Conquer Club

Ok so these changes for the next version:

- starting troops -> 5
- add objective: hold 1 rocket & all mines

I'll make the updates and post when ready.

v15c

[bigimg]http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3199/moonmapv15c.png[/bigimg]

Should the objective say "one round" rather than "one turn", or does it make any difference?

ender516 wrote:Should the objective say "one round" rather than "one turn", or does it make any difference?

Hmm, I'm not sure. Isn't usually written as "one turn"? I can change it to round if you think that is more clear.

The game counts time in rounds, so if there's a question I guess 'round' is the better moniker.

Anyway, I'm pretty much out of criticism, constructive or otherwise. I have almost none of the 'refined tastes' required for the debate that goes on in the Graphics Workshop, so I'll probably not have much to say until it's in Beta. Best wishes for this wonderful map!

Alright, first reply here, and I do have a few nitpicks.

Gameplay
- I read the top of the map and the objective: "Hold any rocket and all He-3 mines...to win." Then I couldn't find right offhand the He-3 mines. I had to scroll further down and read the legend to find this small and not very distinctive symbol for the He-3 mines. Compared to the seas, which are a cool bonus, but NOT game-winners, that's a problem. Find some way to make He-3 mines obvious, whether by distinctive symbol (something that helps the Mares a good bit is their different shape), bigger 3-ring above, or whatever.
- The connecting lines between territories seem like they are two or three different sizes. A cynic would think "oh, there's a difference between those attack routes." There's also an inconsistent termination point at all the seas. As in, some stick over the edge of the territory (or appear to), and some stop right on the border.

Graphics
- The title is obviously NOT anti-aliased, as it is jagged as all get-out. Compared to the rest of the map, it's jarring.
- The star background...doesn't work. I feel like the moon has been backgrounded with a random picture by the Hubble Telescope. There would not be anywhere NEAR that much color in a snapshot of the moon. Find a black-and-white star background.

No offense, Tactix, but actually all your suggestions seem to be graphics related. I do however agree with most of your points, and I will be addressing these issues after we get the gameplay stamp.

After the GP stamp though, I will be redoing the title, and probably all the textures of the map, and also all the connector tubes and sea borders will be redone. Isaiah is working on new landing site icons, and I will try to think of something for the He-3 mines to make them stand out more.

And as for the background... You think it could work if I just convert it to black&white? If not, I can try to find a new one.

They are all graphic nitpicks, but the first two deal with possible gameplay confusions. Just because it's not bonus regions doesn't mean it's not gameplay.

As for the background, unlikely. Stars as viewed at the moon would be not much different from how stars look when viewed from earth, except it would be utterly black instead of a small suggestion of blue (our atmosphere).

Hey, if you can find a suitable starfield for me, I'm all for changing it.

hmm, I think we may have different ideas of what is gameplay related... In my view, gameplay is everything that gets coded in the XML, ie. how the map actually plays. Graphics is all the rest...

natty, Google Images makes everything easier. Search query: "Starfield", and something along what I'm talking about here.

natty_dread wrote:hmm, I think we may have different ideas of what is gameplay related... In my view, gameplay is everything that gets coded in the XML, ie. how the map actually plays. Graphics is all the rest...

The clear and accurate display of information about a map can be considered part of gameplay, and it is listed in the Gameplay Development Guidelines under "player-friendliness."

Helium-3 mines: could this be a good icon?

Perhaps toss rounded edges out entirely and go for a hexagon or a diamond (my preference of the two)? That symbol COULD work and would stick close to the rounded theme you have going, so it's a sticky situation. Your call.

Yeah, I'd like it to be rounded... since the He-3 mines are all located on craters (and named after craters), a round-ish symbol would be more appropriate for them, I think...

Well, here's a couple more variants, I can't decide which one to use...

natty_dread wrote:Well, here's a couple more variants, I can't decide which one to use...

First, but make the symbol on top a little easier to see.

ok... I'm going to have to do something about the blurriness as well.

v16

[bigimg]http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9707/moonmapv16.png[/bigimg]

Would it be too awful to use a very different colour for the He-3 mines? A warm colour (red or pink through yellow) with text to match (including the mention in the objective legend) would stand out and draw attention to these important objective locations.

ender516 wrote:Would it be too awful to use a very different colour for the He-3 mines? A warm colour (red or pink through yellow) with text to match (including the mention in the objective legend) would stand out and draw attention to these important objective locations.

Hmm... it could be worth a shot.

Well I tried several colours, and to me this light green version looked the best. Fits the style of the rest of the map while making the mines stand out.

[bigimg]http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3720/moonmapv16a.png[/bigimg]

Much better, I can pick those out of my peripheral vision (and you shouldn't play Risk looking away).

TaCktiX wrote:Much better, I can pick those out of my peripheral vision (and you shouldn't play Risk looking away).

Yes what he said!!

So update the legend and you're golden.

Looks like a great map. Keep up the good work! Maybe we'll see it one in our map arsenal one day