[Abandoned] - Zodiac Map

[MrBenn]

It might be worth your while checking out the bonus in one of the bonus spreadsheet calculators...

Link to the mapmaking tools http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1410

[Friskies]

Beautiful map, though I fear it will be hard to decipher when it's small.
The legends are already difficult to understand. Don't use so many symbols like -, +, & at the same time. Don't use asymmetry in those texts. And make the two lines at the bottom easier to understand too... so that we don't have to search in this topic to learn the way to get bonuses.

[bbqpenguin]

Beautiful map, though I fear it will be hard to decipher when it's small.
The legends are already difficult to understand. Don't use so many symbols like -, +, & at the same time. Don't use asymmetry in those texts. And make the two lines at the bottom easier to understand too... so that we don't have to search in this topic to learn the way to get bonuses.

this is a good point, in the legend you use hyphens to set of the bonus names, which looks like a minus sign. try something else like a dot, a colon, or a ~

[rsacheli]

Beautiful map, though I fear it will be hard to decipher when it's small.
The legends are already difficult to understand. Don't use so many symbols like -, +, & at the same time. Don't use asymmetry in those texts. And make the two lines at the bottom easier to understand too... so that we don't have to search in this topic to learn the way to get bonuses.

this is the small... after this one is finished ill convert it to the larger size...
Ill change the hyphens... and make the legend a little clearer if i can...

[MrBenn]

rsacheli, have you had much thoughts about how games might play out? Are there any aspects of the gameplay (bonuses et al) that you specifically would like to discuss?

[bryguy]

First look at this, and I gotta admit I like it!

Graphix:


1) Some of the words are hard to read in the legend.
2) Could you make the colors that are the same (on the map) brighter, and slightly different? (different shades of blue, different shades of green, etc)
3) The black hole right now looks like a frisbee.... go fetch rover! ( )
4) Its almost impossible to read the info about the black hole
5) The background colors seem a little dull.

Gameplay:

1) How will the different constellations be named in the xml? if its named just as numbers, you cant tell which is which. If its named as like Leo 2 or such then its not a problem
2) The bonuses in places seem a little high, but thats just my opinion. No need to change them if you like
3) Whats the negatives for the blackhole? it seems like if you hold like all of gemini you will get a -10 penalty on the black hole. I dont even know how you would code that in the xml for all the possiblities. Maybe just have the black hole a killer neutral?? If you did, maybe have the number of neutrals 3? that way its easy to take, but you cant hold it indeffinately.

All for now. Looking great!

[rsacheli]

I currently have limited internet access... (im not supposed to be on now, but i got in thru a proxy at work)

in regard to bryguy's comments...

ill re-adjust the legend a bit, make it easier to read... to include a fix on the black-hole... i think im gonna rework it...

if i change the colors to be brighter ppl have complained about the contrast of bright on dark...

the black hole... well what does a black hole look like??? as far as im concerned... it stays...


xml territ names will be "leo1, leo2, ... ares1, ares2, etc...."

Bonuses have been reworked... (just need to get online from my laptop to upload)

and again, the black hole issue is up for discussion, i do have an idea that i will publish with the next update...




beyond that, I dont foresee any issues with gameplay...
I would like to start the XML soon, so if i can get the go ahead with the idea stamp... ill make up the large version soon, and start the XML not long after that...

The less changes i have to make to the graphics after i make the larger version the better!

[TaCktiX]

I fully suggest holding off on a large map until graphical feedback slows to an absolute crawl. Doing double updates is a royal pain in the butt, and I only did those for 6 versions of The Citadel (out of 25).

[MrBenn]

It might be worth your while checking out the bonus in one of the bonus spreadsheet calculators...

Link to the mapmaking tools http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1410

I still think the bonuses seem a bit arbitrary... I'd like to see the results of some proper analysis from one of the bonus calculator spreadsheets to reassure me

[rsacheli]

It might be worth your while checking out the bonus in one of the bonus spreadsheet calculators...

Link to the mapmaking tools http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1410

I still think the bonuses seem a bit arbitrary... I'd like to see the results of some proper analysis from one of the bonus calculator spreadsheets to reassure me

I ran the numbers thru one of the calculators last night... and for the individual constellations, they all came out about the same or Higher

For the grouped constellations (elements and seasons) idk if the number from the calculators would be that good... idk... ill play with that a little tonight... and look for another update in 2 or 3 days

[mibi]

You've entered the wall-of-criticism zone!

