Welcome Comrades to the 87th edition of the Dispatch
Everyone's back from a well earned break - the rest of you who are still away are away: for our protection; for your protection; because you were forgotten; because you forgot us; because you escaped; because we escaped; because you can; or just because! Regardless, if you are still reading this (away or back), welcome and enjoy!
The return of the interviews [player]Cairnswk[/player] gets roasted. Heaps happening in Clans, Tournaments and Foundry - too much to repeat here. And strategy is getting traction.
Hope you are enjoying the Dispatch. Note that it has had a little bit of a shuffle. We would love your input, ideas, suggestions, article prompts, even a well placed brickbat or two wouldn't hurt. So, sing out!! In the immortal words of Oscar Wilde:
It was a fatal day when the public discovered that the pen is mightier than the paving-stone, and can be made as offensive as the brickbat. They at once sought for the journalist, found him, developed him, and made him their industrious and well-paid servant. It is greatly to be regretted, for both their sakes.
Enjoy the fruit of our labouring fingers!
[player]thehippo8[/player] Chief Executive
I'm back from the sun and sand of my vacation and ready to get back to writing. cairnswk talks about mapmaking and his drinks of choice (among other things) this issue and we have a new Scum insider for you mafia aficionados. You Stay Classy, CC.
[spoiler=Interrogation of cairnswk]Q. Cairn, which map are you proudest of?
Thank-you macbone. All of them! I don't have a proudest favourite.
Q. If you could go back and revise one of your maps, which would it be?
I don't know that from gameplay any need revising, but perhaps Madness I would re-visit the graphics on.
Q. Which of the other maps on CC do you wish you had thought of?
None. Other maps have been done by other mapmakers because it is what floats their boat at the time. Same as for me. I've never really though "i was I could have done that one"
Q. What are some things you wish you could do with a map but are not possible right now?
1. Appropriate music in the background i.e. 1812 Overture playing if I was to make a map of Battle of Borodino. 2. Animation of elements i.e. soldiers changing position and moving between terts as the battle changes. 3. Animated legend (which someone has already made advances toward) Q. How did you get interested in designing maps?
On CC, wanting to get Cairns represented as a region. Part of my psyche in developing maps is an educational process as well as the creative process. I am a very visual person because of the old adage ... an image tells a thousand words (good or bad).
Q. Do you ever find your maps too difficult to play yourself?
Never. I don't win much, 'coz there are lots of others better than I, but I still enjoy occasionally re-visiting them, particularly if a player has invited me, or if there is an issue to be sorted.
Q. Qwert is teaching an advanced SoC class, an introduction to his maps (which has yet to be conducted, but will once we have some team grads). Would you ever consider teaching the same kind of class through the SoC?
No. There is already strategy questions available in Q&A. And I don't really have time and would prefer to be developing new maps.
Q. What new map making tools would you like to have at your disposal?
Thank-you Gillipig. It is not so much the tools, but the knowledge of how to use the tools. Although, I do wish Adobe would get all its menus and tools for its various software pieces on the same page for "best purpose use"
Q. If you could drag one user into the foundry and make him comment on the maps, who would it be?
No-one.
Q. Are you pissed at all about not being able to get more than 30 map making medals?
No. I have it spreadsheeted on my computer how many maps I made, and I can keep track in my signature piece. I have long lost track of my premiums, and given many away. The medal issue is attempting to be resolved as are other medal issues, although i hope there is functionality in the resolution and not just a somewhat superficial solution.
Q. What do you want from Santa this year?
Oooh! Couple of mill to do what i want with life, but Santa didn't co-operate, so i must've been bad this year -> ":you naughty boy in the Foundry, trying to "rule the place".
Q. Apart from the map foundry, do you ever browse the forums?
Yes, for topics that are CC related and i feel i can contribute proactively to.
Q. Who's mapmaking skills do you covet?
Thank-you chapcrap. No-one's! we all have different skills and do some things better than others. Coveting something/someone is not something I am into.
Q. Do you sometimes wish you could run a medieval dungeon and torture people?
Torture people - never! Medieval dungeon - well, from time to time there are some people I would like to put in a dungeon, and now is one of those times. I do have an attraction however, to chivalry, inquisition etc in movies.
