Keeva Island

+1

Matty:

September 9th
"I absolutely love the change in the background, the colours look so much better on it!!!"

March 4th
"I don't know what to improve, but for some reason I really don't like how it looks.

I don't know, everything is so brown, dark, colourless, joyless."


i'm having trouble with your feedback here matty.

I know, my view on things differ from half a year ago.
I now understand way better why Vexer always was complaining about these lovely deep blue oceans, as a map they simply don't work that well.
Half a year ago I loved the realm of honoured players. I actually defended the beautiful deep blue ocean. Now I agree that it needs a change in the ocean to look good again.


I really don't like to say what I was saying in my last post. I've been looking at this map a couple of times last weaks, and everytime it felt wrong, but I couldnt pinpoint what could be better.
I have the same problem with the brazil map. Everything looks ok in theory, but it just doesnt feels right.

Your background really goes together well with your colours of the land. Your mountains look alot better than they did, even though they are a bit more hillish than mountainish.
Ok, your text blur thingy still looks weird on the edges of the territory regions, but all of these are only very small points.
Everything else is for all I know absolutely fine. Technically correct.

It's just that for some weird reason, a reason I don't understand myself, that this map feels wrong. It feels so brownish and sad.

I really am sorry to say that I don't like the map like this. I've always wanted to give feedback to help mapmakers, and I just don't know anymore.
But I feel like saying at least this is fair to you.
It would be more unfair to ignore the map, or say its ok and let you go on like this and in the end never play it because I don't like it.

Well, like I said, the map has a brown tint over it overall. I already said that and marcoxa answered that this was intended. Personally, I don't like it either, but there should also be space for personal preference of the map maker I guess.

@Cireon... room for personal preference is fine...@ home, though some of us feel we live here, this has to be what we want for D12.
If you do not like it then...it does not pass the mustard. He can always hang it a his house.

I would love to see what he can do with it.

@Matty...Mountains or hills...they are for blocking...some people would call those mountains...maybe in real flat lands...but really who cares?  Show it as an impasse.

F.Y.I. I still like blue in Falkland though. LOL!

i used to have more pointy mountains but Vexer kept telling me they were to steep. so thats why they are like that.

also i like the brownish tint cuz its different. i think without it it would be even more boring.

Well you can hang it in your game room...the map... that is,,

The mountains can be pointy but not steep. They should have a shape similar to the pyramids and not the empire state building. Both of those are pointy but only one is too steep to be a mountain. Your first mountains looked like upside down ice cream cones. They were definitely the wrong shape.

The current overall shape is better, and probably close enough but they look like hills not mountains because they are so rounded on top. Try just keeping the shape but making the tops more pointy. Hills aren't really impassable so it's better if you can make them look more like mountains. The difference between mountains and hills besides the height is that mountains have jagged edges and pointy peaks.

ok i'll see what i can do

I have to agree with Matty.

I have put off commenting on this map because I did not know what was bothering me, I am still not sure but I have to say something..

marcoxa you have skills, theres no denying it. But we are now trying to add maps with a "wow" factor, something that makes them catch a persons attention and the standards are higher than ever. This map stands out and it does catch the eyes attention, but, and Im sorry to say this, not in a good way. To be honest, Im having a hard time picturing it among the other D12 maps. Not sure why, I have not been able to pinpoint where my problems lays. Maybe its the odd shape or the washed out feeling...The darkness of it is good though.. But I dont know..
Im not saying you should mimic the maps we have to the point where we dont know which map was created by who in order to be able to play on your map, but you should still be able to see some kind of connection, a consistent style that makes the maps we have unique. But of course with a little twist, like a special signature style that makes people go "Oh, thats a marcoxa map"

Maybe what you can do for now is work with another map-maker on the site, just so that you can get a hang of the concept we are looking for and the overall feel we are trying to achieve. 

Again, sorry..

If I am getting this right, nobody but marcoxa likes the "washed out" or "brown tint" look. Well, that's because it's ugly. Marcoxa I am beginning to wonder about your monitor. Perhaps it doesn't look as washed out or brown on your monitor which is why you haven't been willing to change it. Are you creating this on a laptop monitor? Do you have access to a high end Dell Ultrasharp monitor with a factory tuned color profile at school? It's always a good idea to look at your work on other peoples monitors.

Can we just see the map with stronger, brighter more vibrant colors as a comparison?

Also, That river is gigantic. It's nearly as wide as a mountain range in some places. It doesn't need to be that big to be noticeable enough if you color it right and shade it right. A little lighter shading on the interior and some darker around the outside does wonders. The reason why it looks so weird at the end in Lition is because of the thickness. A typical river should gradually get thinner as it approaches the mountains and wider as it approaches the sea. This is because is picks up more water from creeks as it goes.

The map makers guide calls for rivers that are 2 pixels thick. Obviously for your style you want the river's thickness to vary. It can still vary but from 2 pixels to 6 but not 4 pixels to 12. You will probably have to change the rivers outline to make it match the reduced thickness. We already learned from the South Africa map that gigantic rivers ruin the map and no one plays on it.

Also you should know that from now on, Noxon will be the one deciding when maps are ready. He's an even harder man to please than I am. The standards are always increasing.

i work on a laptop but we also have 2 22" HD monitors. i will bump up the contrast and see what that looks like though. i do appreciate all your comments i just wish you had told me sooner instead of leaving it and leading me to believe it was fine. 

Well, I thought you had abandoned the map since so much time went by, But I also didn't have much time or desire to comment.

It's harder to spend time writing up a post on a map you're not that interested in.

By the way, did anyone ever evaluate the game play on this map?

I semi-did, but as I state a lot of times: don't trust on me as being a gameplay expert.

Send me your and I will send you mine...together we can do it...maybe.

Marcoxa now you know how I feel sometimes! I do not like the water-color effect on the WW11 maps that NoXon did...but that is me.

Now they want to have me give a updated one for Falkland! With watercolor effect for the ocean...somebody just shoot me!!! I love that map!!!  HEHEHE