[Abandoned] - Spaceness

[AeroMate]

AWESOME! Graphics!

[sailorseal]

Omicron is so dark from one angle it disappears on my comp
I love the idea though, we need another space map!

[bryguy]

Omicron is so dark from one angle it disappears on my comp
I love the idea though, we need another space map!

True, it does, same for a couple of the other planets. I may see what it would look like to add an atmosphere to the planets, which may solve the problem, but in this case an atmosphere might not look so good, so I don't know. Otherwise maybe lightening them up a bit might help

Also, TNBS, in terms of Cross-hairs, what about something like any of the following?

show

[dittoeevee8888]

Shinzon's crosshair is really hard to see...I didn't even see it the first time I looked at the map.

Otherwise...it looks nice

[sailorseal]

I would change it so it says
"Cross hairs can be bombarded by corresponding planet"

[Teflon Kris]

Quick Backstory - The recent sudden appearance of 6 alien spaceships, dubbed "shapenesses", has thrown the once peaceful _________ sector into total war. Old animosities have ben dug up, and its everybody for themselves.

Sounds ok, with a bit of linguistic development - "After centuries of feuds, peace had come to the ...... system. Then, the sudden appearance of 6 alien spaceships has struck fear into the the inhabitants of the system and its political leaders. In a state of panic, underlying feuds have been brought to the fore and war seems inevitable ...."

Targets /Bombardment
As per previous comments, it needs a bit of work as its confusing.

Jedi Light-Sabre Arrows
Laser beam or arrow? Somehow they dont look right to me. If you like the laser beams then maybe just have them as a line, with an explanation somewhere about it being one-way?

[samuelc812]

Click image to enlarge.

Just a few Graphics comments...

• Nice looking map
• I love the font for the bonus regions, any chance of applying the same font to the title, "Spaceness" to see what it looks like?
• The territory lines on the planets look a tad strange, maybe it's the glow around them...

[bryguy]

Shinzon's crosshair is really hard to see...I didn't even see it the first time I looked at the map.

Otherwise...it looks nice

Yea I plan on increasing the opacity of the crosshairs so that they are more visible

I would change it so it says
"Cross hairs can be bombarded by corresponding planet"

Actually, that wasn't very clear to me, so I asked Blok about it, and he told me that

The shapenesses can bombard the planets, but not vice versa

So I guess I will have to make that clear

Quick Backstory - The recent sudden appearance of 6 alien spaceships, dubbed "shapenesses", has thrown the once peaceful _________ sector into total war. Old animosities have ben dug up, and its everybody for themselves.

Sounds ok, with a bit of linguistic development - "After centuries of feuds, peace had come to the ...... system. Then, the sudden appearance of 6 alien spaceships has struck fear into the the inhabitants of the system and its political leaders. In a state of panic, underlying feuds have been brought to the fore and war seems inevitable ...."

Thats really good!

Targets /Bombardment
As per previous comments, it needs a bit of work as its confusing.

I plan on changing the wording, as well as giving each Shapeness/coorisponding planet a different type of crosshair

Jedi Light-Sabre Arrows
Laser beam or arrow? Somehow they dont look right to me. If you like the laser beams then maybe just have them as a line, with an explanation somewhere about it being one-way?

They are arrows that show that Shapeness can one way attack territories. Ill see if I can make it clearer

Click image to enlarge.

Just a few Graphics comments...

• Nice looking map
• I love the font for the bonus regions, any chance of applying the same font to the title, "Spaceness" to see what it looks like?
• The territory lines on the planets look a tad strange, maybe it's the glow around them...

Sure, I can see about that

Yea, I agree, they do look a tad bit strange. I can see about messing around with them a bit


Updated To-Do List:

1) Add different crosshairs so as to make bombardment not as confusing
2) Reword some things
3) Increase crosshair opacity
4) Make white attack lines go from circle to circle
5) Increase height by 100 px (Maybe a tad bit more) so as to add room for backstory, as well as other things
6) Mess around with legend stuff a bit (Mostly because I want to see what some things would look like )
7) Add in backstory as well as some other things
Come up with a name for the sector (As well as maybe a revised map name to go with backstory etc)
9) Try to explain it better that the Light-Sabre Arrows are basically one-way attack lines
10) See what can be done to make territory lines on planets not look so strange

I think thats all. Did I miss anything?

Thanks for the comments guys

[bryguy]

Spaceness V2

Click image to enlarge.

Version 2 Link

Changes:

-Slightly changed some wording
-Modified Legend
-Changed title text to same as legend
-Added bombardment symbols behind some army circles
-Made each bombardment symbol unique
-Altered attack lines so they go from circle to circle

To-Do List:

-Increase height of map and add backstory etc.
-Attempt to make territory borders not look weird
-More that I cannot remember

[Teflon Kris]

The borders look most wierd on Halo - makes it a bit too psychedelic.

