Baltic Crusades

[thenobodies80]

I've edited/updated the OP.

[thenobodies80]

sorry if this is too late.
feel free to ignore my comments if you do not wish to make changes as they are only minor things:

1. the B and S at the edges of the title are written even though the parchment is torn. basically where's a tear in the parchment there should also be a tear in the letter but it's not.

2. the shadows of the parchments are too big. it makes them look like they're floating way above the map

3. the corner curls of the parchments have individual shadows that don't look normal. for example the top left parchment with castles is hit by light coming from NNW but its bottom right curl has a shadow as if light is coming from E

4. the title parchment is so squished and stretched it looks very weird.

5. i'd like to see a version where the castles/towns/cities/ships are set on either overlay or multiply. right now they stand too much apart from the rest of the map, mainly because they have so much white.

Yeah all you said is true.
I tried to work on those things but the main issue is that thebastard gave me a "bad" gimp file and the current version is the sum of previous errors (like merged layers, etc). So it's easy to understand that I had and have some limits in what i can do (for example parachments) if I keep the current files.

Anyway....I'm going to do a thing I don't like to do, specially considering that this one is not totally my own map....but thebastard is disappeared....

What I'm going to do is to re-draw the map again, but this time from the scratch, throwing away everything I have now!
Ender, I'll try to keep the coords in the current positions, but this is not a promise...i'll do my best.

It will take a while before that I'm able to post the new version.
Nobodies

[thenobodies80]

btw I forgot a thing: isaiah40 can you please officially move this one back to the graphics stage and also officially withdraw the current graphics stamp ?

[isaiah40]

[MOVED]

Done per above request.

[thenobodies80]

Not finished yet, but I want to post something....

Click image to enlarge.

[Industrial Helix]

april 20th is the international day of marijuana. that's the closest thing i can relate to 4.20

Also Hitler's birthday.

[ender516]

The new graphics look pretty good. Will you be restoring a graphic connection (like the coloured shields) between the map and the bonus legend?

[Nola_Lifer]

Was wondering about this one. Good to see that its moving.

[thenobodies80]

Will you be restoring a graphic connection (like the coloured shields) between the map and the bonus legend?

Doing some tests to see if there's something better to save space

[koontz1973]

thenobodies80, glad to see that you have managed to get this one moving again. Been a while since it was sitting at the bottom of the forum with nothing new. A couple of things, firstly, the map legend looks very dark and the text is hard to read. Can you lighten it up a tad? Secondly, as you seem to be the only one working on this, I take it that you will be the one getting credit for this now?

[thenobodies80]

thenobodies80, glad to see that you have managed to get this one moving again. Been a while since it was sitting at the bottom of the forum with nothing new. A couple of things, firstly, the map legend looks very dark and the text is hard to read. Can you lighten it up a tad? Secondly, as you seem to be the only one working on this, I take it that you will be the one getting credit for this now?

I tried to contact theBastard, but I get zero replies from him. Obviously I leave his name on the map because he developed the concept, but I'm not going to leave this one go into the bin after that I put so much effort into it. About the ownership and the other "burocratic" aspects, I'll leave the final word to isaiah40 (deputy foreman), being myself the graphics developer of this map.

Now, if everyone is happy with this one I'll go with the small:

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

Could you make Gotland & Papal Legatus more different in colour? They're indistinguishable with CB filters.

[thenobodies80]

They are close but not indistiguishable, and the fact there's gotland written on the island seems to make the bonus self explanatory to me, anyway i did another version.
But I'll leave them both up to hear what the other people think.

Version 5.1 Gotland orange

Click image to enlarge.

Version 5.2 Gotland blue

Click image to enlarge.

[Nola_Lifer]

thenobodies80, glad to see that you have managed to get this one moving again. Been a while since it was sitting at the bottom of the forum with nothing new. A couple of things, firstly, the map legend looks very dark and the text is hard to read. Can you lighten it up a tad? Secondly, as you seem to be the only one working on this, I take it that you will be the one getting credit for this now?

I tried to contact theBastard, but I get zero replies from him. Obviously I leave his name on the map because he developed the concept, but I'm not going to leave this one go into the bin after that I put so much effort into it. About the ownership and the other "burocratic" aspects, I'll leave the final word to isaiah40 (deputy foreman), being myself the graphics developer of this map.

Now, if everyone is happy with this one I'll go with the small:

Click image to enlarge.

I don't think the B would have any complaints on this being a finished map.

[natty dread]

The blue gotland is better, but perhaps you could make it lighter? I kinda have a dislike for dark blue land colours - it seems somehow counter-intuitive, especially when you have blue water on the map... idk, up to you.

[AndyDufresne]

In general, I really like the overall look of the map---except that for my taste, it is a shade or two too dark.


--Andy

[ender516]

I think the dark colours work for these northern locales, especially given the historical setting.

[AndyDufresne]

I think the dark colours work for these northern locales, especially given the historical setting.

I don't dispute it working, just not to my taste.


--Andy

[koontz1973]

What is with the boarder. There seems to be spots of light behind it at irregular intervals. Also, might look nicer if you have a corner piece.

[isaiah40]

Blue Gotland is better IMO.

[Victor Sullivan]

Blue Gotland is better IMO.

+1

-Sully

[Gillipig]

I'd really like to try this map. How far is it from beta?

[thenobodies80]

Ok, I will go with the blue gotland, but I won't do it with a lighter color. As ender said the "dark lights" work with the map and its historical setting, moreover have gotland lighter will create other problem with colors, specially for colorblind people. (I did a test to say this )

What is with the boarder. There seems to be spots of light behind it at irregular intervals. Also, might look nicer if you have a corner piece.

I think you're referring to the frame. Yeah, I don't like it as it is now. I'll redraw it this weekend.

-------

Now, since I'm planning to work on it, is there something else you want to see changed or refined?
@ ender, I'll check if some coords need to be moved. I'm pretty sure that circles are in the same place, but I don't remember if I slightly moved some labels or borders. If something need a fix, I'll send you a PM

Nobodies

[ender516]

Standing by.

[thenobodies80]

Frame fixed, small version will come in few hours.

Click image to enlarge.