Conquer Club

I'm a total novice with graphics programs, so even attempting a map is way over my head....but I'm trying anyway. I have Photoshop CS2 and could do nothing with it at all. I'm making some headway in MS Paint, though it's still very ugly. (trying to make a New England map)

My question is, why do the mapmaking FAQS say MS Paint is a no-no? Haven't seen why, just that it shouldn't be used....yet a user on here has a very nice looking chess map using MS Paint. Any clarification or advice? Thanks.

another map using paint is crossword 1.0

It doesn't matter why. That's the rule. Also, you have photoshop so don't even worry about it.

There's a few tutorials around in the forum. So, try going through those and also just playing around with it and seeing what happens. good luck

edbeard wrote:It doesn't matter why. That's the rule. Also, you have photoshop so don't even worry about it.

There's a few tutorials around in the forum. So, try going through those and also just playing around with it and seeing what happens. good luck

Wow, way to be an ass.

It IS important to some people, just because it is not to you.

To the OP, just Google Photoshop tutorials and you will see a lot of really great stuff, including tutorials on cartography (though they are few and far between)

lol at you thinking I was being an ass

It isn't important at all. The rule is not going to change. All people need to know is that paint isn't allowed. It's way easier to do everything with layers anyway.

chaning from Paint to Photoshop will help you a lot in the long run, even if you are completely new to photoshop now, you can improve quickly with it, and as you improve, there are many things in photoshop that you just cant even attempt to do in paint.

if you want to, you can even use photoshop as paint, ignoring all of the advanced features, but i really reccomend at least giving it a chance, get to know the program, try a few tutorials, and you will find that it is much better to use.

I've heard tell of other site's that allow less well finished maps, and even allows MSPaint. Maybe such a place would be a good place to do your early work, then bring on the finished pieces once you've worked out the rough edges.

It's what I'm thinking of doing, minus the concept of me ever having anything polished enough to rate CC.

Piestar wrote:I've heard tell of other site's that allow less well finished maps, and even allows MSPaint. Maybe such a place would be a good place to do your early work, then bring on the finished pieces once you've worked out the rough edges.

It's what I'm thinking of doing, minus the concept of me ever having anything polished enough to rate CC.

well anything more than a quick draft and you're wasting time to be honest.

with all the changes you make while making a map, layers are very important. (you cant use layers in paint!)

The only thing you could use paint for is drawing a general outline of the map, but even then you could do a better job with all the tools photoshop has to offer. It's best to stay away from paint and read the tutorials in the sticky

edbeard wrote:well anything more than a quick draft and you're wasting time to be honest.

with all the changes you make while making a map, layers are very important. (you cant use layers in paint!)

The only thing you could use paint for is drawing a general outline of the map, but even then you could do a better job with all the tools photoshop has to offer. It's best to stay away from paint and read the tutorials in the sticky

Regardless of the program he uses, I still feel it would be a good idea to start somewhere with lower standards. CC'ers can be pretty harsh on a crude cartographer. Whatever program he uses, it might be nice to get his feet wet, and gain some confidence in the minor leagues (so to speak) before stepping upto the plate here...

Piestar wrote:

edbeard wrote:well anything more than a quick draft and you're wasting time to be honest.

with all the changes you make while making a map, layers are very important. (you cant use layers in paint!)

The only thing you could use paint for is drawing a general outline of the map, but even then you could do a better job with all the tools photoshop has to offer. It's best to stay away from paint and read the tutorials in the sticky

Regardless of the program he uses, I still feel it would be a good idea to start somewhere with lower standards. CC'ers can be pretty harsh on a crude cartographer. Whatever program he uses, it might be nice to get his feet wet, and gain some confidence in the minor leagues (so to speak) before stepping upto the plate here...

I think you 2 are talking at cross purposes...

Piestar says - goto landgrab -> they're less stringent than here and will accept MS Paint...

EDbeard is saying MSPaint is not great to start with as Photoshop has easier tools than Paint anyways...

However - I'm with Edbeard - no point in "learning" paint - when youll have to upgrade to PS anyways... altho it may help with mouse/drawing skills...

C.

edbeard wrote:with all the changes you make while making a map, layers are very important. (you cant use layers in paint!)

I can't agree more... spending two months trying to change/tweak/perfect a Paint document will probably drive you to drink. Some artists have demonostrated that you can create beautiful work in Paint - and you can - but you can't then move a border or change the texture of a territory in less than a minute like you can in PhotoShop.

If Paint is what you know and you are itching to present an idea, I say do the best you can and post it. Be prepared for some jerk to criticize your artistic skills, but stand your ground and insist that you want feedback on game play only. If it is truly a good idea for a map you with gather some supporters who will help guide you through the process, and somebody may even volunteer to step in and help take your map to the next level... there are a number of maps in progress right now that are being worked on by teams of cartographers.

As for why using Paint is against the rules: the past year of foundry work has shown that projects that start in paint die in paint. There are so many projects already underway, the mods don't want to waste their time (and ours) on projects that have a 99% failure rate.

Thanks for all the help, everybody....like I said, I think having zero skills, maybe I'm a bit ambitious attempting a map....perhaps I will post it with my gameplay ideas, and hope that someone (hopefully someone with New England roots who can put the flavor into it) will take it up and do it properly....

yeti_c wrote:

Piestar wrote:

edbeard wrote:well anything more than a quick draft and you're wasting time to be honest.

with all the changes you make while making a map, layers are very important. (you cant use layers in paint!)

The only thing you could use paint for is drawing a general outline of the map, but even then you could do a better job with all the tools photoshop has to offer. It's best to stay away from paint and read the tutorials in the sticky

Regardless of the program he uses, I still feel it would be a good idea to start somewhere with lower standards. CC'ers can be pretty harsh on a crude cartographer. Whatever program he uses, it might be nice to get his feet wet, and gain some confidence in the minor leagues (so to speak) before stepping upto the plate here...

I think you 2 are talking at cross purposes...

Piestar says - goto landgrab -> they're less stringent than here and will accept MS Paint...

EDbeard is saying MSPaint is not great to start with as Photoshop has easier tools than Paint anyways...

However - I'm with Edbeard - no point in "learning" paint - when youll have to upgrade to PS anyways... altho it may help with mouse/drawing skills...

C.

Actually, if his goal is to make maps for CC, I agree with Ed, and the person needs to use a more sophisticated program. My point is that it might be worthwhile to do your learning is a place with lower standards, because people can be very blunt, and obviously have high standards, due to the high quality of maps that get Quenched.

Still, it is good to know that if all you want to do is knock out MSPaint maps, there is a place you can do it.

take a look at the crossword map in the making now, it rough drawing but it gives you insight how the map might look like, in the crossword posting there is a mix drawings of paint and photoshop so you be able to compare the 2