Map Idea

[WILLIAMS5232]

just use something like this. of course don't go into much detail, but just base it off of this. you can have blue, red, and white (independant) zones. and have like every 2 blue zones get you plus 2. and every 3 red zones get you plus 1. and whites could be autodeploys or something like that.

if you plan on making this map it's best for you to decide how you want it. so just use your imagination.

Click image to enlarge.

[mudkip201]

I wasn't planning on making an election map.

[natty dread]

Politics seems like a kind of dull subject for a CC map.

[WILLIAMS5232]

I wasn't planning on making an election map.

this is not necessarily an election map, it's more of a district map by political affiliations. as natty pointed out there are already several usa maps to choose from. so i'm sure you'd need something different as far as gameplay goes. it was just a suggestion really.

Politics seems like a kind of dull subject for a CC map.

to some people, yes. politics are dull. and would make a dull cc map. to others it may be different.

[Riskismy]

Theme and graphics has precious little bearing on whether a map is fun or not. They're just a means of setting a mood, getting it all in context. What makes a map fun is the gameplay, no matter if it's cities or electoral votes your're fighting over.

Personally, I like the idea to "have every states house district a territory, with the state being a bonus, and of course you'd have 3 parties that you could give special bonuses. say hold 5 democratic zones for +1 then +1 for ever 2 more."

[natty dread]

The mapmaker has said he doesn't want to do an election map... and rightly so, I think.

The inherent boringness of politics and elections aside... from what I understand of US politics, they are highly partisan in nature. There's no way you can represent the politics "fairly" between the parties... no matter how impartial you are, both parties are going to complain that your map shows them in a bad light... Politics is something that's best left to the offtopics forum, it creates way too much controversy.

On another note, the theme is a very important part of a map concept. The theme of a map is what brings the whole concept together. In fact, it's best to show it with a Venn diagram:



Without a theme that is an integral part of both gameplay and graphics, the map falls apart. The gameplay and graphics must both support the theme and be consistent with it. If theme wasn't important, we could all just make flow diagrams of non-descript, generic stick'n'ball - territories for maps. Notice how we don't have any of those in CC?

Yes, I would go as far as to say that the theme is the most important part of the map. The theme is the "idea" behind the map. It's what all other parts of the map are built on. The theme is the foundation of the map. Anyone who claims otherwise has obviously never succesfully made a map, and doesn't know what it takes to make a succesful map.

[Riskismy]

The mapmaker has said he doesn't want to do an election map... and rightly so, I think.

That's perfectly fine. I wish more mapmakers had the guts to just say 'no'.

However, it's an interesting discussion, so...

Politics is something that's best left to the offtopics forum, it creates way too much controversy.

Oh, i see. Like whether Macedonia is Greek or not, or how the swastika isn't controversial. Even the most innocuous elements of a map may create controversy, and as long as those elements aren't blatant attempts at provocation I see no reason to take this into account when deciding what kind of map to make.

Without a theme that is an integral part of both gameplay and graphics, the map falls apart. The gameplay and graphics must both support the theme and be consistent with it. If theme wasn't important, we could all just make flow diagrams of non-descript, generic stick'n'ball - territories for maps. Notice how we don't have any of those in CC?

I never said it wasn't important. I said it had no bearing on whether or not the map is fun. Assuming of course that the graphics makes clear what the gameplay is, it really doesn't mean a thing whether it has pretty graphics or is simply a black/white flow diagram.

The reason CC doesn't just use flow diagrams for graphics, is that we have very high standards for how the gameplay is expressed through the graphics. While that may increase the players' appreciation of the map, it does not in any way make the map more fun to play. They may 'like it better' - but it does not make the map more entertaining or increase replayability.
Both theme and graphics are merely the veneer of the map mechanics - the medium in which the real game is expressed.