All New Map Thread

[Wedge009]

Blast, should have looked at this thread first. Again, good job LOAF!

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Wedge, you still alive?

Er... yeah! I guess... :checks self:

Sorry I probably won't be nearly as helpful (or annoying) as I was with the previous map development stages - I'm trying to cut back on the time I spend here.

I did notice a couple of minor cosmetic things:

• Isn't it H'rissith, not H'rissth? (Kilrah Sector)
• The Baroda-Haven jumpline goes over the Haven system (Avalon Sector)
• Perhaps you might like to add an 'unexplored' system adjacent to Sheol? (Avalon Sector) I can't remember what the story was in Privateer, but just because pirates/Retros go there, doesn't mean the Confederation has officially been there.

Also, why the [sector name] X (Y) unknown system naming scheme?

PS Vega is seriously messed up with jump lines!

 

[Wedge009]

Noticed something: two "Langston"s in Roddenberry Quadrant, Enigma Sector.

I might make more suggestions once I get a good look at all the new goodies at home tonight.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
* I've put Baroda and Sheol in the Challenger Quadrant (Avalon Sector).

This is cool.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
* Grovsner and Etruria added to the Trk'pahn Sector (ooh, grey)...

Remind me what was special about these systems?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Noticed something: two "Langston"s in Roddenberry Quadrant, Enigma Sector.

Dash, the one on the left should be "Arraman"

Remind me what was special about these systems?

They're just another nation...

Isn't it H'rissith, not H'rissth? (Kilrah Sector)

Hmm, it's spelled both ways... I'll add a "/ H'rissith".

The Baroda-Haven jumpline goes over the Haven system (Avalon Sector)

Okay, I'll fix that when I get home.

Perhaps you might like to add an 'unexplored' system adjacent to Sheol? (Avalon Sector) I can't remember what the story was in Privateer, but just because pirates/Retros go there, doesn't mean the Confederation has officially been there.

Not sure I understand. Sheol only had one jump point and then the jump weirdness from the story... (marked on the map with a question mark). The Retros came through via Baroda.

Also, why the [sector name] X (Y) unknown system naming scheme?

Just so I can refer to it in the future... for instance, I know that the system four jumps before Hari has a Red Giant. I can refer to it as "Hari 3 (3)" now.

Hmm, I notice that you've now made Oasis the same colour as the unexplored systems. That's one way of solving it, I guess, but it might be better to give it a completely different colour. After all, it's not really an unexplored system but an independent 'nation'.

Good point... it's got its own weird orange color now. (And it's on the key! My map actually has a key!)

 

[Wedge009]

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Dash, the one on the left should be "Arraman"

I just noticed that's the way it was from the last version (averybigmapindeed.png).

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
They[Grovsner colonies]'re just another nation...

But from where? Are they the system(s) which seceded from the Confederation, mentioned in one of the WC3 newsbriefs? (Whoops, wait, no, that's the Granita system.)

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Hmm, it's [H'rissth/H'rissith] spelled both ways...

Oh, really? Where?

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Okay, I'll fix that when I get home.

Being the picky sod that I am, I make a few cosmetic changes on my copies at home. Actually, the Kilrah, Sol, Trk'Pahn and Vega Sectors are the worst, IMO, with the first two having huge chunks of map out of place by a pixel. (Oooh! A whole pixel! Yeah, I know, I'm fussy.) I'd fix them and send them to you, but I'm not sure which e-mail address you use the most, and anyway, you probably have more updates planned for them.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Not sure I understand. Sheol only had one jump point and then the jump weirdness from the story... (marked on the map with a question mark). The Retros came through via Baroda.

I just re-read the story, and I didn't see anything about the jump "weirdness". I think the Scarab also came from Baroda, since Captain Kane says "I know the captains of the last Draymans to make this run [to Sheol]. We were supposed to meet back on Baroda for a drink." But that's all I found regarding jumppoints.

In any case, all I was saying is that if there's supposed to be a jump to some place unknown, make the unknown an 'unexplored' system, since presumably that's what the other unexplored systems are... unexplored! If it really is just jump "weirdness", then I don't see any need for it to be marked on the map, perhaps you should just make a note for it instead.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Good point... it's got its own weird orange color now. (And it's on the key! My map actually has a key!)

Huzzah!

One last thing: in the Kilrah Sector, Kur'u Caxki Quadrant - the Prophecy ICIS manual spells Tal'q, not Tal'Q.

 

[Wedge009]

Hey, LOAF. I'm sure you still like to keep bandwidth to a minimum, so if you use PNG Crush on the files, it'll minimise the file size. It's a DOS program, but it's easy to use.

pngcrush -brute -l 9 [infile].png [outfile].png

This will try all combinations of filters and strategies for zlib compression level 9. With the maps, this will find the smallest size possible - which is usually some obscure method not used in the default algorithm.

 

[Ripper]

O.K. The map(s) are cool. Neat to look at. Of what use are they? How do you use them? Can they be printed out?

 

[Ladiesman^]

Originally posted by Ripper
O.K. The map(s) are cool. Neat to look at. Of what use are they?

They're maps....of the WC universe...

How do you use them?

You look at them, and see where stuff is. There's a key too, in case you were wondering what stuff stood for....

Can they be printed out?

You can print out anything you want...

But yes, there are special print versions....click the link that says "Print Version"....

 

[dacis2]

is it finished? because I got this.