I quite like the borders on some of the other planets though - not sure if many people share my view?

[bryguy]

The borders look most wierd on Halo - makes it a bit too psychedelic.

I quite like the borders on some of the other planets though - not sure if many people share my view?

Really? They borders look weird to me on Omicron... Sadly though, after attempting to fix them, I have no luck (Borders on any planets)

Spaceness V2.5

Click image to enlarge.

Version 2.5 Link

Changes:

-Added backstory

To-Do List:

-Fix borders if possible
-Come up with system name

[mattosaurus]

Maybe call it "Omega: the last system"
or maybe change the theme a bit and name it after a close blue star, like Regulus and say that the war is a last epic war for the system before the system is engulfed within the star when it becomes a red supergiant , which is predicted to be fated. (You could leave off the red supergiant part, just say its about to be engulfed by the dying star) and I'd make the logo be the star around which the system revolves, if you go for this story line.
Here's a link about Regulus: http://www.solstation.com/stars2/regulus3.htm


If you need help on science stuff of stars, I can answer questions you may have.

[thenobodies80]

The problem with borders on Halo is that is not clear on the map what touch what.
The ring virtually is around the planet, i know (but some "strange/not clear borders" make it questionable). On the map i see it touch Ness3 for example...

Perhaps a stupid thing , but why not to set the ring as a single territory , it can attack and be attcked by all territories on Halo planet and attack / be attacked by Skwint , Klham and Pi.
Also Mast could be bombarded by Ness5, as it is now.

Can you modify the zero on Ness0, actually seems Nesso

It's a nice map!

Thenobodies80

[oaktown]

So... I've always liked the graphics on this one - the planets and stars are quite stunning visually - but that's where it ends for me. I've never really understood the theme of map or why anyone would be compelled to play it.

Adding a backstory is probably the right idea, but this backstory doesn't actually give any clues as to why things are as they are on this map. I had so many questions when this map went through the first time, and I still have them now. What is a Ness, why does it have such a lame name, and why can it bombard things all the way across the system but not right in front of it? Why is there only one way to attack the Nesses, and why is that one way from the Buckle? What's a Buckle? What can the ring territories attack? Why are one-way attacks represented by fluorescent lights, while two-way attacks get barely visible lines? Why is the grammar and spelling so bad? Why are some words all caps, some no caps, some low caps, and some initial caps? Why is the map called Spaceness?

To me this map remains flashy, but without much substance.

[bloknayrb]

Oaktown, when my friend and I originally conceived this map we didn't have much of a story in mind, I'll be honest. But to me, RISK (including the many versions of it that are on this site) hasn't been so much about a plot as it has been about strategic gameplay. The original intent of this map was to provide a hopefully interesting dynamic of gameplay in which players on one side of the map would be able to affect gameplay on the other side of the map, altering the common formula of building up in one place and then exploding outwards. The ability for players to bombard the other side of the map encourages alliances and can prevent a lucky drop from having as much of an effect.

While I do seem to recall people feeling that this would not be the case, I think that that can only be opinion until the map has been tried out. I understand a desire for a compelling storyline, but a turn based strategy boardgame is just that, a board game. I don't know about you, but even on WWII maps I'm not thinking "let's kill those nazi bastards," I'm thinking, "I want to conquer the map by out-strategizing my opponents." I don't think anyone playing a board game is too concerned with the story, which helps to explain the success of games like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and, well, RISK.

While your reservations regarding this erratic nature of the naming of objects and font use in this map are legitimate, they are also quite easy to change and I do not feel that your complaint should be considered to lie under the category of this map having fundamental flaws.

Also, the "Buckle" is meant to replace the common use of "Belt" with regard to asteroid fields. In this case, buckle is also symbolic of an actual belt buckle. Just as the buckle is, arguably, the most important part of the belt, this "buckle" is the key to taking control of the alien vessels, which are a key strategic element to this map.


EDIT:
Oh and I'm pretty sure I explained this on the original thread but the ships are actually called "Shapenesses," or "Nesses" for short. This is because they were based on a drawing I did when I first bought my graphics tablet, the PSD of which I titled "shapeness." The map name was simply a lame quick name we came up with that was just a play on that.

[oaktown]

I read you loud and clear, blok. My point in making the earlier post was to point out that there were concerns and questions about the map months ago when it was first in production - concerns and questions which have now been lost because an entirely new map thread has been started for the map. (This itself is a concern of mine - I would much rather have seen the old thread revived and the new mapmaker given rights to the first post.)

