[Gnaw]

cerveza_fiesta, on 06 May 2014 - 04:59 PM, said:

I like it a lot, but I don't have a problem on the phone or otherwise with keeping the status quo large raster image.

The fully-rendered hexes do add a nice ambience to the game however....but if it means people have an easier time with the file then I wouldn't vote against the simplified board just for aesthetic reasons.

Maybe a compromise - just relabel the hexes with bigger text against a rectangular black background. You could fit it over the existing nameplates pretty easily. Use a font like Arial or Courier that deals well with the pixelation that inevitably accompanies image compression. If we could do the same to the upkeep numbers on the playerboards (and any other small, but important text) we could dispense with the full-resolution image entirely I bet.

EDIT

By the way Gnaw, I am super glad you're back and well and modding again. I forgot how fun this game was and you do a very good job as gamemaster.

D, on 06 May 2014 - 05:04 PM, said:

Like CF, I find it just as easy to use the full images as the simplified ones, so it doesn't matter to me, whatever is easiest!

I guess i didn't make myself clear. It's not a case of either/or. I can post both style maps with only a couple minutes added to the update time. It's finishing up the simple hexes that will take X amount of time; once they're done, they're always available.


@CF thanks and thanks. I'm glad to be back. I now realize how much I enjoy interacting with the people on this website.

[cerveza_fiesta]

If you're able to turn on the text layers (ie the labels) on their own, with the usual hexes and post as a smaller image as a result, that might be best. Smaller size and more phone-friendly, but without changing the look and feel of the game overmuch.

That's my suggestion anyway. It will save you drawing the rest of the hexs and the simplified planets etc...

[twelve]

D, on 06 May 2014 - 05:04 PM, said:

Like CF, I find it just as easy to use the full images as the simplified ones, so it doesn't matter to me, whatever is easiest!

Me three. I enjoy and am able to read the larger file but for ease of mod or other player viewing issues I wouldn't vote against the customized hexes. I do really like that I can read the hex name and number on your version Gnaw. It saves from having to check my notes all the time to figure out which hex I'm talking about. Though with only three hexes that isn't too hard at the moment.

[Gnaw]

cerveza_fiesta, on 06 May 2014 - 05:19 PM, said:

If you're able to turn on the text layers (ie the labels) on their own, with the usual hexes and post as a smaller image as a result, that might be best. Smaller size and more phone-friendly, but without changing the look and feel of the game overmuch.

That's my suggestion anyway. It will save you drawing the rest of the hexs and the simplified planets etc...

hmm. hadn't considered that. It's all those pesky raster images that add to the file size. For example, the influence discs and population cubes. Making them vector objects allowed me to drop 20mb of raster images.

For those who don't know the difference:

• raster is a picture. The computer has to store the information pixel by pixel. What color that pixel is, where it's located, etc.
• vector is an algorithm of a geometric shape. The computer stores the object as a set of mathematical equations. Much smaller file. Plus it can be resized with theoretically zero loss of image quality.
• Influence disc:
  • raster: pixel by pixel information of color.
  • vector: 1 circle equation (x² + y² = z²) color of area within that circle (ffdd55ff). 2nd circle equation with color. 3rd circle equation with color of outline. 4th circle equation with color of outline.

[twelve]

Gnaw, on 06 May 2014 - 05:14 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 06 May 2014 - 04:59 PM, said:

I like it a lot, but I don't have a problem on the phone or otherwise with keeping the status quo large raster image.

The fully-rendered hexes do add a nice ambience to the game however....but if it means people have an easier time with the file then I wouldn't vote against the simplified board just for aesthetic reasons.

Maybe a compromise - just relabel the hexes with bigger text against a rectangular black background. You could fit it over the existing nameplates pretty easily. Use a font like Arial or Courier that deals well with the pixelation that inevitably accompanies image compression. If we could do the same to the upkeep numbers on the playerboards (and any other small, but important text) we could dispense with the full-resolution image entirely I bet.

EDIT

By the way Gnaw, I am super glad you're back and well and modding again. I forgot how fun this game was and you do a very good job as gamemaster.

D, on 06 May 2014 - 05:04 PM, said:

Like CF, I find it just as easy to use the full images as the simplified ones, so it doesn't matter to me, whatever is easiest!

I guess i didn't make myself clear. It's not a case of either/or. I can post both style maps with only a couple minutes added to the update time. It's finishing up the simple hexes that will take X amount of time; once they're done, they're always available.


@CF thanks and thanks. I'm glad to be back. I now realize how much I enjoy interacting with the people on this website.

