RAIL USA [Quenched]

[cairnswk]

WM...I'm wondering....if you change the gantry to a computer board (as suggested by casper)...will you have to change the background design also?

[WidowMakers]

WM...I'm wondering....if you change the gantry to a computer board (as suggested by casper)...will you have to change the background design also?

I was not planning to.

[cairnswk]

WM...I'm wondering....if you change the gantry to a computer board (as suggested by casper)...will you have to change the background design also?

I was not planning to.

It would be a shame to lose that background if the computer board didn't fit with the design.

[cairnswk]

Comments anyone?

[Gilligan]

I don't get it. Does this mean that BOS can attack SEA?

[Dark.Side.Of.Me]

This one is for all the train/railroad buffs out there and I'm sure there are plenty of them. I've had this idea for a while now sitting in the background slowly working on it to create the concept.

This is one not so crowded! LOL.

RAIL USA

Current Map....below



Why?

Cos I like trains and train games, and I think there are a lot of players out there who might also enjoy trains.

Concept

13 continents based on some "artistic licensed" AMTRACK lines, with possible future extensions touted from Oklahoma City to Denver on the Heartland Flyer route.

72 territories now on this map.

Another USA map everyone will say. So what. Some maps of the USA make very good gameplay. This will probably be one of them and could lead to a series across the globe, including the UK, Europe and Australia.
Let's just have some good old fashion train fun!
Basically, every line has stations that are attackable and border each other at terminals and junctions.

Control your line/route and you get the bonus.
Control Chicago Station and you get + 4 bonus points.

Design and colour
Black is not necessarily a good colour to create a fun map on.
But in this case, its meant to represent the smoke from the steam engine below in the pic, and it also provides a good colour on which to background lots of bright happy colours.
These have not been checked on the colour blind list, but i will do so and make alterations where necessary.

The station buildings are designed on a simple art-deco style, with flags and the army shadows act as the line lights.

Fonts
Art-Deco: Verdana and Broadway BT.

Station Codes

The map uses three letter station codes that are applicable in all travel arrangements and are even known in the airline industry.

The XML will show the stations as follows:

LAX - Los Angeles
EMY - Emeryville
SAC - Sacremento
EUG - Eugene
PDX - Portland
SEA - Seattle
etc etc.


Enjoy!

Original Mpa....below

looks hard to play..
but cool

[cairnswk]

I don't get it. Does this mean that BOS can attack SEA?

No Gilligan....only stations that border SEA can attack SEA....
I think there is a fix coming for that statement in the legend.

[onbekende]

Code: Select all

Bonus  Continent
   6   Coastal Starlight
   4   Empire Builder
   7   California Zephyr
   5   Sunset Limited
   3   City of New Orleans
   4   Heartland Flyer
   5   South West Chief
   4   Lakeshore Limited
   7   Pioneer
   4   Silver Meteor
   4   Texas Eagle
   4   Cardinal
   4   Crescent


^ thats what I get for bonusses, draw your own conclusions but I would only change:
Coa to 5
Sun to 5
Hea to 3

rest is fine then


Other stuff, my calculations go for that eac line has its seperate territrie in every station, but I see some stations only have 1 space:
PDX (2nd on the far left)
SAC (4th on the far left)
SLC and OMA (on the California Zephyr)
LMR (total center, on the 2 green lines)

for me it gave a grant total of 72 territories


Thus on a line only ajecent stations can attack eachother? and in stations they can attack eachother? thats the good way of doing it.

perhaps state it this way:
* Adjecent line stations can attack eachother
* Seperate territories in Stations can attack eachother



again, TRAINS!!!![/drool]

[Unit_2]

its too bright, make it darker.

[Gilligan]

I don't get it. Does this mean that BOS can attack SEA?

No Gilligan....only stations that border SEA can attack SEA....
I think there is a fix coming for that statement in the legend.

OK...I thought some of them would have been hard to defend

[cairnswk]

its too bright, make it darker.

unit_2...R U kidding...please explain!!!

[unriggable]

Whats the deal with triple digit armies?

[cairnswk]

Whats the deal with triple digit armies?

testing to ensure there is no overlap if someone should be lucky enough to get over 100 armies at any one station.....thanks unriggable for the question.

[WidowMakers]

Here is version 12

Please give suggestions. Once this version id done Iwill update the large version

[onbekende]

you seen my suggestions?

[WidowMakers]

Code: Select all

Bonus  Continent
   6   Coastal Starlight
   4   Empire Builder
   7   California Zephyr
   5   Sunset Limited
   3   City of New Orleans
   4   Heartland Flyer
   5   South West Chief
   4   Lakeshore Limited
   7   Pioneer
   4   Silver Meteor
   4   Texas Eagle
   4   Cardinal
   4   Crescent


^ thats what I get for bonusses, draw your own conclusions but I would only change:
Coa to 5
Sun to 5
Hea to 3

rest is fine then


Other stuff, my calculations go for that eac line has its seperate territrie in every station, but I see some stations only have 1 space:
PDX (2nd on the far left)
SAC (4th on the far left)
SLC and OMA (on the California Zephyr)
LMR (total center, on the 2 green lines)

for me it gave a grant total of 72 territories


Thus on a line only ajecent stations can attack eachother? and in stations they can attack eachother? thats the good way of doing it.

again, TRAINS!!!![/drool]

This is what I used to calculate the bonuses. Based on the layout and gameplay style of this map. Man stations bonus groups have quite a few borders. Take The Cardinal station in Chicago (CAR_CHI) It can be attacked by any of the other 7 territories in Chicago and the other 6 stations outside of Chicago.

