SteamWorks

[Victor Sullivan]

A couple small things:

• The steam looks like smoke... I'd suggest changing it back to the way you had it before.
• Change Norfolk's port to a balloon.

-Sully

[DiM]

A couple small things:

• The steam looks like smoke... I'd suggest changing it back to the way you had it before.
• Change Norfolk's port to a balloon.

-Sully

the current steam icon fits the rest of the icons much better. it's true that it doesn't quite look like real steam anymore but people asked for consistency thus the change from white to black.

as for norfolk, yeah, it can be easily done and then we'll have equal amount of ports and balloons

[Tisha]

Going be fun to play.

only thing that is bothering me is the lighting on the pipes, and the shadow of the pipes.. to many different light sources.

add more drop shadow under the paper
I'd also make a tight drop shadow to the STEAMWORKS.

[DiM]

i'll look into it tisha and fix things in the next version.
thanks.

[AndyDufresne]

A couple small things:

• The steam looks like smoke... I'd suggest changing it back to the way you had it before.
• Change Norfolk's port to a balloon.

-Sully

Agreed that Steam looks like smoke. In fact, it kind of looks like a smudge on the map. I'm still in favor of ditching to realistic stream for stylized symbols, it honestly fits rest of the aesthetic tremendously better.


--Andy

[DiM]

A couple small things:

• The steam looks like smoke... I'd suggest changing it back to the way you had it before.
• Change Norfolk's port to a balloon.

-Sully

Agreed that Steam looks like smoke. In fact, it kind of looks like a smudge on the map. I'm still in favor of ditching to realistic stream for stylized symbols, it honestly fits rest of the aesthetic tremendously better.


--Andy

i can't promise that i'll change it since i'm rather fond of the realistic look of the steam. however i will try to come up with a few icons for steam and provide a few alternatives ranging from realistic to stylized and let the community decide.


anyway, since lately most posts are about nitpicking graphics, does this mean everybody is ok with the current gameplay?

this is the latest update:

Click image to enlarge.

[Victor Sullivan]

Norfolk's port still needs to be changed to a balloon

-Sully

[DiM]

Norfolk's port still needs to be changed to a balloon

-Sully

yep. will do.

[DiM]

V12

*changed continent bonuses
*norfolk port became a balloon
*more shadow under the paper
*tweaked the shadow of the title
*placed 2 neutral in cumberland
*7 different steam icons. choose one please. - i still like the realistic steam in Kent.

Click image to enlarge.

[ManBungalow]

I like this very much indeed.

I know it's in the gameplay workshop, but I've no gameplay-related comments to make.

However, I might be inclined to rotate the actual map a few degrees clockwise. I imagine that would be complicated to do, what with all the layers you must have going, but it would make me happier, as I'd probably end up playing this map with my head at an angle this way...

Also, I'm with you on the 'real steam' image. It looks better that way.

[zimmah]

the real black steam looks the best in my opinion (the one on kent) the others look like tribal tattoos or something.


also the balloon on norfolk seems lighter then the others.

[Victor Sullivan]

Honestly, I'm still a fan of the white steam from way back when, but certainly Kent is the best of these - the others remind me more of fire, and Devon's just looks terribly out of place.

Also, a nitpick: North Riding's border goes over the hole in the paper.

Plus, perhaps you should separate the balloons in Northeast by switching the port and balloon of Northumberland and West Riding?

-Sully

[DiM]

Honestly, I'm still a fan of the white steam from way back when, but certainly Kent is the best of these - the others remind me more of fire, and Devon's just looks terribly out of place.

Also, a nitpick: North Riding's border goes over the hole in the paper.

Plus, perhaps you should separate the balloons in Northeast by switching the port and balloon of Northumberland and West Riding?

-Sully

as usual your input is appreciated. i already made the changes you requested and they shall be visible in the next update after i get a consensus on the steam icon. right now it heavily tilts towards the black realistic steam icon.

[DiM]

I like this very much indeed.

I know it's in the gameplay workshop, but I've no gameplay-related comments to make.

However, I might be inclined to rotate the actual map a few degrees clockwise. I imagine that would be complicated to do, what with all the layers you must have going, but it would make me happier, as I'd probably end up playing this map with my head at an angle this way...

Also, I'm with you on the 'real steam' image. It looks better that way.

thanks for the feedback. i'll try and fiddle with the rotation to see what i can do. the problem is that by rotating the map clockwise more of the bottom left corner will go under the cogs/watch mechanism and i'll lose valuable legend space.
and thanks for the steam input.

