AtWar Times Network: First Cartography Awards!

ATWAR Times

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Hey guys, Mathdino here, sorry about the delay. This week we have a very special ceremony:

The First ATWAR Times Network Cartography Awards

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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.

Qu0t3:

JhonJok: Looks amazing

Gardevoir: Very well done, 8.5/10

Hugosch: Nice work ezzatam, looks great! 5/5

Ivan: Dude, awesome work!

utahrapter3: Ezzatam worked really hard on them and even though we don't get along much I give him an A+

Stomach Ulcers: ah good stuff, sometimes the cities are a bit off, but ohwell haha

~Acquiesce: solid maps that are what I would expect if you could 'zoom into' the AW default map.

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.

Qu0t3:

blaze42: It allows you to live like the early Europeans. Start ancient empires and change their course of history!

zero_o: The way the countries are split up can lead to more fun and engaging gameplay.

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.

Qu0t3:

Cthulhu: I like Papal Supremacy because it is unbalanced and that factor makes it challenging.

Hazardouz: Have you ever killed some one in the name of god? Its Epic.

Utah has been known for quite a while to make very original scenarios. I decided to interview him about his works:

Qu0t3:

Mathdino: Okay, to start off, who are you and what do you consider to be your best scenarios?

Utahrapter3: My name is Utahraptor III and I consider the Papal Supremacy series to be my best works.

MD: As I recall, you started off scenario making with a series of extremely popular historical scenarios back in the Summer. Anything to say on those?

UR3: I'd say there were definitely not liked by everyone at first. But as I grew in experience they became more and more refined. After a while when I played my first scenario I was shocked at its quality. It made me realize how much I grew in scenario-making.

MD: Why did you start scenario creating in the first place? It seems as if your entire AW career and popularity are centred around it.

UR3: Well I was sick of the lack of historical games out there. AW seemed like a very flexible game where I could enjoy my history in peace.

MD: You must have been overjoyed at the announcement of custom maps shortly after you joined AW in July.

UR3: I was indeed extremely overjoyed. I mean I had just joined with this limited scenario editor and here comes custom maps

MD: So what was the first idea that came to you when custom maps alpha was first released?

UR3: 50,000 country world map.

MD: Of course, the first map that you actually created and began popularising was the Ultimate Europe.

UR3: Yeah I decided I should start small and stuff before I crashed the servers with my 50,000 country map

MD: Now this went extremely well, although met with some criticism from a select few players.

UR3: Yeah, I try to improve my maps whenever I can although some people are less than helpful...

MD: Now your huge work, the Renaissance map, is currently unfinished, and we wish you the best of luck in that. What we want to know is where you came up with Papal Supremacy.

UR3: Well we are currently studying Medieval times in history class and when we came to the church section I instantly thought "UN game+Medieval"

MD: So you would capitalise on the success of the UN games. What are the highlights of the Papal scenario?

UR3: Well the Pope is supposed to keep order in Europe. All Catholic to Catholic wars must first go through him. There are also Muslims and Orthodox so they could be considered minor UN's.

MD: Great! Thanks for answering our questions, utah! We wish you the best of luck in creating more complex maps.

UR3: No problem! I wish Afterwind Times the best of luck in their work!

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.

Qu0t3:

Killingforfun: It looks awesome

Apparatus: Fun, I like how it includes all the minor, unheard of coalitions.

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:

Qu0t3:

Mathdino: Hi avatar, would you mind answering some questions from ATN on your scenario making?

avatar: Sure.

MD: So I'm sure we all know who you are. Your main maps at the moment are Ancient World, Cln Wars, and Conquest of Nerath. Where'd you get inspiration for Cln Wars?

avatar: Just to say that Ancient World was my first map and borders are not good drawing, but now I make new Ancient World with pro borders.

MD: Awesome! Can't wait to see that.

avatar: About clan wars I thought what map to make and a few players started to ask me hi noob lets play cw. Then I try to make coalition war map but I still work on income. It's hard to make good balanced map with income. Need lots of calculation, but Talos or ezzatam will help me.

MD: True, it's hard when you have nothing to work with. How did you make the Cln Wars map then? How did you decide where everything went, and how many reinfs and income cities get?

avatar: Putting cities with reinforcements is hardest job, 2nd is putting income. It's random but I used player's names for cities who are oldest member of coalitions and income and reinforcements are random.

MD: Well it's a good map. You get an award from ATN for it, congrats! We can't afford trophies though, sorry.

avatar: Thanks anyway, good word from you on the map is better than trophy. .

