World Reduced

[spoiler][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5130350-T800600.jpg[/img][/spoiler] Should this be darker still?

I think it's ok right now.

I still feel my eyes going to Australia each time... but I guess it's ok. Yellow will always catch attention.

At last I get to see the infamous World Reduced map. I downloaded it and added the official coloured circles to test for contrast against similar backgrounds and they seem fine, of course as it was a scaled down map, I had to scale down the circles. I can't see anything graphically wrong with this map and gameplay wise, if I played risk I would be happy to play it straight away. Check out the image I placed the colour circles on, LOL. Nice Job Virtuosity98.[spoiler=World Reduced with coloured circles test][img]http://www.the-inkstore.co.uk/frame/WR_ColouredCircles.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

You should have put the circles aside, because now the black mist behind the circles is doubled :) The only color that gives problems is usually black. [spoiler=Full resolution][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5130350.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

I know about the inner shadow transparency darkening due to overlay, but just wanted to see the colour of the circle against the background. Not to worry, since you uploaded a full size one for us, I added all the coloured circles to it so you can see how they look generally on the map. There wasn't much room in Australia or Europe, I'm sorry. Please, nobody complain about all the weird circles everywhere, this is a colour test only ! [spoiler=W R with all the coloured circles TEST][img]http://www.the-inkstore.co.uk/frame/WR_ColouredCircles_2.jpg[/img][/spoiler] I don't see any reason to change any colours of regions.

Thanks @aeronuatic! It hadn't occurred to me to do a colour test for each of the circle colours - that was very helpful :). I will update the minimap with the new Australia colour soon.

[spoiler][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5131586.jpg[/img][/spoiler] What's next?

Now you see what Fendi would change. I think it's pretty solid game play. The looks are good, but could be better. Since it is the world map, I'm sure she'll want all the stops pulled. Remember, World classic and expanded and modified were all probably slaved over to get perfect for a loooooong time, and by Fendi herself in some cases on those. I think the water is so dark it drowns out the continents visually. But that doesn't mean you have to go changing textures and colors... just probably some sort of outline effect between land and sea. Check these transition effects out: Multiple white glows decreasing in intensity [spoiler=WorldClassic][img]http://www.dominating12.com/image/map/1.large.jpg[/img][/spoiler] Basic shadow, (Pro tip, make land a layer, duplicate layer, send it behind the land but over the background - contrast brightness it to solid black, then gausian blur it about 8-12 pixels for a better effect than a basic layer option shadow. You can do this several times with different colors and pixel widths of blurs for some cool looks) [spoiler][img]http://www.dominating12.com/image/map/31.large.jpg[/img][/spoiler] White back glow for dark backgrounds (same thing above with white or light blues for custom look instead of backglow) [spoiler][img]http://www.dominating12.com/image/map/48.large.jpg[/img][/spoiler] Or if you are artistic and photoshop wiz, you can make hand scraped look / custom paint brush trace your borders, then using textured eraser, slowly fade your shadow into the sea [spoiler=Awesomeness][img]http://www.dominating12.com/image/map/6.large.jpg[/img][/spoiler] A cheap way to do the above is to generate a thick shadow or glow as described in the protip, but make it like 25 pixel blur, then brighten/contrast that blur to be way more visible than it should be. THEN use a filter / effect in the art realm, like charcoal or cross stitch or pastel, which will give your shadow a real custom look. Then you can use a really soft edge mostly opaque eraser set to 30 pixels and manually blend it into the ocean some. Or play with the layer setting, transparency / overlay or dodge burn or one of those blend options might do what you are looking for without the eraser.

Having studied your map a little more, I find that if I was the person who had to decide whether or not the map is ready for beta test, I would have to say change 1 or 2 things and it will be. In agreement with cbt711, the land needs separation from the sea and I would suggest an outer glow only 1 pixel in size with a 1 pixel spread. This will give total separation and no damage to the look and feel of the map, it will actually enhance it. You will also find then that the water colour and contrast is fine. I would say, make the numbers in the mini map smaller and put a black outer glow on them, (don't use too much spread/size, keep it as solid as possible with just a hint of fade, it should stay very close to the text). When numbers or letters are left flat they can look like paper cut outs and also pick up on the background colours causing the effect of bleeding, colour haze & poor aesthetics and are actually easier to read with a black background when text is quite small. It could be worth testing the black glow on the labels too, but obviously in proportion to their size. You have made the correct text colour choice, as white is always the best choice of text over black. Try making black text with white outer glow and white text with black outer glow at size 3 in photoshop/graphics package, the black will be hard to read.

For this one, I think it needs graphic enhancement, and I practically fully agree on what aero and cbt said. The only difference I want to make is that I think that the title is too plain and too big for my eyes, and that I don't like the font choice. Calibri 14 may be good for many things, but I think this probably needs to get another font, not that usual. For me, it looks like you have chosen the first font you came up with. I'd try to get a font slightly more artistic. Also, if you add the black outer glow, move the label for Mainland Europe a few pixels down, because now it eats the circle (the circle eats the label, more accurately).

@Aeronautic: I will edit text and numbers last as I use GIMP, which is apparently worse than Photoshop for text. @Psymon: I can change the title appearance if necessary - it will definitely need shrinking. I chose calibri because it is the same font as is used in World Classic, and also I wanted my territory names to be easy to read. I think you're forgetting that I'm saving text until last as I don't use Photoshop - I can change the font anytime. I like the font you used for the map you sent via PM - what is it?

I made these options before I saw Psymon's post: [spoiler=No effects (for reference)][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5131586.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=Shadow][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5134258.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=White Glow][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5134259.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=Blue Glow][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5134260.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=...][img]http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/5134261.jpg[/img]OK, I got bored ^^[/spoiler] Which one's best (discounting the last)? Or are all of them not what's required?

I think white glow doesn't fit this map, and the blue glow really looks like a blue glow, instead of water (which is probably what you try to achieve). So for now I think the shadow is best, although either you overdid the effect, or it doesn't fit this mapstyle, cause I think you can do better still (it is quite an improvement though).

The over done look is the black border bleeding into the black shadow. Would almost like a 1 or 2 pixel light gray or white stroke before the shadow effect. They all look better than the flat original. The blue could work if it didn't drown out the similarly colored blue Europe. Maybe less green tone, less aqua. You could try white for a few pixels, then a blue for like 10 pixels out beyond the white to give a sea getting shallow effect around the land. That's tough to pull off and would need darker splotches in the trenches of the oceans for consistency. So that looks better, now try the same thing with the text, like a 2 or 3 pixel drop shadow, very light in transparency if it's too obvious at first.