[Jupiter_Storm]

Re: Mapping Team

Hello, I wanted to weigh in on this since the question is being asked and focus in particular on the notion of a team - since I agree entirely with all of the points made here but feel this one needs a little bit of a closer look (and I've not attempted the Byond map maker at any length so I can only take Spoops and Sparrow's word for it).

I'm commenting on the recommendation for a team because I am a mapper with extensive experience using Campaign Cartographer 3, Vassal Engine, Adobe Illustrator and of course, SL2's house building tool (though only the latter is really relevant design-wise for what you use). Thus the idea of putting myself forward as a member of such a team, has crossed my mind more than once - and it is in this spirit that I'll attempt to constructively point out a couple of barriers to interest from my perspective and, potentially the viewpoint of others who might be quietly watching.

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1) Thematic Consistency - In the case of many of the more 'modern' factions (which isn't even accurate terminology outside of community headcanon, but that goes to illustrate the point) there is very limited information as to the exact nature of that society, their cultural norms and real-world parallels, beyond the over-arching elements that identify them as unique - for instance, Chaturanga = "Chess", Oniga = "Eastern Culture", Egwyn = "Jungle / Forest / Junglest".

For me this already presents a bit of pickle in terms of inspiration for fear of incorrectly representing something even if I myself think that would be appropriate. It would help prospective team-members to have a more clear-cut mental view of the architecture and cultural details they should be going for. Perhaps expanding on the Wiki entries for the major factions, or at the very least (and maybe this is done, already) privately distributing a package of such details to the team.

2) Creative Muse - Because of the fact that actually paying a mapping team to deliver results would be a completely ludicrous idea, the 'reward' for a mapper is inherently the enjoyment they are going to get from working on the project and sharing their vision with others. However every individual member of a team would be inspired by something different, and to keep the creative juices flowing (and inspiration firmly grounded in the lore of Sigrogana Legend 2) I am forced to raise the age-old point about a world that changes, somewhat, over time.

There are only so many times you can map out existing, known concepts, before additional content (as was done with the Loyrwell Tombs & Karaten, which was great by the way) would be needed.

As an example, you 'could', for instance, map out the Mechana Forest. Or you 'could', map out Egwyn. But there would need to be a reason for people to go there. Some sort of development within the world that draws particular interest to these areas - something which alters the plot enough to spark the curiosity of adventurers to explore this terrain. Because ultimately, what a mapper wants to see is people enjoying and immersing themselves in the content they create. But we'd need help from the Lore team to pull in the same direction.

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These are just my own thoughts on the matter, though, and I could be completely alone in this regard!