There is a lot about this map that doesn't sit right. It's too dark, the glow is all very muted for some reason. The text is brighter than the star spaces. The font is also a bit annoying. It's legible but only barely. You might want to adjusts the aliasing on those, looks a little anemic. There is also way to much outer glow going on period. You should find some other ways to 'starify' those spaces, be creative. Some of the connections are weird and arbitrary, like Gemini 9 is practically touching Taurus 7 but there is no connection. And some are a stretch, like Virgo 1 to Libra 1 when Libra 3 to Virgo 4 seems more natural. The legend is rather ugly. This is where Cairns would come up with some cool way to integrate the legend and title into the piece. Now it just looks like some crammed text thing. The glow on the black text is horrid and practically unreadable. Bottom line, this map needs to be looking more astrological and less lite-bright.

[rsacheli]

You've entered the wall-of-criticism zone!

There is a lot about this map that doesn't sit right. It's too dark, the glow is all very muted for some reason. The text is brighter than the star spaces. The font is also a bit annoying. It's legible but only barely. You might want to adjusts the aliasing on those, looks a little anemic. There is also way to much outer glow going on period. You should find some other ways to 'starify' those spaces, be creative. Some of the connections are weird and arbitrary, like Gemini 9 is practically touching Taurus 7 but there is no connection. And some are a stretch, like Virgo 1 to Libra 1 when Libra 3 to Virgo 4 seems more natural. The legend is rather ugly. This is where Cairns would come up with some cool way to integrate the legend and title into the piece. Now it just looks like some crammed text thing. The glow on the black text is horrid and practically unreadable. Bottom line, this map needs to be looking more astrological and less lite-bright.

its dark because it is outerspace... and i have had "lighter" versions in the past and it didnt sit well either... this seems to be more like-able...
the glow is muted due to people complaining about high contrast hurting their eyes...
The text is only brighter because if its any less bright its next to impossible to read... and the starts cant be brighter due to the complains of brightness/contrast
The glowing is mostly to distinguish the separation of continents... the glow in the legend is just for show and to help ease the readability...
I chose the connections that I have based on where the dead ends are, as well as not having connections too close together...
Iv made some changes to the legend, idk if you will like them or not but it looks a little better...

Ill see if i can make any alterations based on your comments... (my posting of an update last week go delayed due to amount of time i actually had available during class)

[MrBenn]

This map is on the verge of being put into retirement, as it has been over a month since the last update.

Get your skates on rsacheli!

[rsacheli]

if i get a chance on friday I will post the update i have been working on... (its really difficult to do during class, and thats the only time i have internet on my laptop)

if not this week then next week for sure

[rsacheli]

Click image to enlarge.

[rsacheli]

anything? no one has any comments?

[Jumentum]

coloring is dull and not aesthetically pleasing

[bbqpenguin]

coloring is dull and not aesthetically pleasing

i disagree i think the coloring is pretty good despite being dull, it kinds of adds to the misty hazyness of space or something like that

[rsacheli]

space is black... stars have some color but are mostly too hot for it to be very noticable... plus.. i had the colors more vibrant before and everyone said it was too much contrast and it hurt their eyes...

[e_i_pi]

Okay, a few comments on the graphics here. The entire picture looks kind of muted in tones. I understand that people complained about the contrast, but this is what I believe would get it to a more aesthetic look:

• Darken the space background a little
• Reduce the amount of outer glow on the circles, they bleed a little too much into each other
• Adjust the colours of the continents so that they aren't all bright outstanding colours, maybe some darker colours, to give it a more balanced look overall
• Make the army circles brighter, if white isn't good, add a little of another colour, say blue, about 5%, to give it that whiter than white look
• Give the army circles an inner glow (centre) of black, maybe 25% or so, so that the centre is a little darker than the outside - this will give the circles a less flat look
• Give the text a little better defined outer glow, maybe with 25% choke or so, and pull it in by a pixel or two

I don't think contrast itself is the problem, it may have been that there were too many areas contrasting. You can add really vibrant colours in moderation, and maybe it was just a case of too much brightness bleeding over the map.

This is just my opinion though. I think the map looks like it will be good for gameplay, and there is definitely potential here. Keep at it

[MrBenn]

[Moved]

It would appear that development of this map has stalled. If the mapmaker wants to continue with the map, then one of the CAs will be able to help put the thread back into the Foundry system, after an update has been made.

Mr B

[rsacheli]

my internet access is very limited anymore... i do apologize...

[rsacheli]

Click image to enlarge.

[Neoteny]

Boo. Bring back the old one. It was sexier.

[rsacheli]

How about a mix of the last 2??

I give you V6.2

Click image to enlarge.