Is the foundry dying?

[Kaplowitz]

everything used to be so much faster....

[AndyDufresne]

I think you must've overlooked the dozen maps in the Main Foundry, throw in another 3-5 maps in the Map Ideas, 7 quite active maps in Final Forge. Seems like it's going pretty strong to me, consider also we just Quenched 4 maps not too long ago.


--Andy

[edbeard]

uhh no. There's quite a few maps that have sped through the foundry faster than ever. There are so many more maps being quenched nowadays than ever before. If anything it has grown quite a bit.

Some maps are fueled by good feedback, good cartographers, and just generally being a good idea.

Some maps are slowed by lack of feedback, a slower cartographer, and/or just not being a good/great idea.

Some maps never go anywhere because they just aren't a good idea, are being manned by a onagain/off again cartographer, and/or just don't catch the foundry's eye.

[Kaplowitz]

Ik, but a lot die in the Main Foundry, and it seemed faster when ijoined

[AndyDufresne]

Not so many die in the Main Foundry anymore really. And if you really are concerned about maps falling into the Foundry Furnace...well by golly lets get some more feedback and commenting! Get your friends in here, and their friends, and their friends and enemies, and let us have ourselves a regular Feedback Fiesta!


--Andy

[hulmey]

Quality of maps have gone!! Out of the 4 maps that went live recently, i wouldnt play on any of them.

[rebelman]

Not so many die in the Main Foundry anymore really. And if you really are concerned about maps falling into the Foundry Furnace...well by golly lets get some more feedback and commenting! Get your friends in here, and their friends, and their friends and enemies, and let us have ourselves a regular Feedback Fiesta!


--Andy

well said although you should add the warning that us non foundry regulars can easily get our head bitten off us when we venture in here

[AndyDufresne]

Quality is subjective. Think of it as the Foundry broadening its horizon userbase. With every perhaps "unusual" map, there always are at least 2 standard style maps ready to counter it.


--Andy

[DiM]

everything used to be so much faster....

chapter 2 of age of realms got out of the map ideas and into the main foundry in under 2 hours, then got final forge in a week.
now it's been 12 days and it's just waiting for yeti_c to finish the xml. i don't think you can say the foundry has slowed down.

and that's just about the speed of maps the quantity has been already presented by andy.

the foundry is more active than ever.

[Kaplowitz]

the speed of that example doesnt matter. People are now expecting the maps to move around faster, and i think that this causes people to not post because they think its ready. Look at the civil war map and Pudget Sound. Some people start posting complaints and the map makers became really defensive. Although the posts may not have been really nice, the foundry posters were trying to better the site. i think that scared a lot of people into not posting anything at all rather than upseting the mapmaker's feelings. Also there should probably be a banner on the game page that says "Come see the future maps of CC" or somthing.

[DiM]

the speed of that example doesnt matter. People are now expecting the maps to move around faster, and i think that this causes people to not post because they think its ready. Look at the civil war map and Pudget Sound. Some people start posting complaints and the map makers became really defensive. Although the posts may not have been really nice, the foundry posters were trying to better the site. i think that scared a lot of people into not posting anything at all rather than upseting the mapmaker's feelings. Also there should probably be a banner on the game page that says "Come see the future maps of CC" or somthing.

i was one of the posters that allegedly scared the crap out of people.

i was brutal in my post on the civil war map. elijah said he's quiting i was blamed i'm a bastard and so on. what happened in the end? i was right elijah got motivated and made the map way way better than he ever expected. now it's ready for quench. so who's afraid of posting bad things because he doesn't want the map maker's feelings to get hurt? certainly not me. and for sure there are others that post their true thoughts even if they are negative. too bad i retired from th foundry cause i'm itching to step on some map maker feelings and motivate them to do their best.


btw. in case you haven't noticed the foundry has promoting threads in general discussion and that's more than enough. putting big flashy banners on the site will do more harm than good to the foundry

