Official: Central America Competition - complete!

[e_i_pi]

I didn't even know there were 69 regular foundry goers...and there's no announcement for this yet, so it's unlikely that random people not-foundry related voted.

Can the mods check sub-forums of people competing?
cause number 4 getting 21 new votes in the time 2 and 3 get only 5 seems kinda suspicious, especially because 2 and 3 were pretty far ahead yesterday after most of the regular mapmakers voted.

I'm not accusing anyone of cheating, I'm just saying that I think one of the admins could check clan forums to make sure there's no behind-the-scenes vote gathering going on.

Yep, what you're talking about is basically branch stacking, which about 10 days ago I predicted would be happening. It's an online community, there really is very ltitle that can be done about it, you have to accept it as being part of the playing field

I posted in my clan sub-forum, as it wasn't stated as being against the rules, and really, we only have 8-10 regular clan members at the moment, so I figured it would make very little difference no matter what choice they made. I can only think of one clan member who would vote for me blindly - I don't think that will tip the scales either way.

For the sake of transperancy, this is the original post from my clan sub-forum:

As some of you know, I have been working on the Central America map making competition. I've been corresponding with gimil on my map and how to improve it.

<--snip due to containing information that could give away the map-->

This competition is intended to be anonymous, so if any of you are thinking of voting on the finalists, I would urge you to consider whose submission is the best, and not simply vote for mine for being in the clan. While that may seem nice, I think the best entry should win, and I reckon some good entries will be coming in, judging by who is having a go at it.

Any feedback you can give is appreciated. I am posting here as I need a broad level of feedback, not just from one of the Foundry mods.

[yeti_c]

Comments from me.

1) Geographical
Pros
The relief
Mexico/Columbia visible.

Cons
List of territories
Continents not readily visible

2) Colourful
Pros
Easily defined territories/continents
Mexico/Columbia visible
Clean

Cons
It's nice - but what's special about it?
Double up on legend is a bit weird

3) Artistic
Pros
Perspective gives a nice balance
Unique
Feeling
Mexico/Columbia Visible

Cons
Bit Garish
Legibility

4) Island
Pros
Clean
Nice Background

Cons
Central America isn't an Island.
I don't like the port connections.
Some of the shading between continents seems weird.

5) Muted
Pros
Clean
Simple
Easy to play on
Columbia/Mexico are visible
Pretty much playable right now.

Cons
Is it special?

And a general comment on the map as a whole...

What's Panama famous for? a) a hat, b) a canal.

C.

[RjBeals]

It shouldn't matter as soon as the link is posted on the news updates on main page. The brazil got like 1,000 votes. So a few clan members shouldn't matter.

[wcaclimbing]

The problem is that clans can have a huge impact on the results, which could easily make the wrong images win (if anyone remembers my complaints about mibi's layer battle, you know what I'm talking about).

If I sent a PM to every member of TUC with a link to the Centerscape vote (I wouldn't do that, its just an example), I could easily pull an extra 15-20 votes just from clan-members supporting me.

I don't really know of a way to fix that problem, but it definitely messes up the results whenever people reveal who made what...

EDIT: just seems kinda bizarre with so many posts supporting 2, 3, and 5. Only two people have showed any support for #4 in their posts (one loved it, the other liked it but didn't vote for it).
It just seems unrealistic that 4 would be getting so many votes without more people supporting it in this thread, without some kind of business behind-the-scenes.

EDIT2: It would work if the polls all had a link on the main page. Then the huge number of votes (brazil had 700+ votes) would be able to counteract any suspicous clan business.

[oaktown]

When I posted the voting I PM'd Andy to get a headline up (I can't do that) - when the headline went up last time around we went from dozens of votes to hundreds of votes, so a few extra clan votes shouldn't have a significant impact - especially in the first round.

Though it would be nice for the site if CC users would vote for the map they liked best, not the mapmaker they liked best.

[barterer2002]

I think I come at these maps from a different perspective. Here's what I thought of them, although I have no mapmaking skills.

1. For me this one was too dark. Its almost as if I were playing this map at night. Personal preference on my part is for Water to be a shade of Blue rather than black. I find some of the terts to be more difficult to read as well. I also HATE the number things that have started to come out. For me they're more confusing than having an actual territory name.

2. This was my vote. I like the colors, I like the names on the terts, I like the way its easy to read. To me the colors look like they belong on Central America. Personally I like playing maps like Great Lakes and Africa that are easy to read, and simple to play-where I can play anyone of any skill level without having an advantage or disadvantage because some of the game play is odd. This map, to me, is reminicient of those two.

3. Visually its the nicest to look at but its not one I would look to play very much. The cursive text is something I find difficult to read and while I can figure it out (much like Midkendil) I prefer not to work that hard to figure out which tert I am attacking once I've decided where to attack. The Bocas del Toro (see I can figure it out if I have to) also confused me slightly as it seems to be a significantly different color than those around it and I wondered if it was a different bonus area (I decided that it wasn't)

4. I like the way that the different bonus structures have their tert names outlined in color although Gutamela and Panama are more difficult to read. I'm not sure why the legend has the attack route in it as that doesn't seem to be on the map at all.

5. Similar to 2 but with more earth tones. I debated between this one and the second one as to which would get my vote and went with 2 because i liked the colors as more regional-more vibrant rather than muted.

For me then, in order 2-5-4-1-3

[Bones2484]

I really liked number 4 the most. However, I don't like that it makes Central America look like an "island".

[ZeakCytho]

Thanks so much Yeti and Barterer. Keep the comments flowing guys! I'm editing mine now.

Any guesses on who submitted what yet?

