South Africa 1885

by **AndyDufresne** on Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:59 pm

I only see one or two minor graphics things. This is a terrific looking map, and I think it's the best one you've made so far---both from a visual and gameplay stand point.

--Andy

by **thenobodies80** on Fri Oct 15, 2010 2:07 pm

You did exactly what I had in mind, now the mountains in the northern part are more visible and less faded, now they have the same look and style of those at the bottom of the map. Excellent work. =D>

Graphics are great,I change this thread to sticky.

I have also another couple of thoughts, but they are just personal preferences and they don't affect the clarity or playability of the map.
On the small map the border between amatonga and ulundi disappears behind the symbol of the fort, but it's just nitpicking
The minimap, i'm not a fan of your bonus names...personally i absolutely hate when text goes in too many different directions on a map, but it's just me

Also the numbers some small and some big, but effectively you don't have so much free space....
Did you try (big version) to place the minimap under the external frame where they overlap?

Wonderful map Helix

by **ender516** on Fri Oct 15, 2010 8:05 pm

I think this is a wonderful map, and I actually like the text on the mini-map. From what I can recall of maps of years gone by, the text was often laid out in unusual ways to fit the space available. I wonder if this was due to the limited number of typefaces and fonts available before the widespread use of computer typesetting. Nowadays, if you need a font in 11.45 points instead of 12 in order to fit the text in, your drawing software can create it with a click.

by **Industrial Helix** on Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:09 pm

Awesome sticky! I'm kind of looking forward to playing this map, the game play seems likes its going to be fun and slightly different.

As for the minimap, I'm rather happy with it. I know what you mean about text going all which way, which is why I avoided that style on the playable map.

Ulundi Fort... fixed.
What I think you meant about the overlap on the minimap... fixed.
As for the numbers... I think they fit.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

by **The Bison King** on Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:38 pm

Do those mountains above Fraserburg do anything or are they just for show?

by **army of nobunaga** on Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:47 pm

Industrial Helix wrote:Awesome sticky! I'm kind of looking forward to playing this map, the game play seems likes its going to be fun and slightly different.

As for the minimap, I'm rather happy with it. I know what you mean about text going all which way, which is why I avoided that style on the playable map.

Ulundi Fort... fixed.
What I think you meant about the overlap on the minimap... fixed.
As for the numbers... I think they fit.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

You mentioned in chat you actually had a board of this. If the gameplay is sound, I would pay for a board of this.

For your next project man.. in this style.. I hope you rethink and redo a world map. Something really ambitious. You know im not one for a map being made of an area thats already been made. But I would like to see an epic new classic :-)

by **Industrial Helix** on Sat Oct 16, 2010 9:44 am

The mountains at Fraserburg... no, it seems they don't do anything, lol.

As for the actual board game... well, its small. Too small to play on. Plus I made a lot of mistakes on it that I corrected in photoshop. But, I was pondering the idea of making it a real boardgame. Perhaps with some twists. I was thinking about customizing those little hero clix guys to create Zulus, Boers and British using the clicky thing to display numbers. Forts, would obviously be 3d things with probably more power than doubling bonuses, something like an attack bonus. I imagine ships would work differently, I'd like to introduce something like ports and at the beginning you place an order for the shipment of weapons, as the boers did leading up to the wars. Weapons would arrive at the end of you turn, like in Axis and Allies, at the major ports. I'd have to repaint the board to a bigger size and get a digital copy so players could play on a game board an not some warpy watercolor paper. It'd be cool but I wonder if I have the time lol.

by **ender516** on Sat Oct 16, 2010 9:21 pm

Industrial Helix wrote:The mountains at Fraserburg... no, it seems they don't do anything, lol.

Do they not separate Fraserburg from Griquatown?

by **Industrial Helix** on Sat Oct 16, 2010 11:03 pm

ender516 wrote:
Industrial Helix wrote:The mountains at Fraserburg... no, it seems they don't do anything, lol.

Do they not separate Fraserburg from Griquatown?

