Conquer Club

natty_dread wrote:Either way, I'll try to find a free font editing software, so I can edit the kerning of the font..

Ok! After extensive searching, I finally found a software that is free, does not require me to install an UNIX emulator, and allows to edit truetype fonts.

So I managed to widen the spacing of that font. I'll also edit the small i because it looks too much like l at 9 px. I'll do that and then redo the small version text, hopefully then it will be satisfactory to everyone

Ok here's the result... there's a problem though: this makes all territory labels wider... there's a few places where they don't really fit properly (macrobius, triesnecker)... it also kinda clutters the map with text IMO, but if you think this is better then we'll go with it.

[bigimg]http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/4677/lunar29esmall.png[/bigimg]

It helps make the text legible... but you're right about the congestion.

For some of the longer names, perhaps hyphenating them might be a nice solution to that.

Industrial Helix wrote:It helps make the text legible... but you're right about the congestion.

For some of the longer names, perhaps hyphenating them might be a nice solution to that.

Yeah I tought of hyphenating... something about it just seems icky to me.

I'll try the condensed version of this font. Maybe if I increase the spacing on that one it would still be legible enough to be used here... gotta give it a shot, eh.

Man, I've redone the territory names so many times, I can remember them all without looking them up...

I think you have it at last. For example, the words "Tranquillitatis", "Bullialdus" and "Piccolomini" now have spacing which improves their legibility. I presume these were some of the ones causing IH trouble. You may want to apply this font in your legend now. Although I can read the green text, some of them (e.g., "Brazil") are a little smudged, and the extra space might help.

Taking another look at the legend, it might be nice if the pictures in the left hand column of the Mission Objectives could be enlarged somehow. Those tiny icons are a bit hard to relate to. What if the Mission Objective (the victory rule) were separated out into its own box just above the existing one, and the remaining items about bonuses were enlarged a bit in a box called Logistics? (I think that is the current military term which covers command and control of supplies, the old quartermaster's job.) If the icons for the bonus information were as big as the ones in the Briefing box, I'd be happy.

Thanks for your input ender. I'll respond but first I'll post this update where the legend is up to date.

[bigimg]http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/9198/lunar30small.png[/bigimg]

(I also improved the territory text a bit - which is to say I redid it once again from scratch but this time played with the alpha values before applying drop shadow & outline.)

I'm also thinking about changing the large version text to use the same font as this, for consistency... (and because I like the way it looks, obviously.)

ender516 wrote:Taking another look at the legend, it might be nice if the pictures in the left hand column of the Mission Objectives could be enlarged somehow. Those tiny icons are a bit hard to relate to. What if the Mission Objective (the victory rule) were separated out into its own box just above the existing one, and the remaining items about bonuses were enlarged a bit in a box called Logistics?

I'm not too keen on doing this. I'd like to keep the victory condition + bonuses on the same box, since they both have to do with "rewards" that you get for holding certain territories. The current legend division into 3 areas makes the best sense to me.

However, I'll see if I can enlargen the icons somewhat, somehow. There's some empty space between the lines, so I can probably manage a few pixels here and there...

Glad to hear it. I do like the flag you use in the legend (heraldically, I think the blazon would be "bleu celeste, a saltire argent"). That's the United States of Generica, right?

I wouldn't mind seeing a generic flag with the CC star in it. That way there's no confusion for someone looking for the Scottish flags on the map.... but it's more of a personally preference, since I hope to God no one actually things that light blue is really in the Scottish flag.

ender516 wrote:Glad to hear it. I do like the flag you use in the legend (heraldically, I think the blazon would be "bleu celeste, a saltire argent"). That's the United States of Generica, right?

Hmm, I don't think Generica is a federal state, I think it's a representative anarchy.

RedBaron0 wrote:I wouldn't mind seeing a generic flag with the CC star in it. That way there's no confusion for someone looking for the Scottish flags on the map.... but it's more of a personally preference, since I hope to God no one actually things that light blue is really in the Scottish flag.

Yeah I was thinking about putting a star there. However I didn't want people to think I was kissing mibi's ass

Seriously though, I fear a star would look smudgy in the smallest sizes...