Q. What's your favourite method of execution?
Madame Guillotine ... while under the blade, the longer you hold the rope, the looser your grip becomes
Q. Who is the more important cultural icon: Puff the Magic Dragon or Squiddly-Diddly?
Never been into either, but preferences would tell me Squiddly-Diddly ... Puff's a little on the aged side now.
Q. Would you rather cross the Pacific in a kayak or cross Eurasia on a tricycle?
Eurasia of course.
Q. What's your favourite food?
Pork-belly pasta
Q. Cat person or dog person?
Dog. I am also a Dog in Chinese astrology. Some might say I am a dog-of-a-mapmaker
Q. Which changed civilization more: indoor plumbing or the printing press?
Printing Press for me ... along with Pestalozzi (father of training manuals) made education more widely available. Indoor plumbing ... some changes from that namely hygiene have still not been resolved.
Q. Who's the most famous person you've ever met?
Met as in acknowledged by ... Princess Margaret at the Royal Opera House in 1996 at performance of Carmina Burana also, Bob Hawke - former PM of Australia, at Sydney Airport. Met as in had conversation with...Jan Adele at Edna's Table in Sydney in 1984
Q. Whose grammar skills do you covet?
Thank-you Ace-Rimmer. No-one's, i consider myself reasonably fluent in my own language grammar.
Q. How many ideas do you try out (offline) before you find something you want to work and spend time developing more thoroughly?
Thanks Andy. Ideas are continually evolving in my mind as to how to apply the game to different everyday scenarios or maps. I don't spend time trying to find out if it will work on paper ... it has to work in some manner in my mind before I commit to drawing.
Q. How many times has Ace Rimmer bested you?
Chapcrap ... irrelevant in terms of grammar.
Q. What Australian phrases would you like to see brought into wider use on Conquer Club?
Andy, none. CC is a worldwide play utility ... we all have different cultural idiosyncrasies ... perhaps understanding these is best.
Q. What motivates you to continue to make maps while others just seem to fizzle out? What would CC do with out your maps?
Thanks Nola_Lifer People fizzle out for their own reasons, whether they move onto other RL priorities or can't stand the rigor of the foundry process or get too emotional (like I do sometimes). Enjoyment of the creative process and the challenge of sometimes(?) arriving at a different concept either gameplay-wise or graphically, is the motivator for me. Without me ... I don't ever think in these terms really, except that other mapmakers might have arrived somewhere similar with the similar maps, although I don't know about doing family trees or rail lines or cricket maps.
Q. Cairnswk, a number of your maps are recreations of historical battles. What is your single favourite historical period and why?
Thank-you FunkyTerrance. Mmm ... I can't say i have one, although the French period of Charles IV has caught my attention at present because of the Massacre at Paris. It really depends on what i feel like doing at the time ... a very creative influence if you understand my meaning.
Q. What's doing with that bloody butterfly?
Greenoaks ... can't say I thank you for calling it a bloody butterfly. The butterfly is representative of the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly native to my region. If it irritates you, then the animation has done its job by grabbing your attention
Q. Is there any map that you've done that you wish you never made?
Gillpig ... No.
Q. Describe yourself with three words.
Creative, creative, creative.
Q. What is your greatest strength?
Ability to think outside the box.
Q. What is your greatest weakness?
Sometimes laziness.
Q. Do you look down on mere mortals like everyone else except you and me?
No, nor would I want to, because like has reciprocity!
Q. Do you think the world would be better off without the Northern Hemisphere?
Ah, Dukasaur, thank-you. No. everything has its place.
Q. What advice would you give to novice or would-be mapmakers?
Thank-you sempaispellcheck Work hard, be creative, have patience in the Foundry ... it's very slow these days!
Q. Are there any maps you'd like to make but can't because of copyright issues?
Macbone, thank-you, that's an interesting one. Something combining everything from James Bond I think would be great ... gungho "licensed to kill" would suit CC to a tee.
Q. How did you first discover Conquer Club?
Dukasaur ... searching for online RISK.
Q. Out of all of your maps, which one would you say is the most "you?" That is, which one do you feel the closest to in terms of style, gameplay, etc -- or which one do you feel the most connected to and why?
Thanks rdsrds2120 Poison Rome Love the period historically, fascinated by "I Claudius", love the poisoning bit from Livia, challenging graphically although players need to get their head around the connections, uses easy gameplay components in borders, bombardments and buildings, and challenging to come up with the creative components.
