a.k.a. Psymon's map #4 - 78 territories
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Fendi wrote:
Sorry for not commenting on this.

I can see there's still some problem with making the region bonuses more clear. In case some have missed it, this is from the DXII Guide to Map Making under Mini Map
Mini Map
Mini maps are a requirement. Legend can only be used with special permission.
Although I agree that a mini map will most likely ruin the map itself due to the lack of space it is still important to make the bonuses as clear as possible. The solution that PsymonStark has come up with is good but it could be better, but if no one has anything in mind then a legend can be created to see if it'll work better..but then again, the limited space is still an issue.

The Danmark + Bornholm text is unclear, but I still don't understand the purpose of the extra 1 since Bornholm is part of Denmark and thus should be included in the +3..

The map right now looks amazing, I really like the style you've gone with, its colourful but not overpowering.

Bonus
Spoiler (click to show)
PsymonStark wrote:
Bornholm as an extra +1 was meant because there is no direct connection between any other territory in its region to it. Also Kaliningrad is part of Russia, but there is no problem with that one?

I was a few weeks thinking on how on earth I could make the bonus visible and clear. As you say, a legend would also be very hard to fit. Another alternative can be colour numbers close to each region as every region has sea except Belarus, which is big and can fit it inside. I can add a line to the legend telling that bonus are the numbers on each region too for clarity.
Living proof that everyone can be a brilliant great good decent cartographer.
Matty wrote:
Can't you remove some territories in the bottom right and place a minimap there?
"Strength doesn't lie in numbers, strength doesn't lie in wealth. Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers." ~Maria
naathim wrote:
I'd say for the bonus maybe make the bonus numbers a little more opaque and maybe put a border of some kind around them to set them off? I don't have any trouble seeing them or recognizing what they are. Maybe above Gotland you could have something like:
 
+3 Bonus: A B C
+4 Bonus: D E
+5 Bonus: F

Just list them off and color code to the regions?

As for the Slantsy connection idk. Bishop's right as that's a fairly static area of the map/long way around. I don't think it'd hurt, but I'd go with Kotka-Rakvere rather than Kotka-Slantsy. I think it'd be more visible? idk if that's the right word, but if you put it on the diagonal from Kotka, I think it would be harder to see/notice. Where if you put a line straight down from Kotka to Rakvere, it'd be longer, straight through the bay and people would notice it more.
The_Bishop wrote:
Thanks Fendi, you reminded me what I wanted to say. I like how Psymon set the bonuses with the exclaves and I like the bonuses to be written on the land. Since it would be a special case with no mini-map nor legend but the same already occurred with the basketball map really.

The point is to make thing clear, of course. The Last Version is already more clear for being color coded as remarked by Ultras. What I forgot to say is: I think the Denmark bonus and Russia bonus should be written like 3* and 4* (rather then 3 and 4). That is something that immediately make people to ask "what those asterisks mean?".

Even more, I think you can add somewhere an explication with asterisk like:
* Regions with exclaves have special bonuses:
-- then the description as it is now --

And eventually underline the exclave territories on the map as it was in my previous example.

Also about the legend/key I forgot to say the colored texts seems to need a tiny frame or shadow around the letters to make them more readable and well visible.
The long "Kaliningrad Oblast" maybe can be shorten in "KGD Oblast" to fit better.

I think this is the maximum we can do to make things clear without ruining the map. Then if someone cannot really understand and maybe he's playing the map for the first time, he can ask to someone other in the game maybe, or if he cannot ask... It won't be so compromising just because the matter is about +1 bonuses: it is not something that he'll lose the game because he couldn't understand the legend! It's much worse for comparison when people don't understand how ports work, and sometimes it happens. But okay, in fact is normally only the very first time.

Apart from that, I have one more critique, I hope Psymon won't hate me for that. The territory font is cool but... not very readable, especially the special characters, like "O with double dot" seems to be U. I mean we already have to read hard Slaves and Nordic names, at least make them well readable as possible! Otherwise I get the headache! :)
In few words... I preferred the previous font for its readability.

