Conquer Club

It looks a bit better, but you should not worry about it being obvious. Pump up the opacity on the drop shadow on the text until it can easily be read. THAT, is all you need to worry about. It does in no way, subtract from the beauty of this map.
What makes this map, is its clarity. Anything that you can do to increase its clarity, is a good thing.
Also, you can darken up the yellow and gold backgrounds a bit. This will help in contrasting the text.

Tiny update, just wrote over the last file. Compare to July 22 if necessary. Seems it was my anti-alias setting that made things appear more transparent, since opacity was already at 100%.

[bigimg]http://www.atomation.com/~thazzard/fun/gva/jul29s.jpg[/bigimg]

I think that looks good to me...

shakeycat...this look very accomplished.
only thing i'd do is increase the legibility/opacity of the sea route a smidge, and puul the route out a fraction from the UBC territory.
And i love the mountains in the title area.
Nice work.

Hey. Awesome map.

Tonight some friends and I got together for some beverages and I printed out a copy of your map. All the Risk players in the room thought it was amazing.

As we were sitting around imagining play here are some things that came up:

1. There is a 7 bonus for holding: Coast Mountains, North Van and West Van with only 3 choke points to hold. Yeah. It may take a bit to grab 10 territories but once you have them you can hold them easier than anywhere else. Maybe it won't be a big deal. But one of the guys said, "Why not put in the proposed ferry from Belcarra to Deep Cove? Then the North East is suddenly in play as well."

2. The Down Town Station will be smoking hot. The way we were reading the map only one color at a time can snag the West Coast Express, and the 2 Sky Trains since the Down Town station looks connected to all three. Unless the downtown station isn't included in the bonus count for rails. Even if it isn't, you hold downtown rail you rule the game. Pretty cool.

3. On the same note: the Port Moody station will be a great killer for the North West of the map. Sweet.

4. Somehow the South East seems a bit lost in our imagined play. Could you somehow add the Abbotsford airport with a helo flight to one of the mountains? Maybe that's a bit cheesy.

Nonetheless, those are our thoughts, and as a new player here I'm looking forward to the day when your awesome work of art is put into play.

Great job.

Elf.

Cairnswk - slight edit to the line, how's that?

Elf - I'm flattered that you would take such an interest in my map! The 7 bonus IS a bit much. When I drop it into a calculator for bonuses, assuming all 10 territories are one region with 3 outer links, it recommends a low 5 for bonus. Perhaps this is one we should see in testing?

Downtown station is interesting, and yes, it must be held to have a transit line, making only one player capable of holding any line. It may not be as friendly as the NYC map's transit lines, but it's true to the way transit works here, as you well know. The transit may be handier to simply use and not try to hold.

I considered some links like that - YVR, Boundary Bay, Abbotsford, but nixed them. They aren't links that the common person would hop on on a day-to-day basis. I hope that the isolation of Langley and Maple Meadows will make them hot ones to hold.

Hey Shakey.

What you say makes sense. A bunch of BETA tests will flesh out any unfair layouts.

I like the fact that the rails are held by downtown. Cause you are right. Downtown rules!

Look forward to the game play.

Thanks again for the effort.

E.

Shakey,
Take a look at the Puget Sound map. Notice how the text is shaded. This effect is exactly what I was talking about. Try it, and see.

I see I missed your point, Porkenbeans, but I rather like how it is now.

how much more nitpicking is this map going to endure? BETA PLEASE

It IS the nitpick stage.

Quench !!

Absolutely love this map and thinks it has potential to be one of my favorites. I only have one small nitpick, that you might want to consider:

I recognize the stations have to be squeezed into small territories and there's nothing that can be done about it for the vast majority of them. But the terminus for the Expo line seems like it could be moved further into Newton territory. As it stands now, on the small map in particular, it's very close to the Whalley border when there is plenty of room to move it further southeast into Newton. I'm thinking something more like the end of the West Coast Express in the Maple Ridge territory. I think making this change could avoid any potential confusion there.

