Africa II [SoS Africa Reward Map]

[AndyDufresne]

My vote is for a bigger, better version of Africa. Wait a minute, we have that with Africa 2. Please leave it. A bit of scrolling never hurts unless you have Carpal tunnel syndrome.

I think there is some might be a way to eliminate some of the dead space in the map, so that everything can be tightened up. A map with no scrolling from a general point of view is much more preferred than a map with scrolling. If it turns out it ruins the map, we can at least say we tried.


--Andy

[chapcrap]

I would agree with Andy on this. There is no reason for it to be as large as it is. The smaller the better when it comes to maps image size.

[Gilligan]

I disagree...Any smaller and it'd be very cluttered.

[DiM]

I disagree...Any smaller and it'd be very cluttered.

while some areas could surely be smaller others would probably look like crap if they were shrunk.

there are several countries that barely fit the animal icon and some that can't even do that. shrink it more and it will be a mess, unless you start screwing with the borders, in which case you can just call this "almost africa"

[alster]

Nobodies, would it be possible to make the small map...even a little smaller? It's pretty big / tall, and it looks like it might be possible to make it smaller. The only thing I like more about Africa, over Africa II, is that it is smaller and fits in your window nicer.


--Andy

YES!

That is why I came here. Just opened my first game on the map - the map just hit me in the face (and I use show small map size as default). Compared to other maps, it is very big. See no need for it when other maps fit neatly onto the screen. Makes it more difficult to play when everything is big, no overview, scrolling up and down etc.

[Gillipig]

I would agree with Andy on this. There is no reason for it to be as large as it is. The smaller the better when it comes to maps image size.

Does that apply to other things in life as well?
This is turning into one of my favorite maps! If it is because I keep winning on it or that I genuinely enjoy playing on it is uncertain though !

[thenobodies80]

Elephants reversed, didn't change the font in the legend...no way to fit it and have it readable with the new font.
Moved the border between Mauritania and Algeria for a clear border between western Sahara and Algeria.

[bigimg]http://wcforums.org/AfricaFiles/africa4.7.png[/bigimg]

Now, let me show you a couple of preview (not refined) of the ridicolous and ugly small versions with a size that fits the useless UI we have.
I don't know if laugh or cry

[bigimg]http://wcforums.org/AfricaFiles/small1.png[/bigimg]

[bigimg]http://wcforums.org/AfricaFiles/small2.png[/bigimg]

Hey, better to bother mapmakers than change the UI removing a useless left side bar menu

Now, choose the size you prefer the most, I really dislike both of them and I'm really disappointed to have to shrink the map down. If it was my site i would remove just the left sidebar in the game page, move the game command next to the map and i would also tell to those who can't see the map also in that way to buy a real monitor. But it's not my site afterall.....so choose the version you want. (btw remember that the images need to be compressed, so quality will be lower)

[spoiler=A_Good_UI][bigimg]http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3867/howafuckinggooduishould.jpg[/bigimg][/spoiler]

[koontz1973]

.....so choose the version you want. (btw remember that the images need to be compressed, so quality will be lower)

Original. Sorry to the guys that want the smaller small version, but I only have a small monitor on my home PC and small maps are what I play, but the original small is still way better than either of the two mock ups nobodies did for us.

Scrolling is annoying but the map is not so large that it is not manageable for a few games. Once the beta dust settles, players who like the map will play it, and ones that do not will not. Over the two maps, I would rather scroll my way around this beauty than play the much maligned original African map or a compressed version.

[Nola_Lifer]

I would agree with Andy on this. There is no reason for it to be as large as it is. The smaller the better when it comes to maps image size.

+1. It is too big. I can't comprehend the map because it is so big.

[chapcrap]

I do like the small version better for playing on.

If the UI could be changed on the site, that might be for the best, but that's not something we have available right now, so I say go smaller.

I would agree with Andy on this. There is no reason for it to be as large as it is. The smaller the better when it comes to maps image size.

Does that apply to other things in life as well?

No comment.

[thenobodies80]

[bigimg]http://wcforums.org/AfricaFiles/africa4.7.png[/bigimg]
[bigimg]http://wcforums.org/AfricaFiles/africa4.7s.png[/bigimg]

Ok, here the update. I'll ask to lackattack to do a test before to upload the small image: I'm pretty sure you will complain becuase you won't be able to read/understand the map when compressed and I will have to rever the images back to the old size.
But I use always big maps so If you are happy....

[army of nobunaga]

I like this map.. I like it better than the other one. But do we need 2 africa maps? Or will africa become the new UK in cc, where its cool to make a map for every 20 years of its history?>

[DiM]

Ok, here the update.

i took my old intel 286 with 4 mb ram out of the storage and i have to say i'm not impressed with your map at all.
first of all my display only shows 16 colours so your palette is not very friendly in this aspect. i get most of the terits mixed up.
also my resolution is only 640x350px and the map doesn't fit.
i'd like to scroll but that's really hard considering my mouse does not have a scrollwheel.
so please reduce this map even more and adjust the colours to be compatible with my monitor.

