Eurasia Map [Old thread]

[natty dread]

Hmm.... I think I like this. However I really think that the middle East needs a shared territory as well, for consistency sake. Right now it's the only Mega region without a shared territory. How about... Israel?

I've considered it... However, from a gameplay perspective, I'm not sure if it's a wise move? Both regions (Arabia & Mid East) are quite large, and aren't too easy to hold, so I'm not sure if they need the additional disadvantage?

Anyway, if it's necessary to have a shared territory there, I think Iraq would be the best choice... but I'm still not sure if it is.

Also I like South Nei Mongolia alot, but shouldn't the bonus be split between east China and... Mongolia?

Well that's what I thought at first, but then I'm not sure if it makes sense... the area has historically been under Mongolian control, but the current borders of Mongolia are pretty static. Whereas, the boundaries of Manchuria are much more ambiguous and dependent of definition, so I think there's more leeway there...

[BadgerJelly]

Great looking map.

Are you going to improve those mountains?

[natty dread]

No, I'm going to redraw them completely, the current ones are merely placeholder doodles to show where the mountains will probably go.

[BadgerJelly]

No, I'm going to redraw them completely, the current ones are merely placeholder doodles to show where the mountains will probably go.

What programme do you use? I use GIMP.

[natty dread]

GIMP.

[natty dread]

Alternate graphical direction.

Click image to enlarge.

Like/dislike?

[BadgerJelly]

Bump Map it. Will look cool!

[The Bison King]

Dislike.

[natty dread]

Bump Map it. Will look cool!

Won't fit the style. Bump maps, emboss & bevel are all sort of pseudo-3d effects which create large amounts of depth in the image. They need to be used carefully, and only when the style of the map allows it. On this map, I'm going for a more flat style.

Bump maps, emboss, etc. are great when you want to create realistic land textures, or realistic mountains from the top-down view, but for a more stylistic image they just look too flashy and out of place.

[natty dread]

Dislike.

It's going to look better once the territory names are in place.

[The Bison King]

I like the darker water water more, I like more contrast.

[natty dread]

More blue, and a different texture, vaguely watercolourish:

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

Darker blue?

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

... or I could do this:

Click image to enlarge.

[The Bison King]

Like!

[natty dread]

Good. Here's an updated legend, I'm also going to use the smaller font for territory labels.

Click image to enlarge.

[Butters1919]

Really liking how this map is coming along. Can't wait to play it. Only one thing seems to stand out and that is the colors of West and East India. They could use more separation. Darker for East or lighter for West.

Much prefer the new legend. Well done.

[natty dread]

And here's the territory labels.

Click image to enlarge.

Only one thing seems to stand out and that is the colors of West and East India.

I don't know, they seem pretty good to me... I'll see what I can do though.

[AndyDufresne]

Indeed, this map is looking pretty spectacular now. This is really looking terrific. Yowza. I mean it.

I'll have some real feedback over the next couple of days.


--Andy

[natty dread]

Indeed, this map is looking pretty spectacular now.

I'm a mapmaking machine. Uh, I mean... thanks.

I'm thinking of maybe tilting some of the territory labels to fit them better inside their territories. For example, Nepal, the Nei Mongol territories, etc. But that'll probably have to wait... right now I think I've done so much graphical development in such an early phase that I'd like to concentrate on the gameplay for a while now.

[natty dread]

Ok, so about the gameplay...

Here's the map with all the planned impassables marked with temporary squiggles. The grey ones represent mountains, cyan ones are rivers, white is tundra and brown is the great wall with a one-way assault.

So let me know, should any be removed, should some be added somewhere?

Click image to enlarge.

[The Bison King]

I think that this map is well on it's way.

As far as gameplay is concerned it still bothers me that the Middle East is the only region with out a disputed region. Especialy considering that it's such a... well, disputed region. I see what you're saying though about splitting such un-wieldy bonuses though. One suggestion I would offer is making Iran into it's own bonus and making Iraq a shared region between Iran and the Western (Turkey/Isreal/Istanbul/Syria/Caucus/Cyprus) bonus region.

This could also serve nicely to represent the countries current strife of being torn between a western democratic nation and a regime state (if you are looking for thematic justification)

To me the impasses look fine. I might suggest one between Germany and Switzerland.

Good Luck and Keep on Keepin on.

[natty dread]

Image
I think that this map is well on it's way.

Well it's about time.

As far as gameplay is concerned it still bothers me that the Middle East is the only region with out a disputed region. Especialy considering that it's such a... well, disputed region. I see what you're saying though about splitting such un-wieldy bonuses though. One suggestion I would offer is making Iran into it's own bonus and making Iraq a shared region between Iran and the Western (Turkey/Isreal/Istanbul/Syria/Caucus/Cyprus) bonus region.

Hm, I don't know if that'd be a good solution either. That would split the area further, and the divisions would make less sense... I think I'll rather just add Iraq as a split region between the current bonuses, this won't increase the borders of Arabia, and it'll still be a feasible bonus, although it's value will probably need to be increased. But hey, that fits too, what with all the oil and resources of the area...

To me the impasses look fine. I might suggest one between Germany and Switzerland.

I don't know, space concerns... Switzerland is so small it might be hard to fit another impassable around it.

[natty dread]

Here it is...

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

Also, I made a mock-up small version to see if all the army numbers will fit. (Spoiler: they do.)

Click image to enlarge.