Victron

The original as posted is missing connections. I am still working on that both visually, as well as for game play considerations. I think that the visual "look and feel" may need some modification. I would greatly appreciate any feedback that anyone has. 

The first link is my original submission for review:

http://home.comcast.net/~bob.battle.scar/Images/Victron.jpg

The second link will be the latest update (after updates have been made):

http://home.comcast.net/~bob.battle.scar/Images/Victron_updated.jpg

Glanru, that map looks very promising, even in the first sight. I am sure you will add some dotted lines for distant connections.

Just an idea, can you apply the shading-shadow texture only to the background? It may look better without the excess lights and shadows on the regions..

It's supposed to look like a map that had been wrinkled a bit. But, it would take all of about 20 seconds once the map is loaded to change it to background only. I've been playing around with that trying to make it more realistic.

looks amazing Glanru, I LOVE IT!!!!!! ITS HUGE!!!!!!!!!We Need another huge map.

I love it!

i agree with lucide about toning down the shading/shadow textures from the paper on the territories. also the brown color of the paper might be too dark. the map looks very dark. it would be easier to read if there was more of a light/dark contrast between the territories and the background.

It's another map where there is a lot going on. Hard to follow for my simple mind. The font is cool; although, it does make things confusing with some names in the islands and some outside. I like the size and layout. I like the naming scheme. Overall, it looks like it will be a fun map.

First change updated. I fixed an inadvertent mistake making the text sharp instead of smooth. The background has been lightened. I'm showing two different colors (two different monitors), and could use feedback specifically in these regards. I plan to do more to the background, but I need the base to be decent before making further changes. The legend was shrunk and a background effect was added to it to distinguish it from the rest of the map. I darkened the territory separators, which I hope to improve later.

it's definitely easier on the eyes now with the background lightened, I think it's a good base and it will look even better when you add the other textures back and modify them to fit. The stains seems just a little bit dark now though.

I think the territory border lines look better but would like someone else to comment on it too because not everyone has agreed on this.

You didn't say anything about changing the brush stroke layer but it looks much better. Is this a result of lightening the background?

the legend might look good with a line black line with glow around it like the legend on the cuba map.

Is the text bold? if not, i'd like to see what it looks like with bold on. the text is harder to read than any of the other maps and it's not just because of the font. it is because it doesn't have a light glow around it. I assume that you didn't add a glow because it might ruin the old hand written look by using a modern clarity method. If using glow doesn't look right, perhaps you could use the color dodge tool on the background in the spots where the text is. I messed around with the color dodge tool in Gimp and got some good results with the range set to highlights and the exposure set to 22.

I've completely dropped all attempts to make the map look like a hand made map. I will have to try that again for another map. I was beating my head against a wall for too long with that, and will have to increase my Photoshop skills more before attempting that again. It's more important that the map looks good. Sometimes, glowing the text doesn't increase the overall effect of the map. I am not in favor of having a map with pastel like colors having glowing text, I think it looks tacky in such a case. I do have other text options and will be looking into them.

Can I some how see the updated version if you put it on Imageshack without you posting on the forums?

I am not hosting the image on Imageshack. You can access the second link in my first post without logging into the forums, but you'd either have to memorize it or otherwise bookmark it. I am not sure why you would want to do that though: I won't be updating it without putting a post in here that I have done so. The second link won't change, I'll simply be saving the updated file over that file so the link will remain valid only to the latest update.

ok thanks

I have made an update to the text. This should make the map not look so cluttered. I'll probably add dotted lines later this week. I haven't fully decided where I want all of the connections yet.

64 Territories!!!!!!!!!!!! I tip my hat to you bro!!!! AMAZING!!! I love the look, style, and text. This map is top of the line, another map I can't wait to play on. I absolutely love the size of this map..It's huge!!!!! This one will get alot of gameplay I am sure of it! I can't wait to see what the connections will be, I will comment more then. Great Job!!!! We all appreciate your efforts!