14.12.2012 - 04:07 ATWAR Times Hey guys, Mathdino here, sorry about the delay. This week we have a very special ceremony: The First ATWAR Times Network Cartography Awards Periodically, ATN will release an article listing the best maps and cartographers out there, handing out awards in different categories and showing you guys which maps we recommend. Note: The delay means that this batch of awards only applies to maps made before about the 3rd of December, 2012. If your map was published or advertised after this, it was likely not considered. No worries though, next awards will definitely consider the quality maps made after that. So, without further ado: Most Accurate Map(s): Scaled MEGACHINA, MEGAUK, MEGAGERMANY, MEGACENTRALEUROPE by ezzatam Ezzatam laboured long and hard to make all of his MEGA maps with precise income, population, locations, and borders. For this, we give him the joint most accurate maps award for MEGACHINA, MEGAUK, MEGAGERMANY, and MEGACENTRALEUROPE. Congratulations and thanks to ezzatam for putting in all the work for these maps and bringing us more mainstream custom maps.
Most Accurate Scenario: Scaled GIGACHINESECIVILWAR by ezzatam This simply follows from the above. We give this award not only for immense historical accuracy, but also good team play dynamic, balance, and strategy. You all should try it yourselves; it's not played very much at the moment. Best Medieval Map/Scenario: Medieval Europe 1150 by Primal There aren't many medieval scenarios and maps out; this is a real gem. Interesting unit choices make for interesting gameplay, and the borders and historical accuracy are wonderful. The background isn't as high resolution as it could be, but the cartography definitely makes up for it. Overall, good cartography, great units, and balanced scenario. Well done, Primal.
2nd Best Medieval Map/Scenario: Papal Supremacy: 1100 AD by utahrapter3 Although Utah's Ultimate Europe doesn't have a huge amount of support, this scenario is rather good regardless of the map. A fun premise, it pits players against each other with the Pope presiding over all, being able to direct players at his whim. Although unbalanced, the scenario itself isn't badly made at all, and it carries the historical feel characteristic of Utah.
Utah has been known for quite a while to make very original scenarios. I decided to interview him about his works:
Best Remade Default Map: Age of Empires by perrydepwner This category is for people who take the default map that the admins give us, and go beyond it. This map, which is actually complete, redoes most of the borders in the world, replacing them with historical countries and units. It was not very known by the community at the moment, so I was unable to find many reviews, but I can confidently say that this map is a fun, casual work that speaks to the history buff in me. Best Map That Doesn't Fit In Any Category: cln wars by avatar We all knew this map was coming after the series of Gardevoir maps back in 2011 about the coalitions of AW. Avatar, with some help from ezzatam and Talos, created a large fantasy map with coalitions as countries and players as cities. The map is hilarious to look at, and is still being updated.
Avatar is emerging as a capable cartographer, and has also created the Conquest of Nerath map and his Ancient World, based on the default. Unfortunately, these two were published just after the timeframe for these awards, but they will definitely be considered for the next batch. I asked avatar a few questions about his cartography:
Avatar proceeded to show me some insights on his latest maps, including a new, remade Ancient World (with a hilarious number of Alexandrias), Alexander the Great, and his new map, Conquest of Nerath. We hope to see more from avatar in the future; his maps show much promise.f Best Science Fiction Map: Imperium of Man by Talos I'm a pretty big fan of sci-fi myself, and in my eyes, this map is, for lack of a better word, epic. It is clearly made by someone who knows the Warhammer 40k universe quite well, having both accurate cartography and a good immersive gameplay. The normal units and rare units alike are exciting and very different from the typical AW gameplay, having the player transport Space Marines on different types of ships in order to combat the enemy. The creator stretches the limits of the map creator to create yet another masterpiece. Overall, the map is well done, immersive, precise, and simply awesome.
Best Ancient Map: Greek World by Talos Talos's first map, a blown up version of Ancient Greece, with historical city names and units. At first glance, this may seem a little boring, but what makes this map so great is the beauty of the cartography and playability. The mapmaking provides both immersion and ease of play, while the setting provides an interesting gameplay dynamic. A very well done early map, this showed us the capabilities of the editor and was the first of many great works by this creator.
Second Best Fantasy Map and Second Best Custom Map: A Song of Ice and Fire by Pulse We were waiting for Pulse's Westeros map for a very long time before custom maps even came out; Pulse has put tons of work into this one map to make it perfectly accurate and dynamic. It has terrain of all kinds, with varying incomes and an interesting naval theatre in the centre of the map. It's clear that Pulse has spent quite a bit of time perfecting this map, as the finished product is overall coherent, elegant, and an enjoyable AW favourite.
Best Fantasy Map and Best Custom Map: Battle for Middle Earth by Talos (Disclaimer: The decision between Middle Earth and A Song of Ice and Fire was extremely difficult. Both are excellent maps, but in the end, we had to come down to strategy and graphics.) Definitely a favourite of almost all, Talos's famed Battle for Middle Earth is one of the best custom maps we've seen, having great gameplay, graphics, and cartography. Mountains in different areas block the paths of units, adding strategic element to the map. It's also very balanced; I've seen wins from every section of the world. The background looks incredible, the borders are perfectly drawn, and the population and incomes work. I won't bother summing it up; I'm going to let atWar's best players do it for me.
