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World Maps

10 replies [Last post]
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:33
infocorn
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Hi everyone.

I'm working on an end-of-the-world game, and need a good place/tool for standard world maps...planet Earth, preferably :D. I want to get a basic square grid on it, and six similarly-sized, though not necessarily equal, divisions (color coded) for players. The divisions should be multinational if possible. There are a few other little goodies I've cooked up as well (the "double word score" of armageddon, if you will) that would need put in as well.

In any event, I'm planning on going the "white spraypaint/8x11 printed labels" route for my board itself. There's plenty of places to get used boardgames (in fact, my rehab center has a year-round garage sale that'd be dandy for just such a need, FYI) cheap, so that's key.

Anyone else with suggestions, please feel free.

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Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:56
#1
kodarr
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personal design?

I'd look for image of a world map online and touch it up in photoshop to give it the time period look you're looking for. Using layers you can put a grid on it easily and can color cordinate anything you want in there. If you want to take the time to trace the whole thing I'd suggest illustrator so it's vector art and will print nicer if scaling is needed.

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Wed, 09/03/2008 - 13:07
#2
MatthewF
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Wikimedia Commons

There are a lot of great, freely-usable world maps at Wikimedia Commons, most of which can be used commercially, too (though check the license if you plan to publish with the map you grab, as opposed to using it personally just for your own prototype): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/World_map

If you have the right software (like Illustrator) and grab an SVG format map -- a vector format as mentioned above -- it will be infinitely scalable without losing quality. If you're going to use Photoshop or some other raster format software, there are some pretty high-resolution ones there.

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Wed, 09/03/2008 - 15:37
#3
SiddGames
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http://www.blog.spoongraphics

http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/freebies/free-vector-maps-and-countr...

These could be a good start, since they are vector-based you can do a lot without losing resolution.

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Thu, 09/04/2008 - 10:29
#4
infocorn
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My brain hurts

If I'm going for four or maybe 6 (or 8?) labels-- printed as full A4-size sheets-- what resolution should I be looking at for the finished image?

And as far as overlaying a basic grid, any PaintShop pro users who can point me in the right direction'd just be super :D.

--jeff

EDIT: as a jumping-off, I measured a Candyland board; results in my DOOMSDAY game journal as the first comment.

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Thu, 09/04/2008 - 22:48
#5
richardtempura
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Here you

Here you go!

http://english.freemap.jp/

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Fri, 09/05/2008 - 09:50
#6
gameprinter
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Visio?

I think Visio and OmniGraffle (the Mac equivalent) both offer world maps in their stock graphics. You'd want to alter the colors - The OmniGraffle world map is a bit garish - but it's scalable, using vector graphics, so it would look good at almost any print resolution.

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Mon, 09/08/2008 - 06:29
#7
larienna
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Using map creators

I got a software called "Mapcreator" made by Primap software. It allows you to generate any part of the world in the projection and the color code you want. You might want to try it.

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Tue, 09/09/2008 - 23:43
#8
infocorn
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Thanks to everyone! I'm kinda

Thanks to everyone!

I'm kinda going to hit the research mode here; anyone got good end-of-days fic/non-fic they can recommend?

I've pulled some initial stuff/inspiration from On the Beach by Neville Shrute, Watchmen (Gibbons/Moore), and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe.

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Wed, 09/10/2008 - 00:18
#9
Zzzzz
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Not sure if you have a scope

Not sure if you have a scope or specific need for the *end-of-days* recommendations, but you might consider looking into the concept of Extinction Level Events or Prophecies (Nostradamus for example).

Of course what I suggest might be *to broad or large* for your needs, but maybe it will at least spark another possible path to investigate!

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Wed, 09/10/2008 - 10:13
#10
Xianpiper
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Another great site.

Here's another great site I found when searching for just what you are.

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps/print-world-maps.html

Scalable too!!!

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