[Abandoned] Classic Cities: Cairo

[koontz1973]

Will also make (thought I had) the border between Giza and Kari Tuhmous red to allow the elimination.

Fixed this. Also added another red line next to Islamic Cairo to help reduce that all important big drop.
Removed an urn from En El-Sirah.
Official version

Click image to enlarge.

Test version
This is only an idea I had this morning but it should help make games far better IMO. All I have done is added some green lines to the mix. These will be worded as impassable untill +31 regions. At that point they will open and allow for a super bonus thus helping to finish all games in a round or two.

Click image to enlarge.

[DearCyrus]

Like the new border alot better! I need to look More at the green borders, but in theory, I like them.

[iancanton]

both versions are stalemate-free, so far as i can see. the green version makes for a more open game and greater use of bonuses. u can reduce the n3 on islamic cairo to n2 without compromising fairness. onward and upward!



ian.

[koontz1973]

both versions are stalemate-free, so far as i can see. the green version makes for a more open game and greater use of bonuses. u can reduce the n3 on islamic cairo to n2 without compromising fairness. onward and upward!



ian.

Thank you ian.

I will get the neutral down to 2 and keep the green lines in as they have grown on my. An open game is not always the best game but they do allow for some of the really big bonuses to get knocked out.

Will give an update today for this with a good line division.

[isaiah40]

I'm sorry but you will have to start the graphics from scratch! Everything is so wrong with it!


















Just Joking!! Really, right now the one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the river. Remove the bevel form it so it looks like the rest of the map!

[DearCyrus]

I'm sorry but you will have to start the graphics from scratch! Everything is so wrong with it!

That's messed up! lol

[koontz1973]

I'm sorry but you will have to start the graphics from scratch! Everything is so wrong with it!

That's messed up! lol

It's ok, I am used to that level of childishness from the others.

[koontz1973]

Hows this?
New river.
Lines are now done.
Green line is now yellow as it clashed in the CB tests.
Legend wording is good and includes the yellow.
Moved the poem.
Title is now fixed.
Need to remove the shadows from the bridges but will get to that later.

Click image to enlarge.

[DearCyrus]

Hmmm, not sure about that yellow border... The tone is off. Maybe just a different shade of green?

[koontz1973]

Hmmm, not sure about that yellow border... The tone is off. Maybe just a different shade of green?

For the colour blind players, red, blue and green are too close to each other.
Look at the deuteranopia (top right), green and red are almost alike. Changing the shade changes the mixture of the colour palatte.

[Seamus76]

In the legend why does it say, "Opening or blocking borders effects bonuses" twice?

[koontz1973]

In the legend why does it say, "Opening or blocking borders effects bonuses" twice?

Because it is very important.

Removed legend.
New border.
Sorted out bridges.
Fixed small aesthetics.

Click image to enlarge.

[koontz1973]

Small map done.
CB tests and 888 tests below.
Did the clean up of the large map before making the small map.
Small map caused problems with names so renamed 3 regions to allow fit.
Small map legend has a slightly different font to allow it to be read at the correct size.

What is the word form the boys in blue?

Large Map Image:

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Small Map Image:

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show: 888 and neutrals

show: CB tests

[RedBaron0]

For a little bit of redundancy, mainly for color blindness factors, could you in the legend color the text for red, yellow, blue? And is there a reason you labeled the Nile 5 times?

[koontz1973]

For a little bit of redundancy, mainly for color blindness factors, could you in the legend color the text for red, yellow, blue? And is there a reason you labeled the Nile 5 times?

Redundancy added to the legend text.
No reason over the Nile name so removed all middle ones. Only the top and bottom now left.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

[Dukasaur]

You never answered my question back on page 5 or 6.

Why so big? Surely a 42-tert map can be made to fit on one screen.

[koontz1973]

You never answered my question back on page 5 or 6.

Why so big? Surely a 42-tert map can be made to fit on one screen.

Sorry for missing this, I placed it on vacation just after your post and never went back to it when I brought it out again.
The map is set at the limits of the map sizes we have. It is not larger than any normal map. But the shape of Cairo is not a nice neat box like London. It has this large side blob and that tail below. That and the small districts in the centre forced the size issue over everything else.