Most Dedicated Cartographer: Ezzatam Ezzatam has put in hours and hours of work for his custom maps, meticulously inputting accurate placement, income, and population. At the time of this writing, he has 14 maps and counting, each one with carefully placed borders and well researched content. He does all this to create a new standard of more mainstream custom maps for the community and to increase the popularity of custom maps in general. For this cause, we name him the most dedicated cartographer. I interviewed him not long ago about his work:
Best Cartographer: Talos Let's be honest, Talos was a shoo-in after the amazing work done above. We give this award not based solely on quantity or quality, but on consistently creating masterpieces each time he posts a scenario. Congratulations and thank you to Talos for the amazing maps you've given AW. Talos was a relatively unknown figure before custom maps. I caught up with him to interview him on his mapmaking:
And that concludes the atWar Times Network Cartography Awards. Congratulations to ezzatam, Primal, perrydepwner, utahrapter3, avatar, Pulse, and last but not least, Talos, for their excellent contributions to the AW community. Happy mapmaking everyone! Dear Calculusaurus… This week, we're introducing a new advice column known as "Dear Calculusaurus". Just send in requests for advice to me in a PM, and I'll answer them keeping total anonymity. Heck, you can just create a guest account and send them in if you want total anonymity. Keep in mind that this is not an Ask a Player; I want to be giving advice to people. Need help using Lucky Bastard? Getting trolled and ally spammed? Trying to beat TopHats in a duel? AW taking over your person life? I'll help you! My professional advice will be calculated by the next ATN article and will be posted near the bottom. Cheers! Seriously though, please don't send me serious real life stuff. There are better advice columns for that.
---- "If in other sciences we are to arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." -The Opus Major of Roger Bacon
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Joey Barton Konto kustutatud |
14.12.2012 - 04:19 Joey Barton Konto kustutatud
Mathdino is a great journalist for my news Was looking forward to this for a long time and now its finally released I am very happy! The "Ask the player" will be coming up soon in the next article! Enjoy this article guys! Edit: I told MathDino to write this!!!!!!! He didn't have no idea whatsoever on what to write so I gave him this idea lol.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
14.12.2012 - 04:54
Congratulations to the winners! And thanks again, Mathdino, for the enjoyable read!
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 06:48
Congrats guys!
---- The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 07:19
You should do a Best Europe and a Best USA category. Also, maybe post nominations so people can vote. I'd vote utah as best cartographer.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Blackshark Konto kustutatud |
14.12.2012 - 09:33 Blackshark Konto kustutatud
No best modern map/scenario?
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
14.12.2012 - 09:44
Congrats all! And very nice to read Mathdino
---- Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 14:31
Truly awesome maps guys, and congratz!
---- Don't trust the manipulative rabbit.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 16:04
There should have been a best Vatican City map. MEGAVATICAN would have won for sure
---- The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 16:47
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 18:06
Nothing for Talos or Ezzatam?
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
AlexMeza Konto kustutatud |
14.12.2012 - 18:19 AlexMeza Konto kustutatud
They already got the trophies I think.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
14.12.2012 - 18:20
they already have this trophy
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 18:21
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 18:22
Thank you so much
---- The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
14.12.2012 - 18:54
(it's a classic, but must be used again) Aww guys, I'm blushing again. Thanks, guys, and congratulations to everyone involved!
----
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Joey Barton Konto kustutatud |
15.12.2012 - 02:52 Joey Barton Konto kustutatud
#AtWar Times N is the best I love how all competition have died... I don't even seen fruit's news being presented in the offside forums.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
15.12.2012 - 04:29
Thx guys Congrats to all winners!!!! Great article btw
---- "Not all those who wander are lost." -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
15.12.2012 - 19:54
>let's be honest, Talos was a shoe in >a shoe in My sides have reached escape velocity. Cool article.
---- Hello, I listen to Shakira and Rihanna and I support the multiculturalisation of Europe : )
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
15.12.2012 - 20:52
Epic fail. Edited the error, sorry.
---- "If in other sciences we are to arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." -The Opus Major of Roger Bacon
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
18.12.2012 - 09:30
Most played is not necessarily equal to quality; I hate to hate on Che, but True World War II has sucked for a rather long time. It's too accurate, it's too good of a WW2 scenario to be at all balanced. Colonial Empires sucks too for the same reason. But that's beside the point; UN was not, at the time of choosing awards, a custom map. It was just a normal map, and as much as I would have liked to give awards to people like deviL for his WW2, I was instructed to review custom maps and scenarios. However, UN will be considered next month as it is now a custom map. Please read over the parameters before you call me a 'fraud'.
---- "If in other sciences we are to arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." -The Opus Major of Roger Bacon
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
18.12.2012 - 16:52
Afterwind Conspiracy! you mod's puppet. mods hate me, therefore i will never get a award.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
18.12.2012 - 18:25
Honestly not sure if you're joking around or being serious. Note that I actually searched for people who the mods and admins didn't even know about (perrydepwner has like no posts and doesn't advertise, Primal isn't active on the forum and his map was unrecognised), and even gave an award to Utah, whose Ultimate Europe was disliked by the admins and mods. Fact is, with all due respect, I don't care about what or who the mods and admins like. I give equal respect to every opinion when I'm interviewing, consult with ATN, and ultimately the decision comes down to what I think of the quality of the map. And weren't we talking about Kronos? I like Kronos, but he didn't get an award. However, you're moving farther down the scale of people I like, and (perhaps unfortunately) I'll have to give equal consideration to even your maps. If you spend more time improving your map than bashing the person who gives the award, maybe you'll get one.
---- "If in other sciences we are to arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." -The Opus Major of Roger Bacon
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
|
18.12.2012 - 19:05
Fake you are hdrakon's alt.
Laadimine...
Laadimine...
|
Oled sa kindel?