Rorke's Drift. [QUENCHED]

[koontz1973]

At this stage, you would be better to focus on getting one of the maps (probably the large one) looking perfect, and then you should only require small changes after you have resized it to make the small map.

I might just do that.

[koontz1973]

I'm not too fond of the colour on the bushes! May I suggest a bit darker tone? Legend looks great except that one of the impassable's looks like a semi erect penis! Just a little detail I couldn't help noticing !

Not sure how to respond to that comment apart from, next time you look in the mirror, come back and say it looks like it.

Bushes stay as is now. Even a smidge darker and the black becomes to prominent and makes them look really really bad.

[Sniper08]

I'm not too fond of the colour on the bushes! May I suggest a bit darker tone? Legend looks great except that one of the impassable's looks like a semi erect penis! Just a little detail I couldn't help noticing !

lol i noticed that too a few days ago and i cant believe no one else said anything until now.

At this stage, you would be better to focus on getting one of the maps (probably the large one) looking perfect, and then you should only require small changes after you have resized it to make the small map.

I might just do that.

yeah its better to focus on the large version no point doubling your work load now.


bushes look a bit bright around the edges doesnt really work with the ones next to the river imo.
redesign the sandbag impassable in the legend for obvious reasons.

[natty dread]

Bushes stay as is now. Even a smidge darker and the black becomes to prominent and makes them look really really bad.

Not necessarily. You should experiment with & learn to use the Curves tool.

[koontz1973]

OK, done the bushes and replaced the SANDBAGS in the large version of the legend. You lot have got very dirty minds.

Will post image later.

[koontz1973]

Latest Version [57A]
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Small

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Bushes should look good now.
Redid the drop shadows for the men
Removed offending sandbag from legend.

[cairnswk]

koontz 1973...now we are starting to get somewhere...congratulations on having somewhat similar maps.
You've worked hard and i applaud you for listening.
there are however a couple of minor issues:
1. behind the iButhos in the legend, do you have room for "(regions)", so that everyone will know what they are meant to represent.
2. the +2 bonuses on the small map. look at the amount of distance between them on the large map. can you do the same on the small map.
3. i'd like to see the red line and associated text a bit more centered under the IButhos section on the small map.
4. get your signature in the same text on both maps - size relevant of course.
5. And the only other thing i'll say is the title...my preference is to see them in the same font on both small and large.
Then i'll leave you alone

[natty dread]

I think you could either reduce the opacity of the territory border glow, or else blur it with a 3-4 px radius. It looks good otherwise, but it's sort of distracting when it's as strong as it is now.

As for the icons (the chieftains, soldiers etc) I think you should increase the contrast somewhat. You could do this either by adding some shading to them, or using the curves tool. Especially the river warriors are so low in contrast they sort of drown to the background. All of them should pop up more.

What I did with the baseball players on the baseball map was: I added a layer on top of them (I think I set it either on soft light or grain merge, can't remember which) then I took the shape of the players by alpha>selection and drew a shaped(angular) white-black gradient on the new layer. Then adjusted the opacity to around 40 or so. This creates a sort of lighting/shading effect and improves contrast.

[koontz1973]

koontz 1973...now we are starting to get somewhere...congratulations on having somewhat similar maps.
You've worked hard and i applaud you for listening.
there are however a couple of minor issues:

1. behind the iButhos in the legend, do you have room for "(regions)", so that everyone will know what they are meant to represent.

I do on the large, small one is a squeeze. Do not want it really as I am sure (as proof with reading thread) most people know what it means and those that do not will get it within a turn. I would like to think most people have a smattering of intelligence and not dumb down the map for some.

2. the +2 bonuses on the small map. look at the amount of distance between them on the large map. can you do the same on the small map.

Closer.

3. i'd like to see the red line and associated text a bit more centered under the IButhos section on the small map.

Done.

4. get your signature in the same text on both maps - size relevant of course.

It was apart from the large one was in italics. Now normal.

5. And the only other thing i'll say is the title...my preference is to see them in the same font on both small and large.

Chose the large one for this as I like it.

Then i'll leave you alone

COME BACK

I think you could either reduce the opacity of the territory border glow, or else blur it with a 3-4 px radius. It looks good otherwise, but it's sort of distracting when it's as strong as it is now.

Done, it was a little strong. Did not reduce the opacity when I scaled it down for the small one.

As for the icons (the chieftains, soldiers etc) I think you should increase the contrast somewhat. You could do this either by adding some shading to them, or using the curves tool. Especially the river warriors are so low in contrast they sort of drown to the background. All of them should pop up more.

Should be popping now. Let me know if it is to strong.
Latest Version [57B]
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Small

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The small ones title is capitals as with the font it is to small for the size. Small difference. I am sure people can live with it.
What's next???

[natty dread]

The icons look better, but the glow is still quite strong.

Lighter glows usually work the best when they are smooth and very unnoticeable. It should be so that you don't necessarily even notice there's a glow, but it still improves the look of the object, making it stand out better.

Try blurring the glow with 3-4 px gaussian blur. That should do the trick.

The bushes: there seems to be some weird splotches on them, especially on the small version. Also the small version bushes look different from the large. Smooth the blotches on the large version: both bushes next to Zethembe, the one on Ayanda... then copy the large version bushes to the small.

Tip: you can lock the alpha channel of a layer by checking the checkbox with the text "lock" which is right below the opacity slider. Then you can modify only the colours of a layer without the transparency changing. It's very convenient if you need to preserve the shape of an object but need to modify it's colour.

Another thing, you should stop using the standard bevel of GIMP... it's not all that good - in fact it's pretty much crappy. There are bevel scripts that don't require Python on the plugin registry. You should check it out.