[RjBeals]

#1 ZeakCytho
#2 whitestazn88
#3 e_i_pi
#4 Kaplowitz
#5 Gimil

?? I really have no idea though.

[e_i_pi]

#5 Gimil

Gimil did Portugal, meaning he isn't eligible. Unless of course he never actually did Portugal!!! :insert dramatic music here:

I don't think Whitestazn88 submitted an entry either. These people submitted entries...

e_i_pi
ZeakCytho
bryguy
samuelc812
Kaplowitz

...as far as I know

[whitestazn88]

#1 ZeakCytho
#2 whitestazn88
#3 e_i_pi
#4 Kaplowitz
#5 Gimil

?? I really have no idea though.

1. i thought zeak already made a map? (Archipelago)
2. i've already posted that i didn't make one
3. could be a good guess
4. i think kap can do better than that.... his swiss map looks pretty damn good
5. gim made feudal right?

i think itd be pretty damn hard to guess who the amateurs are, especially since someone might have come out of the woodwork, i'm thinking guys like blacky44? drake259? um... (after some research) rsacheli? a.sub? i don't even know if any of them are amateurs, but the possibilites are endless

[RjBeals]

Opps... Guess I was way off then

[lgoasklucyl]

I subbed one- there's your missing link

Sorri I didn't drop by earlier I've got crazy-bad strep throat and have been knocked out allll day.

[MrBenn]

I think all the entries show promise. I'm working on feedback that I started while at work, and now have to go and buy some Christmas-light bulbs... my feedback will come soon!

[bryguy]

#1 ZeakCytho

1. i thought zeak already made a map? (Archipelago)

no, mjinga made archipelago if i remember correctly


[off-topic]

Gl getting christmas lights ben


my family just buys a couple boxes each year and then keeps them for next year..... man, so many christmas lights to put up now..... eh better get to it someday, we only have a handful up, and like 3-10 crates left.....

[/off-topic]

edit: since people are guessing who did what, im gonna throw my guesses out there


3: e_i_π, just because its very thorough and different, it seems like something he would do. (heh, just realized that the army circle-things are to small for double digits)

5: Lgoa, idk why but i think its his

4: its so well done i have to say Kap, that and it just seems so like him to do something like this

2: Zeak. Seems like something zeak would do for a map, after hanging around archipelago so long. The colors are very similar to it in my opinion.

1: I have my suspicions for this one, but not really anything to confirm my suspicions.... for now though im just gonna guess Gilligan, just cause it seems like something he would do... idk why it seems like that.


lol mostly Im guessing on how people would do it, and what i come up with is close to these entries. 5 im really just guessing at, as it seems like something lgoa would do, and it seems pretty simple, but with nice effex

[yeti_c]

Thanks so much Yeti and Barterer. Keep the comments flowing guys! I'm editing mine now.

Any guesses on who submitted what yet?

No worries Zeak - I don't know which one is yours - but glad to have helped!

C.

[InsomniaRed]

Okay I've been looking at these too much and I decided if 3 get's legible and the graphics get clearer, I dunno...it just would look so good. I like the originality of it....ah I can't make up my mind. So the word is they get a revision before the end of the vote, or after? I don't understand.

[whitestazn88]

Okay I've been looking at these too much and I decided if 3 get's legible and the graphics get clearer, I dunno...it just would look so good. I like the originality of it....ah I can't make up my mind. So the word is they get a revision before the end of the vote, or after? I don't understand.

i think top 3 move on, get one update. then the winner enters regular foundry process

ps. when did you get the purple name tag? congrats

[whitestazn88]

I subbed one- there's your missing link

Sorri I didn't drop by earlier I've got crazy-bad strep throat and have been knocked out allll day.

i have never even seen you in the foundry... maybe i'm not looking hard enough, but that came out of nowhere for me.

that is, unless you didn't actually make one and you're messing with us

[Kaplowitz]

This one is mine, i didnt have the time to finish/submit it (so idk y people are saying i did one lol)!

Click image to enlarge.

Anyway, although 3 has a little bit too much going on IMO, it really stands out and i dont like the other ones, and i voted for it!

[whitestazn88]

This one is mine, i didnt have the time to finish/submit it (so idk y people are saying i did one lol)!

Click image to enlarge.

Anyway, although 3 has a little bit too much going on IMO, it really stands out and i dont like the other ones, and i voted for it!

well i'm glad you didn't submit, because then there would be a never ending debate as to who was the originator of "vertical central america"

[MaleAlphaThree]

I'm torn between 2 and 5.

*#3 is interesting, yes, but the textures and colors are an eye sore. 1 and 4 aren't anything special either.

[joe cool 360]

Here's how I broke it down:

1) Very realistic, but I didn't like how there was no name next to the territories, just a letter and a number, plus there's no pizzaz.

2) This was my fave at first because it looked like a central america map

3) That is until I saw this one. I really liked it because it's incredibly unique and just looks great, but the problem is that the territory names are hard to read for me.

4) Looks good, clean and crisp, but it's basically the same as the first one.

5) It was between this one, 3 and 2 that I really struggled on, they all looked great.

My decision: I voted for 3 even though it definitely needs work. It shows a great deal of promise, however, and I think that the intent of the designer was to tweak it a bit before submitting it for the final map. (For example some of the colors are a bit off) Other than a few graphics issues, it looks incredible.
So anywho, that's my opinion.

[Ditocoaf]

3 is the best, imo. While the eye-hurt-ness could be turned down, it looks good, and is definitely the most original. We want maps that stand out from other maps, that people will remember.

4, while my second pick, is just too... basic. Standard. As in: while it looks really nice, you could use the same graphics style for a map of any map, and it would fit the theme just as well.

[waseemalim]

hmm... why do we have so many island versions of central America? Does that bother anyone else?