Monsters! - Battle for the Powerstones

[monster10]

it seems childish to me if this map makes it i will be surprised

[dolomite13]

it seems childish to me if this map makes it i will be surprised

I know what ya mean, I have struggled with how realistic vs how cartoon like to make the map from the beginning. I think this map mixes just enough silly fun with crazy monsters and a fantasy theme to make it worth seeing through. There are other odd or childish themed maps out there like Doodle, Conquer Man, Poker Club, and Halloween Hollow and each has their fans and detractors. =)

==D==

[natty dread]

IMO there are worse maps at play currently, I see no reason why this one wouldn't make it. Keep up the good work.

[Unit_2]

I like the map overall, but there is a little bit I'd like to suggest to fix the Graphics.

The monsters in the south-west are a little hard to tell from another, I would suggest darkening the Yellow monster and brightening the Orange. The army circles also look a bit too transparent.

Other than that, it looks fine to me. Good luck dolomite13.

[RedBaron0]

Certainly looks like a fun map, and fun-looking/cartoonish maps I don't have any problem with and could be a niche that needs to be filled here. I like the look, the monster remind me of the brownie monsters from ATHF. I think other maps have gotten into the Forge looking far worse than this one. If the community can show some love for the map I think this map is easily quenchable.

[Zivel]

I would be interested to see how this map plays out... It looks solid at the moment and dont see any reason why it cant enter the map selection. Looks like it would be one to put alongside arms race as a tactical race to the powerstones... could be one dimensional but there are a lot of maps that are very popular that are one track maps... I would play it and think as a speed game could be a lot of fun.

[paulk]

I personally have trouble understanding how all the rules and attack routes work, I would probably have to try it out a couple of times (and loose big, lol) before I got a grip of it, but the map itself looks solid.
I hope it gets the final stamps so it can get into Beta. (send me an invite)

[Industrial Helix]

Been keeping my eye on this map for a while, as far as the graphics are concerned I would have said it was worthy of a stamp long ago; though I can see why gameplay took so long. Tbh, this should be well into beta testing as that's where the issues are going to arise with this style of gameplay.

Out of curiosity, do you have the XML written yet? Might as well do it while you're waiting.

[Kabanellas]

Dolomite, this is looking good. Hope your project gets to a new stage in the foundry.

[dolomite13]

Out of curiosity, do you have the XML written yet? Might as well do it while you're waiting.

I do but I learned some stuff about the xml while doing the Jamaica xml for cairn that might be the better way to do some of the things I am trying to do with this map. =)

Thanx

=D=

[number five]

i like it man you got a fan right here

[cairnswk]

dolomite13.
I still have small issues with the font size on the small map legend, but i won't complain.
i have issues with The Hive also on WM's small map,
so perhaps i am getting old and my eyes don't see as well as you younger folk, and i well understand the pressures of packing in the instructions.
Apart from that, this needs graphic stamping.
Good luck.

[dolomite13]

dolomite13.
I still have small issues with the font size on the small map legend, but i won't complain.
i have issues with The Hive also on WM's small map,
so perhaps i am getting old and my eyes don't see as well as you younger folk, and i well understand the pressures of packing in the instructions.
Apart from that, this needs graphic stamping.
Good luck.

I will be revisiting the legend again later today to see if I can make the small map any more readable ... its hard at that size and the natural 72dpi of web based graphics. Too bad HD web is still a few years away and may not even get support in css3.0 or html5. The good thing about CC is that they can switch to the large map at any time and read the instructions and switch back for ease of play. =)

The Hive creeps me out with the bees so I have trouble looking at it in any size (i had a traumatic experience with bees as a child). But I love non standard maps like Hive and Poker Club and cant wait to play on it. Bzzzzzzzzz

I really hope this map makes it into play and is popular with the CC players. I would love to carry on the "Monsters!" theme into other maps as part of a series. I have an idea for a classic style map that would involve the homeland of the wizards. But I am leaving all of my other map ideas in limbo or in my head until Monsters! has moved to the Final Forge.