As I've said, there is much that is good about this map. Visually it has a lot going for it. I just want the map to make sense, and writing a little story about some planets and ships doesn't really make the map any more logical... and it definitely does not constitute a significant improvement over where it was when you guys put it on vacation.

Bryguy, if you're going to head this project, I think you need to take a long look at the map and consider what is right about it and what isn't right. You've been handed a gift of a project - let's see what you can do with it.

[bryguy]

Over time I have been on both sides of the arguments, and I must say that I wish it were easy to find a middle ground. There are some who, as Blok has said, are thinking: "I want to conquer the map by out-strategizing my opponents.", and most likely wouldn't give a penny to know the backstory; there are others though that would like to know what has been happening that led up to this, and would like a backstory. If it were easy to know which was the best route to take, then I would gladly take it. Sadly, it is not as easy to find the correct path.

There are though some things that, to me, seem to have become obvious that there needs to be put some thought into how to change. These things are the Rings, Ness', two way attack lines, and the Buckle. The buckle IMO probably should tie in with a backstory if there is one, so as to make sense. Perhaps a hidden military/science installation? Either way, it seems to me that the Ness and the Buckle are becoming intertwined in an invisible web, so that whatever we say about one, it affects the other. Also, there seems to be questions about the name of the Ness. My thoughts on this is that the name should fit, but without changing it. Perhaps NESS is an Acronym for something? Maybe something like Nuclear Evidence Satellite System? If Ness was an acronym for something, and The Buckle is an asteroid belt (Or an asteroid belt buckle ) which contains a secret military/science installation, then the Ness could be some project that went haywire and took control of itself, or that is being used by one of the systems governments too conquer all? If you think of it in that sort of way then it is not that hard to come up with a backstory, if it is decided that one is needed.

For the Rings, I like TNBDS suggestion of combining them into one territory, but that may cause problems. Perhaps then just use the second half of the suggestion, and have them be attacked from any Halo planetary territory, as well as each other? That may clear up some confusion, and it makes sense to me to have the planet able to attack its rings. Would they be able to attack back though? That is something that may be possible, but it would cause quite a few problems. Also, as TNBDS pointed out, Ness3 appears to be touching the rings, so I will need to move it closer to the far upper left corner, to clear up any confusion.

Oak, I see your point about the white lines. It would be possible to make them more like the one way attack lines, but would that really be wise to do? Currently the white lines help to make the map not be as busy, but its appearance may be shattered simply by adding a bright blue glow to them.

Also, there seems to have been quite a few comments about the title in the original thread. The title can easily be changed if needed, so to fit the map.

While typing all of this I have been thinking of whether to add a backstory or not, as it seems to me that here, as well as in the original thread, there was a schism on this very matter, with those who supported this map split as to if there should be a backstory. Also, some portions of this map may rely on a backstory, so as to be better (An example is that the Ness seem to rely on the Buckle, with the Buckle and the Title relying on the backstory). Perhaps we should ask the people of CC to decide? They would not need to know the history of the creation of this map, but simply decide whether they would like a backstory. Thoughts?

One reason why I am divided on whether to add a backstory is that both sides have a good argument. A backstory would help to give purpose to this map, while others could not care. To me, without a backstory, this map gives fuel for the imagination. It allows one to create his or her own ideas for what is happening, which gives it a sort of magic that few maps seem to have. Two maps (Okay four actually) that I can think of are that seem to have this type of magic are Feudal Wars and the Age of Realms trilogy. These maps do not have a backstory, yet seem to be better because of it. They allow one thoughts to wander, wondering and imagining what is happening, and what has happened in recent times.


If you have read through this entire post, then give yourself a banana and a pat on the back

[thenobodies80]

Hey bryguy!

In your last post you listed a lot of changes...
Where's the update with all these ideas on a map ?
Are you still working on this?

[bryguy]

Sorry, Every time that I mean to work on this something comes up. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get an update in later this week, as I don't think I have much to do this week.

lol And TNBD, since you have apparently read the entire previous post of mine, heres your banana


While I work on an update though, any thoughts or comments on my previous post would be greatly appreciated.

[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 Foundry Moderators will be able to help put the thread back into the Foundry system, after an update has been made.

[bloknayrb]

Amazingly, this seems to be a map that is totally incapable of ever being finished, no matter who takes charge of it... Sigh. One of my most horrifically failed attempts ever.

[natty dread]

This is a really interesting looking map... too bad that it was abandoned.

[bloknayrb]

Alas, "interesting looking" didn't take it very far... maybe one day I'll give mapmaking another go...

[Ninjastar13]

ill take most of the blame on this one, never wanted to retouch the code... i wonder if i still have the original coding file...

[bloknayrb]

Dude what made you come look at this?