading, and started posting, and slowly ingratiated myself to the Foundry community in my own small way.
The funny thing (and the reason I was approached to write this), is that of all the regular foundry posters, I am one of breathtakingly few that has never attempted to create my own map.
"So, Inc," you're no doubt saying to yourself under your breath, drawing discourteous glances from adjacent cubicle-dwellers, "Why haven't you tried your hand at this whole cartography business?"
Unfortunately, I have the artistic ability of a spastic tree sloth, having never progressed appreciably beyond a drawing style that I like to refer to as "Stick Figure Theater." And I'm even worse on a computer, as my Photoshop skills are limited strictly to opening, resizing, and saving photos. So creating a map of my own is something that will most likely be forever beyond my grasp, as all I could bring to the party is an idea and a shitty sketch. The concept of having some other poor bastard(s) do all the graphics and xml and centering and what not, while sitting back and "supervising", would be a poor substitute indeed.
So I keep reading, and posting, and ingratiating myself. I've at least glanced at most every worthwhile thread in the Foundry, and copiously read more than my fair share. There are few moments on CC that I enjoy more than seeing a brand-new killer draft in Map Ideas or a map that I've influenced get that final Quench stamp. And every so often a map comes along that just Speaks to Me, so I dive in and take as active a role in development as time and the cartographer will allow. Anyone can do the same. No one has ever responded to one of my posts with "You've never made a map, what the hell do you know?" Which is good, because I am a vengeful man, and quick with the stabbin' knife.
Much as I'd like to have (or develop) the requisite skills to create a map, it's enough to help people with their own, to question bonuses and layouts, to point out minor flaws, to have a hand in making a piece of living art that will be the backdrop for thousands of pitched battles. Amusingly, there are maps that I've spent far more time reading about and commenting on than actually playing. But I suppose it's human nature to move on from that which is finished to the next shiny new bauble.
And to you who eschew the Foundry, who find it either intimidating or confusing or even irrelevant, I say that you're missing out. 'Tis in the Foundry that the heart of Conquer Club beats, not in the millions of games. Competition is human, and thus prey to the jealousies, betrayals, and other faults that flesh is heir to. But creation is, for lack of a better way of putting it, divine. Certainly things get a bit heated at times in various map threads, but I know one thing for certain: this glorious site would be a sadder, lonelier, quieter place without the active contributors to the Foundry, from the cartographers and moderators to sesquipedalian dilettantes like your humble correspondent.
So come, I say. Come to the foundry. Read, post, ingratiate yourself.
For worlds beyond your imagination are a'building.
pamoa wrote:How old are you/what gender are you/where do you live? Answer specifically, vaguely, or not at all.
Male; Born in France, before man landed on the moon; living in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.
How did you find out about Conquer Club?
Through a radio show about gaming.
What interested you in mapmaking?
I wanted to give my contribution to improve some horrendous graphics that hurt my eyes.
What was your first map? Why that one?
18th century France, because I think the actual France map is awful, but I didn't want to attack frontally with a revamp.
What kind of feedback do you like getting?
I like constructive but not invasive feedback (those who ask you to do something for them).
What "keeps you going" through getting a map through the Foundry?
I started it!
What inspired you to create this map?
Old maps and the Ireland map by kevinc
How did you decide what game-play and graphics styles to go with?
Gameplay comes by itself; I'm not keen with complicated stuff. Graphics were already fixed in the initial concept.
How much time do you spend on each update? How much of that time do you enjoy?
It depends on the type of update and the file structure. A minor updae: 2-3 hours; a major graphic shift: about 6-8 hours. The fun depends on the type of change: if I think it's an improvement, it's fun; when I have to do them to answer silly pointless demand of others it's really painful.
Was there anything in the Foundry that you found surprising or unpredictable concerning your map?
The colorblind issue.
Were there any suggestions that you absolutely loved? Or any that you really hated?
I hated the stubbornness (blindness) of some intervenant.
What do you think of the Foundry process in general?
Like every process, it's never quick or intelligent enough, but that's the fun of life: other people always think different.
This issue's poll looks at the reasons people come to the foundry. Most come to make maps themselves, but a significant portion come to preview the maps to be made. Others come to be helpful, while some come for reasons explained below. Disappointingly, only one and a half people come for the people.
dittoeevee8888 wrote:Probably a combination of two, I like to be helpful when I can, and I am interested in the maps that will come out.
Yeti_C wrote:I come here to help with my vast skills and knowledge base.
fireedud wrote:I'm like dittoeevee8888. I also know how to do the XML.
wcaclimbing wrote:I come here only for the graphics.
There are so many unique maps visually, its a great place to learn new tricks for Photoshop.
That, and I like making stuff, getting it critiqued, and improving it. It helps me become better with Photoshop.
bryguy wrote:I'd have to say all of the above. I originally came to get a sneak peak at the maps, then to comment, then I stayed for the people (cause I was finding out that they were usually nicer here then in any other forum), then I stayed to make maps.
InkL0sed wrote:I visit the Foundry because it's where the cool cats hang.
Don't forget to look out for the next issue's poll, this time on What types of maps do you give feedback to?.
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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!
TaCktiX & Editorial Staff.