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.

Qu0t3:

ezzatam: I think [the shape] is very nice in the Dark Millennium scenario for the map

utahrapter3: The map is eye-candy

Aristosseur: Moderately balanced incomes and very interesting troop choices.

Pulse: This looks amazing!

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.

Qu0t3:

★Ivan: Definitely one of my favorite maps at the moment, really well done!

★Amok: Very well made, on par with the default map. Talos really seems to put his soul into his maps.

kashus3: I had no complaints I like the expanded view more than just a world map

Aristosseur: Greek World is one of the finest maps, taking into account its playability, balance and accuracy.

~VRIL: The best map after the default map. I like the countries and the units.

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.

Qu0t3:

LilDGoinIn: It's different and there are many places I can hide. I like to deceive my opponent and it's easy to do that with Pulse's map.

Fruit: It's pretty good in general so that would make it popular, I think it is well earned. da map looks purty

avatar: Pulse's map is better, it's more complex with rivers. Pulse has the best map for now.

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.

Qu0t3:

TopHats: The Middle Earth map is one of atWar's jewel maps. Truly amazing.

blockade: The game is simply marvellous.

~Acquiesce: Currently my favorite fantasy map, when I play it I put on the LOTR theme music and I feel like I'm actually there .

★Amok: Looks awesome!

raetahcodeupon: This is just amazing. I played one time with Mordor and it was one the best experiences of this game in custom maps.

~VRIL: It has great potential and LOTR is awesome!

Commandos: Great map, I played with friends a whole night.

ghettosuperstar: The map is beautiful because of the terrain (not the plain lines drawn into a map), the terrain (mountains) can block you, and also I'm a LOTR fan.

Cthulhu: It has the perfect spacing for battles, where every city is close, but not overwhelming.

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:

Qu0t3:

Mathdino: Hey ezzatam. Mind if I interview you for ATN?

ezzatam: Yeah, why not.

MD: Could you tell us a little about yourself and your scenarios for those who somehow don't know?

ezz: well I am from the UK and joined AW through Kongregate only in February, so I am rather new compared to a lot of high ranks. I had enjoyed the likes of Colonial Empires and TWW2 and wanted to emulate that gamestyle onto specific countries, bringing the battlefield to a more national level

MD: And that's where your MEGA series comes from. How do you go about making them?

ezz: Well, you need 3 factors for a good map. 1) Image quality for background 2) Nice cities to country ratio 3) Selling point of high accuracy with real life pop and income. Reliable sources for satellite pictures and statistics are needed

MD: So everything in your scenarios is accurate, with the population, income, and borders?

ezz: Exactly! City positions are also accurate as much as possible given to walling concerns.

MD: I know it must be hard to choose, but which of your maps do you think is the best in quality?

ezz: I think I have to treat them all equally in the series, but Central Europe's balanced 4 way FFA stands out for me.

MD: How would you gauge public reaction to the series? Do you feel you are underrated?

ezz: Not really underrated lol. People has their own tastes and taking in requests to make native countries for people brings me a sense of achievement. I have to say that MEGA maps are enlarge to only Europe size of default map, so max number of player is around 10. I stuck to the traditional AW principles and default units. At times some maps need a tad more attention like MEGA Italy which has never been played yet. The approach is largely different to the fantasy themed based Talos/Pulse or the Epic based Avatar/Utahrapter.

MD: Ah, so it's a different sort of animal. I personally find the maps to be very mainstream, easy to pick up and play like old AW.

ezz: I think that for a 3v3 game you need sufficient air/naval/land us oppourtunities to allow conflict of skill rather than luck. So a map like MEGA China could do. Btw, I am a huge supporter of custom maps CWs... I wish the community can come to a consensus about certain standardised maps in the near future.

MD: Eventually, perhaps. You've also begun a project involving translating AW maps into different languages. Where did you come up with this, and how far has it gotten?

ezz: I envisioned the future of AW as a game for the masses without English being the constraint to enjoy this strategy game. I was inspired by ~GlennMiller who could put chinese characters in a WWII scenario, and decided myself to translate the whole map with its subsequent default units and descriptions. Translation is complete for the default map and MEGA China atm with work ongoing for MEGA Japan. Luckily I do have some helpers with me atm as shown here: [Link]. I have also started a poll asking the languages AW players can speak for concentrating translation efforts. [Link]

MD. Great effort, mate. Lastly, is there anything you can tell us about GIGA CHINESECIVILWAR?

ezz: Chinese Civil War is a non-political game set out to teach people of a lost page about China in Modern History. 5v5 teamed based Nationalists v Communist. It has educational value about the current China/Taiwan situation.

