Nordic Countries [Quenched]

[natty dread]

Still waiting for IH:s version, so here's the latest:

large
[bigimg]http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/9190/northeuropev51ii.png[/bigimg]
small

[natty dread]

And now for something completely different:

[bigimg]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/3296/northeuropev52.png[/bigimg]

Thanks to IH for ideas for this version.

[isaiah40]

Ok, so now it looks really good! Now stop tweaking and let's get this thing into Final Forge!!

[natty dread]

Ok, so now it looks really good! Now stop tweaking and let's get this thing into Final Forge!!

Thanks Isaiah... I also like this colour scheme. Again thanks Helix for this.

If other people agree with the changes, I wouldn't mind getting this moved to FF... I still need to export the changes to the small map, and do some minor tweaks (update the bridge to match the new colours, fix the territory borders at some places, update the minimap for the new colours) but these are all pretty minor tweaks... Still, I'd like to know if everyone likes this new style before I go through with it.

[Industrial Helix]

Id like to see southern sweden blue-green and Finland switched. I dunno if you just lifted my colors from my draft or copied them but they look very reddish and warm.

[natty dread]

Id like to see southern sweden blue-green and Finland switched. I dunno if you just lifted my colors from my draft or copied them but they look very reddish and warm.

Well I want southern and northern sweden to be the same hue, so it will be obvious they belong to the same superbonus/country. As for finland... well, I adjusted all the colours, I'll be posting a new update soon - with a new texture as well, which I think you might like...

[natty dread]

quench lol!

versino 52 lärge
[bigimg]http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7924/northeuropev52a.png[/bigimg]

version 52 småll

[natty dread]

Ok here's one more alternate colour scheme.

[bigimg]http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5039/northeuropev52b.png[/bigimg]


note to self: hue adjusted on all colours by -35.

[natty dread]

here's vischeck results on version 52...

[MarshalNey]

- do you like the new colour scheme?

Ok here's one more alternate colour scheme.

Is that one (two posts ago) a viable option or are you 'color scheme'd out? I actually do like it better.

No matter which you choose, however, I think the new schemes are clearer and more vibrant.

- do you like the new texture?

Ummm, if you're referring to the lack of inner gray on the territories, it does make things clearer... even if it doesn't look as cool.

- which sea is best (v50, v51, v52)?

I think v50 or v51 (prefer v51). The last one seems to go too far with the 'icy' stuff.

- quench lol?

Certainly should be moved on to the Final Forge by now. Everything seems to be tinkering at this point, all subjective stuff rather than any real graphical issues.

[natty dread]

Is that one (two posts ago) a viable option or are you 'color scheme'd out? I actually do like it better.

Well... now that I think of it, I think I'm going with the earlier one, the v.52 colour scheme - it's clearer, works better in vischeck, and the alternative has too much blue... It's almost tropical with all that blue/green dominating the colours, which clashes with the theme... I think the one with purple finland works, it looks cold, but yet is easy on the eyes.

I think v50 or v51 (prefer v51). The last one seems to go too far with the 'icy' stuff.

Gotcha. I'll be adjusting the sea more towards the 51 version.

Certainly should be moved on to the Final Forge by now. Everything seems to be tinkering at this point, all subjective stuff rather than any real graphical issues.

Thanks Ney, I appreciate it.

[natty dread]

Ok here's something I gotta show.

I found this really cool font that looks really cool on the map... the problem is, it's a bit wider than the previous font and really thin-lined (I had to artificially thicken them) so it probably won't work out for the small version...

Still, it looks damn nice on the large.

[bigimg]http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6338/northeuropev52c.png[/bigimg]

[isaiah40]

Can you post the small with that font so we can see it ourselves please?

[natty dread]

Indeed I can, I just finished it...

[RjBeals]

i like the older font better. I don't think this new fonts fits the style as nice.

[natty dread]

Yeah and the old one fits better on the small version too... I guess I'm going back to the old then. (gotta listen to someone with 6 map medals! )

[natty dread]

Ok so here are the current versions.

[bigimg]http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1592/northeuropev52d.png[/bigimg]

[alster]

Well, you're the mapmaker - but personally it feels really cold. It would feel much warmer with everything lighter (background, countries etc.). But that's maybe just me.

