US Midwest

[b]Summary (English, bullet-pointed)[/b] We are presenting a map that Bischop and I developed together. It is a map of the Midwest United States. The goal is to expand the number of maps set in the USA, because: We have many players from the United States and the Western world. But we currently have very few American-themed maps. Most of the existing maps are Europe-based. Therefore, we wanted to increase the number of maps located in the U.S. One of these new U.S. maps is the Midwest United States map. We have already created a rough draft of the map, but it is far from complete. To describe the current development status, I will focus on two aspects: Gameplay description Design description [b]Gameplay Concept – Summary (English, bullet-pointed)[/b] 1. Initial Version (my original favorite) [spoiler][img]https://i.imgur.com/KfuARK4.jpeg [/img] [/spoiler] We initially drew all Midwest U.S. states as regions. Some states were split into two parts: to increase the total number of regions to create smaller regions in both the east and west of the map, for symmetry This was my early design intention. Bischop disagreed with some of the small regions. His version removed certain small regions. 2. River Layout Differences We had different views on how the main river should run. My version vs. Bischof’s version: In the northern area (I think western Minnesota), the river is cut differently. The Red River is shorter in his version. Apart from that, the river differences are minor. [spoiler][img]https://i.imgur.com/oYXqTKg.jpeg [/img] [/spoiler] 3. Re-evaluation of the first design After thinking about it for a longer time, I decided to discard my initial draft. It has too many small regions that are: easy to capture easy to hold Our website already has many maps with this structure (small or medium regions). Bischop preferred larger regions that take longer to capture. And I go woth it. 4. Design Direction: Moving toward larger regions Example extremes: Bulgaria map → too many very small regions, easy to take Roman Empire map → fewer regions, many territories, very hard to hold With the Midwest map, I want a course correction: fewer, mostly original U.S. state regions regions should have many territories inside capturing a region should take longer but unlike the Roman Empire map, regions should still be relatively easy to defend (not overwhelming) 5. Avoiding artificial splits I do not want to split U.S. states into two just to increase the number of regions. Instead: keep the regions authentic 6. Example of the new design approach Regions = real U.S. states. Territory boundaries: based on real county borders but counties are grouped together into territories this means the borders are partly authentic and partly creative, depending on how counties are clustered The exact number of territories per region and the territory shapes are still negotiable. [spoiler][img]https://i.imgur.com/zod342c.jpeg [/img] [/spoiler] [b]Design Concept – Summary (English, bullet-pointed)[/b] 1. Current status The layout/outlay is essentially finished. The color design is not final. I have experimented with several color ideas. Below are some drafts you can look at; you can tell me which direction you prefer, and I can continue from there. These are only flat colors, not textures. Opacity is also not adjusted yet — all of this can still change. MANY PICS: [spoiler] [url=]https://imgur.com/a/QXTUZrq [/url] [/spoiler] 2. Goal / Next steps At this stage, the priority is the gameplay, not the final design. Once the gameplay foundation is solid, the color scheme and the style direction can be refined.

[I deleted a few erroneous posts at Dima's request]