Nordic Countries [Quenched]

[Gillipig]

There's really only one thing that stings in my eye and that's the colour of "Finnmark". Is it only me or does it have a darker tone than the rest of it's bonus group ? If it's on purpose then why? As it is now it looks like it's special in some way and I think that could confuse players for a moment!

I'd say it's just you, I can't see it. I definitely made it the same colour, I colour one bonus region at a time. Could be the bevel or the texture is fooling your eye...

Are you sure you didn't compare it with South Norway? South Norway is slightly different shade than North... North is more blue, South is more green.

No it's definitely there! When taking a closer look at it I think that since Finnmark is a bit bigger than the other territs in it's bonus area the edges of that area gets more colourful than the other areas! Take a close look at the top of Finnmark and compare it too the edges of Nordland. Finnmark's edges are more dark blue than Nordlands who has a more bright edge. I'm surprised you haven't noticed that already !

[natty dread]

Finnmark's edges are more dark blue than Nordlands who has a more bright edge. I'm surprised you haven't noticed that already !

Oh, that. That's intentional, it's the bevel. Nordland is on the light side. Finnmark has several edges which are on the shadow side. See Denmark for comparison.

[Gillipig]

Finnmark's edges are more dark blue than Nordlands who has a more bright edge. I'm surprised you haven't noticed that already !

Oh, that. That's intentional, it's the bevel. Nordland is on the light side. Finnmark has several edges which are on the shadow side. See Denmark for comparison.

Well in that case I think you've made Finnmark a bit too blue! Tone the colour down a little because right now it looks like it could be a different bonus due to the strong colour. Always fun to be constructive .

[natty dread]

I don't think there's anything I can do about it anyway... the whole bonus area is coloured with the same colour layer, so the colour is the same. The bevel may make it look darker or lighter at some places....

Hmm, on second thought I think I may have a possible solution to this. If I change the current land bevel to multiply mode so only the shadow side is visible, then add another thinner bevel with additive mode which makes only the light side visible, I should be able to create a bevel that has thicker shadow side and thinner light side. Hang on a minute, I'll try it...

[natty dread]

Ok so how's this?

Click image to enlarge.

edit... or this. I put in a compass:

Click image to enlarge.

[Gillipig]

Ok so how's this?

Click image to enlarge.

Colourwise It looks better now, but it also looks a bit blurred which is not so good. Overall I still think that this looks better than before but it would be better if you somehow only could change the colour on that speficic territ! If that's not possible then I'll stop complaining .

[natty dread]

What exactly looks blurred? Also do you like the compass?

I'm starting to think the whole colour difference you perceive is an optical illusion. Finnmark is bigger than the other territories of the area, so you will see it as different colour...

[natty dread]

Another compass version.

Click image to enlarge.

[RedBaron0]

Like the compass, erase the letters, maybe keep the "N" and try it in white.

[Gillipig]

What exactly looks blurred? Also do you like the compass?

I'm starting to think the whole colour difference you perceive is an optical illusion. Finnmark is bigger than the other territories of the area, so you will see it as different colour...

I think that the north and east borders of Finnmark are a bit blurred but have gotten a better colour!
I don't know if the colour difference I'm seeing is a optical illusion or not, but I see it everytime I look at it so I guess I'm gonna keep seeing it .

I'm for a compass unless it takes up space that could be used for other things. And since that area is available I think it's good having one. Then it's the outlook of the compass... It can be done in a lot different ways and personally I would like the compass to look a bit more... extraodinary! With brighter colours and maybe an ice theme to boost. How about making the compass look like a big sharp icicle with a light blue tone? That would look awesome!!!

[natty dread]

Heh, I've been working on various compass styles. I've really gotten into making compasses, it's fun...

Here's a few I made:

Click image to enlarge.

Anyone want a compass for their map, pm me

Anywhoo, back to the subject at hand...

Like the compass, erase the letters, maybe keep the "N" and try it in white.

Can do.

I think that the north and east borders of Finnmark are a bit blurred but have gotten a better colour!

Yes, I see what you mean... It's a side effect of blurring the outline layer, which I had to do when I got complaints of border pixelation. If it doesn't bother too much I'm gonna leave it as it is, since changing that layer would bring the pixelation back...

I don't know if the colour difference I'm seeing is a optical illusion or not, but I see it everytime I look at it so I guess I'm gonna keep seeing it .

That's odd, I still don't see it... and since I don't see it I'm not sure how to fix it

I'm for a compass unless it takes up space that could be used for other things. And since that area is available I think it's good having one. Then it's the outlook of the compass... It can be done in a lot different ways and personally I would like the compass to look a bit more... extraodinary! With brighter colours and maybe an ice theme to boost. How about making the compass look like a big sharp icicle with a light blue tone? That would look awesome!!!

Well... Hmm, I'm not exactly sure how to make it icy. For one, something that small is really hard to texturize. If I can figure out a way I'll give it a shot...

Also I'm not so sure about the ice thing. Sure the map has this "arctic" theme going on, but really only about 1/4 of the nordic countries is inside the arctic circle, and it's actually really warm at summer here, so I wouldn't want to overdo the theme... perhaps some slight bluish hue on the compass could be appropriate, I'll have to try it.

[00iCon]

Just skimming across it, Norrland could be a deeper blue and Sweden a lighter violet?

[natty dread]

Just skimming across it, Norrland could be a deeper blue and Sweden a lighter violet?

I don't want to separate them too much. The colours need to be similar enough so that people who are unfamiliar with the nordic countries will know that the areas belong to the same country.