[Gillipig]

The impassable's in the legend looks better now. No penises . I don't know much about glow and what tools you should use like some others do but I'll let you know what I think about the graphics and legend! The text describing the bonuses of the river warriors is slightly thicker than the rest and the british front line is slightly different from the others. Why are you using differennt fonts for the bonuses? I think it would look better if they were all the same! I don't like how rock on slilelo and bheki looks. Try to make it smoother!

[koontz1973]

The impassable's in the legend looks better now. No penises . I don't know much about glow and what tools you should use like some others do but I'll let you know what I think about the graphics and legend! The text describing the bonuses of the river warriors is slightly thicker than the rest and the british front line is slightly different from the others. Why are you using differennt fonts for the bonuses? I think it would look better if they were all the same! I don't like how rock on slilelo and bheki looks. Try to make it smoother!

I am not using different fonts in the legend. All down that left hand side, the font, size, colour, absolutely everything is the same. There is no variation at all. I have no idea why it is like that.

[koontz1973]

The icons look better, but the glow is still quite strong.

Lighter glows usually work the best when they are smooth and very unnoticeable. It should be so that you don't necessarily even notice there's a glow, but it still improves the look of the object, making it stand out better.

Try blurring the glow with 3-4 px gaussian blur. That should do the trick.

The bushes: there seems to be some weird splotches on them, especially on the small version. Also the small version bushes look different from the large. Smooth the blotches on the large version: both bushes next to Zethembe, the one on Ayanda... then copy the large version bushes to the small.

Tip: you can lock the alpha channel of a layer by checking the checkbox with the text "lock" which is right below the opacity slider. Then you can modify only the colours of a layer without the transparency changing. It's very convenient if you need to preserve the shape of an object but need to modify it's colour.

Another thing, you should stop using the standard bevel of GIMP... it's not all that good - in fact it's pretty much crappy. There are bevel scripts that don't require Python on the plugin registry. You should check it out.

Got rid of the splotches,no bevel in te bushes though. I am trying again.
Thanks for the link and tips.

Any help though on the text problem that gillipig noticed. I went back and doubles checked everything. It is all the same.

[natty dread]

The text looks fine...

[koontz1973]

Fixed it. On one of the lines I had the forced something checked. Turned that off.

[koontz1973]

Latest Version [57C]
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Small

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That is the best I can do for the bushes.

[natty dread]

I think you should actually turn on the auto-hinter for all of the text. The font looks smoother with it, I think.

Also, the victory condition text... I'm not sure that you should use a colon like that. Parenthesis would work better... also changing the other "and" to ampersand for consistency:

Capture & hold the British officers (Chard & Bromhead) for one turn to win.

The other lines below it... there are some unnecessary periods. One after the "chieftains autodeploy" text, and one after the "hold any 4 river warriors" text: change both to colons (:).

Also, on the last line, you have a period after a parenthesis, I think it's supposed to be the other way around. I think.

There's a weird smudge to the right of the army number on Themba, on the large version only.

[isaiah40]

I think you should actually turn on the auto-hinter for all of the text. The font looks smoother with it, I think.

Also, the victory condition text... I'm not sure that you should use a colon like that. Parenthesis would work better... also changing the other "and" to ampersand for consistency:

Capture & hold the British officers (Chard & Bromhead) for one turn to win. Yes do this.

The other lines below it... there are some unnecessary periods. One after the "chieftains autodeploy" text, and one after the "hold any 4 river warriors" text: change both to colons (:).

Also, on the last line, you have a period after a parenthesis, I think it's supposed to be the other way around. I think.

There's a weird smudge to the right of the army number on Themba, on the large version only.

Personally, I think you can just do away with the periods on the bonus part of the legend. I never use them myself. But it's just a personal thing.

[TaCktiX]

I'll agree with isaiah on the periods, you really don't need them and they could be re-interpreted as random (and wrong) pixels. Also, would it be possible to center the iButho chieftain names in the legend? With iButhos itself being centered, it makes more sense for all of them to be that way as well.

[koontz1973]

Latest Version [57D]
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Small

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All done. Left the periods in the story and in the 150 yard part as it throws it all out of whack if taken out. If need to then will.

[natty dread]

Ok. Can you handle the glow now?

[koontz1973]

Ok. Can you handle the glow now?

Had done, but obviously not enough. Can you let me know which men and on which map has too much and if any, too little?

[natty dread]

I'm talking about the glow around the borders. It looks a bit too strong and defined, which makes it a bit distracting.

A glow is optimal when you don't really even notice it, but it still improves the visibility/clarity of the object.

Furthermore, the glow seems stronger on darker areas. What layer mode do you have on the glow layer? Soft/hard light and grain merge are the best modes to use for lighting effects, including glows and shadows.

Also, as I've said before, applying a 3-4px gaussian blur on the glow would probably help.

[natty dread]

As an example, I used one of my maps and added a similar glow on the bonus area borders (this is for example purposes, the actual map doesn't have those glows).



Now what I did was, I first took the layer with the borders, alpha -> selection and created the glow layer under the borders. I grew the selection by 1, then feathered the selection by 3, and filled the selection with light grey (d3d3d3 in hex code). Then set the glow layer on grain merge with 66% opacity. Then adjusted the border opacity to account for the light.

As you can see, the glow isn't very noticeable by itself - but when you compare with a version without the glow, you can see how it still affects the style of the border:

Click image to enlarge.

The key is subtlety. All effects don't need to be hugely defined or visible, using effects that aren't very noticeable can hugely improve the quality of your graphics, even though people can't instantly see them.

[koontz1973]

Did not do that at all. All I did was alpha the territ lines, increased by 1 pixel, new layer below and bucket filled with white. Lowered the opacity.

I will play around with your way now and post later tonight.