[Official] Centerscape/Midgard REVAMP [Quenched]

[pamoa]

maybe Frozen Grounds for the first

[WidowMakers]

maybe Frozen Grounds for the first

That is not bad but MrBenn's suggestion uses the word Shire and that reflects back well to the old middle earth map. We will see what others say

[davidmcc]

yeah I like all of the names excapt Glacial Shires, which just sounds wierd to me.

EDIT: frozen shires then?

[WidowMakers]

yeah I like all of the names excapt Glacial Shires, which just sounds wierd to me.

EDIT: frozen shires then?

Well lets stick to the cold theme

How about _______ Shires:

Arctic
Frozen (suggested)
Glacial (suggested)
Icy
Polar
Snowy
Wintry
Crystal
Ice

I like Crystal, Frozen and Ice

WM

[hecter]

I like Arctic and Frozen myself.

[The Neon Peon]

Crystal and Frozen are my two favorites.

[MrBenn]

Shires was an obvious nod to The Shire
I'll admit that Glacial Shires doesn't roll of the tongue very well... Wintershire?

[Kaplowitz]

I like Crystal and Frost

[djak.]

Was the original map removed for using location names from Middle Earth?

[MrBenn]

Was the original map removed for using location names from Middle Earth?

Nobody other than the site owner (and possibly admins) knows the full reasons, but people have speculated that there was a kerfuffle with Hasbro (who have an LOTR version of Risk), resulting in the loss of the Classic Map and the map formerly known as Middle Earth.

[rishaed]

Crystal

[WidowMakers]

Well it looks like Frosted and Crystal are the front runners. I will make the other changes and we can come back to that particular name later after more people weigh in.

WM

[the.killing.44]

I vote Frosted (see edit)

.44

EDIT: I agree with edbeard about the "Frosty"

[edbeard]

Frosty Shires sounds better to me than either Frozen Shires or Frosted Shires

[WidowMakers]

OK. I made many of the name changes that MrBenn suggested. However, i did keep some of the names that Rj and I talked about a while ago and wanted to keep (Isle of Nugs for example. But you still got Entmoot Ridge )

As far as the legend goes it appears that Crystal or Frosty will be one the final.
Some of the names have been kept due to the size restrictions of the territories they occupy.
I think most of them are good and unless there is a REALLLLLLLLY GOOD reason to change one of them, they will stay.

I am going to start the small map and XML too.

Large Version 7

[the.killing.44]

I'd make the Northern Plains' color in the key a bit yellow/beige-er. atm it the color is very similar to Barrendown.

.44

[theButterfly]

Thank you, RjBeals and WidowMakers, for giving us a map that's already better than the original Middle Earth map.

As far as _____ Shires is concerned, I still think Icy Tundra was the best name proposed so far; but if it must be a "shire" name, then I'd go with Crystal Shire. Of course, if you want to give a nod to Lovecraft, you could always call it the Cold Waste and change Drumlin to Kadath--just as a way of including more fantasy writers than just Tolkien.

I have to say I'm not really happy with the names of the Northern Plains and Enting Forest. Northern Plains doesn't seem harsh enough, and Enting Forest sounds too forced.

Northern Plains: "Northern Desert" or "Badlands" sounds better.

Enting Forest: "Dark Forest" (It can make up the Tolkien theme in territory names.)

Another thought: How about changing "Barrendown" to "Kingdom of Barrendown"? I know I'd rather not lose the ship in the southern part of the sea, but I'd also like the impression of people living in this world. In my imagination, it seems like Goldenfield and Barrendown are the two regions with the biggest human populations. I imagine Goldenfield as being mostly small towns and farmland and Barrendown as having the bigger cities. (Then again, any people in Barrendown would have to have a way of protecting themselves from dragons that fly west to feed.)

One final suggestion: one territory, probably in Barrendown, should be named Heorot.

[MrBenn]

Here's my next batch of random thoughts/observations...

1. The orange and red in the legend boxes looks slightly more saturated than on the map itself.
2. What did you decide about the map title: 'Midgard: The Lost Realm'?
3. Three Lakes actually borders Four Lakes
4. Some of the territory names look like slightly different shades (compare Hubcity to Northern Waste)
5. Have we double-checked that the gameplay is identical to the existing map?
6. XML... It absolutely MUST have the territories in the same (relative) order as the existing map
7. In the legend, the L of Northern Plains looks like it's an I
8. The mountain pass between Stones Pass and Shadowmist could either be made narrower (by adding a mountain or two to fill the brown space below the existing mountains), or slightly wider (by removing one or two of the mountains just above the brown space). Either that, or tweak the border so that the colour-change happens at the end of the ridge?
9. Totally random idea - the one-way arrow could be a fire-breathing dragon? (this is only a half-hearted suggestion!)
10. If you compare the lakes between The __ Shires/Goldenfield and DeadMarsh/Northern Plains, the edges have a very different quality (ie one is 'bobbly' and the other is smooth). I'm not sure if this is a big issue or not, but is probably the only real issue that I can see anybody raising as a legitimate concern (and I think it was raised in the competition thread?)

