Here by request, swooping down to crush all your hopes and dreams, and some other threatening rubbish.
Graphics:
- The tripartite flag just doesn't do it. It looks very divided, and the flatness of it only detracts. I would suggest full flags, with some overlap to note the three countries involved in a slightly more "full" way. Perhaps add some shadow to it to make it stand out more.
- The army circles look a little bit small, particularly considering the information you're containing on them. It's also very hard to make out those different circles, particularly since the colors make a big difference.
- The "ye olde" font in use for Russia and Belarus is distracting, and since those aren't even countries in play (with exception of the two Moscow and Minsk territories), confusing.
- The sans serif font is a little bit small, and hard to pick out against the background.
- Overall the map is detailed, but very flat. Generally speaking, there has been a movement by the Foundry to keep things seeming 3D to a small extent, whether that be the application of Drop Shadow (like on the title, or the flags, or the minimap) or Bevel/Emboss (on the territories proper. Texture also helps instead of solid color, though the colors you picked are pretty good for discerning country from country.
Gameplay:
- Too. Many. Bonuses. I know you're meaning to put in a lot of options for the map, but it's an overload. Add to that the confusing circle-based scheme, and it's hard to tell WHAT is the bonus except for the minimapped +8, +10, and +6 regions. Instead of circles, how about shades of the primary colors? You've got a blue up top, a red in the middle, and a yellow below, of which there are a ton of different shades. You could even go so far as to make each country shades of their respective flags (since they do have lovely solid color flags). That would remove all the circle colors, and allow your Capital Regions bonus to shine out.
- Agree on removing Moscow and Minsk, they don't add much, and they detract from the Baltic States theme.
- The Remarks section is too small. It's readable, but very difficultly so. You can also pare down the wording to be significantly shorter. We don't need complete sentences in maps, thanks goodness.
- The bonuses section is very long and drawn out, and could easily be pared down, or incorporated into the minimap (with exception of the capitals). Go with the shades idea and that should be a relative piece of cake to incorporate.
Ah, it feels good to get out on the field of mapmaking and get a map
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