=D=

[Blitzaholic]

The wizards are looking kool

[dolomite13]

I fiddled and fiddled with fonts and the small map is as clear as I can get the text. I could make all monsters slightly smaller and create a larger area for the key but that's a serious redo of the map. Unless the key is what is stopping if from getting a stamp I am reluctant to do that much work at this point.

How about some constructive feedback from the foundry crew... Otherwise lets stamp this baby so I can get on to the XML.

=D=

[MrBenn]

Graphically, there is very little to fault here.

I'll admit that I haven;t been following development too closely, and my only real concern is that it's very very difficult to work out what the heck is going on... I think I just need a little bit of time to sit down and get my head around things, so that I can establish how clear and concise the critical instructions are...

[dolomite13]

Yea!!! the foundry is reopened and I am looking forward to doing what it takes to get the graphics stamp and move this map on to the final forge =)

=D=

[Lone.prophet]

my points of critique for now are:

the letters can be a little bigger
and the stroke of the monsters and wizards (which both look awesome) could be softened/blurred a little to loose the jaggenedness

[dolomite13]

Can anyone point me to a good tutorial on how to soften/feather stroke that has been applied to a layer?

=D=

[-=- Tanarri -=-]

Excellent looking map and I am very much looking forward to seeing this map make it to beta. Hopefully the XML being written will allow it to get to beta nice and quick after the last few graphic things are sorted out.

As for the graphics, I think it looks awesome

[Lone.prophet]

Can anyone point me to a good tutorial on how to soften/feather stroke that has been applied to a layer?

=D=

if you mean you made the stroke by layerstyle, than you can unattach the stroke by clicking on the layerstyle flap and select create image this way the stroke will become an editable layer which you can blur by own desire. if you dont mean this you have to specify for me to help

[dolomite13]

Can anyone point me to a good tutorial on how to soften/feather stroke that has been applied to a layer?

=D=

if you mean you made the stroke by layerstyle, than you can unattach the stroke by clicking on the layerstyle flap and select create image this way the stroke will become an editable layer which you can blur by own desire. if you dont mean this you have to specify for me to help

Ah I started making a duplicate "flattened" layer and blurred that i then turned off the stroke on the original layer and put it over the other blurred one and it looks really good. I am about 1/2 way done (it takes a while) and should have an update soonish.

=D=

[RedBaron0]

Fortnightly Review:

• Your text color and size make it hard to read certain parts of your legend and background story, especially on the small map.
• The monsters along the left side of the map aren't consistent with the powerstone overlaps rules when compared to the other monsters please clear this up.

Just a couple things to do!

[dolomite13]

Fortnightly Review:

• Your text color and size make it hard to read certain parts of your legend and background story, especially on the small map.
• The monsters along the left side of the map aren't consistent with the powerstone overlaps rules when compared to the other monsters please clear this up.

Just a couple things to do!

I looked at the powerstones and had to stare at them and stare at them to figure out what you were saying but now I see that they are in front of the monsters instead of behind them. I will fix that and see what can be done about the legend areas. Work has been overwhelming this past week and I have a trip across the country comingh up tomorrow but I should be able to work on the map some after I pack this evening =)

=D=

[dolomite13]

OK I have to leave for Boston for the weekend so I wanted to get something here for you to look at before I left.

Here is what is changed in this version
- Smoothed the rough edges (stroke) on the wizards and monsters.
- Moved 3 powerstones on left side to behind the monsters for consistency of overlapping.
- Made changes to font sizes, font edges, and font colors to try and make everything more readable across the bpard.
- Added a more opaque texture around the outer edge of the map, behind the key and story text to try and help make it more readable.

To Do
- move a few monsters and unit circles to better clarify overlaps.
- work on all of these changes for the small version of the map.

=D=

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/427 ... a5a2_o.png