Resource Labels

[Shannon V. OKeets]

I try to avoid creating new threads, but I couldn't find an existing one that seemed quite right for these screen shots.

Patrice has added labels under each resource icon, though the oil resources do not have any, since it is obvious they are oil.

All these screen shots are at zoom 8 (maximum). The labels only appear at zoom levels 6, 7, and 8.

The black text on the mountain terrain is a little hard to read, but legible - and none of this affects game play, so it doesn't have to jump off the screen at you.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Some western US resources.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Vladivostok & Manchuria resources.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Southern China

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Malaya

[Shannon V. OKeets]

6th and last in series.

Probably the most congested part of the map.

Thanks Patrice, and all those who helped figure out what each resource icon likely represents.[&o][&o]

[brian brian]

that lake in NW Sumatra, wow - now that's detail! Nice.

I hope there aren't too many that say "Food"

I still think factories should be a little bigger.

[Sabre21]

Is it posible to make the resource names in red lettering..or some different color other than black?  I wouldn't use green, blue or tan..but red or even light gray would be better than black.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Sabre21

Is it posible to make the resource names in red lettering..or some different color other than black?  I wouldn't use green, blue or tan..but red or even light gray would be better than black.

We are going for unobtrusive here, and black is not very 'forceful'. The other concern is maximum contrast with the background, for legibility. That prompts me to use black or white.

I have reserved the use of red exclusively for the names of victory cities.

Silver (light gray) is a possibility, since that color is part of the resource icon: used in the shovel and pick. But it would probaly be very hard to read against the mottled mountain background. Many of the resources are in the mountains.

Lastly, the vast majority of the resources are Coal, and coal is black.

[I believe Food occurs only once, in the Netherlands. We couldn't identify any mineral resource there; and food played a major role in the war effort just about everywhere.]

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: brian brian
I hope there aren't too many that say "Food"

There is only one.

[Norman42]

Looks good Steve and Patrice.   Very legible without being obtrusive.
 
Also, I agree with Brian, factories are kind of small and hard to see.  Any chance they could be scaled up a tiny bit more?  Even 20% larger would make them stand out.
 
Looking at Metz in the above screenshot, the factory is only a third the size of the resource icon in the same hex.

[marcuswatney]

I think Calgary is also Food (or at least Cattle).  These are resource hexes, remember, which means they are not restricted to minerals.

I too am unhappy with the factory symbols, especially where there is a mix of blue and red.  How many of Berlin's factories are red?  I have to strain, but it looks like all three.

It would help if red factories puffed out red smoke instead of blue ... and why is Brussels not puffing out any smoke at all??

[Froonp]

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

I think Calgary is also Food (or at least Cattle).  These are resource hexes, remember, which means they are not restricted to minerals.

We had put "Mixed" for Calgary. We need to change ?

I too am unhappy with the factory symbols, especially where there is a mix of blue and red.  How many of Berlin's factories are red?  I have to strain, but it looks like all three.

Factory symbols are OK for me.
3
The color of the factory is the color of the factory stack. For me it is easy to see the difference between a blue and a red one.

It would help if red factories puffed out red smoke instead of blue ... and why is Brussels not puffing out any smoke at all??

Brussels is in a neutral Minor Country on the screenshot, so its factory don't produce. Only non neutral minor countries have their factories producing.

[marcuswatney]

I think we should avoid 'Mixed' as it really doesn't say anything at all.  Calgary is famous for its steers, so let's label it 'Cattle'.

[composer99]

The factories seem fine to me as well, however scaling them up in size would probably be good. I can see it being a problem in Hannover or Essen where there are lots of criss-crossing rail lines, though.

[YohanTM2]

That or Beef to shorten it

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

I think we should avoid 'Mixed' as it really doesn't say anything at all.  Calgary is famous for its steers, so let's label it 'Cattle'.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

I think Calgary is also Food (or at least Cattle).  These are resource hexes, remember, which means they are not restricted to minerals.

I too am unhappy with the factory symbols, especially where there is a mix of blue and red.  How many of Berlin's factories are red?  I have to strain, but it looks like all three.

It would help if red factories puffed out red smoke instead of blue ... and why is Brussels not puffing out any smoke at all??

There are 3 factory symbols in both Lille and Paris in the same screen shot with Berlin. And there are several places where two are shown. Given the opportunity to compare them I think figuring out the red versus blue is doable. (Though it might be a problem for players who have trouble seeing colors).

The symbols for the factories are taken straight from WIF FE (using Australian Deisgn Group's original graphics). The same is true for the ports. I would prefer to not make any changes from those images.

Increasing the size of a factory icon seems desirable when you look at a single factory stack, but if you look at a triple, you will see it is the largest hex icon in use - both in height and width. Maintaining the ratio of 2 being twice as large as 1, and 3 three times as large, is something I want to keep. The result is undernourished single factory stacks, but on balance with the other considerations, that's acceptable to me. I thought about using a triple frame everywhere and centering a single/double stack inside that, but I didn't see any real benefit.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Yohan

That or Beef to shorten it

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

I think we should avoid 'Mixed' as it really doesn't say anything at all.  Calgary is famous for its steers, so let's label it 'Cattle'.

In keeping with that, we might change the Food label in the Netherlands to Grain - assuming that is correct.

[wfzimmerman]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: Yohan

That or Beef to shorten it

ORIGINAL: marcuswatney

I think we should avoid 'Mixed' as it really doesn't say anything at all. Calgary is famous for its steers, so let's label it 'Cattle'.

In keeping with that, we might change the Food label in the Netherlands to Grain - assuming that is correct.

Isn't it cheese? ...

[Norman42]

Holland produced the majority of Europe's dairy products(it was something on the order of 65% prewar, if I recall past discussions) and a large portion of its beef.  Grain, however, wasn't really one of its main exports.
 
Traditionally on resource maps thier industry is labelled "Dairy" or "Livestock".
 
I'd lean to the latter for both Calgary's and the Netherland's resource just to be consistant.