[chapcrap]

Ok, here the update.

i took my old intel 286 with 4 mb ram out of the storage and i have to say i'm not impressed with your map at all.
first of all my display only shows 16 colours so your palette is not very friendly in this aspect. i get most of the terits mixed up.
also my resolution is only 640x350px and the map doesn't fit.
i'd like to scroll but that's really hard considering my mouse does not have a scrollwheel.
so please reduce this map even more and adjust the colours to be compatible with my monitor.

Well played. I still like it to be small though.

[DiM]

omg this is absolutely absurd.
while in the storage i also found my HC85. while i knew it has an even lower resolution of 256x192px i was mentally prepared to deal with this. however i was not prepared for the absurd size that your map has.
the small one is 865kb while the large one is over 1.8mb. do you sir have any idea that my HC85 works only with cassettes? and do you know that the cassettes only store 660kb of data per side? i bet you didn't, otherwise you would have thought about this sooner and would have accommodated the poor people stuck in the last century.
i expect you come up with something like this:

[thenobodies80]

Hi DiM, welcome to the CC Map Foundry!

I don't know if I'm able to satisfy your request but I can suggest you to play a NEW great game I heard about: TRY IT!!!

On a more serious note, although I agree with you and I dislike the new small version...we should try to listen people.

[koontz1973]

http://www.fileden.com/files/2012/1/27/3255536/Africa2v2.xml

Sent to nobodies and posting here as well.

[Victor Sullivan]

[spoiler=A_Good_UI][bigimg]http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3867/howafuckinggooduishould.jpg[/bigimg][/spoiler]

Oh, crap! I almost forgot to take my turns! Brb...

-Sully

[iancanton]

11. I realise there may also be some space problems, but putting some nations in and leaving others out i think is a no-no...Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda etc. i think there is space to include them, even if they have to be combined like you have done with Ghana and Togo...but what happened with Equitorial Guinea - it has mainland territory also. You've also included the Seychelles etc, but what about Cape Verde? The Gambia could be included with Senegal - yes?

Gameplay was discussed a lot behind the scenes, but I'll ask to iancanton or Victor Sullivan to explain why we decided to do things in this way.

if there is room, then senegal can be changed to senegal & gambia (the senegambia confederation no longer exists, else we could have used that name) and zambia can be changed to zambia & malawi. i believe that uganda, rwanda & burundi will not fit the map, so it will have to stay as uganda. the purpose of removing mainland equatorial guinea from the map, while keeping the connections the same, was to avoid confusing players; it can be restored if there is a strong opinion about this and we find a good way to represent the country as one region.

mauritius was added for gameplay reasons, to avoid having an attractive 3-region bonus that is somewhat segregated from the main theatre of play. although there is a good argument that cape verde ought to be included because it's closer to mainland africa, its logical connection is with senegal & gambia and we simply don't have the space to fit it in.

são tomé has been misspelled as sao tomé in the xml and as sao tomè on both large and small maps. cote d'ivoire ought to be côte d'ivoire.

ian.

[koontz1973]

são tomé has been misspelled as sao tomé in the xml and as sao tomè on both large and small maps. cote d'ivoire ought to be côte d'ivoire.

ian.

Fixed those spellings in the xml.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2012/1/27/3255536/A2.xml

[DoomYoshi]

Hey all! Beautiful Map.

However, I am wondering if you can change the 'interterritory' bridges to a different graphic from the 'intraterritory bridges'. I know the map, but it still is difficult to see sometimes and might make the map more 'n00b-friendly'.

[thenobodies80]

if there is room, then senegal can be changed to senegal & gambia (the senegambia confederation no longer exists, else we could have used that name) and zambia can be changed to zambia & malawi. i believe that uganda, rwanda & burundi will not fit the map, so it will have to stay as uganda. the purpose of removing mainland equatorial guinea from the map, while keeping the connections the same, was to avoid confusing players; it can be restored if there is a strong opinion about this and we find a good way to represent the country as one region.

Not done, I put the names in the big, but no way to fit them in the small. Moreover if we have to do that just for the sake. Honestly I think that for too long we have allowed to everyone to set as mandatory suggestion even if those didn't had a real technical purpose. This is not Nation Geographic nor a Carthograpy Industry, so we can have a map that is not exactly like reality, specially if it makes the map less cluttered.

são tomé has been misspelled as sao tomé in the xml and as sao tomè on both large and small maps. cote d'ivoire ought to be côte d'ivoire

Done, thanks ian.

btw i moved also a couple of names to fit better the new xml.

I am wondering if you can change the 'interterritory' bridges to a different graphic from the 'intraterritory bridges'.

I get what you mean, but if i do that i have to add another legend, this because I know that someone with zero brain will come here and say....why you have 2 different bridges? can you explain what is the difference with a legend?....then we will finish to have a group of legends with a map. I had tu cut the map to a size i really dislike...I won't ruin this map anymore than this.

Now, can these versions and the new xml be uploaded or there's something else to fix/change?

[iancanton]

democratic republic of congo's lost its coastline! can u put it back? the angola-congo border also needs to be removed from the xml.

ian.

[koontz1973]

Removed the border from the xml but need to get to work. Will post in a couple of hours.

[koontz1973]

Border removed.
http://wcforums.org/AfricaFiles/africa.fixed.S.png