First of all, let me say that this thread is not designed to criticise or belittle anyone's mapmaking efforts.
Having been reading the forums however, I have noticed that there should soon be two big world maps available for use.
I sincerely commend the mapmakers' commitment to providing more maps for us all to play on, but viewing both maps raised an issue in my little head. Basically, without examining anything related to how the respective maps might play, I was instantly and maybe irrevocably affected by how the map fills the screen.
This one seems to use most of the millimetres available:
http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=9064
But this one leaves far too much black ocean around the outsides for me, which makes it more 'squashed in' than it needs to be and leaves it unattractive:
http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=13126
It just looks bad to me. Not polished. It doesn't scream "play on me" like good maps should.
Another example I could give of this issue would be this one:
http://warlight.net/Map.aspx?ID=184
Why do we need to zoom in so much for such a small map?
What I'm trying to say really is that when making a map, thinking about bonus values, borders neither overlapping nor having gaps, playability, originality and all the other stuff associated with a good map is very important, but first impressions garnered by other players are probably more so.
Don't ruin all your hard work by making it look like a pain in the bum to play on.
The new auto-zoom might render this issue null and void but I would still prefer to play on the big world map that looks better at first glance.
One more thing...
Before you ask, yes, I have made a map myself. This one:
http://warlight.net/Map.aspx?ID=3642
It's not the best. I know that. But it doesn't make people zoom in unnecessarily.
Just my opinion anyway but when making maps, making the most of the screen space available should be as paramount as any other consideration.
