Possible Visual Improvement to the West Coast Map

AgentX · Post by **AgentX** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:37 am

On another thread, we got to discussing what I thought were the shortcomings of the West Coast map design: mainly the way the San Francisco Bay Area is depicted (also wanted to stop hijacking the thread, so I started this one). I came up with a quick mockup of how I think the Bay Area could look using the existing tile sets. I admit, I'm not very skilled with the editor, but I was able to make what I think is a better representation of the Bay Area. It looks like it would be easy to change since it uses roughly the same amount of hexes as the existing map. It also replaces the Stockton with Oakland which would be a more strategic city to take anyways (also, because of the way I made it, the cities are roughly in the same spot now). Also, didn't know how to place Bunkers, but those could all still be in their current locations. I know it isn't a high priority, but I still thought I'd bring it to your attention since it currently doesn't look right to me and could easily be improved. A proper depiction of the Bay Area is imperative to making a West Coast map look accurate as it is the defining feature of the Central Coast.

Existing West Coast Depiction of the SF Bay Area:

How I Would Change It:

Actual SF Bay Area Overview:

Kerensky · Post by **Kerensky** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 5:45 am

While I appreciate the effort, your map and example are, once again, on the wrong scale.

Pad image in the editor. The 'Bay Area' is not that large.
By that image, San Francisco and San Jose should be adjacent to one another, but you can already see I've 'stretched' them apart.

The surrounding area is now also being affected.
That Northern Victory Hex you see there is Sacramento. Sacramento is 1 hex away from The Bay Area? No. I've already pushed Sacramento north a considerable distance already. Your increased sized Bay will require pushing Sacramento even further away, further disrupting an already very stretched interpretation of geography.
Your larger 'bay area' is actually starting to reach Chico and is a mere 2 hexes away from Redding!!!

How the entire map, not just your zoomed in crop, will now appear. Is that the Bay Area, or the crater of the meteor that killed all the Dinosaurs?

Kerensky · Post by **Kerensky** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:03 am

To help you further understand scale:

The Great Salt Lake covers an area roughly 1,700 square miles in size.
In game, it is represented by four hexes.

San Francisco Bay, at absolute maximum inclusion of surrounding water ways (San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay) covers 1,600 square miles.
In game, by your example, San Francisco Bay is nine hexes.

AgentX · Post by **AgentX** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:18 am

Kerensky, I think you made it a little bigger than I did. I did a quick mockup loading the original map. Can I send it to you so you can see what I did (the pzscn file)? It was only a slight modification to the existing map. I'm not very good with the editor, but tried my best for a first try. For instance, I wanted to shift Oakland NE one hex (next to the BB and opposite of SF) and San Jose shifted one hex to the SE. They could probably stay where there are, though. Here is an overview:

Kerensky · Post by **Kerensky** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:20 am

You're still using nine hexes.
You're still having Sacramento 1 hex away.
You're still zoomed in, show the full map (or just look at my example) and it's clear to see San Francisco Bay is not as big as you want it to be.

Kerensky · Post by **Kerensky** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:25 am

AgentX wrote:Kerensky, I think you made it a little bigger than I did.

Nine dots. My example.

Nine dots. Your example.

AgentX · Post by **AgentX** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:55 am

OK, I get it, but I think your overhead grossly distorts the size since it counts the entire hex as an ocean without subtracting out any of the coastlines. The coastlines in all the hexes I used would cut into the square mileage figure you are using. Also, the Bay Area isn't a nice round body of water like the Salt Lake. It's square mileage is over a much bigger land area since it's such an irregular shape. Personally, I thought it looked pretty good the way I did it. Oh well, guess it wasn't impressive enough. Anyways, I'd still like to modify for my tastes. I don't think it changes the scenario too drastically and it just plain looks better to me.

EDIT: Eliminated an Ocean hex. Is this a little better? Redding is now back to 3 hexes away and Sacramento 2 hexes. The proportions better now? Technically, I would only count it as 7 Ocean hexes now. The hex with the Golden Gate shouldn't really count as a Bay Area hex.

Kerensky · Post by **Kerensky** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:54 am

Four Hexes, in a box shape, = 1700 sq miles.
Seven Hexes, in a crescent shape, = 1600 sq miles?

You're more than welcome to use your version of the map, and to share it with anyone else who wants to use it through the 'Scenario Design' forum, but I remain unconvinced of this change being made official when and if other updates to USA are made (Adding deserts, for example)

AgentX · Post by **AgentX** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:24 pm

Ok Kerensky, I think I have a final design that should be able to pass muster. The Bay Area is now down to 5 Ocean hexes (making it only 1 hex larger than the original). Could this be something more acceptable and something you would consider? I think it's the minimum size I can make it while also trying to make it accurate looking. The only big changes from the original are: the Strongpoint was moved one hex up to make room for the North Bay, the weird East Bay extension was turned to landfill

(my main objection to the original), some roads were rerouted and the San Joaquin was added going north along the Sierra with it and the Sacramento River meeting at the Delta (could be removed, if a problem; makes Sacramento a bit harder to take). Other than that, all other units and cities remain unchanged. I think it turned out pretty good, what do you think?

AgentX · Post by **AgentX** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:05 pm

Ok Kerensky, I think I have a final, final design.

I am now down to only 4 hexes, same as the original, but looking more "Bay Area" like (actually only 3 hexes, if you don't count the Golden Gate). Also, very little modification was done to the map design (for example, all the roads are in their original alignment; also, the strongpoint was put back to the original place, opposite of SF). Kept the added San Joaquin River from the earlier design, but that can be removed if you don't like the placement. Plus, I added the Sacramento Delta and made it marshland to simulate that area (lower delta next to Stockton, upper delta in the North Bay/Fairfield area). Please take a look and tell me if you would consider this for an update to the map. I don't think it changes the balance much, if at all.

Here's a look at the overview map (you can see that the size is much better and scales well compared to the Salt Lake):

EDIT: Oops, there was one mislabeled string directly below Sacramento. It's marked as "clear", but I have since changed it to "Sacramento River".