Age of Merchants - [Quenched]

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:04 am

due to the lack of feedback i've started doing some adjustments on my own.

i tweaked the borders a bit, removed the mountains and replaced them with a river. added a bridge. and distinctly outlined the 2 bottem continents. now there should be no confusion weather they are 1 or 2 continents.

Bad Speler · Post by **Bad Speler** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:43 am

Looks good. Just a few points on the graphics:

- The bridge looks a bit off. It might be its transparency, im not sure
- The pirate cove and harbour symbols stand out too much for me, perhaps lighten them a tad
- The title has lots of room, i would enlargen it and center it in the space it has
-the text at the bottom looks as though it has been squeezed in (and probably has). It almost touches the contenent to its left. I would either move the continent over slightly or play around a bit with those words.

hulmey · Post by **hulmey** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:00 am

the river looks terrible...prefer the mountains

luckiekevin · Post by **luckiekevin** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:39 am

I think the country name fonts could either be bigger or somehow need to be clearer.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:45 am

hulmey wrote:the river looks terrible...prefer the mountains

what exactly is wrong with the river? maybe improvement can be done.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:47 am

luckiekevin wrote:I think the country name fonts could either be bigger or somehow need to be clearer.

the font issue has been discusse over and over. just look over the last pages. they were bigger but people complained they were too big.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:55 am

Bad Speler wrote:Looks good. Just a few points on the graphics:

- The bridge looks a bit off. It might be its transparency, im not sure
- The pirate cove and harbour symbols stand out too much for me, perhaps lighten them a tad
- The title has lots of room, i would enlargen it and center it in the space it has
-the text at the bottom looks as though it has been squeezed in (and probably has). It almost touches the contenent to its left. I would either move the continent over slightly or play around a bit with those words.

*tweaked the bridge
*enlarged and centered title
*moved the continent a bit to the left so there's enough room for the text
*lightened the pirate cove and harbours
*tweaked the river a bit.

update 61

PimpCaneYoAss · Post by **PimpCaneYoAss** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:57 am

I dont no what you plan on doing with the army circles but rite now it seems like it would be cluttered with them...that might need a little help

fireedud · Post by **fireedud** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:59 am

Teh bridge looks better now, but the angle looks off from the rest of the map

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:05 am

PimpCaneYoAss wrote:I dont no what you plan on doing with the army circles but rite now it seems like it would be cluttered with them...that might need a little help

the army circles issue has already been discussed. no need for circles because the armies are very visible without them. look back a few pages for an image with army numbers.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:10 am

fireedud wrote:Teh bridge looks better now, but the angle looks off from the rest of the map

here is the bridge with a different angle. maybe now it's better.

62:

fireedud · Post by **fireedud** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:15 am

yea it's better now.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:21 am

hmm im not sure i like the bridge due to the abundance of icons on this map. i think just leaving the land connection would be better.

mibi · Post by **mibi** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 12:42 pm

62 updates in 26 pages! your hardcore DiM.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:23 pm

Enigma wrote:hmm im not sure i like the bridge due to the abundance of icons on this map. i think just leaving the land connection would be better.

i decided to put a river there in order to obtain 2 separate land masses. this way transportation via harbours makes more sense. in the old layout even if the 2 bottom continents were connected you'd still have to transport by water to get the extra bonus and it was a bit odd.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:25 pm

mibi wrote:62 updates in 26 pages! your hardcore DiM.

lol. most of them are for minor things. i don't wait for the suggestions to pile up until i make an update. i instantly work on the new idea even if it's a small thing like skewing a bridge or moving a few borders.

mibi · Post by **mibi** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:11 pm

just to make sure I understand this right,
If you have the sugar and water and rum you get +3
if you have the rum and a market you get +2
if you have the sugar, water, rum and market its +5 on one landmass
if i have water and a market on one land and sugar on another land but i have both harbors, i get +3? or +5?

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:02 pm

If you have the sugar and water and rum you get +3

if they are on the same continent, yes.

if you have the rum and a market you get +2

if they are on the same continent, yes.

if you have the sugar, water, rum and market its +5 on one landmass

yes

if i have water and a market on one land and sugar on another land but i have both harbors, i get +3? or +5?

only products (rum and clothes) can be transported via harbours.
plus resources can't be taken to the market only products.
so in that scenario you get 0.

resources have to be taken to a product on the same landmass and you get +3
if you take a product to a market on same landmass you get +2 and if you take it to another landmass (by owning 2 harbours on that landmasses) you get an extra +2

mibi · Post by **mibi** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:42 pm

DiM wrote:
If you have the sugar and water and rum you get +3

if they are on the same continent, yes.