Q. What is your process for choosing which maps to make?
chapcrap, it is determined by whatever concept I can arrive at mindfully, and then by which I can transfer to the graphic software to make something at least half reasonable that might have a chance of being acceptable.
Q. Which is your favorite map?
Gillipig ... don't really have a favourite.
Q. Which map took the longest to complete?
Trafalgar
Q. Which map took the shortest to complete?
Madness
Maps - Production days Cairns Coral Coast 88 WWII Australia 102 Egypt: Valley Of The Kings 100 Pearl Harbor 115 Rail USA 62 Battle Of Actium 229 Bamboo Jack 88 Madness 48 Waterloo 75 Prohibition Chicago 61 WWII Gazala 155 Rail Europe 225 Egypt: Lower 85 Sydney Metro 84 Treasures Of Galapagos 151 Egypt: Upper 85 Egypt: Nubia 102 Halloween Hollows 180 Forbidden City 127 Rail Australia 325 Jamaica 385 WWI Ottoman Empire 168 Cairns Metro 154 Cricket: SMO 488 Poison Rome 300 Das Schloß 666 Rail Africa 234 Stalingrad 411 Trafalgar 1218 Rail Asia 1068 Salem's Switch 1041
Q. If you were to attribute your map making skill to one personality trait, which would it be?
Persistence
Q. What is your LEAST favorite map?
puppydog85, thanks... I don't really have one. I could find good and bad in all maps including my own.
Q. Why do you use so many different programs when making maps?
koontz ... I am currently using Photshop 5, Illustrator CS3, Fireworks CS3, Coreldraw X4 I have had many people say to me that PS is the hardest to learn, and I have to agree with them. Whoever developed that, didn't take a look at the menu icons that other Adobe products were using. Each program has its positives and negatives. Illustrator allows lines at less than 1px, as does CD, therefore they are better for doing text and vectors and have better export facility for these effects. PS has better functions. So it's one for some and none for all. It can be frustrating.
Q. Why so many breaks for your maps? You have so many going through at one time, then for some reason, they all go into the bin for a month or two. Only for you to bring them out and finish them.
Yes ... the production time can be soooooo ... long, I will get bored with a map until I re-develop the penchant for it. Plus doing uni full-time does not allow for mapmaking activities as study takes all my time during semsters. But we also have this ridiculous rule in the foundry that "bins" maps after a month for not completing an update, which to me is totally unproactive to allowing a map to remain in production in the foundry proper where players can look at it and provide feedback. It's a combination at present of all things. In many ways, it's hardly conducive for "advertising our maps".
Why do you make so many maps at one time? Do you not feel this effects quality?
Lack of feedback from the community! I can only go as fast sometimes as the community provides feedback, although if I have good energy for a map I will push it forward anyway. So this means during holidays, there are many ideas traversing my head and they need to be developed and put down for potential use. Quality? Well, quality is such a subjective thing isn't it? No I don't think it affects quality. I do have some expectations about how much time I will spend on a map however. That limits my qualitativeness, but then some have far higher expectations.
Q. Are their any maps that you wish you could make but current restrictions stop you (xml or size)?
No. Size wise, I think Spanish Armada will be the largest I've done, and I wouldn't probably want to do anything larger than that. As for XML, I understand the complexities of adding something to an "engine" so I am not surprised this is a slow process to develop and test. But waiting for xml updates is patience testing. I believe also part of the challenge of making a map is defining your idea by what is available size-wise or xml-wise, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't
Q. I'm assuming you get bored/frustrated with certain maps and this may be the reason you tend to hop around a bit but I was wondering, what was your most difficult map to finally knuckle down and finish?
True i do jump around a bit sometimes but it is not from being bored (I do have other interests and hobbies apart from CC) ... it is from waiting for feedback. Trafalgar i think. Instead of getting a brush from some website, each of those rope pieces is individually drawn. But there was also a lot fo toing and froing in it also.
Q. Who's your favourite author?
Dukasaur, i am not an avid book-reader, as you can prob tell from amount of time spent developing maps. I do however, spend copious amounts of time doing research and reading through internet stuff to get ideas on how something for maps might work. There was a period when I wasn't mapmaking years ago, and my favourite authors then were Virginia Andrews and Catherine Cookson.