Glad you are back. I've always enjoyed our interaction even though you did screw me royally in diplomacy a while back

[cerveza_fiesta]

Gnaw, on 06 May 2014 - 05:31 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 06 May 2014 - 05:19 PM, said:

If you're able to turn on the text layers (ie the labels) on their own, with the usual hexes and post as a smaller image as a result, that might be best. Smaller size and more phone-friendly, but without changing the look and feel of the game overmuch.

That's my suggestion anyway. It will save you drawing the rest of the hexs and the simplified planets etc...

hmm. hadn't considered that. It's all those pesky raster images that add to the file size. For example, the influence discs and population cubes. Making them vector objects allowed me to drop 20mb of raster images.

For those who don't know the difference:

• raster is a picture. The computer has to store the information pixel by pixel. What color that pixel is, where it's located, etc.
• vector is an algorithm of a geometric shape. The computer stores the object as a set of mathematical equations. Much smaller file. Plus it can be resized with theoretically zero loss of image quality.
• Influence disc:
  • raster: pixel by pixel information of color.
  • vector: 1 circle equation (x² + y² = z²) color of area within that circle (ffdd55ff). 2nd circle equation with color. 3rd circle equation with color of outline. 4th circle equation with color of outline.

hmm...well we don't need a background image for any reason other than aesthetics, really.

One thing I did at the time (that I probably didn't need to) was to cut a lot of the pieces from a pattern - ie make a vector hex shape to "cookie cut" out one of the expansion hexes that d'rek sent me (which were 6 to a 81/2 x 11 page). I think using patterns in this way keeps all the original image underneath the cookie cutter...so if I was cookie cutting 6 images out of one page, I'd end up with 6 copies of the page floating around, each with the cookie cutter positioned over a different image.

It may be possible to do a permanent cookie cut on those pieces - that would be for all the expansion hexes, expansion race diplo tiles, etc... Getting rid of the unseen background "waste" image would shrink the file even further. I just never figured out how to do it.

[Gnaw]

cerveza_fiesta, on 06 May 2014 - 05:46 PM, said:

hmm...well we don't need a background image for any reason other than aesthetics, really.

One thing I did at the time (that I probably didn't need to) was to cut a lot of the pieces from a pattern - ie make a vector hex shape to "cookie cut" out one of the expansion hexes that d'rek sent me (which were 6 to a 81/2 x 11 page). I think using patterns in this way keeps all the original image underneath the cookie cutter...so if I was cookie cutting 6 images out of one page, I'd end up with 6 copies of the page floating around, each with the cookie cutter positioned over a different image.

It may be possible to do a permanent cookie cut on those pieces - that would be for all the expansion hexes, expansion race diplo tiles, etc... Getting rid of the unseen background "waste" image would shrink the file even further. I just never figured out how to do it.

That cookie cutter thing really threw me for a while when I took over in game 3. What you did was apply a mask to the image. And when I moved the image the mask didn't move with it. The rare tech tiles would change when I moved them. As did some of the starbase images and ambassador images. All the stuff from the expansion. It caused me many a headache until I realized that it was a mask.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Gnaw, on 06 May 2014 - 05:57 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 06 May 2014 - 05:46 PM, said:

hmm...well we don't need a background image for any reason other than aesthetics, really.

One thing I did at the time (that I probably didn't need to) was to cut a lot of the pieces from a pattern - ie make a vector hex shape to "cookie cut" out one of the expansion hexes that d'rek sent me (which were 6 to a 81/2 x 11 page). I think using patterns in this way keeps all the original image underneath the cookie cutter...so if I was cookie cutting 6 images out of one page, I'd end up with 6 copies of the page floating around, each with the cookie cutter positioned over a different image.

It may be possible to do a permanent cookie cut on those pieces - that would be for all the expansion hexes, expansion race diplo tiles, etc... Getting rid of the unseen background "waste" image would shrink the file even further. I just never figured out how to do it.

That cookie cutter thing really threw me for a while when I took over in game 3. What you did was apply a mask to the image. And when I moved the image the mask didn't move with it. The rare tech tiles would change when I moved them. As did some of the starbase images and ambassador images. All the stuff from the expansion. It caused me many a headache until I realized that it was a mask.

you were able to remove the masks and make the cookie cuts permanent then? Cos I sure love cookies.

[Galactic Council]

Round 7 Action Phase

Spoiler

Turn 1


CF - RESEARCH - Zero Point Source bottom track. -11 science == 7 left


Morgoth - Research -

• Research - antimatter cannon and quantum grid for 16 science. -16 science == 3 left

Dr. IH, PhD, World Traveller - Research

• trade 9 material for 3 science, and research advanced economy. -9 mats == 12 left, -4 sci == 0 left

Twelve - Influence

• move disk from 318 (return Grey and orbital cubes both to Money and material cube to materials) to 304. Colonize material slot on 304.
• Move influence disk from player board back onto 318, colonize grey planet with materials.
• Reset 2 colony ships
• ($2/S0/M4 Upkeep -2)

Gnaw -Research

• Fusion Drive -3 science == 3 remaining
• Place on center track
• 0 upkeep. 0, 3, 8

Tatts - Provisional

• Research Plasma Cannons - 4 science == 0 remaining
  

D'rek -

• Research Neutron Absorber (5 science) and place it in the bottom track. - 5 science == 24 remaining
• Colonize the two planets in Sigma Draconis and money on Rigel.