The requested URL could not be retrieved

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.blacklance.org/~loaf/map/loaf-full.png

The following error was encountered:

Unable to determine IP address from host name for www.blacklance.org
The dnsserver returned:

No DNS records
This means that:

The cache was not able to resolve the hostname presented in the URL.
Check if the address is correct.

 

[TC]

That appears to be a DNS error on your (read: your provider's) end. The blacklance.org domain appears to be set up correctly and it works in the proper fashion from over hear.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

The latest version is at wcnews.com/maps, anyway...

Fixing errors now!

 

[Ladiesman^]

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
The latest version is at wcnews.com/maps, anyway...

Fixing errors now!

hehehe...i'm still gonna hound you about Oasis for some reason...

Ok..so now you've made more easily accesible to the Kilrathi, but if you look it's still a bit of a pain for Confed. They'd have to take AT LEAST 3 jumps through Landreich space in order to reach it, and that's the shortest route. Assuming it's pre-Union of Border Worlds, if you were at New Plains, you'd need to jump through Gonywn's Glory, Landreich 1 (2), and Greenhouse before you got to Oasis...all through Landreich space...

I would suggest just making a jump from Gainer's World to Oasis, that way you don't have to fiddle around with it's position anymore. That would make it perfect, being easily accesible to the Kilrathi, Confed, and the Landreich.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

This will try all combinations of filters and strategies for zlib compression level 9. With the maps, this will find the smallest size possible - which is usually some obscure method not used in the default algorithm.

Neat idea... but it didn't seem to help the map much: reduced loaf-full.png by only about 3%.

But from where? Are they the system(s) which seceded from the Confederation, mentioned in one of the WC3 newsbriefs? (Whoops, wait, no, that's the Granita system.)

No, they're mentioned in Fleet Action -- along the lines of the Landreich, but on Confed's *other* flank (the region is referred to as Etruria in Action Stations). Granita was determined by the original map to be Union territory, so I don't think I should change it.

Oh, really? Where?

It's "H'rissth" on the original map and "H'rissith" in WCP.

Being the picky sod that I am, I make a few cosmetic changes on my copies at home. Actually, the Kilrah, Sol, Trk'Pahn and Vega Sectors are the worst, IMO, with the first two having huge chunks of map out of place by a pixel. (Oooh! A whole pixel! Yeah, I know, I'm fussy.) I'd fix them and send them to you, but I'm not sure which e-mail address you use the most, and anyway, you probably have more updates planned for them.

Okay, I've made a bunch of these changes... the two sectors that were the wrong size (Kilrah and M'Shrak) have been fixed, and the various mis-lined jumps have all (as best I can tell) been fixed. Couldn't see anything wrong with Trk'Pahn, though...

(As for e-mail, if you want to work on the map that way, I'm at blesnick@mc.cc.md.us)

I just re-read the story, and I didn't see anything about the jump "weirdness". I think the Scarab also came from Baroda, since Captain Kane says "I know the captains of the last Draymans to make this run [to Sheol]. We were supposed to meet back on Baroda for a drink." But that's all I found regarding jumppoints.

In any case, all I was saying is that if there's supposed to be a jump to some place unknown, make the unknown an 'unexplored' system, since presumably that's what the other unexplored systems are... unexplored! If it really is just jump "weirdness", then I don't see any need for it to be marked on the map, perhaps you should just make a note for it instead.

The research station was investigating unstable jump points in the area, IIRC... that's what the question mark refers to.

Minor Changes:
* Addition: H'rissth is now "H'rissth/H'rissith"
* Addition: Hell's Kitchen is now "Hell's Kitchen/Apocalypse". Thanks, Nintendo.
* Correction: {Extra} Langston is now Arraman.
* Correction: Tal'Q is now Tal'q.

 

[Wedge009]

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Neat idea... but it didn't seem to help the map much: reduced loaf-full.png by only about 3%.

Oh... well, it was just a suggestion. In any case, 3% of a big file should still be a substantial amount. It's just that with the pic editor I use, some PNGs can be compressed much further - I've managed over 30% reduction before.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Granita was determined by the original map to be Union territory, so I don't think I should change it.

I was just thinking out loud (okay, typing my words as I think them).

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
It's "H'rissth" on the original map and "H'rissith" in WCP.

Ah, that explains it, I don't have the map on paper. I probably assumed WCUM.jpg was just blurry.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Couldn't see anything wrong with Trk'Pahn, though...

Actually, I think that was a relatively minor thing in the 'bottom-right' corner...

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
As for e-mail, if you want to work on the map that way, I'm at blesnick@mc.cc.md.us

Alrighty. I've been busy with other things over the past week, so I haven't managed to complete all the fixes I wanted to. Hopefully I'll have more time with this latest batch.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
The research station was investigating unstable jump points in the area, IIRC... that's what the question mark refers to.

Well... I'd still say to leave it off the map. Surely there must be dozens of unstable (regular) jump points in the WCU, I think only the stable (and special ones like Charybdis, etc) jump lines should be shown.

Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
* Addition: Hell's Kitchen is now "Hell's Kitchen/Apocalypse". Thanks, Nintendo.

Nintendo?

 

[Ripper]

Originally posted by Ladiesman^


But yes, there are special print versions....click the link that says "Print Version"....

OOps! Didnt see that!

 

[Wedge009]

Howdy LOAF, check yer e-mail.

Some of the sectors were only really minor, but Kilrah, Sol, and Vega are definitely a big improvement regarding realignment of systems. I tried not to change jump lines at the border which go into adjacent sectors, so hopefully everything will still line up properly when joined together.