Again, it's a very small critique. On the whole, I think this map is spectacular and I'm very much looking forward to it. Great work!

[bigimg]http://www.atomation.com/~thazzard/fun/gva/aug4.jpg[/bigimg]
[bigimg]http://www.atomation.com/~thazzard/fun/gva/aug4s.jpg[/bigimg]

Porkenbeans - small Glow + Drop shadow, same on all territories. Appears clear enough in yellow/gold - is it?

Peter - Moved the Newton station down a little, is it sufficient?

Absolutely. I didn't meant to imply it was insufficient as it was. That was just the sole potential issue I could identify with the map. I've followed the development on this map silently, because I've loved all the changes you've made. Like I said, I'm really looking forward to this map. I vote to move it to Final Forge!

Shakey, Very nice, I can easily read the map now.
I likey
I can only see one thing left that could be improved. It is only a small matter, but the continents in the legend are a little dark and do not match exactly. I do not know if the layers are in the right order there, or not. Is the dark rectangle in front or behind the other layer?
Awesome map sister, I really like all the color. it is a welcomed change from the drab, washed out looking maps of late. congratulations.

Porkenbeans,

The dark rectangle is layered with the lines, so it's over the continents and background elements, but under the legend city pieces, text, etc.

Legend city pieces are at 50% opacity on Aug 4 (see current image), would 75% be better? See Aug 5: http://www.atomation.com/~thazzard/fun/gva/aug5.jpg

I'm glad you like it

try it, but like I said, It is only a small matter. It goes only to the aesthetics, and I do NOT see any real problem here.

Shakeycat, that last update was right on the money.

If you haven;t already, then I'd say it's safe to start work on your XML

[bigimg]http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv12/porkenbeans/aug4copy.jpg[/bigimg]
[bigimg]http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv12/porkenbeans/aug4orig.jpg[/bigimg]

here is an idea or two in the way of some shading and color level tweeks. Maybe you might see something that you can use.

Pork - it would be better if you were to engage with maps a little earlier in the process

I prefer the map as it stands - the increased saturation does little for me.

Final Forge

---The Vancouver Map has reached the ‘Final Forge’ Stage. The map has passed rigorous gameplay and graphics examinations, and major concerns have been addressed. If you have any other concerns, please make your voice heard. If after a reasonable amount of time there has not been any objection or protest, the map will be deemed finished with the 'Foundry Brand' of approval and will be submitted for live play. As long as there is still discussion or posts that have yet to be commented on, the map will remain in Final Forge until said discussion has reached the conclusion that the map has reached its final and polished version.

Post questions and concerns if any.

Congrats...shakeycat

MrBenn wrote:Pork - it would be better if you were to engage with maps a little earlier in the process

I prefer the map as it stands - the increased saturation does little for me.

Mr. benn, I am on the foundrys review list. If you want me to weigh in earlier, you guys should send the pm earlier. You would think that a foundry dude like yourself, would stop repeating that phrase every time that I respond to your pms. to come give my suggs.
Also, If you do not see the improvement, what can I say, but that, I believe you may want to get your eyes examined. if you think that saturation is the difference.
most of what I did was exactly the same thing that I did for gimils new feudal. set the water down and bring the land up with a little bevel and shading.

porkenbeans wrote:

MrBenn wrote:Pork - it would be better if you were to engage with maps a little earlier in the process

I prefer the map as it stands - the increased saturation does little for me.

Mr. benn, I am on the foundrys review list. If you want me to weigh in earlier, you guys should send the pm earlier.
Also, If you do not see the improvement, what can I say, but that, I believe you may want to get your eyes examined.

a) viewtopic.php?f=127&t=78887
That's the similar mailing list for maps that are just entering the Foundry Proper. I suggest you sign up.

b) "the improvement" is a subjective matter.

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