Original post by you. Answering it now.

Why is it so big? It's 42 terts but just barely fits on a screen; can't it be made smaller? There are 80 tert maps smaller than this.

You are right, I did Rorke's Drift with 89 regions at the same size. Map sizes all depend on what the map maker wants to accomplish. I have always tried to make my maps as small as possible, not once have I used supersize, but conditions on Cairo dictate the size. Cutting the sides down leads to the problem of squeezing the legend even more and then we get readability issues. On the other hand as well, Clash of Kings (one of Dims last maps) is a lot larger than this and only has 43 regions on it.

[RedBaron0]

I think I've left this one to stew long enough, lets hear your final comments.

My one and only tiny gripe is the shadow on the minaret in the legend doesn't match the rest of the minarets on the map.

[ManBungalow]

Okay, there are lots of things that can be done with the graphics here.

At the moment it's basically a flat, dull texture with some lines on it.

I feel like Egypt: Nubia is a good example of a relatively nice-looking map which is basically a texture background with some regions on: http://maps.conquerclub.com/Egypt__Nubia2.S.jpg
...but it looks like a desert, rather than sandpaper. I think it's in the little details.

You could make a nice legend....at the moment it's floating text.

"Minarets prayer call can be heard all over the city." I don't get it. Does this have anything to do with the gameplay?

The highlight of the region names looks a little off. Change the layer mode to grain merge or something? Maybe something similar for the images at the bottom-left.

Perhaps you could put the map name on there somewhere? I have no idea what the text at the top-left says.

Spelling in the legend:
Buriel Urn -> Burial Urn
Opening or blocking borders effects bonuses -> Opening or blocking borders affects bonuses
Bridges across the Nile are not effected by conditinoal borders -> Bridges across the Nile are not affected by conditional borders

I'm looking forward to trying the unique gameplay koontz, nice one.

[koontz1973]

At the moment it's basically a flat, dull texture with some lines on it.

No problem there at all. That is what I want.

You could make a nice legend....at the moment it's floating text.

Legend will stay as it is. This is going to be a really complicated map to play to the legend needs to be super clear. It was designed that way.

"Minarets prayer call can be heard all over the city." I don't get it. Does this have anything to do with the gameplay?

Hold all to win, that part of the text you highlighted is just on for no other reason that most players would not know what they are or what they are used for.

The highlight of the region names looks a little off. Change the layer mode to grain merge or something? Maybe something similar for the images at the bottom-left.

I do not understand this. It is a straight forward hard glow. Nothing fancy wanted or needed. Just because we can do something, does not mean we should. I have tried all of the looks you have mentioned above in previous drafts, and all have been rejected by players or myself. Not going to take a step back to please.

Perhaps you could put the map name on there somewhere? I have no idea what the text at the top-left says.

That is the Arabic name for the map, same as when I used the Hungarian for the Mags map. The map will go by Classic City: Cairo on the site.

Spelling in the legend:
Buriel Urn -> Burial Urn
Opening or blocking borders effects bonuses -> Opening or blocking borders affects bonuses
Bridges across the Nile are not effected by conditinoal borders -> Bridges across the Nile are not affected by conditional borders

Will get these changed tomorrow and post the xml soon I hope.

[dolomite13]

I didn't read the whole thing but what is the reason for the blocked borders when you control certain amounts of territories.

=D13=

[koontz1973]

I didn't read the whole thing but what is the reason for the blocked borders when you control certain amounts of territories.

=D13=

Purely game play. No other reason.

But if you wanted a reasoning, you could have gridlocked streets.

[cairnswk]

koontz...i se whe're up to GFX..so have to comment that Nile River text left of map is very hard to read.

[koontz1973]

koontz...i se whe're up to GFX..so have to comment that Nile River text left of map is very hard to read.

Will get it cleard up for you today.

EDIT:
RB0 mentioned the shadow in the legend. Cleared that up to match the map.
ManB noticed some grammar and spelling mistakes. Sorted those out.
cairns wanted the river name clearer. Believe this is now so.

Large Map Image:

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Small Map Image:

Click image to enlarge.

[RedBaron0]

On to the next step on the pyramid!