Anyway, it's time for a new version number, so this is v30:

large
[bigimg]http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/2696/lunar30.png[/bigimg]

small

Ah, the legend is looking better.

Think about changing the perspective of the shuttles. They might look better from a top down or even 45 degree angle. there is some space you can use down to about Grimaldi along the edge. The shuttles just are... eh. I can deal with the missiles, they're just pointy sticks really, if anyone can't figure out they're missiles, then that person likely doesn't know what a computer is either.

I'll consider it, but I kinda like how all the shuttles are in one place now, and don't take too much space in the map. Keeping that in mind, I'll try to work something out

Also, a thing to consider: it makes sense for the country flags to be painted on the sides of the shuttles, but it doesn't make much sense for them to be painted on the roof...

Ok, since there's at least 2 people who are dissatisfied with the current shuttles, I'll be doing an alternate shuttle icon... but it will still be in the side perspective, because that just works the best.

I tried making an icon from the "top down" angle but I ran into problems: where to put the flag? If I put it on the roof it looks really weird and unnatural. If I put it on the wing it's too small, especially in the legend, and in the small version, not to mention the small version legend... I also considered putting the flag separately of the shuttle, but then it would be hard to incorporate in the legend, and it would hurt the visual clarity.

So Redbaron0, can you elaborate what actually bothers you about the shuttles? I don't want to do the same mistakes twice. Just saying the shuttles are "eh" isn't giving me a whole lot to work on...

They're just really bulbous and iconish. This is the future, I'd just like to see something a little more sleek and futuristic. Not too Star Trekkie just something that looks like the next generation of interplanetary hardware.

If you want to try top down, you could, instead of flags, try just the 2(or 3) letter codes on the wings. How about a view from the side/front, like this:

Key thing to remember is that the shuttle is being retired this year... so use o the shuttle design is already outdated.

I always thought the Concord jets looked rather sleek and spacey and cool like... but speaking of dated...

What about the spaceship two design by Virgin?
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/4 ... ag_416.gif

If you want to try top down, you could, instead of flags, try just the 2(or 3) letter codes on the wings. How about a view from the side/front, like this:

I'm gonna have to pass on both ideas. The flags are paramount in recognizing the connections between shuttles & landing sites. Also the side/front view could look cool, if I had the space to do it...

You said the shuttles look "iconish", but let's remember that, all artistic preferences aside, they must be able to function as legend icons and army circles...

What about the spaceship two design by Virgin?

By Virgin?? Virgin is the operating airline, but AFAIK it was designed by Scaled Composites.

Anyway, the SS2 is a commercial design, built for "space tourism". It doesn't really have space travel capacities, you couldn't fly to the moon with one of those... The SS2 can get just far enough into space that the tourists can experience zero G...

The main problem is, that we have no way of knowing for sure what a next generation spaceship - one built for lunar missions even - would look like. Like I said in an earlier post I believe it will follow a blended wing body design, which is aerodynamically efficient. I also believe it will use dual engines - chemical rockets for atmospheric flight and ion thrusters for spaceflight. But who knows whether my predictions will be right. Anyway, if this site is still up 50 years from now, I can always update the map if I happen to be wrong

By Virgin, well, yeah, you know what I meant. I'm not saying copy it exactly, but use something similar in design as it looks all futuristic and spacey.

Alternatively, you just described the spaceship you ought to make for this map.

Yeah something like this?

[bigimg]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4643/lunar30a.png[/bigimg]

(yeah, it did end up looking a bit like spaceship2... go figure )

Yeah, that one is a bit cooler. The flags need to tilt with the spaceship though and the 'Scotland' one still makes me laugh as it soars well beneath the other country's spaceships.

You don't think it's going to stay there do you? I just made it as an example.

It belongs to the legend...

Anyway I fixed the flags, somewhat, it's not very noticeable because of the small size.

[bigimg]http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6158/lunar30b.png[/bigimg]

natty_dread wrote:You don't think it's going to stay there do you? I just made it as an example.

It belongs to the legend...

Right right, I'm just saying it appears funny to me they way its thrown over there to the side.

So, I gather everyone is satisfied with the new shuttles?