Vancouver [Quenched]

[Danyael]

the route looks good still nice and subtle
in your small some parts look pixelated near names is your text resaturized?
ie steveson

[Echospree]

I can easily see the ferry route being looked over by a player, perhaps make it a shade more obvious? Otherwise just a small visual uncertainty as to which home territory the Downtown station is in. it looks like it could call either Downtown or Kisilano home.

[MrBenn]

I preferred the darker sea path; but I'm not advocating spending ages going in circles.... if you (and others) are happy with it, then it's good

With the attack path visible on the map, you probably don;t need the instruction on the legend too.... I'd like to see a small shuffle of the legend in any case:
a. If you make the "Stations are named after..... " text narrower (so the text spans more lines), then you can move the graphic slightly further away from the other region bonuses.
b. Or, move the station graphic to where the text is, and have the explanatory not beneath it.

The only other graphical niggle I have is that the Cypress Moutnain/Dundarave/not Ambleside border is lost beneath the army circle for Dundarave. It might be worth tweaking it (it may only need to be done on the small map - I'm not looking at the large one right now) to make it more obvious what goes where.

[MrBenn]

The instructions for the subway on NYC would probably work well here...

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

I hope it's all right to use the same wording as NYC. The person who made that map explained things quite clearly.

And I shuffled things in West Vancouver a bit - is it all right? Will we be running into problems if there are 100 armies? Is it clear which names belong to which territories?

[MrBenn]

Looking good...

You can check the 3-digit numbers by duplicating the layer with all the 88's on, and shifting it so they turn into 888's.

We'll need to make sure that the triple-digit numbers fit alright, but it looks like it should be OK - although you might need to shift the Dundarave slightly to the right on the small map only.

The legend looks a little clumsy where the station bit is; there is enough room to space the labels out slightly better: Move the label for West Coast Express immediately to the right of the line (instead of below it). You can then shift Expo up to where West Coast currently is - but not quite as high. Canada Line Can then shift towards where Expo currently is. This will give you enough room to bring the Station explanatory text immediately beneath the station image, and should allow you to get rid of the line-break.

That should make the map more-or-less perfect

[General Bradley]

Looking good...

You can check the 3-digit numbers by duplicating the layer with all the 88's on, and shifting it so they turn into 888's.

We'll need to make sure that the triple-digit numbers fit alright, but it looks like it should be OK - although you might need to shift the Dundarave slightly to the right on the small map only.

The legend looks a little clumsy where the station bit is; there is enough room to space the labels out slightly better: Move the label for West Coast Express immediately to the right of the line (instead of below it). You can then shift Expo up to where West Coast currently is - but not quite as high. Canada Line Can then shift towards where Expo currently is. This will give you enough room to bring the Station explanatory text immediately beneath the station image, and should allow you to get rid of the line-break.

That should make the map more-or-less perfect

Quick, lets get a stamp and move to beta! Personally, I liked May 21 much better than now, but its been 2 months, and nothing fundamentally has changed. Is there a reason this is taking so long?

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Re-did the text on the small one, you may or may not be able to tell much other than size.

General Bradley, it has taken so long because shakeycat here is a busy girl this summer!

[Danyael]

looking great

[MrBenn]

The legend looks much better now - and the text on the small map is much clearer.

It gives me great honour to issue the final of the main foundry stamps:


Onwards and Upwards!

[danfrank]

[jako]

could u please change "train station" to "skytrain station"? it would be an insult to compare our skytrains with ordinary trains that run on the ground. and also add a but of that vancouverite spirit to the map as well.

[shakeycat]

Jako - I used "train" because it was a more general term, seeing as we include West Coast Express as a transit system. I suppose skytrain is a more regional term, and locals will call any foreign train system "skytrain", though we tend to distinguish between WCE and the rest when at home. Is 2/3 enough to use a more specific term?

[WidowMakers]

Very nice looking map. here are a couple of thoughts/concerns and suggestions:

1) The boat connection is a bit hard to read. maybe give it a bit more black or dark blue
2) The text in the yellow regions is also a bit harder to rad. Maybe make the drop shadow a bit darker or add a dark outer glow to the text. Some of the text in the purple blend in as well.
3) In the XML the New Westminster has a continent bonus of 0 and a auto deploy of 2. I understand the auto but is the continent bonus of 0 needed?

Overall a very clean and good looking map.
Great job.