Q. If you were going to be remembered for one and only one map, which map would you like that to be?
Andy, as much as it is not necessarily my favourite map, I'd have to say Cairns Coral Coast ... simply because it gave my region an identity on CC. I know I will be remembered for the Rail Series. Unfortunately, i have to announce that the "Foundry Powers" have advised that Rail South America will be the last rail map allowed on the site. Anyone wanting Rail N America will have to campaign for it, but you could be happy with Race to Promontory Summit (1v1)instead. Rail Antartica and Rail Mars were never intended to made by myself anyways.
Q. What is your favorite sandwich?
chapcrap ... Barramundi and Salad, which includes pineapple and beetroot.
Q. How much Midori do you drink? Any other drink(s) you enjoy(maybe with a sandwich)?
Nola_Lifer, these days i don't drink any Midoria ... alcohol is not good for my health. I chose the Midori because of its green colour to go with the butterfly mainly, sorry to disappoint. When I used to drink years ago, my preference was for Captain Morgan or Bundaberg OP Rum and Coke, or Tequila and Green Chartreuse chasers for benders. They are wicked. These days, it's diet cordial, water, milk, tea or coffee with the sandwiches. Almost vanilla one might say.
A final word ... if I may. Again, a big thank-you ... ... to everyone who visits the foundry to take interest in any map production. Yes, we get emotional; yes we have disputes and yes, we sling mud at each other every now and then, and if you're in the firing line, you might cop some mud also the same as we do, and the same as you do in other forums. But what we do is passionate, and I believe important to providing on-going support for the site and a great variety of maps that you guys can conquer. So please visit us to give your feedback (1. preferably while a map is in production and 2. afterwards when the maps are in Beta and you have played them a while).
And that's a wrap, folks. Hope the reading wasn't too boring. [/spoiler]
Here's another round of updates from the wonderful world of Clans
Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!
I was reading Dave's TPA Wrap, and I was thinking, "Okay, he's got the TPA2 update, and he's got the TPA3 update, but where the %&#$ is the TPA1 update?!?!" And then it came to me -- there is no more TPA1 because TPA1 is finished! Of course, we already reported this to you last issue, but somehow I still hadn't got used to the fact.
The Seventh Anniversary celebrations had the traditional day of Battle Royales, and the the Hippo will tell you all about it in our lead article. DaveH has another installment of his Tournament Tips. James is taking a bit of a break to focus on academic pursuits, so I've done Join This? Or Not! for this issue. Check it out; there's been a few really neat ideas in the Create/Join forum in the last few days. And finally, I have a little bit of personal bragging to do, which constitutes our fifth article.
Enjoy!
[player]Dukasaur[/player] Tournament Executive
7th CC Anniversary Birthday Battle Royalesby [player]thehippo8[/player]
Tournament Tipsby DaveH [spoiler=Translating VBE into CC Code via Excel]When you want to do something like inviting players, you use CC Code such as [to]GameNumber Password[/to]when sending a pm to players. If this is to be coded from Excel then you need to use the following code: ="[to]" & LocationOfGameNumber & " " & LocationOfPassword & "[/to]" Note that the "&" is used to link text and data locations.
If you now need to code the above using Visual Basic for Excel (VBE) then there is an added complexity. Let's take the above code piece by piece:
="[to]" must be coded as ="=""[to]"" using double quotes in VBE where you need to get a single quote in Excel. A location such as A1 can be coded as "A" & Linedest where Linedest is the variable used in VBE to hold the row number.
The full coding for the above will therefore be = "=""[to]"" & " & "M" & Linedest & " & " & """ ""& N" & Linedest & "&""[/to]"""
This coding should be assigned to a variable and then written into Excel. i.e. a = "=""[to]"" & " & "M" & Linedest & " & " & """ ""& N" & Linedest & "&""[/to]""" Cells(Row, Column).Value = a
After running the Visual Basic routine you can then copy the resulting Excel from the spreadsheet and paste it into a pm to invite the player. Obviously this is useful if you want to automate a series of invites such as another example of inviting two players into a game:
This is taken from the spreadsheet used to create the invites for Centrum Tournament, which consisted of 100 rounds, with only 9 players taking the final set of round-robin games. The Excel routine which is listed in my previous newsletters, puts all this infomation into the spreadsheet. All we are interested in is this example is the coding for the player invites in Column J.
Player 1 is in column G; Player 2 in column H and the game number in column I. The variable "linedest" points to the line number of each line of the invites.