Also I'm not even sure if further separation of the bonus areas is necessary, with the black lines for borders...

Anyway I'll see what I can do but if it looks bad I won't do it...

[Gillipig]

I don't know if the colour difference I'm seeing is a optical illusion or not, but I see it everytime I look at it so I guess I'm gonna keep seeing it .

That's odd, I still don't see it... and since I don't see it I'm not sure how to fix it

Ah.. all I'm saying is that it used to be a big colour difference between Finnmark and the rest of it's bonus group. But since there's no big difference any longer (you've actually changed it!), I think we can move on .

I'm for a compass unless it takes up space that could be used for other things. And since that area is available I think it's good having one. Then it's the outlook of the compass... It can be done in a lot different ways and personally I would like the compass to look a bit more... extraodinary! With brighter colours and maybe an ice theme to boost. How about making the compass look like a big sharp icicle with a light blue tone? That would look awesome!!!

Well... Hmm, I'm not exactly sure how to make it icy. For one, something that small is really hard to texturize. If I can figure out a way I'll give it a shot...

Also I'm not so sure about the ice thing. Sure the map has this "arctic" theme going on, but really only about 1/4 of the nordic countries is inside the arctic circle, and it's actually really warm at summer here, so I wouldn't want to overdo the theme... perhaps some slight bluish hue on the compass could be appropriate, I'll have to try it.

I think the one you have now is pointy enough, just make it brighter in colour and make the sharp parts meet in the center and we'll see how it looks .
I'm bound to agree, Scandinavia isn't exactly antarctica but on the other hand Svalbard is a loooong way from where it is on the map . If it looks good then I don't think you should care too much about wether it's 100% accurate!

If it's one thing that I would really like to stand out on this map it's the compass. Please don't make it blend in so much that you can barely see it. As it is now, whith that brown/grey tone you might just miss it entirely! The compass has no real importance except that it looks good. And if you can't see it... then it's not needed at all.
I'm 100% for a compass that stands out! I don't think it'll annoy or bother people if it's clearly visible.

[natty dread]

I'm bound to agree, Scandinavia isn't exactly antarctica but on the other hand Svalbard is a loooong way from where it is on the map . If it looks good then I don't think you should care too much about wether it's 100% accurate!

True... that's why the insets were removed.

If it's one thing that I would really like to stand out on this map it's the compass. Please don't make it blend in so much that you can barely see it. As it is now, whith that brown/grey tone you might just miss it entirely! The compass has no real importance except that it looks good. And if you can't see it... then it's not needed at all.
I'm 100% for a compass that stands out! I don't think it'll annoy or bother people if it's clearly visible.

Gotcha... I made these versions before reading your posts, but see if it looks better...

v.47 changes:
- added some blue hue for the compass, removed W,S,E
- land colours tweaked slightly
- minimap colours adjusted

large:

Click image to enlarge.

small:

Click image to enlarge.

[ender516]

The compass is improving, but the N is hard to see, and when I do see it, I'm not thrilled. It seems too squat.

[natty dread]

I'll make a new N then...

[Gillipig]

I'm bound to agree, Scandinavia isn't exactly antarctica but on the other hand Svalbard is a loooong way from where it is on the map . If it looks good then I don't think you should care too much about wether it's 100% accurate!

True... that's why the insets were removed.

If it's one thing that I would really like to stand out on this map it's the compass. Please don't make it blend in so much that you can barely see it. As it is now, whith that brown/grey tone you might just miss it entirely! The compass has no real importance except that it looks good. And if you can't see it... then it's not needed at all.
I'm 100% for a compass that stands out! I don't think it'll annoy or bother people if it's clearly visible.

Gotcha... I made these versions before reading your posts, but see if it looks better...

v.47 changes:
- added some blue hue for the compass, removed W,S,E
- land colours tweaked slightly
- minimap colours adjusted

large:

Click image to enlarge.

small:

Click image to enlarge.

Not quite the look I was hoping for. How does it look if you make the pointy parts meet in the middle? (sorry for my terrible vocabulary but I couldn't find the word for it ) And try giving it a more brighter blue tone.

[natty dread]

If you look closely, the pointy parts already do meet in the middle... They just lack the light-blue colour in the middle.

[natty dread]

How's this?

Click image to enlarge.

[ender516]

How's this?

Click image to enlarge.

Nice, the N is more visible.

[natty dread]

Thanks ender.

Btw... I know this is probably a bit premature, but what the heck, I made the XML.

edit: heck, I was a bit bored so I corrected the coords too. Corrected file below.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/2/7/2 ... _xml_3.xml

[ender516]

Hey, with chipv's Map XML Wizard, it's so easy to create and edit XML, why put it off? The XML encapsulates gameplay with a nod to the graphics, so why not keep it current as the map progresses? Then when you clear the Graphics Workshop, with correct XML in hand, it's just a hop, a skip and a jump through the Final Forge to Beta!

[natty dread]

I agree completely. In fact some may remember I already made one XML to test the gameplay when the map was in the GP shop...

So, any more suggestions for the compass, or is it good now? And if so, what's next on the graphics list?

latest compass version

[Gillipig]

I agree completely. In fact some may remember I already made one XML to test the gameplay when the map was in the GP shop...

So, any more suggestions for the compass, or is it good now? And if so, what's next on the graphics list?

latest compass version

The compass looks good now. And as far as I can see the rest does as well! I have nothing more to add, I wouldn't mind if this is how it ended up looking!