Khell - INFLUENCE Lambda S. and Iota Persei

Tapper - Research

• Conifold Field if not researched yet by anyone (5 science). Place on the third track, please. -5 sci == 1 remaining
• Back-up: if it is taken: research Star Base.

Turn 2


CF - Upgrade dread blueprint

• ZPS over nuclear source
• Gluon computer over electron computer.

,

Morgoth - research advanced robotics - trading 3 materials for the missing point in science. -3 mats == 15 left, -3 science == 0 left

Dr. IH, PhD - Influence 204 and colonise the advanced materials slot, and the three advanced econ planets. Should leave one colony ship flipped up.

Twelve - Influence 318 swap the grey cube to money and then replace it with materials

Gnaw -Upgrade

• place fusion drive over blank space on interceptor blueprint
• remove ion cannon covering nuclear drive on interceptor blueprint
• place plasma missiles over left ion cannon on dread blueprint

Tatts - Influence Hex 311 colonize materials planet


D'rek - MOVe

• -one interceptor in Delta Eridani to pin Tatts' cruiser (again).
• -other interceptor in Delta Eridani to the GC

Khell -RESEARCH Security Council. -2 mon, sci, & mats. $0, 2sci, 1mat remaining

Tapper -Influence 206, colonize mats planet of 206 and 1 science planet of the GC, flip one colony ship face up (2 remaining face up).

Turn 3


CF - Upgrade Dread

• AM cannon over ion cannon,
• fusion drive over nuclear drive.

,

Morgoth - build - -8 mats == 7 left Mod note: you know you have nanobots right?

• 1 starbase in tier 1 tile with cruiser and
• 1 cruiser in tier 1 tile with starbase

Dr. IH, PhD - research diplomatic fleet for 6 materials. -6 mats == 6 left

Twelve - Influence 318 swap the grey cube to money and then replace it with materials

Gnaw -Upgrade Dread.

• Fusion Drive over nuclear drive.
• Sentient hull over blank space.
• -2 upkeep. $0, 3 sci, 8 mats.

Tatts - Provisional Upgrade dread

• improved hull over ion cannon
• plasma cannon over ion cannon

D'rek - Influence

• -move Delta Eridani (209) disc to pollux (102) - science cube returns to population track
• -move disc from influence track to Epsilon Carinae (324)
• -flip up two colony ships and colonize Epsilon Carinae (money) and Beta Lyrae (money)

Khell -INFLUECE Delta Eridani and colonise science planet. Flip colony ship.


Tapper -Upgrade:
- empty square on dread: +6 energy.
- +1 computer on dread: +2 computer


Turn 4


CF - UPGRADE Dreadnought with

• Antimatter cannon over ion cannon,
• hull in the blank spot.

,
Morgoth - Pass First pass of round

Dr. IH, PhD -

Twelve -

Gnaw -

Tatts -

D'rek -

Khell -


Tapper -

Spoiler

Turn 5


CF -

,

Morgoth -

Dr. IH, PhD -

Twelve -

Gnaw -

Tatts -

D'rek -

Khell -


Tapper -


Turn 6


CF -

,

Morgoth -

Dr. IH, PhD -

Twelve -

Gnaw -

Tatts -

D'rek -

Khell -


Tapper -

[Galactic Council]

Galactic Council, on 06 May 2014 - 04:31 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 05 May 2014 - 12:57 PM, said:

UPGRADE


Dreadnought with Antimatter cannon over ion cannon, hull in the blank spot.

Morgoth, on 06 May 2014 - 01:03 PM, said:

Might be we will want to attack this turn, but if we chose to do so my ships are relatively mobile.

pass

Noted and noted. Waiting on IH now.

Now that I'm updating the map file, I'm going to just go ahead and assume you meant Improved Hull in the blank spot rather than normal hull?

[Imperial Historian]

Pass. Might not have much net access next few days, assume I'm going to pass through.

[Galactic Council]

Imperial Historian, on 06 May 2014 - 11:44 PM, said:

Pass. Might not have much net access next few days, assume I'm going to pass through.

Noted.

Provisional for Twelve: Pass

• settle the orbital with money and the material planet in 318 bringing it to 10$ and 8 materials.

[Gnaw]

Imperial Historian, on 06 May 2014 - 11:44 PM, said:

Pass. Might not have much net access next few days, assume I'm going to pass through.