[WidowMakers]

Thank you, RjBeals and WidowMakers, for giving us a map that's already better than the original Middle Earth map.

Really you need to thank RJ. It is his map. i am just helping to get it done because he is busy outside CC.

As far as _____ Shires is concerned, I still think Icy Tundra was the best name proposed so far; but if it must be a "shire" name, then I'd go with Crystal Shire. Of course, if you want to give a nod to Lovecraft, you could always call it the Cold Waste and change Drumlin to Kadath--just as a way of including more fantasy writers than just Tolkien.

I have to say I'm not really happy with the names of the Northern Plains and Enting Forest. Northern Plains doesn't seem harsh enough, and Enting Forest sounds too forced.

Northern Plains: "Northern Desert" or "Badlands" sounds better.

Enting Forest: "Dark Forest" (It can make up the Tolkien theme in territory names.)

I like the Northern Desert Idea. It sounds better and goes with the color. I like the Dark forest as well. Especially since we already have Entmoot Ridge as a tert name.

Now as far as Icy Tundra, Crystal Shire or Frosty Shire. We will probably go with a ______ Shire to keep nods to Tolkien.

Another thought: How about changing "Barrendown" to "Kingdom of Barrendown"? I know I'd rather not lose the ship in the southern part of the sea, but I'd also like the impression of people living in this world. In my imagination, it seems like Goldenfield and Barrendown are the two regions with the biggest human populations. I imagine Goldenfield as being mostly small towns and farmland and Barrendown as having the bigger cities. (Then again, any people in Barrendown would have to have a way of protecting themselves from dragons that fly west to feed.)

One final suggestion: one territory, probably in Barrendown, should be named Heorot.

Well we are not losing another ship so it will stay Barrendown. As far as Heorot, why?

Thanks
WM

[Kaplowitz]

maybe some city icons? like Hubcity?

[WidowMakers]

=D>

Here's my next batch of random thoughts/observations...

1. The orange and red in the legend boxes looks slightly more saturated than on the map itself.
DONE!
2. What did you decide about the map title: 'Midgard: The Lost Realm'?
Oops. FIXED!
3. Three Lakes actually borders Four Lakes
Duh. My mistake. FIXED
4. Some of the territory names look like slightly different shades (compare Hubcity to Northern Waste)
Messed up when I was switching names around. FIXED
5. Have we double-checked that the gameplay is identical to the existing map?
I did a bout 3 times but it would be good for someone else to do it as well. MrBenn?
6. XML... It absolutely MUST have the territories in the same (relative) order as the existing map
What do you mean. I plan on just taking the current XML and replacing names so the order will not change in teh actual XML file, just the words
7. In the legend, the L of Northern Plains looks like it's an I
Not an issue anymore with desert
8. The mountain pass between Stones Pass and Shadowmist could either be made narrower (by adding a mountain or two to fill the brown space below the existing mountains), or slightly wider (by removing one or two of the mountains just above the brown space). Either that, or tweak the border so that the colour-change happens at the end of the ridge?
FIXED
9. Totally random idea - the one-way arrow could be a fire-breathing dragon? (this is only a half-hearted suggestion!)
I don't think so. To make it look good teh dragon woudl need to be really big. The arrow is fine and fits well but is not IN YOUR FACE
10. If you compare the lakes between The __ Shires/Goldenfield and DeadMarsh/Northern Plains, the edges have a very different quality (ie one is 'bobbly' and the other is smooth). I'm not sure if this is a big issue or not, but is probably the only real issue that I can see anybody raising as a legitimate concern (and I think it was raised in the competition thread?)
The interior lakes have smoother shores but the coastal waters (i.e. The __ Shires/Goldenfield) don't

[WidowMakers]

LARGE Version 8

SMALL Version 2

[WidowMakers]

maybe some city icons? like Hubcity?

Nope. Sorry. Not adding more icons or other stuff that was not in the original map. The dragons were something that RJ was going to do but did not get to. The map is already simple and clean. Not going to add more than it needs.

WM

[theButterfly]

As far as Heorot, why?

Just as a nod to Beowulf--no other reason. As the oldest surviving epic fantasy story in the English language and a primary influence on Tolkien, I think it deserves a small mention.

As I think about it, I can only think of two places where it would fit. Geolwe and Dern are the only two territories I can see that are accessible from ships coming from the sea and in close proximity to the Dead Marsh, which is the likely home for grotesque troll-like creatures.

Anyway, it's just a suggestion. If it doesn't fit, then it's better to leave it out.

[The Neon Peon]

Final forge this thing.

I would like to say that this has one of the best, if not the best graphics I have ever seen on a CC map (quenched and in the foundry).