Conquer Club

[bigimg]http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/2346/austinmap2final.png[/bigimg]

Ok, Version 2 is done.

Big changes here.

I know the background isn't very good, but I'm having trouble finding anything suitable, so something along these lines may work better. I picked the color since Burnt Orange is the color of University of Texas.

Also, sorry about the big ugly letters drawn onto the map. I'm also having trouble finding suitable icons to represent the band members and nightclubs, so for now, they are represented by big, ugly letters. S is singer, G is guitarist, B is bass guitarist, D is drummer, M is manager, N is nightclub. At least you guys can get a view of the gameplay this way.

Along those same lines, the underpasses and the bridges are still basic black lines, they will have to be revamped later on.



So, some questions I have for you guys:

Is the map too busy? It almost seems like there is too much going on, with the icons for band members, nightclubs...the highway/interstate signs...what do you guys think?

How do the highways/interstate look? I basically drew them over some of the borders, since they are impassables. Does it look ok that way? Can you still easily tell all of the territs? Would it look better to draw in the territ borders beside the highways/interstates?

Are the underpasses for the highway's placed well?

Are the bandmembers and nightclubs placed well?

Does it look like the objective would be too hard to achieve? Too easy?

How are the bonus values? I used the bonus value calculator to get the numbers, but I would like some feedback on them.

And speaking of bonus values, since I have them on the actual map, do I need to list them out in the legend, like on the first version of the map? Or is it ok to just have them shown on the actual map like I have it now?



I guess that's all I can think of right now, but feel free to give me any feedback at all about anything.

Again, sorry for the big, ugly letters and such, but I've been working on this most of the day and was really tired of it, yet I wanted to post something tonight, so, there ya go.

You've got a good start, and I agree with Helix's suggestion here:

Industrial Helix wrote:Well, I would say the graphics need a big overhaul.

And if you're going to call this a live music map, You might want to include some stages or something, because outside of the title, the map has nothing to do with live music. I'd recommend that you take a look at other city maps in the works like Copenhagen, and see how the map incorporates the culture of the city in with it. Then figure out what the culture of Austin is and include it in the map.

Also, I didn't know the rivers went OVER the interstate? JK, keep up the good work and looking forward to your next update!

Industrial Helix wrote:Well, I would say the graphics need a big overhaul.

I'm working on that part. Hopefully version 2 is a bit better in that department.

Industrial Helix wrote:And if you're going to call this a live music map, You might want to include some stages or something, because outside of the title, the map has nothing to do with live music. I'd recommend that you take a look at other city maps in the works like Copenhagen, and see how the map incorporates the culture of the city in with it. Then figure out what the culture of Austin is and include it in the map.

Version 2 should address this issue. Like I said above, the background is just to get a background on there for now, so perhaps I can find a way to incorporate live music into the background, so that the theme is implemented visually as well as in gameplay.

isaiah40 wrote:You've got a good start, and I agree with Helix's suggestion here:

Industrial Helix wrote:Well, I would say the graphics need a big overhaul.

And if you're going to call this a live music map, You might want to include some stages or something, because outside of the title, the map has nothing to do with live music. I'd recommend that you take a look at other city maps in the works like Copenhagen, and see how the map incorporates the culture of the city in with it. Then figure out what the culture of Austin is and include it in the map.

Also, I didn't know the rivers went OVER the interstate? JK, keep up the good work and looking forward to your next update!

Thanks.

Was this response to version 1 or version 2 of the map?

As for the river...haha, I must have missed that. Easy fix though. Will correct that in the next version.

Any other feedback?

Also, is this draft of sufficient quality to be moved out of the Melting Pot into the Drafting Room? Or does it need more work before it can be moved?

tkr4lf wrote:

isaiah40 wrote:You've got a good start, and I agree with Helix's suggestion here:

Industrial Helix wrote:Well, I would say the graphics need a big overhaul.

And if you're going to call this a live music map, You might want to include some stages or something, because outside of the title, the map has nothing to do with live music. I'd recommend that you take a look at other city maps in the works like Copenhagen, and see how the map incorporates the culture of the city in with it. Then figure out what the culture of Austin is and include it in the map.

Also, I didn't know the rivers went OVER the interstate? JK, keep up the good work and looking forward to your next update!

Thanks.

Was this response to version 1 or version 2 of the map?

As for the river...haha, I must have missed that. Easy fix though. Will correct that in the next version.

Any other feedback?

Just in response to Helix's post. Take a look at Copenhagen, and Pot Mosbi to see how they incorporated the cities heritage, attractions etc., and think of what you can do for Austin. Maybe like concert halls, theme parks etc. Give us a taste of what Austin has to offer, not just music. That IMHO would be more interesting than just having a music themed map. Since you have Austin's slogan, I say to keep it!

I say a little more work and we can get it moved for you!!

tkr4lf wrote:

isaiah40 wrote:

Also, I didn't know the rivers went OVER the interstate? JK, keep up the good work and looking forward to your next update!

As for the river...haha, I must have missed that. Easy fix though. Will correct that in the next version.

Well roads goin under a river ? like in a tunnel ?

nice change you done, for me it looks like you have takin every suburban area included in Austin (never been ther so I dont know ) what Im saying, is it posible to concentrate on the downtown more ? soom in, Magnify center, then I think its easier for you to highlight individual sites where all the fun is taking place, then you could call territorys for eg. jazz bar or blues stage, open air rock and so on.
the back ground, you find something

Flapcake wrote: Well roads goin under a river ? like in a tunnel ?

That could work, but Austin has no tunnels, only bridges, so I'd rather not go that route.

Flapcake wrote:nice change you done, for me it looks like you have takin every suburban area included in Austin (never been ther so I dont know ) what Im saying, is it posible to concentrate on the downtown more ? soom in, Magnify center, then I think its easier for you to highlight individual sites where all the fun is taking place, then you could call territorys for eg. jazz bar or blues stage, open air rock and so on.
the back ground, you find something

The thing about this is that it's not the direction I was wanting to take with this map. I was really wanting to make a map of the city of Austin, not just downtown Austin. And, to be honest, it almost sounds like if I did it this way, it would be almost just like your Copenhagen map. Don't get me wrong, your map looks fun to play, but it's just not the direction I was wanting to take with the map.

isaiah40 wrote:Just in response to Helix's post. Take a look at Copenhagen, and Pot Mosbi to see how they incorporated the cities heritage, attractions etc., and think of what you can do for Austin. Maybe like concert halls, theme parks etc. Give us a taste of what Austin has to offer, not just music. That IMHO would be more interesting than just having a music themed map. Since you have Austin's slogan, I say to keep it!

I say a little more work and we can get it moved for you!!

As far as the theme of the map goes, originally I just wanted the theme to be Austin. That's it. Just the city with pure classic gameplay. I came up with the live music idea to add a little something extra to the theme of the map.

As for attractions, heritage, etc., live music is one of the biggest. PBS has an ongoing show that has been running for something like 25 years (didn't fact check that, so I could be wrong) called Austin City Limits that is nothing but some of the live music that comes out of the city. Every year there is a huge music/multimedia gathering here called South by Southwest. Live music is a pretty big thing here.

Other than that, there's not a lot else. I mean, sure, I could put in some museums that we have, or concert halls, ballets, crap like that that almost every major city has. But the big unique thing about Austin is how much live music is here. Just a random factoid, Austin has more live music/musicians per capita than any other city in the U.S., hence the "Live Music Capital of the World." Not sure why it's not "Live Music Capital of the U.S.", but I guess "World" sounds better.

Either way, I think going the way that you and flapcake are suggesting is going to make it too much like those other maps. Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to change the theme, but I don't want it to be the Copenhagen map set in Austin, which it almost seems like you guys are suggesting. Correct me if I'm wrong here.

Are there any other ideas about the theme? Or would it be enough to just have a straight classic style map with the city of Austin? I mean it does say in the guidelines that:

A map should be ‘inherently unique either in gameplay, location, or theme’.

So, wouldn't it be enough that the location is unique? Do I really need to go to all the extra work of making a themed map when the location itself is the theme?

Honestly, I could go with the live music theme, or just the classic gameplay city of Austin map. Either one would work fine for me. Or something else. But I'm not too keen on showing the sites/attractions of Austin or on doing a map of just one section of Austin.

Thoughts?

tkr4lf wrote:
As far as the theme of the map goes, originally I just wanted the theme to be Austin. That's it. Just the city with pure classic gameplay. I came up with the live music idea to add a little something extra to the theme of the map.


Either way, I think going the way that you and flapcake are suggesting is going to make it too much like those other maps. Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to change the theme, but I don't want it to be the Copenhagen map set in Austin, which it almost seems like you guys are suggesting. Correct me if I'm wrong here.


So, wouldn't it be enough that the location is unique? Do I really need to go to all the extra work of making a themed map when the location itself is the theme?

I understand you 100% thers nothing wrong with doing a only location and strait 4ward map, you are not suposed to do any changes that people suggest, (that dont meens not to listen to any one) its only ideas and input, I dont expect you to make a replica om my map or any ohter.

What isaiah40, ohters and Im is giving you are only seeds to your insperation, its up to you what way to go, the foundry are what the name "foundry" says, its a process where your work gets formed, some times good ideas comes from unexpected cornors and ohters times its a wild shot.

What you need is to form a map that catch peoples interest, such as: gameplay, (simple or complicated) graphics, (shiny or silly) historical, (past or future/fiction) the options for combining thise are endless.

I hope you can use my words for insperation.

Flap