[bryguy]

the speed of that example doesnt matter. People are now expecting the maps to move around faster, and i think that this causes people to not post because they think its ready. Look at the civil war map and Pudget Sound. Some people start posting complaints and the map makers became really defensive. Although the posts may not have been really nice, the foundry posters were trying to better the site. i think that scared a lot of people into not posting anything at all rather than upseting the mapmaker's feelings. Also there should probably be a banner on the game page that says "Come see the future maps of CC" or somthing.

i was one of the posters that allegedly scared the crap out of people.

i was brutal in my post on the civil war map. elijah said he's quiting i was blamed i'm a bastard and so on. what happened in the end? i was right elijah got motivated and made the map way way better than he ever expected. now it's ready for quench. so who's afraid of posting bad things because he doesn't want the map maker's feelings to get hurt? certainly not me. and for sure there are others that post their true thoughts even if they are negative. too bad i retired from th foundry cause i'm itching to step on some map maker feelings and motivate them to do their best.


btw. in case you haven't noticed the foundry has promoting threads in general discussion and that's more than enough. putting big flashy banners on the site will do more harm than good to the foundry

good speech




and i remember when i first joined i thought u were scary

[Kaplowitz]

I was supporting you, i said that the map makers shouldnt be expecting it to be so fast. And in the end it helped, like you said.

who said anyhting about flashy? just simple to get people to come

[rebelman]

i was one of the posters that scared the crap out of people.

fixed

ps maybe its because i am visiting more often, or because i barked back a few times but i am finding the foundry much more welcoming of outsiders like me recently

[DiM]

i was one of the posters that scared the crap out of people.

fixed

ps maybe its because i am visiting more often, or because i barked back a few times but i am finding the foundry much more welcoming of outsiders like me recently

that's because recently i stopped posting in the foundry

[WidowMakers]

I think we hit a phase of "new " ideas. These tend to be non classic gametypes. People might not like them but that is what the foundry is making right now. I feel that once the new style is worked on for several more months (4-6) another wave of classic gameplay style maps will emerge again.

I for one will be trying to do that a little more here in the future. Maps with no new XML features. Time and Place / Cruise Control / and a couple others yet to be revealed. Plus there is always teh development atlas. Tons of standard map ideas there.

WM

[oaktown]

...you should add the warning that us non foundry regulars can easily get our head bitten off us when we venture in here

Not true, and screw you non-regular!

Is the foundry slowing down? No. Yes. Both... depends on your point of view perhaps.

No: I find that each map I create moves through the process faster, but this may in large part be because I have figured out what it takes to get a map done. DiM, Cairnswk, and everybody else who has quenched multiple maps would probably agree that the process gets easier, and Wid can center army coordinates with one eye closed, both arms tied behind his back, and Andy's monkey jumping on his keyboard.

Yes: despite some comments to the contrary, foundry expectations have increased significantly, and it has slowed some projects down... twelve months ago Civil War and Puget would have quenched at the stage they were at when they hit the Forge, before both were hit with round after round of concerns about color, border pixelation, playability, etc. Likewise there are many old maps - Classic being one of them - that would have a hard time getting through the Forge in their present shape.

Both: a fair number of maps still do die in the foundry, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I would say that the number of mapmakers has been increasing faster than the number of foundry posters, so users have to sift through dozens of threads and focus their time and energy on the maps they like/show promise. The really good ideas are carried through with solid support, while the really bad ideas sit and rot.

[hulmey]

your joking Oaktown LOL...Civil War and Puget would never have got past keyogi. the map foundry has let down its standards big time! Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay...

the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

[Balsiefen]

your joking Oaktown LOL...Civil War and Puget would never have got past keyogi. the map foundry has let down its standards big time! Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay...

the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

I have to disagree. While there are some maps with gameplay i dont like, that is only because of my tactics. their good for a one off novelty and then move on. However i think that some of the recent maps are the best that have ever graced the map foundry. 3 player portugal, and 4p doubles on qwerts maps are even more enjoyable than classic.

