As a result of the community desire for more clear and accessible information, the Cartographers have decided to find a suitable way to have all the necessary info up to date and easy to find. After considering that another drastic change (like the addition of more nested subforums) would not have helped so much and after considering that Map Foundry has 3 main area of activity (develope maps, informations/tools and discussion), we have decided to not change again the whole layout, but just to split it.
The map foundry is now divided into 3 main sections (or categories) with the following format:
- Foundry Discussions
- Competitions
- Tools, Tutorials & Guides
- Tools
- Guides
- Map Foundry
- Drafting Room
- Main Foundry Workshops
- Final Forge
- Viewing Gallery
As you can see, we have also decided to split the Tools, Tutorials & Guides section in two parts. Now every the mapmakers (old or new) will be able to find the necessary information or tools more easily. All links/threads were updated, tools attached to posts and now all the essential info have a visible place in their dedicated forum. I think that now no one can say that is not able to find something!
But there's more!
It was January 2008 when the first (and only) edition of the Mapmaker Handbook was posted. During the years the foundry has changed its face and the map process has improved a lot and now, the Handbook is a bit old and outdated. What? We can't have a dedicated forum to fill with outdated information!
But don't worry, the Cartographers, with the help of a small group of users, have worked hard behind the scenes to collect all the required informations and show all them into a single place.
As result of this long-hard work, I'm very proud to release the new version of the Official Mapmaker Handbook
And more again!
With the release of our new handbook we have also decided to refine/officialize some parts of the foundry process:
Removal of the design Brief
Since when it was introduced, the Design Brief never worked like we had imagined it. These days it seems more a burocratic step than something really useful, both for mapmakers and CAs. For this reason we've decided to remove it.
But for a thing that is gone, the evil CAs
are going to add a new one:Pre-made template
All new topics into the drafting room will have a pre-populated post. Athough we know that everyone has his way to do things, it's important that all the necessary information are visible (and updated) in the first post, for this reason fill the pre-made template will be mandatory. Don't take it like another thing to do or a restriction, because it's not in this way! The information required are all basic info, things that a good mapmaker will write in his first post in any case. Let me also state clear that you can add to the post anything else you want, but fill the template first.
Supersizes Applications
It has passed a while since we introduced the super sized maps, but we never formalized a real procedure for them. From now, any mapmaker that needs to go super-size can apply for them using a dedicated thread into the Drafting Room. You can find additional info about the supersize applications into our new handbook.
That's all for now, but stay tuned because there're other things in the pipeline!
thenobodies80
Love the changes!