if you have the rum and a market you get +2

if they are on the same continent, yes.

if you have the sugar, water, rum and market its +5 on one landmass

yes

if i have water and a market on one land and sugar on another land but i have both harbors, i get +3? or +5?

only products (rum and clothes) can be transported via harbours.
plus resources can't be taken to the market only products.
so in that scenario you get 0.

resources have to be taken to a product on the same landmass and you get +3
if you take a product to a market on same landmass you get +2 and if you take it to another landmass (by owning 2 harbours on that landmasses) you get an extra +2

ok well let me suggest you rename products to 'goods' since it seems to fit. and then in the instructions change the vague 'something' to 'resources and goods'. the source/destination are also a bit vague since you are adding new terms. actually the whole 3rd instruction seems to trip me up, mainly due to the unfamiliar and vague terms... source, something, transport.

also its a bit weird because its like water + sugar = rum .... but rum is also on the board, so that is confusing. I think you should add a third set of resources and take out the 'products'. so then you just have to collect pairs of resources and take them to the market for a +2. if you have a factory, where you make water + sugar = rum, then the bonus would be more because rum is worth more than water + sugar.

see what im saying? basically turn the 'products' into 'factories' and fill up the blank territories with more and different resources. maybe their can only be 2 or 3 factories for added strategy.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:52 pm

i'm at work now so i can't modify the image but i'll attend to your suggestions when i get home.

mibi · Post by **mibi** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:13 pm

ok so I've done some thinking.

what do you think about this.

every territory has a resource. two types of resources pair up to form a product. each main land mass has their particular resource set, and one resource set that is spread out over all the continents.

now if you have a resource pair and a market on the same continent you get a bonus. if you have two harbors and a resource pair you get a bonus. if you have a 'factory' you get a bonus for every resource pair you have. and for the pirates cove, if you have the pirates cove you get a bonus for each harbor you have.

if you think about it, its a bit more intuitive. since you get a bonus for take one resource to another landmass. before you get a bonus for taking resources to another landmass which has the same resources, so it doesnt make sense. taking resources to the market gets you a bonus but if you have a 'factory' that can 'combine' the resource pairs its like a multiplier. and instead of the pirates looking for treasure (just another icon on the map) the pirates act as real pirates, preventing merchants from sailing by going after the harbors.

i think the legend would be easier to display this way. what do you think?

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:14 pm

mibi wrote:ok so I've done some thinking.

what do you think about this.

every territory has a resource. two types of resources pair up to form a product. each main land mass has their particular resource set, and one resource set that is spread out over all the continents.

now if you have a resource pair and a market on the same continent you get a bonus. if you have two harbors and a resource pair you get a bonus. if you have a 'factory' you get a bonus for every resource pair you have. and for the pirates cove, if you have the pirates cove you get a bonus for each harbor you have.

if you think about it, its a bit more intuitive. since you get a bonus for take one resource to another landmass. before you get a bonus for taking resources to another landmass which has the same resources, so it doesnt make sense. taking resources to the market gets you a bonus but if you have a 'factory' that can 'combine' the resource pairs its like a multiplier. and instead of the pirates looking for treasure (just another icon on the map) the pirates act as real pirates, preventing merchants from sailing by going after the harbors.

i think the legend would be easier to display this way. what do you think?

it can be done but think how cluttered the map would be if i put resources in each territory. people already complain it's too cluttered. and two resources per continent plus another two spread all over means 14 different resources. people will go crazy.

mibi · Post by **mibi** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:24 pm

there already is an icon in each territory. i think the confusing part is the the different type of icons. you have resources, products, and X's. all are different. if it were all resources i think it would less cluttered, at least mentally. maybe the resource icons can be smaller.

DiM · Post by **DiM** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:38 pm

mibi wrote:there already is an icon in each territory. i think the confusing part is the the different type of icons. you have resources, products, and X's. all are different. if it were all resources i think it would less cluttered, at least mentally. maybe the resource icons can be smaller.

nope. i only have 5 icons per continent.
2 res 1 prod 1 market and 1 treasure.
that's half the total number of terits.

mibi · Post by **mibi** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:06 pm

DiM wrote:
mibi wrote:there already is an icon in each territory. i think the confusing part is the the different type of icons. you have resources, products, and X's. all are different. if it were all resources i think it would less cluttered, at least mentally. maybe the resource icons can be smaller.

nope. i only have 5 icons per continent.
2 res 1 prod 1 market and 1 treasure.
that's half the total number of terits.

you forget the 9 anchors. either way, i dont think the clutter is holding this map back, its the learning curve on the gameplay.