WM

[porkenbeans]

I am here for the review.
It is good to see some color and contrast. This makes the map very easy to read. I will only comment on the graphics, because in my opinion, the gameplay is NOT as important.
This is a map that, upon first glance, can clearly and easily be analyzed.
GOOD WORK.
congrats.
viewtopic.php?f=64&t=61409&p=2125366#p2125366
If I were pressed to offer any suggs, I would say that the bridges could use some work. I like gimils bridges, check his new feudal out. Its not a biggie, and the bridges would work perfectly as you now have them, but something towards gimils bridges, would really add that extra touch I think.
One more thing that I just noticed. Someone said that the text is hard to read in some areas. You could just take the tint off of the text and go with true white. Or, even going the other way and make it true black. either way would fix this problem. although going black, you may end up having to lightining up the map a bit, and/or use an outer glow instead of drop shadow on the text.

[General Bradley]

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Re-did the text on the small one, you may or may not be able to tell much other than size.

General Bradley, it has taken so long because shakeycat here is a busy girl this summer!

I was thinking there was just too much delay in the stamping.... We seemed to be bouncing around on which person had the latest desire, making you do the work of showing every possible mod to the map. Having said that, it's now stamped, and looks great!

Hopefully there isn't much to argue about on the XML.

[whitestazn88]

hey, here for the map review or something i think... anyways, this is my first look at the map, and i don't have much to say other than i love it. it looks really good, simple graphics, but they're crisp. the gameplay looks fine with me. move it forward!

[porkenbeans]

G.B.,
I think that I have figured out the problem with the text. I noticed that in the text, in the light yellow bonus area, the drop shadow appears to be set to zero. this makes it easier to read. But if you look next door in the gold bonus area, you have the distance set up a bit, as the rest of the map is. that distance on the drop shadow is not an issue with the other areas because the text color is a contrasting one. But since your text has a yellow tint to it, the contrast is absent in the gold area. there are a few different things that you can try, that are quick fixes.
1.) just take the drop shadow distance, on all of the text, down to zero like you have done in the yellow area.
2.) get rid of the tint on the text, and make it white.
3.) also check to make sure that you have the opacity at 100% on the text.
Also once you set the drop shadow distance down to zero, you can pump up the drop shadow opacity.
All, or a combination of these tips will fix this minor problem.
GOOD LUCK and cheers for a pretty nice looking map. Can't wait to play on it.

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Drop shadows changed to zero from 3. How's that?
Text is not transparent at all, nor is it tinted on the map.
Do the names on the light yellow territory stand out enough? Are they readable on the small map?

And I rather like my bridges. Do some need to be redone? I'd rather not have the bridges all one colour like on gimil's map - his works because it's like a stone bridge in a green grassy field. But with mine, I'd like it not to stand out, but simply show the connection.

XML updated

[Danyael]

can read everthing perfect just like before
boats are great now

[porkenbeans]

Thats the ticket. Now pump up the opacity of the drop shadow. this will help especially in those two yellow and gold areas, where the text is so close to the background color. so basically just play with the size, spread, and opacity.

[elfish_lad]

So. As a new member to CC and one who lives in GVA I love this map. As I scroll through the map options and view such awesome map choices I think this looks absolutely fantastic.

What is the status of this map and is it in play already?

Cheers.

E.

[MrBenn]

Q. Do the names on the light yellow territory stand out enough? Are they readable on the small map?
A. Not quite.. they're almost there - you just need to find the fine balance between getting it different enough to stand out, without being too different as to look a bit out of place...

Q. And I rather like my bridges. Do some need to be redone?
A. Not at all; they're absolutely fine as they are

[porkenbeans]

Q. Do the names on the light yellow territory stand out enough? Are they readable on the small map?
A. Not quite.. they're almost there - you just need to find the fine balance between getting it different enough to stand out, without being too different as to look a bit out of place...

Q. And I rather like my bridges. Do some need to be redone?
A. Not at all; they're absolutely fine as they are

As I said myself. Yes, they are indeed, fine as they are. I only mentioned bridges because I thought, that everything else was looking great as it was. The bridges were the only thing in my mind that could be improved upon. That and the text in the yellow and gold areas. Both of these tweaks are minor, and the first is only an option. Just throwing it out there.

[shakeycat]

Click image to enlarge.

Are the yellow areas better? Not quite? It's very subtle. I want it to work but not be obvious.