[ender516]

Well, you're the mapmaker - but personally it feels really cold. It would feel much warmer with everything lighter (background, countries etc.). But that's maybe just me.

With all due respect to someone who lives on this map (so to speak), I would hazard a guess that most people around the world tend to think of the Nordic Countries as being cold. I suppose you may not think of your home that way, any more than I do when it comes to Canada, but I think we have to play to the preconceptions of the great unwashed, even if it does mean, for example, that we will continue to see people with fully loaded ski racks on their cars crossing the bridge at Niagara Falls from New York to Ontario on the 4th of July weekend.

[natty dread]

Yeah, I agree with ender. I mean, when I was a kid I heard that americans think people in the nordic countries live in igloos and polar bears walk the streets...

That was before the internet became popular, and the world has become a much more global place since then. Acquiring knowledge is so easy these days...

Anyway, the cold colours seem appropriate, even if the nordics are actually quite warm at summer, we do have hellish winters... Besides I find cold colours more pleasing & easier on the eye.

I've been a bit busy with rl stuff lately so I haven't had time to work on my maps, but I'll try to get some work done today... so, what else do I need to do to get a gfx stamp on this?

[natty dread]

what else do I need to do to get a gfx stamp on this?

Please forgive my impatience... but I'd like to get this over with and into the forge fire so I can concentrate more on my other map projects. It seems most like this new colour scheme, and I can't think of any more improvements to make at this point... I got the XML done sans some coordinate adjustments... Vischeck results look fine to me... Territory connections seem legible, even in Denmark - I think this new colour scheme helps a lot in that aspect.

[RedBaron0]

what else do I need to do to get a gfx stamp on this?

Please forgive my impatience... but I'd like to get this over with and into the forge fire so I can concentrate more on my other map projects. It seems most like this new colour scheme, and I can't think of any more improvements to make at this point... I got the XML done sans some coordinate adjustments... Vischeck results look fine to me... Territory connections seem legible, even in Denmark - I think this new colour scheme helps a lot in that aspect.

No worries natty, we've all been there....

I've got 2 things, and likely after that you're gonna be solid.

First thing is your connector dots, in the style you have, regions/territories, the connections should remain consistent, so your dots should only touch at the edge of the territory and not cross onto the land. I know you're connecting dots for clarity, but this is creating a bit of clash in style trying to have a bit of connect-the-dot type elements.

Second, again its your colors, to be perfectly specific, it's central Sweden. With color or colorblind it is difficult to distinguish where bonuses end. Simplest solution, switch Denmark's color for central Sweden. Or maybe try the green that's in the title there. I dunno about that though. The colorblind part is tricky, if you can work in a some color that allows for a visible color to pop out.(blue/yellow)

[natty dread]

First thing is your connector dots, in the style you have, regions/territories, the connections should remain consistent, so your dots should only touch at the edge of the territory and not cross onto the land.

OK... well. The thing is. If I do this, I'm afraid it will confuse people in places where the connection only goes to the capital. Now, when the connection always goes to the army circle, it's exceptionally clear if the connetion goes to the capital or the territory under it. However, if people see some connections going to the land, they will have to look closely for those extra 2 or 3 dots which will tell them if the connection goes to the territory or the capital... Now before I do this, are you SURE this will not be a problem?

Second, again its your colors, to be perfectly specific, it's central Sweden. With color or colorblind it is difficult to distinguish where bonuses end. Simplest solution, switch Denmark's color for central Sweden. Or maybe try the green that's in the title there. I dunno about that though. The colorblind part is tricky, if you can work in a some color that allows for a visible color to pop out.(blue/yellow)

Hmm... Switching with Denmark doesn't seem feasible, you seem to forget that the colours within a country should be similar enough to make it easy to see which bonus areas belong to the same country. But I'll try to adjust the colour of central sweden a bit.

[natty dread]

[bigimg]http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9496/northeuropev52e.png[/bigimg]

So here's the fixed version, with central sweden made to stand out more. I'll check the vischeck version, but I think it should be fine now...

Also the sea connectors were made to connect to the land. Now I still don't quite agree with this, since it makes some connections quite unclear - the one in denmark, for one. But if the mods think it is better this way...

[natty dread]

Here's the vischeck results for the version in last post: