Conquer Club

Hi lostatlimbo,

Something has been bugging me about this map for a while I couldn't put my finger on it and didn't want say anything without having something constructive to say. But I think I worked out what has been bothering me. It is the picture you have used in the background. The content picture itself is fine, but it is blurred and doesn't tie in well with everything else on the map. You territory names, legends, the map itself are all very simplistic, crisp and clean. Your map also has some subtle bevels giving the map a nice 3D tone, but you background image is flat and very 2D. Now I don't think that there is anything graphically wrong with the background or the map but I just think together they clash. You know what I mean?

I am not sure there is a quick and easy solution but you seem like a bright guy, I am sure you could work something out, if you agree with that I have said.


p.s. this offends me

danfrank wrote:I absolutely love how they have knitpicked this map for YEARS yes YEARS


Why ? Land and Sea map which graphically is terrible didnt receive a tenth of this . Along with dozens of others..

33rd Draft
I made many of the changes suggested since the last update, including minor cosmetic changes. Of note:
- I cartoonized the beer mugs
- I upped the drop shadow on territory names
- I replaced the Mt Hood picture to give it more depth and opened up the intensity of color. The map was starting to look rather drab and gray and I think this helps. Too much? Just enough?

[bigimg]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/lostatlimbo/Portland_new9.png[/bigimg]

Call me dense, but do the offset MAX stations only connect with the neighborhood they're inside of? The distinction can't be drawn by the legend, and there are others that are perfectly situated between.

Looks good, Mt. Rainer doesn't draw my attention away from the playable area now. Just one thing, the "P" and "O" look kind of pixelated and warped a tad
.
Is there a something you can do to fix them?

isaiah40 wrote:Looks good, Mt. Rainer doesn't draw my attention away from the playable area now. Just one thing, the "P" and "O" look kind of pixelated and warped a tad
.
Is there a something you can do to fix them?

Actually, that's Mt Hood. Rainer is closer to Seattle, but I digress....

I tried to clean that image up and softened it a tad.... hope this helps:


[bigimg]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/lostatlimbo/Portland_new10.png[/bigimg]

TaCktiX wrote:Call me dense, but do the offset MAX stations only connect with the neighborhood they're inside of? The distinction can't be drawn by the legend, and there are others that are perfectly situated between.

The legend states "Board & De-board MAX stations via adjacent neighborhoods".

So, basically, if a territory is touching a MAX station in any fashion, they are connected and can attack each way.

The 'P' and 'O' look much better now. Now we just wait for any other comments and/or suggestions.

imo - good ^^, this is looking clean and crisp

i'm not too fond of the whole neon sign title. the image you found is kinda poor quality and the lights are very blurry. this contrasts a lot with the crisp lines on the map. maybe you could either find a better image or even draw one yourself. plus by using a photo found on the net you had to take out the background and this way you lost all the lighting of the neon. now the light ends when the lightbulb ends and it's weird and unnatural.

DiM wrote:i'm not too fond of the whole neon sign title. the image you found is kinda poor quality and the lights are very blurry. this contrasts a lot with the crisp lines on the map. maybe you could either find a better image or even draw one yourself. plus by using a photo found on the net you had to take out the background and this way you lost all the lighting of the neon. now the light ends when the lightbulb ends and it's weird and unnatural.

I have actually already brought this issue up and it has as of yet to be addressed.

DiM wrote:i'm not too fond of the whole neon sign title. the image you found is kinda poor quality and the lights are very blurry. this contrasts a lot with the crisp lines on the map. maybe you could either find a better image or even draw one yourself. plus by using a photo found on the net you had to take out the background and this way you lost all the lighting of the neon. now the light ends when the lightbulb ends and it's weird and unnatural.

Well, I could just change it to Brush Script - that seems to be a hit

34th Draft
Played around with a few versions, but this one really grabbed me...

Yeah that looks good. Perhaps you could try adding some shadow under it though.

The new sign is at daytime. Okay.

If you make the names of the Bike Paths a neutral colour than it would me more clear that they reset to neutral.

The Max stations are not territories right? They don't have names. Then how do you hold Fareless zone? This could only be possible by holding Irvington and DMSI. These don't relly connect to the Max station on the map but to the Max rail. If you give the white Max stations the colour of the line and the Fareless Zone all three colours the Fareless Zone could better connect to adjacent territories.

the new sign looks better but you still need to tweak it.
the inner background of the sign wasn;t completely removed and you still have some pixels here and there (under the D, in the small curves of the neons). also the letters have some spots either from dirt or from wear and tear that could use fixing.
then add a drop shadow to the letter and neons and a nice glow to just the neons.

sannemanrobinson wrote:The new sign is at daytime. Okay.

If you make the names of the Bike Paths a neutral colour than it would me more clear that they reset to neutral.

The Max stations are not territories right? They don't have names. Then how do you hold Fareless zone? This could only be possible by holding Irvington and DMSI. These don't relly connect to the Max station on the map but to the Max rail. If you give the white Max stations the colour of the line and the Fareless Zone all three colours the Fareless Zone could better connect to adjacent territories.

The MAX stations are territories and are named by the territories with which they connect (i.e. Old Town-Pioneer MAX Stop). Except for the Fareless Zone, which is named Fareless Zone.

I like your other suggestion and have implemented it. Thanks!

35th Draft
Fixed up the sign as DiM suggested and also re-did the "Made in Oregon" sign.
Changed the bike territory names to neutral color.
I also fixed up some other minor aesthetic things that were bugging me, like the goofy blue MAX line in SW/Downtown.

[bigimg]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/lostatlimbo/Portland_new14.png[/bigimg]

DiM wrote:the new sign looks better but you still need to tweak it.
the inner background of the sign wasn;t completely removed and you still have some pixels here and there (under the D, in the small curves of the neons). also the letters have some spots either from dirt or from wear and tear that could use fixing.
then add a drop shadow to the letter and neons and a nice glow to just the neons.

I made most your changes (and very much like the result).

The only one I didn't address is the 'dirt' on the letters. I think these add some texture and make it look older & gives it a little character.

Thanks for your input. You have quite the eye for detail.

lostatlimbo wrote:

sannemanrobinson wrote:The Max stations are not territories right? They don't have names. Then how do you hold Fareless zone? This could only be possible by holding Irvington and DMSI. These don't relly connect to the Max station on the map but to the Max rail. If you give the white Max stations the colour of the line and the Fareless Zone all three colours the Fareless Zone could better connect to adjacent territories.

The MAX stations are territories and are named by the territories with which they connect (i.e. Old Town-Pioneer MAX Stop). Except for the Fareless Zone, which is named Fareless Zone.

Okay it I understand now and it will be more obvious in the game when there are army numbers on the MAX stations.

good work Limbo...the map looks awesome...glad you stuck with the historic Portland signs...those bring a lot of character to the map.

flexmaster33 wrote:good work Limbo...the map looks awesome...glad you stuck with the historic Portland signs...those bring a lot of character to the map.

Thanks flex! I'm really happy with the progress. Hoping its finally close to a stamp now.

36th Draft
I've been considering some other map names and I'm warming up to "Portlandia". Thoughts?

What's wrong with just Portland.

natty_dread wrote:What's wrong with just Portland.

my thoughts exactly.
plus the title on the map says portland not portlandia or rosie city or any other name.