The Grand War
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@elreigh Yeah, that looks much better.
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Version 2 Update
I have updated the repository with new relief graphics for clarity on terrain. Also, graphical indicators have been added to canals in the form of blue arrows wherever there is a canal connection. -
@elreigh Just updated to the new version and things look much better. And there are definitely a few more canals than I even realized
Updated my initial feedback post to cross most of them off the list as I think you hit 3 of the points fairly well already. Nice work! -
@elreigh Looks great. Canal markers are great.
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@Elreigh This map looks interesting and colorful
I would like to give my first impression, based on what I see only. I have not played a game yet.
Map Version: I have downloaded v2.0 and the map is version v1.0, even though I think you have updated it since your first release. You should begin giving your map a new and higher version number each time you release a new version. It is possible to name map versions something like v1.1 or v1.0.1.
Territory graphics: They are very nice! I think the territory effect type, PU and Oil information is well done. It is both visible if you look for the info and discrete in the background if you are only looking at the units.
Territory name graphics: This could maybe be fine tuned a bit, if you ask me. Some territories have names printed that fall well into the background and become discreet, but others are very light/bright and stand out a bit too much. The worst cases are probably the Arabia/Turkestan font territories and the India names. I don’t know if it is possible, but maybe you could try darkening the names a bit so that they stand out less?
Denmark: Why is this territory so distorted compared to real world? (I am Danish, so I have to ask
)Player and Water colors: It is always hard to make a full set of water and player colors that fit together. I think you have done a great job!
Units graphics: I really like the land units and buildings. They look like they belong together and they share the same “style”. I think the naval units are not in the same league. If you keep the current ship graphics, you should try to at least give the ships a tiny thin black color outline. My guess is that they would stand out more on the map, and also make them look more a part of the same unit set as the land units. Alternatively, you could go looking for new ship graphics, and if you do, maybe try a bit larger ship graphics. The current are tiny.
So, this concludes my pre-play review
I hope to play a single player game soon. -
@frostion I'd second the thoughts on naval units not really fitting in or being as nice looking as land/air.
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@Frostion I am not sure why you would have version 1. Do I have to also update the version number in the xml? I haven't done that, I figured it was only necessary to do so for the yaml.
Regarding the territory names, I think that might be because of how thick those two fonts are that they stand out so much. Ironicly, it was my belief that all the other fonts looked bad because they are too thin! Doing something to the territory names like that could be tricky, since the relief map has the fonts and names incorporated into it. But I'll try a few things and see how it turns out.
Denmark is distorted because of a style choice while making the map, wherein I connected all of the islands in many provinces (like Ireland/Britain, Japan, Borneo/Sulawesi, etc.). Denmark came out as a blob as a result.
Unit graphics were not my own design, they were drawn by Fairline on the CivFanatics forum. (Link below.) Most of his naval units look like this, but I could potentially find alternative artists to borrow pixel art from. Early on I had wanted separate styles of naval units for each faction, but I couldn't find a nice looking way to differentiate them and I just settled for that. I'll revisit them though, and see what can be done about that.
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/ww2-unit-graphics.409277/
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@elreigh The version in the XML is the 'real' map version that players would reference and such to version changes you make. The yaml version is just a way so the engine knows for players that already have the map that there is a new version that it should allow them to download.
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@Elreigh
I was thinking about what to do if you would like to make the territory names stand out less. I have made this little test picture for you to see.
The territory name file Turkestan is reduced from 100% opacity (your original file) to 50% opacity in Photoshop. The “2” PUs marker is reduced from 100% to 75%.
I don’t know if this is a way you want to go. If you are satisfied with the current name and PU pictures, then forget this proposal"Do I have to also update the version number in the xml?" - Yes, and it does not have to correspond with the version in the yaml file.
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@redrum Thanks. And regarding version numbers, is there any reason why I should or should not use integers (version1, version2, etc.) as opposed to decimals (version1.1, version1.0.1, etc.)?
@frostion Hm, yeah I can see the appeal in that, it does look nicer... would take a while to change every single one, though, so I may take a while to update everything.
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@elreigh For the yaml we always just use integers as the number doesn't really mean anything and that's just simpler/consistent. For the XML, its really up to each map maker how they'd like to version the XML. Most I'd say use either 2 or 3 numbers (x.x or x.x.x) but some use just 1 and some even have 4 (x.x.x.x). I'm sure @Frostion and @Hepps have opinions on the matter.
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@Elreigh If you use Photoshop, that program has a “batch” feature. With that you can “record” what you do with one picture and give the same treatment to a batch of pictures. It takes some time to learn, but it is very useful. I have actually forgotten the details, so don’t expect me to explain the process, but we can probably find a guide on youtube or somewhere.
EDIT: I have the feature at: File --> Automate --> Batch...
@redrum I have not been consistent with how I do version numbers, but I think I have finally settled with a three digit system, like v1.0.1 updates to v1.0.2 and v1.0.9 updates to v1.1.0.
This is partly because going from v1.9 to v1.10 results in TripleA displaying v1.10 as v1.1. TripleA does not want to display the 0.
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Alright, I did edit all of the territory names to half opacity, but I do not like the way most of them look on the map. Arcadia and India look great, but only because they are bold fonts. Grands is barely legible because of how thin it is, and it does need that extra opacity to be readable. I may wind up changing some of these fonts to make it look better, since I have always thought the Grands font was especially difficult to make out.
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@elreigh Maybe only make the Arcadia and India be half opacity then and leave the rest?
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Version 3 Update is out now, changing relief tiles to make territory names stand out less. I've also reduced fighter defense from 4 to 3, after some consideration on balance concerns.
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@elreigh All bot servers will require a restart to accept your new version. (which I don't mind slowly doing as they empty) Are you planning any more revisions soon?
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@prastle No I'm not planning on any more revisions at the moment; I'm pretty happy with the way things look at the moment, and I'd like to work on some other projects for the time being.
Is there a common courtesy standard for releasing versions so they don't mess with all bot servers? When I need to make updates in the future I could stall them out to bundle many into a single version. I would've done so with these changes if I knew it was a hassle for others.
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@elreigh No hassle we needed an update anyways. I just was mentioning so i could time it with your new stuff as well as frosti's
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