Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece - map creation Hi. This is a map dabble conjured up over a weekend, it's a start but quite a bit has been done with Dimensions, and graphics to introduce the theme..either mythological or ancient greece. There are 56 territories and 11 regions. I only dragged up Crete some pixels, to make a better fit on the map, and did my best to not exclude biggesh islands, which were used to make up the 56 count. Maybe a few islands were repositioned, but nothing drastic that it should look outta place. Current stage, am looking to sort out the gameplay and any knowledgeable information for place names etc [spoiler=Original Connections for comparison][img]http://oi64.tinypic.com/oirf4g.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=Ancient Greece][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece1.3.png[/img][/spoiler]

Comments since the last edit Cireon [quote] I am not sure how I feel about using a Greek symbol font for the names, especially because some of them are actually not pronounced as you would expect, which makes some names look or sound awkward to somebody who knows the symbols (like me). For example "Ghania" in Crete would probably be pronounced "Cèania" [qɛɑnia]. Also some letters as they appear did not exist. I like the map so far though, though I would maybe change Crete into a linear region with connections to 37 and 39 instead of two connections to 38.[/quote] Hoodlum [quote]I tried to find the language version of territories from the same source as much as possible. I don't have any knowledge on the language or area or even greek history, and expect that I am wrong in a lot of areas, so it would be good to get that type of feedback. The font is Greex, I think it gives Greek symbols to capital letters as seen for the neutral areas ILLYRIA and ASIA MINOR. I like the way it looks, but I suppose if it's odd to a local, then it shouldn't be there [/quote] aeronautic [quote]Personally, I like the font, it gives it an authentic look. It would be great if you could find a Greek font that uses the same letter style, but doesn't replace letters with symbols. (See edit on above post).[/quote]

[spoiler][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece1.4.png[/img] [/spoiler]bit more tinkering with it. Was looking to add Mount Olympus for show, but thought it might be ideal for a mountain range for that area. It gives at least 1 internal territory, possibly 2 with connection consideration. I used the same kit but tried to make them look different..at least something to show for gameplay edit

Did some capital guesses then tried some connections around it aswell as thinking which territories would probably naturally look like they connect. An idea was to keep Sparta and Troy compatible for 2p caps. Been watching Troy and 300 lately haha. Best part of map dabble is the research. Theme 1200 AD Spartans vs Trojans. 2 player capitals. Prince Paris of Troy is bold, and goes to great Sparta to steal the most beautiful woman in the world. King Menelaus of Sparta is on a warpath to destroy Troy for abducting his Queen. Helen of Sparta/Troy. [spoiler][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.5.png[/img][/spoiler]

Have you thought about trying the font for Olympus for all the territories? Is it only an upper case font? Why not change the names of the Territories to suit Olympus, Sparta & Troy, keeping the names where the mountain and cities are (where they are now)? What I like about the Olympus font is it looks more ancient and hand written. I also prefer the White text to the Black text. Game-play is not one of my specialties so I can give very little feedback on this, you'll need someone else to discuss this. I can see that it's about half of the connectivity of the original map (now put into post #1 for comparison) and that it looks reasonably well connected across map.

Looks like this connectivity looks more natural, but there are some choke points (especially in the north).

Gameplay looks quite good to me. There's many chokepoints, but because there are many, you can go around.

[spoiler=font style suggestion][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.6.png[/img][/spoiler] @areo, yup thought about it, wasn't sure if it was going to be readable, because the font is compact and some letters together weren't working. eg I and C look like a K. and yes, it is only an upper case font. I gave it a try and it looks fine to me.

Font overhaul. A consistent font. Found a similar lower case version. and tried a colour tone technique for the place names. [spoiler=Ancient Greece 1.7][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.7.png[/img][/spoiler]

I like this font and the lighter tones work better than black. With the colour tone system, the labels over the sea where the background is lighter and a different colour, need to be white (closer to white on the blue scale only). There are some white pixels in the valley of Mt. Olympus, this looks like snow on the lowland. The territory divider line between Troy & Aeolia is the same thickness as a Region Border. All viewers of the map, please be aware that the map image is reduced to about 90% for the forum, to see the full size map, click the link below: [url=http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.7.png]100% View[/url]

Think I've addressed those bits. good eye ;) [spoiler=Ancient Greece 1.8][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.8.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [url=http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.8.jpg] 100% view option[/url]

Those sea labels look so much better. The glare of the bright blue sea is too overpowering for any colour other than white or black, especially in the whitest parts (centre for example) and the slight blue tint of white you used is just right to make the labels look as readable as possible in such a bright area. However, the sea has lighter and darker parts, which when you use the same colour for each label all over the map, you get the same issue I have had with loads of maps, the labels look like different colours and so some stand out more than others. The way to combat this, is to darken the white intensity where the sea is darker, so move it more toward the black part of the scale, until it looks equal (by eye) to the most subtle contrast, which are the "Scycros" & "Cyclades" labels. This way, they will look the same to the naked eye and also look the same luminosity as the land labels. If I have made it sound too complicated, please ask and I'll find a better way to explain it? At 100% those mountains look really good, they bring the map alive and make it look like an aerial view as well as a map.

Tricky on the eyes. still not sure if i got it right [spoiler=Ancient Greece 1.9][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.9.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [url=http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.1.9.jpg]Ancient Greece 100%[/url]

A massive improvement mate. You can tell when you look at the map with your peripheral vision, not much stands out and so doesn't attract your eye when you look directly at the map. This is the ultimate refinement for aesthetics. If you want to fine tune it, perhaps "Magnesia" & Thrace Islands" could be darkened slightly.

thanks aero. sometimes you have to walk away from the screen then come back to it. or even after I upload it to the forums I almost always see something that stands out, and wonder how I missed it. Also doing it on laptop, and the tilt of the screen, or just the smudges on the screen affects the vision hah. [spoiler=fine tune][img]http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.2.0.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [url=http://www.dicepatch.com/images/ancientgreece.2.0.jpg]100% view[/url]