How old are you/what gender are you/where do you live? Answer specifically, vaguely, or not at all.P2K: I am 28, male and live in England
NC: Age : 31
Gender : Male
Live : Wiltshire Uk
How did you find out about Conquer Club?P2K: Through a friend who played online
NC: A friend got me addicted, I have now surpassed his addiction and have myself become a dealer in the drug that is CC.
What is your favorite map currently up for live play? Why that one?P2K: Currently, my favourite map is World 2.1 as I enjoy the larger maps. However, that said I'm really into assassin games on doodle earth at the minute.
NC: Love the AOR 1& 2 maps as well as the WWII series of maps.
What interested you in mapmaking?P2K: Being able to create a map based on something that interests us, and being able to make a contribution to the website other than financially.
NC: I like the idea of people continuing to play CC on something I created
What kind of feedback do you like getting the most?P2K: lol, the good kind! No, just feedback that helps us make the map better. Constructive criticism can be a wonderful help in creating maps, it is important to listen to comments. We are after all creating maps for the community!
NC: erm let me think... I really like the negative(but constructive) stuff cos it challenges me to change someones mind and forces me to take a new look at something, the good feed back is nice too especially if it is in reply to a requested/suggested change. I am a software quality engineer and improvement is my livelihood so I like the result of my work being appreciated and used.
What "keeps you going" through getting a map through the Foundry?P2K: I would have to say constructive comments from the Cartography Assistants. MrBenn for example has been instrumental in pushing the map forward in development. With support from the "pro's" it can make the difference in completing the map and letting it die.
NC: I love learning and playing with Photoshop, and I can't wait to play my own map.
What inspired you to do this map?P2K: Atlantis was a topic I was always interested in. Nemesischild and I decided to make a map and we talked about what themes we would base it on. It was Nemesischild's idea to go with Atlantis. We haven't looked back since!
NC: that's an odd one, we kind of decided to do it by accident , I did a bit of research on different ideas and the concept of Atlantis is an interesting one for me personally, after some hunting I found a description of Atlantis by Plato and it just evolved from there, it had the challenges of gameplay ( objective or not , which is still open for discussion) and interesting graphics to do.
How did you decide what graphics styles to go with?P2K: For our very first draft, Nemesischild had an idea of the layout for the islands. I put together a draft of how I could see them in my mind. I had a 'foggy' look to the islands, with little colour. Since then, comments from the foundry have pushed our graphics towards being more colourful and 'upbeat' (For the better I think)
NC: the graphics initially were going to be sort of vague and mysterious but what you see now is mostly developed from feedback and is much the better for it
How did you develop the gameplay concept?P2K: We wanted to base gameplay on how people would have travelled around the islands. Using boats and bridges, to a certain extent we have achieved this. Gameplay is always subject to change though and it probably will before we're done! lol
NC: Blame Premier2k!
How does working as a team feel? Do you two agree on most things, or are there some points of contention?P2K: We tend to agree on most things, there have been 1 or 2 differences of opinion and for those we put it to the foundry and see what they think.
NC: We agree on most things. I am Prem's boss (more or less) so he does what he's told or I fire him it's easy...
How much time do you spend on each update? How much of that time do you enjoy?P2K: Since Nemesischild does the finer detail on the maps now. I concentrate my time on updating with forum post. Making any needed changes to the XML so I probably spend about 15 minutes a day, answering posts etc.. Nemesischild probably spends much more. I enjoy doing anything with the map so I love every minute of it!
NC: Time on each update is as required till I'm happy with it
Was there anything in the foundry that you found surprising or unpredictable concerning this map?P2K: The level of support from the foundry mods and other cartography members. I was quite surprised at how much help was provided for new mapmakers. I actually thought we would be on our own. Thanks guys!
NC: not really It went as expected
Were there any suggestions that you absolutely loved? Or any that you really hated?P2K: lol, that's easy, every time we were asked to look at the textures of the islands. We must of changed those 100 times! I hate those comments now!
NC: Loved: the suggestion to change the sea effects as i think I eventually came up with something that looks really good (in my opinion)
hated( well disliked slightly) : the numerous replies about terrain , as not all maps are terrain-ed and I liked what I had!
What do you think of the foundry process in general?P2K: Good process, but I think requirements for getting stamps and moving around the forums (Drafts -> Main foundry) could be better explained. We initially had no idea how we progressed through the 'process'.
NC: the process is very good the way it goes through phases is a very good way to control the quality of the maps that become live, the stamp system could be a bit clearer as to when they are applied/awarded ( we seem to have a draft stamp but never got an Idea one!!)