^-^

I take it you're not worried about the GC swarming over 108?

And did that direct link help you any?

[cerveza_fiesta]

Galactic Council, on 06 May 2014 - 10:53 PM, said:

Galactic Council, on 06 May 2014 - 04:31 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 05 May 2014 - 12:57 PM, said:

UPGRADE


Dreadnought with Antimatter cannon over ion cannon, hull in the blank spot.

Morgoth, on 06 May 2014 - 01:03 PM, said:

Might be we will want to attack this turn, but if we chose to do so my ships are relatively mobile.

pass

Noted and noted. Waiting on IH now.

Now that I'm updating the map file, I'm going to just go ahead and assume you meant Improved Hull in the blank spot rather than normal hull?

that is absolutely correct. Thanks for the correction.

[Imperial Historian]

Gnaw, on 06 May 2014 - 11:59 PM, said:

Imperial Historian, on 06 May 2014 - 11:44 PM, said:

Pass. Might not have much net access next few days, assume I'm going to pass through.

^-^

I take it you're not worried about the GC swarming over 108?

And did that direct link help you any?

Links like that are perfect, if I could have those in the first post I can download and look at them on my phone. For some reason I can't do that with the maps in spoiler tags.

Amend that pass through to maybe build a starbase or two as a reaction if someone attacks. I think the grand alliance will probably be more concerned about morgy and CD though.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Your alliance has nothing to fear IH. We're not exactly swimming in materials - rapid omnidirectional expansion is probably not in the cards for us.

[Gnaw]

Ah shit. I thought we were waiting on Tatts.

Upgrade Cruiser

• Sentient Hull over single hull.
• Fusion Drive over nuclear drive.
• -3 upkeep. $0, 3 sci, 8 mats.

[Galactic Council]

Okey, while we're waiting on Tatts, D'rek and Khell I did some work.

Simple with red text in png

http://forum.malazan...-1399515144.png

Spoiler

 Round 7 turn 4p4 Map simple red.png (770.42K)
Number of downloads: 0

Simple with red text in jpg

http://forum.malazan...-1399516389.jpg

Spoiler

 Round 7 turn 4p4 Map simple red.jpg (698.97K)
Number of downloads: 0

Simple with black text

http://forum.malazan...-1399515184.png

Spoiler

 Round 7 turn 4p4 Map simple.png (687.92K)
Number of downloads: 0

The traditional map with red text

http://forum.malazan...-1399515590.jpg

Spoiler

 Round 7 turn 4p4 Map red.jpg (858.75K)
Number of downloads: 0

Simple with red text in png
Simple with red text in jpg


Hmm. I had thought that png was the superior format. Apparently not. The jpg is much clearer when zoomed on my ipad mini.

This post has been edited by Galactic Council: 08 May 2014 - 02:37 AM

[cerveza_fiesta]

Yeah, I think png is more or less the same as bitmap isn't it? Jpg compression algorithms seem to do a better job - too bad it's not a supported format in inkscape...or at least it wasn't before.

EDIT

When I was modding game III, I was exporting to a high-res .png and then compressing it to jpg using GIMP. What method have you been using


RE your question,

I like them all...the simple board with black no-serif font has its perks for sure. Much clearer to look at...but I do still like the original tiles.

If you're going to do new labels on the original tiles, I would definitely fill the text blocks with a solid colour (dark grey or black) and have the lettering white. The red isn't high enough contrast on many of the tiles.

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 08 May 2014 - 12:24 PM

[Gnaw]

cerveza_fiesta, on 08 May 2014 - 12:14 PM, said:

Yeah, I think png is more or less the same as bitmap isn't it? Jpg compression algorithms seem to do a better job - too bad it's not a supported format in inkscape...or at least it wasn't before.

Well, what I know of png is that the OSS community likes it. And I did think it was a better format. I don't think so now.

When I was modding game III, I was exporting to a high-res .png and then compressing it to jpg using GIMP. What method have you been using

Same. Except I did those particular jpgs using OS X preview.

RE your question,

I like them all...the simple board with black no-serif font has its perks for sure. Much clearer to look at...but I do still like the original tiles.

I keep saying this: it's not an either/or situation. I've done the work now, so posting one more additional map takes 3 extra minutes.

If you're going to do new labels on the original tiles, I would definitely fill the text blocks with a solid colour (dark grey or black) and have the lettering white. The red isn't high enough contrast on many of the tiles.

The problem with that is the only point of having new text labels is to use a larger font. 40 in this case. Which means I had to jiggle each name and number separately for each hex so as to leave the most room available for ships, etc and still be able to see everything. I did what you suggested and put the text into its own layer. So changing color would be easy. I'll find time later today to fuck around with a couple of hexes and find other options.