The required output in Excel for sending a pm to inite players into games is either "Round 100; ThrushAAX vs Gromph View Game 12044506 (Auto-Join Game)" where the two players have a game, or "Bones2484 has no game this round." where no game number is specified.,
With "linedest" = 955, this needs to be written into Excel as: =IF(I957="",G957&H957&" has no game this round.","Round "&B$955&"; "&G957&" vs "&H957& " [to]"&I957&" R"&B$955&"[/to]") where B955 contains the round number and the password is R followed by the round number (for simplicity).
This becomes a little more complex when writing the VBE code that will create this text; note that I have broken up the coding to try and make it a little less complex:
a = "=IF(I" & (linedest + 2) & "="""",G" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&H" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&"" has no game this round.""," & "" a = a & """Round ""&B$" & linedest & "&""; ""&G" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&"" vs ""&H" & (linedest + 2) & "& "" [to]""&I" a = a & (linedest + 2) & "&"" R""&B$" & (linedest) & "&""[/to]"")" Cells(linedest + 2, 10).Value = a
When this routine is run for the values of "linedest" incremented down the table, Column J is created. This block of data can then be copied and pasted into a pm to the players involved in this Round-Robin to allow them to join their appropriate games.
(These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to! Please note that I use Excel 2003, so there may be variation in the menu instructions if you have other versions of Excel)[/spoiler] TPA Wrapby DaveH
Getting back into the swing of things here. So what can we bring you today. Well, firstly, the votes have been allocated and the winner have received their medals. I bring to you the winners from the map awards 2013. Some surprising winners and some not so much. Next year we will run them later in the year so every map gets in. After a break, the Maps in Development is back. New year brings us a huge issue for this one. We have foundry news on the new layout and Battle Royale maps. Lastly, generalhead brings us another look at his Alamo map and how patience is needed in the foundry. [player]koontz1973[/player] -- Foundry Executive
Welcome one and all to another helping of Strategy.
This is the stuff that's important, so listen up!!
This issue we have another brief update from SoCs, thanks [player]macbone[/player]! And please welcome back [player]theSaxlad[/player] who brings us an article entitled The Strategy Forum Spotlight Presents: xiangwang- Colonel in 100 days!. It does what it says on the tin. Prepare for some heavy strategy tips, take notes, listen up - better still print it off and turn it into wallpaper wherever your computer may be!! Put it next to this from Jarod Kintz:
I consider conversations with people to be mind exercises, but I don't want to pull a muscle, so I stretch a lot. That's why I'm constantly either rolling my eyes or yawning.
Also in this issue, [player]FATHARRY[/player] shares his wisdom on Feudal War and Feudal Epic. Prior to this information I shied away from those maps because I just didn't get them. Now I am scalping points on those maps and they are quickly becoming favourites for me! And remember, for those of you looking for an easy GA medal, please get acquanted with the maps in the Collected Wisdom series and go ahead and send your entries into the Official Guides - they need to be done and you get something out of it too. Stay clever!
Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of [player]interviewee[/player]. Post any questions you may have for them here --> [url=url]Interrogation with interviewee[/url]
Submitting Your Own Articles
If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to [player]Victor Sullivan[/player] and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!
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Thanks to all who took part in the production of the cairnswk interrogation, including of course the guest of honor. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it!
I think if I could do my section over again I would have mentioned McShanester29's magnum opus MC's 200th Tournament!! .
An excellent looking tourney. I skipped over it when I was writing JTON because it's almost full, but now I'm thinking I should have mentioned it. Anyway, better late than never: McShanester is looking for 9 more players to get it launched forthwith!
“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” ― Voltaire
[player]Cairnswk[/player] gets roasted. Heaps happening in Clans, Tournaments and Foundry - too much to repeat here. And strategy is getting traction. 
Love the period historically, fascinated by "I Claudius", love the poisoning bit from Livia, challenging graphically although players need to get their head around the connections, uses easy gameplay components in borders, bombardments and buildings, and challenging to come up with the creative components.
the production time can be soooooo ... long, I will get bored with a map until I re-develop the penchant for it. Plus doing uni full-time does not allow for mapmaking activities as study takes all my time during semsters. But we also have this ridiculous rule in the foundry that "bins" maps after a month for not completing an update, which to me is totally unproactive to allowing a map to remain in production in the foundry proper where players can look at it and provide feedback. It's a combination at present of all things. In many ways, it's hardly conducive for "advertising our maps".
were never intended to made by myself anyways.