@Psymon - I like better if you show the map with circles because things are more clear.
From my side, I am studying the caps... I think I am going to set them without watching yours and then make a comparison and a final re-evaluation.
«God doesn't play dice with the World» ~ Albert Einstein
The_Bishop wrote:
Edit: I hadn't read Matty's and Naathim's messages when started to write mine. I don't like Matty's proposal to reduce the playable area and the total number of territories.

Both Naathim's proposals can stay. But I don't think there's an issue to the visibility of the connection I proposed. The list of the region by bonuses can shorten the legend a lot, I think it's very nice suggestion but... Still it's too much to fit in that small place and also it would require to also put region names on the map... Since it's rejected in my opinion for this map, because it makes things even harder, but maybe the idea can be saved to be used in other maps in the future.
«God doesn't play dice with the World» ~ Albert Einstein
PsymonStark wrote:
While we reach some point I have inserted a legend to the map.

Baltic08 (click to show)

I added the Kotka-Slantsy connection because it makes the circle the same size of the other ones, and also because it is aesthetically better on my opinion.

The last thing I want to do is removing Belarus for the minimap, but in that case the connection would be Helsinki-Rakvere because of the 9p caps (Mahilyow would go to Espoo) and avoiding a unique region with 2 borders. But as I say, I'll try every other option before.

Oh, by the way, I know it is slightly harder to read, but we keep using standard fonts for every map. It has nothing to do that I had to remap all the non-standard characters because the original font didn't support them. I can modify them though for better understanding.
Living proof that everyone can be a brilliant great good decent cartographer.
The_Bishop wrote:
I don't know... the font as it is now is ultra cool but hard to read for me, I have also a bit of temperature since I don't know if I see it perfectly. Can someone other gives feedback please?

The legend in the bottom is another ultra cool idea. It's "Wow" for me!
But I was thinking... What about to have both things: the legend as it is, plus the bonuses on the land??
Remember around 10% of male don't distinguish colors very well and that legend is only based on colors.
Plus, the 2 things together can help to understand better the exclave bonuses.

I would change the "-" (dashes) on the legend with " " (empty spaces)
«God doesn't play dice with the World» ~ Albert Einstein
naathim wrote:
That bar at the bottom is excellent, a perfect solution! I think Bishop is right about having the redundant bonuses in the regions themselves, I honestly really like that, it makes it easy without having to refer to the mini-map/legend. You might change the background of it to something a little more neutral though? Some of the colors really blend in.

I don't have any trouble reading the font, but I think some of the problem is the map is bright and the white lettering doesn't get set off much, so it makes it harder to read. I have most trouble in the Yellow region and territory names that go into the background.

Fendi clearly has to live in Espoo, because who, if they had the opportunity, wouldn't choose to live in a place named Espoo?

The connection line for Gotland-Uland-Kalmar, kind of makes it look like you can go directly from Gotland to Kalmar, think you could stagger those somehow? Leave the Kalmar-Uland link where it is, but direct the Uland-Gotland link from more of the territory circle area?
OXEN wrote:
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Actully Skane should be apart of Denmark... :P
PsymonStark wrote:
Update we have:
Spoiler (click to show)

-Added asterisks for special bonus.
-Added inland bonus. Smaller and less distracting because of the legend below.
-Reduced font blending in the legend.
-Moved some circles where needed to fit the inland bonus.

I feel like we need to put something between region names in the legend. Maybe I can try with bullets or diamonds or something else. I don't think that empty spaces look well.

Also Naat, Espoo is not Sweden :P That would neglect the first DXII premise that says Fendi is a she who lives in Sweden. I don't like either to change the connection line... I mean, it looks cleaner like this and it's perfectly visible that the line is cut by Öland. I think it's clearer than a connection South Kalmar-South Öland which is a big territory and can be easily missed by some.
Living proof that everyone can be a brilliant great good decent cartographer.
PsymonStark wrote:
baltic09b (click to show)
@Bishop, is this easier for you to read? Or is it too white...
Living proof that everyone can be a brilliant great good decent cartographer.