MD: Great! Well, you won the ATN awards for most accurate scenario, most accurate map(s), and most dedicated cartographer.

ezz: Awesome! A bit of last advertisement about my work [Link]: I would also like to say thank you to my supporters and I will continue to grind out more maps and take in requests.

MD: And btw, are there any other custom maps you really like?

ezz: I really like all the featured custom maps atm... I think the mods have done a good job of keeping certain maps out and include the game-changing ones!

MD: Okay, thanks for the interview. Later, mate.

ezz: It has been a pleasure talking to the ATN!

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:

Qu0t3:

Mathdino: Hey Talos, I'm working on an article giving awards to the best custom maps and cartographers, and you were given several awards. Would you mind answering some questions?

Talos: Hi! First of all, thank you. I'm really honored to be considered for these awards.

MD: Most of AW didn't know you very well before you started creating custom maps. Could you start off by telling us a little about yourself?

Talos: I come from Croatia and I'm 17 years old. I live in a small town on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, the same one in which Caulerpa lives. As a matter of fact, we are good friends. We started playing Afterwind a year and a half ago, but I quickly gave up while he, as we all know, continued. Little over a year ago I made my new account, Talos. I kept playing Afterwind, but rarely. Only when the alpha started and map making activated, I became active again. Map making has always been my passion and I made maps for many different games before, so there was no chance that a game with this powerful editing tools would go unnoticed on my radar.

MD: Your first map was Greek World, a player and admin favourite. Why did you choose to do a map on Greece? Where did you get the idea for this, and how did you go about making it?

Talos: I chose it because I knew that a lot of people will like that setting, both historical and geographical. Greece and the surrounding countries are really beautiful and have a lot of bays, islands, peninsula and an exciting history which make them ideal for an Afterwind map.

MD: Where did you get the idea for it?

Talos: I got the idea during a history class when we discussed about the Greek history.

MD: Finally, how'd you go about making it?

Talos: I found a lot of historical Greece maps which I used to base the cities and countries. Furthermore I tried to find the most historically accurate flags and pictures for most of the capitals, since I find those details extremely important.

MD: Then of course you created Imperium of Man, based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. Why did you make this map, and how did you come up with the units?

Talos: I made Imperium of Man because at that time I was crazy about Warhammer 40k and it's amazing lore. I based everything, from units to planets and flags, strictly on the lore, adjusting them to fit the gameplay the best and make the map amusing to play.

MD: Last but certainly not least, you created the immensely popular Battle for Middle Earth, which takes the cake as the most popular map in atWar. Could you tell us about your process for making this map?

Talos: I am a huge Tolkien fan and the fact that there was no finished Middle Earth map was enough for me to decide that Middle Earth would be my next map. I started by finding the best possible background image I could find, since I find that obligatory for each map I make. After that I needed good Middle Earth maps to use as a basis for cities and countries on the map. I based the units on original Afterwind units, with minor adjustments. The most important difference between this and the rest of my maps is the impassable terrain, mostly mountains, since they are a sort of natural walls. That alone was not enough so I made a few strategically located mountain passes to keep the gameplay interesting.

MD: It adds quite a bit of complexity to the game, I must say. So the popularity was caused by gameplay?

Talos: I think that the combination of those new elements and the world of Middle Earth and it's lore, that is known to most of us, made this map so popular. However there are some things in the map that I'm not happy about, such as no flags and city pictures and a few impassable terrain problems. Hopefully I'll fix all of those things soon.

MD: Good to see you're still working on past maps. How do you feel about the incredible public reaction to your maps?

Talos: I'm absolutely elated about the public reaction to my maps and I hope that I'll be able to keep making maps that people will like.

MD: Lastly, can you offer any insight as to what maps you're making next?

Talos: I have no plans for any maps in the immediate future, except the map that I will make with utahrapter3 and the rest of the Epicness In A Can coalition, and we are not sure what it will be about yet. For my next solo map I might make an Ex-Yugoslavia map or a Tamriel map (that's if someone doesn't make them before me) or even something else, I'm not sure yet.

MD: Good luck on those, I'm sure many of us can't wait. Thanks for the interview, later mate!

Talos: Thank you for interviewing me. It's been a pleasure.

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.