[gimil]

your joking Oaktown LOL...Civil War and Puget would never have got past keyogi. the map foundry has let down its standards big time! Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay...

the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

I have to disagree. While there are some maps with gameplay i dont like, that is only because of my tactics. their good for a one off novelty and then move on. However i think that some of the recent maps are the best that have ever graced the map foundry. 3 player portugal, and 4p doubles on qwerts maps are even more enjoyable than classic.

Portugal, 3 player, terminator, no card, ajecent

make me drool every time

[gimil]

your joking Oaktown LOL...Civil War and Puget would never have got past keyogi. the map foundry has let down its standards big time! Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay...

the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

are you SERIOUSLY saying theres a drop in quality? The maps coming out of the soundry HAVE very different gameplay to the old classic. That doesnt mean the quality of gameplay are not poor, just not to your taste.

As for claiming the graphical quality is poor, again you are very much mistaken. Every stage of hte process is diffiult with the community digging at maps and picking out slightlest details to make the map both beter graphically, playability and readability.

As for KEYOGI not letting such maps through te foundry? Frm what i remeber KEYOGI was extreamly biased CA. He would hammer maps which he didnt like, rather than treating each map as equal within the foundry. Pugent was probably at the same standard as KEYOGI's australia map. (a map that wuldnt be quenched in its current state in the foundry today)

I think the moral of the story is that there is change in the foundry, there is those who enbrace it and are motivatd by it, and there is those who are suborn to change by nature. They see any change as a bad change.

[Balsiefen]

your joking Oaktown LOL...Civil War and Puget would never have got past keyogi. the map foundry has let down its standards big time! Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay...

the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

I have to disagree. While there are some maps with gameplay i dont like, that is only because of my tactics. their good for a one off novelty and then move on. However i think that some of the recent maps are the best that have ever graced the map foundry. 3 player portugal, and 4p doubles on qwerts maps are even more enjoyable than classic.

Portugal, 3 player, terminator, no card, ajecent

make me drool every time

Hmm, has to be standard, flat rate, unlimited for me but each to his ownage

[Coleman]

your joking Oaktown LOL...Civil War and Puget would never have got past keyogi. the map foundry has let down its standards big time! Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay...

the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

I'm not sure what you are complaining about. I go a lot slower if there isn't a purist map for you lot. Soviet Union will probably be in the next group, and if that isn't good enough for you maybe you need to start making or suggesting maps you might like a bit more actively.

For complaints about map death in the main foundry, you need to care enough about your own map to not let that happen. The spaceness guys fought pretty hard to make sure it didn't happen to them and now they are in Final Forge.

[unriggable]

I think we hit a phase of "new " ideas. These tend to be non classic gametypes. People might not like them but that is what the foundry is making right now.

Absolutely, with cairnswk at the drivers seat of this movement.

I know people don't like half the maps he puts out, but go figure, better have them than not.

[oaktown]

the map foundry has let down its standards big time!

Maps that would not be quenched today, and why:
Classic: pixelation, hard to read army counts, army counts aren't on correct territories
Africa: pixelated text
Ancient greece: hard to read army counts, mountains look like a turd (see recent Mr Hanky comment)
Asia: pixelated borders
Brazil: where do I begin?
British Isles: territory names are wrong, pixelation, wasted space
Crossword: not color friendly, poor gameplay, unclear army counts and attack routes
Europe: 3-digit counts and colorblind help counts go off the map
Germany: rivers, colors, texture, blah
Hong Kong: typeface, borders, colors, turd
Tamriel: pixelation, mountains
World 2.1: size restrictions

And this is not including the maps that were so bad they had to be revamped: Montreal, Canada, Circus Max, Middle East, Indochina

Not only that, but the games that are coming out of the foundry have really bad gameplay... the old maps like British isles, USA etc.. are always the maps that are up there and the most loved!

Actually, in the two weeks both Age of Realms and Doodle Earth have seen more new games created than British Isles and USA combined. And of the last four maps quenched, both Puget and South America are pretty 'classic' in their gameplay. Do they play well? I can't say... but they play at least as well as some of our old standards like Ancient Greece or Indochina.