South Africa 1885

[army of nobunaga]

yep, but like I said.. this is just 2 cents and i love the map how it is atm too

[porkenbeans]

The warped text on the mini-map looks good. It gives the feel of being hand drawn. It is a shame that the rest of the map is not like that.

... the rest of the map IS hand drawn. I did it... with my hands! Ironically, the text is not hand drawn and is via the computer.

Army... I kind of dig the ocean and its blueness. It really works with the rest of the colors on the map, I think. Are you suggesting it should be more like that brownish paper color?

I understand that IH. My point goes to the "feel" of the warped text on the mini-map verses the other text on the map. I know they are both computer generated, but the warped text looks so much more in line with the rest of the map. It "feels" hand drawn.

For example, take the old map that you used for the inspiration for this map, I really like the warped text that juts out over the water. It "says" old, antique, and promotes that "hand drawn" feeling.

[Industrial Helix]

Ah ah... i see what you mean Army and I think I can tweak it to make it work.

Pork, well I think i understand what you mean. It's kind of funny actually, because I think the original map looks newer than the map that I've done. I tried making the territory names have the same effect, but it wasn't working out the way I tried it. Maybe I'll give it a shot again. The trouble is with places like Swaziland, the names fits best when its perfectly straight.

[RedBaron0]

The title on the small map is off the right side of the map.

I see what Vic and Sully are talking about with the older browning edges of the map. I dunno if it is possible since there are a few things right up to the edge of the map and might make things unclear with this addition. It's worth a try but I get the feeling that function will likely trump form in this case.

[porkenbeans]

Ah ah... i see what you mean Army and I think I can tweak it to make it work.

Pork, well I think i understand what you mean. It's kind of funny actually, because I think the original map looks newer than the map that I've done. I tried making the territory names have the same effect, but it wasn't working out the way I tried it. Maybe I'll give it a shot again. The trouble is with places like Swaziland, the names fits best when its perfectly straight.

Swaziland would still work well with a slight arch.

[ender516]

The title on the small map is off the right side of the map.

I see what Vic and Sully are talking about with the older browning edges of the map. I dunno if it is possible since there are a few things right up to the edge of the map and might make things unclear with this addition. It's worth a try but I get the feeling that function will likely trump form in this case.

The browning of old paper is not typically uniform, so it could be limited in those areas where they might affect important features at the edge of the map, and yet still look realistic.

[Industrial Helix]

OK, the browning of the paper didn't work out too well... I'm open to other suggestions on that.
I fixed the Cape names to read as they are.
I also adjusted some stuff I forgot about since I did it a while ago.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

[The Bison King]

Still looks good to me. I'm not concerned with the paper browning, I think that looks fine as is.

[army of nobunaga]

looks fine to me too.. I think I liked the earlier versions where you didnt brown the top though.

still looks better than 80% of the maps I regularly play, so thats pretty damn good imo

[Victor Sullivan]

Still looks good to me. I'm not concerned with the paper browning, I think that looks fine as is.

I agree, I think you're too critical, IH

[porkenbeans]

Maybe look at throwing a small border on it, to help balance it all out. Something very small and simple like this.

Click image to enlarge.

[army of nobunaga]

if the border had the same texture then you would be in business.

[ender516]

Yes, borderless printing strikes me as too modern.

[RedBaron0]

same texture and put in lat and long coordinates

[porkenbeans]

if the border had the same texture then you would be in business.

Yes, it would need to have the same texture. I just whipped up a quick example of what it might look like. I reduced the image to 98%, then put a vanilla colored layer (from the shield color), underneath. Then put on an inside shadow to dirty up the edge a bit. Also, put a dup. of that "vanilla" layer over the top and used a radial gradient set at lin. burn at 30%. And set the overall opacity of that layer very low. All just to tone down the white a little bit more. I am diggin that off white color, it really helps to sell it as antique.

[Industrial Helix]

Alright guys... I threw int he lat and long. lines but I have my reservations. You can also see how I distorted the shape of South Africa to make the map fit reasonably well by the basis of the lines. Then I added in a second border. I like the second border but the lines just seem very distracting. Maybe lower the opacity or gray out the border some. Thoughts?

Click image to enlarge.

[AndyDufresne]

Look backing to older drafts---like on page 11, I noticed the text in the lower right corner was: "Forts and ships contain weapons which double all bonuses." And then there was the switch to the current description: "Forts & ships contain weapons to arm your nation and will double each regional bonuses." Is the "bonuses" left over from the original textual construction? Reading "and will double each regional bonuses" is clunky.

Other than that, I'm liking the latest version above. I don't think I'd do much to change it.


--Andy

[The Bison King]

The Lines are a little distracting. I'd try lowering the opacity a little bit. If that doesn't work just ditch them. I like the border though.

[natty dread]

Border good, lines meh..

[Industrial Helix]

@Andy, ah yeah... I'll fix that.

@everyone else. I'll give it a shot, thanks for the quick feedback

[AndyDufresne]

Keep up the work. This map has come a long way, and I really am digging the style it has worked itself into.


--Andy

[porkenbeans]

The border looks wonderful. Try to lighten it up to/or around the level of the vanilla shield. There is no telling which will look better until you see them. I have a feeling that the light color will look the best.

Either way, the map is really starting to look like something.

[Industrial Helix]

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

[The Bison King]

I feel like I would like the lines more if they were parallel. As it is they don't really seem to be uniform. It just looks wrong to me.

[Industrial Helix]

Well... these would be accurate lat and long lines that reflect the curvature of the earth and the perspective that SA is being looked at... they also show that the map is tilted a bit to fit everything. I'm open to making them straight, but I don't really think its going to bring anything more to the table.