I would be happy to change the bonuses but please first let me know what numbers you used in your calculations. Thanks

perhaps state it this way:
* Adjecent line stations can attack eachother
* Seperate territories in Stations can attack eachother

Once we get the legend layout fixed and in position we can see how much other text we can fit into the map.

I do like your suggestions but the "Adjacent line stations can attack each other" might confuse some people who think that only the stations connected by the rail are adjacent and not the multiple territories in that station.

[cairnswk]

Mmmmm WM....sorry, but IMHO, the map has lost it's appeal with the Station Board. Perhaps it is that background now, and the title doesn't fit in with the board. Sorry. Others may like it though.

[gimil]

cairns did you get busted for your sig?

[cairnswk]

cairns did you get busted for your sig?

I don't know what you're talking about?

[onbekende]

Widowmakers:

My bonus calc is based on this:
[(#territories in the continent * 1.5) + (#territories needing defence to keep continent * 4) + (#territories that can attack to other continent * 2) + (#continents that can be attacked from this continent * 1)] / 8 = bonus

the second and third amount is the same now, thus that goes to (#territories needing defence * 6)

It makes that some continents get the bonus they need, for instance:
Coastal Starlight: this is a line who gets 5 other continents in its station, and also needs to defend 3 stations from those continents attack, therefor a bonus of 5 is nice
Sunset Limited: this line gets also alot of bordering continents, with 4 stations to hold but alot of incomming cntinents and more territories then Coastal Starlioght, a bonus of 5 is defenatly in order.
Heartland Flyer: this is debatable (darn english) with 3 stations needing defence from 4 other continents, a bonus of 3 is more then welcome



Now for amount of territories, you too have a grand total of 72 territories, but twhen in play, there will only be 67 actually territories, this is because some stations aren't yet devided (lets say each line has its own railroadtrack into the station), those stations I summed up in my last big post:
PDX (2nd on the far left)
SAC (4th on the far left)
SLC and OMA (on the California Zephyr)
LMR (total center, on the 2 green lines)


Now for the map, I find the board actually quite good, althou this layout for bonusses is better:

Code: Select all

Coastal Starlight   Sunset Limited        Silver Meteor
Empire Builder      South West Chief      Lakeshore Limited
Pioneer             Heartland Flyer       Cardinal
California Zephyr   City of New Orleans   Crescant
                    Texas Eagle           All 8 Chicago Stations

[WidowMakers]

Mmmmm WM....sorry, but IMHO, the map has lost it's appeal with the Station Board. Perhaps it is that background now, and the title doesn't fit in with the board. Sorry. Others may like it though.

Well this was your idea. Does anyone else not like the new legend? I like it more than the gantry but it still is hanging in space. I will try to get the Title incorporated into the upper board.

Any other suggestions for what to do with the board or is it OK?

Now for the map, I find the board actually quite good, althou this layout for bonusses is better:

Code: Select all

Coastal Starlight   Sunset Limited        Silver Meteor
Empire Builder      South West Chief      Lakeshore Limited
Pioneer             Heartland Flyer       Cardinal
California Zephyr   City of New Orleans   Crescant
                    Texas Eagle           All 8 Chicago Stations

I like this. I will update to this order once it is agreed upon that the new board will be staying. Plus I have no problem with your bonuses either. I will make adjustments to those also.

So basically everyone. Is the legend board good? Or should I change it again?

[gimil]

cairns did you get busted for your sig?

I don't know what you're talking about?

well you had all your maps in your sig. The size broke both the width and height regulation. Now you only break the height

gd work lol

[cairnswk]

Well this was your idea.

Well i don't know so much about it being my suggestion afterall WM i have a PM from you with a Thinkstock image showing a station baord which says:

I will try to do a new legend too. Maybe an arrival/ departure sign style.

I think this was in relation to Casper's post from P8. I could be wrong and happy to admit it if that is the case.
However...as you asked to do the artwork, please accept my opinion that I think that this current version does not look right to me. I am not saying that the overhead gantry looked any better. I simply don't like the look of the current image overall and i think it needs improving, and I know you can do better.
In fact, I would be happy to take the map back and work on it myself should you no longer be interested in accepting my opinion.

[KEYOGI]

I like the new legend, but I feel it could perhaps still use some tweaking. How about using some different shades of blue so it doesn't contrast so much with the background? Also, perhaps a different font?

[cairnswk]

I like the new legend, but I feel it could perhaps still use some tweaking. How about using some different shades of blue so it doesn't contrast so much with the background? Also, perhaps a different font?

That sounds like a good idea, Keyogi. Let's see how that looks!
I also think the Station board doesn't fit with the mountains in the background....this is what I meant in previous post about its overall appeal.