You can see it over to the left that the territory borders griquetown. I checked the original draft and this seems to be true for it as well... I'm really not sure why I made it like that. I think it migh tbe because i copied the mountains straight from a topographical map and planned to alter the territory connections accordingly. Apaprently, I missed that area.

by **Victor Sullivan** on Sat Oct 16, 2010 11:08 pm

Industrial Helix wrote:
ender516 wrote:
Industrial Helix wrote:The mountains at Fraserburg... no, it seems they don't do anything, lol.

Do they not separate Fraserburg from Griquatown?

You can see it over to the left that the territory borders griquetown. I checked the original draft and this seems to be true for it as well... I'm really not sure why I made it like that. I think it migh tbe because i copied the mountains straight from a topographical map and planned to alter the territory connections accordingly. Apaprently, I missed that area.

It might be nice to have them do something. It's a little difficult to see the Fraserburg-Griquatown border. I say you might as well separate them, though I don't know if this would cause bonus values to change.

by **porkenbeans** on Sun Oct 17, 2010 12:02 am

ender516 wrote:
Industrial Helix wrote:The mountains at Fraserburg... no, it seems they don't do anything, lol.

Do they not separate Fraserburg from Griquatown?

You could just add a couple more mountains, and make them go all of the way to the border. Or, you could cut and move them, and clean it up with the clone stamp tool. Or, you could just go ahead and clone over them, get rid of them altogether.

I think the easiest thing would be to just draw in some more peaks.

by **Industrial Helix** on Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:37 am

I don't want to change the gameplay at this stage, so drawing in more mountains is out. I'm content having the mountains there for decoration. So I clarified the border to clearly illustrate that griquatown and fraserburg border.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

by **The Bison King** on Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:49 am

Industrial Helix wrote:I don't want to change the gameplay at this stage, so drawing in more mountains is out. I'm content having the mountains there for decoration. So I clarified the border to clearly illustrate that griquatown and fraserburg border.

Yeah I agree. There's no reason you can't have mountains there just for the hell of it.

by **army of nobunaga** on Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:00 am

ive never been to south africa... but do they even have mountains there? I do a lot of climbing.. maybe I should google it... I really dont know.

by **Leehar** on Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:08 am

army of nobunaga wrote:ive never been to south africa... but do they even have mountains there? I do a lot of climbing.. maybe I should google it... I really dont know.

Obviously. We do have a few normal mountains like Table Mountain at Cape Town, but I think IH is depicting mountain ranges and if you've seen 2012 you'll know about the Drakensburg and I think IH has done a relatively good job of depicting that. I know that lesotho is known to be fairly mountainous as well, so he did a pretty fair job even though I'm not used to SA being as mountainous a country as maybe the map suggests. (Mountains are nowhere near as clear for example as the alps I saw in switzerland). Also however, you need to remember that Johannesburg is I think one of the highest major cities in the world (maybe after Mexico City) at I think 5000ft so it is pretty high, but it's a plateau so I guess the feeling gets lost even if it's at high altitude...

by **Industrial Helix** on Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:27 am

Unfortunately, I've never been to South Africa either. For the mountains, I tried to look at the map from a military point of view... would an army be able to cross from Port Elizabeth to middleburg without going through queenstown? I mean, you may not be able to climb those mountains but you likely can't run an army though them either.

Thinking about it though, there ought to be a better way to depict elevation rather than mountain ranges.

by **RedBaron0** on Tue Oct 19, 2010 11:55 pm

Poll Results:

42% 13 votes - Good match

Are we good here or are we good to go here, kids? Speak up!

by **The Bison King** on Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:01 am

Oh yes I'd say that things are quite good.

by **Industrial Helix** on Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:27 am

Yeah, I'm quite content to move on. I've given the word to gilligan to start the xml already.

by **army of nobunaga** on Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:42 pm

True on the army path perspective. That is probably the way to look at things IH. I personally did not realize southern africa had so much damn elevation in spots. That is pretty cool