[DiM]

the real black steam looks the best in my opinion (the one on kent) the others look like tribal tattoos or something.


also the balloon on norfolk seems lighter then the others.

that baloon is lighter because on top of it there's a steam layer from the pipe on the right side. i don't see it as much of a problem to be honest.

[cairnswk]

For the steam, i prefer the one on Devon, but it needs to be a bit more graphic and full like the other icons...perhaps with some fluffy stuff in its background.
the other steam icons look like flames.

[MrBenn]

I personally like the England connection. It gives the map a nice sort of "what if" undertone, and the way I see it... "what if" scenarios are what Steampunk is all about! Sans the fantasy element, Steampunk as a genre speculates on a type of world where certain aspects of our technology developed faster than others... what if things like cars, robots or computers were invented but electricity or combustion engines weren't, etc.

So I think using England as a basis for the map is well justified thematically, plus it gives it a certain connection to reality that makes the theme even more interesting.

Well, as the only Englander to have commented on it, I still think it sucks

I'm going to repeat this until it is addressed properly

[Nola_Lifer]

Looks good. Steam on Kent fits the best. The one on Devon is too Egyptian looking.

[cairnswk]

OK. my two bobs worth, and i must admit i don't know too much about the subject apart from what i can read on the internet.

DiM, while i can see the England connection to the Victorian Era that you have on the map with the land territories, when i first saw England divided up, i thought "Oh no, not another version of England" but waited to see the response and where the idea would go.

I think that perhaps MrBenn has a point in calling for something different to be offered in the way of territories laid out on the map. There are a wealth of ideas, shapes and forms out there that one can draw on for shaping territories and heaps of different names associated with the steampunk idea that could be territoy names.

Without creating WWIII and offending you, i think it could be improved using your vivid imagination you have along with your special skills. Yes it is a graphics issue, but i know it is the heart of the gameplay at this point.

Whatever you choose is fine with me, but i thought i just should say something to offer encouragement for perhaps some alternative.

[natty dread]

Well, as the only Englander to have commented on it, I still think it sucks

I'm going to repeat this until it is addressed properly

What part of "I think it sucks" is something that a mapmaker should address?

[DiM]

Well, as the only Englander to have commented on it, I still think it sucks

I'm going to repeat this until it is addressed properly

i have already addressed this properly by clearly explaining my choice for England. `further more i proved i'm willing to be flexible and give up the 21st century england and go for a 19th century one as some people felt it would be better. got my 19th century image from cairns and made the necessary changes. if you still think it sucks then it's your problem mate. not everybody can be satisfied and apparently this time you'll be the one left on the outside.
i've always stayed away from real geographical maps and used solely my imagination for terits and borders because i found it to be a much more flexible way of creating a map. well this time i went for England to fit the theme and i also managed a way to make it flexible enough by splitting it up and using balloons and ports.

[DiM]

Looks good. Steam on Kent fits the best. The one on Devon is too Egyptian looking.

thanks for the input Nola_Lifer

[DiM]

OK. my two bobs worth, and i must admit i don't know too much about the subject apart from what i can read on the internet.

DiM, while i can see the England connection to the Victorian Era that you have on the map with the land territories, when i first saw England divided up, i thought "Oh no, not another version of England" but waited to see the response and where the idea would go.

I think that perhaps MrBenn has a point in calling for something different to be offered in the way of territories laid out on the map. There are a wealth of ideas, shapes and forms out there that one can draw on for shaping territories and heaps of different names associated with the steampunk idea that could be territoy names.

Without creating WWIII and offending you, i think it could be improved using your vivid imagination you have along with your special skills. Yes it is a graphics issue, but i know it is the heart of the gameplay at this point.

Whatever you choose is fine with me, but i thought i just should say something to offer encouragement for perhaps some alternative.

yeah i could use basically and map in any shape or size. heck i could even use a map of my neighbourhood or my country. hey i could even place this in cairns coral coast
but if i chose anything other than england, for me, it would lose it's steampunk feel.
at first i even tried making a fantasy landscape (check out v3) but it all clicked into place once i decided to use england.

[cairnswk]

^^^ Fair enough DiM. There is no harm in asking. Cheers.

[DiM]

i hate to be so insistent but do people have any gameplay issues that need to be solved? i keep asking this over and over again because i'm in the gameplay subforum and for the last few pages most of the talking has been about moving a few pixels here and there, increasing a shadow correcting some lighting and picking graphics for steam.

this is the latest image that can be used to analyse gameplay:

Click image to enlarge.

if nobody has any objections i will start working on the small version and i have asked zimmah to start working on the xml. hopefully it will save a lot of time in the graphic and final forge subforums if these are done now.