User talk:DRSircha

Ranik's Maps Updates

Howdy! I noticed that you've started to make updates to a few of Ranik's maps, which is great as they can always use updating. I also noticed that while the changes themselves so far look correct, you're not quite following the convention nor matching the quality of the current maps. For example, in your update to the Therenborough map, the connecting line to the extra room you added bleeds over the edge of the room you added. Also, directional labels are normally in bold type and not italicized not the unbolded, italicized one that you included. These issues are consistent across all the maps you have edited so far. I'm not trying to dissuade you from making updates to these maps as needed, but I encourage you to make them with the same level of quality and attention to detail that was originally invested in them since these maps are a true gem of the community. I thought I'd just pop in with this note sooner rather than later before you have to back through too many maps adjusting the little details. Happy editing!--Evran 19:23, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

I just noticed too that on RanikMap5, the room in Arnack's Tavern is a poorly drawn version of the normal rooms as another example of lesser quality. Cutting and pasting would go a long way to keeping the high visual quality of the maps intact.--Evran 19:29, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Will fix them next time I go fishing.

DRSircha Poorly drawn? How so? It's a square, and there's not too many ways you can mess that up. The curtain leads to an extra room I presume a place where barbarians can do more than pick their teeth, and perhaps buy things. Sorry program I use has no cut/paste function, however It does much more than MS Paint ever will. Made a new mountain icon, and working on a new tree icon or two, and perhaps a river space, bushes, icon too. Will see. Going to see about bolding all that text.--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

"Hi! It's great that you are updating the maps. :)

May I ask what program you are using to edit the existing maps? Most image editing application I've come across has Copy & Paste as a standard feature. It seems quite odd that your application does not have it. Regarding Evran's reference to the poorly drawn remark is that the general gray room square looks odd in comparison to the other gray room squares because the inside square is tinier. It looks out of place. Copying an existing square and pasting it for the new room is a simple and super quick way to make sure everything matches. Also it's less trouble for you because you don't have to spend time creating the square and you can edit other maps faster. :)

Also, my suggestion for your future edits, the edit to the Theren map, for the Registrar's office has a line cutting into the green square. My suggestion for future edits is to zoom in the image to make it larger. That way it's easier to see if the line stops correctly. Just a QC thing, but it makes the map visually pleasing and consistent with all the existing maps"

Oops, I put my comments on top, but it's supposed to go at the bottom. I'm new to the whole wiki concept as well, and I'm still learning the ropes. Hopefully I can also make some decent contributions later on. --Pamdemonium 03:00, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

I am using Adobe Illustrator, and no it has no cut and paste function for bitmapped pixels. On the plus side only have to draw a box or icon once and then I can paste it to any map. Without needing to recut again.--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

On the downside, your box is poorly drawn so every time you paste it into a map you will be pasting that poorly drawn box over and over. In addition to Pamdemonium's note about the inner box being smaller, the result of the size difference is that the x in the middle looks scrunched and is asymmetrical because the inner box is not even square. Never having used illustrator I can only guess at a recommendation for a solution, but perhaps try using paint to cut and paste copies of the artwork that you want to use so you can import it into illustrator as your artwork templates. Or zoom in to pixel view and draw it out pixel by pixel to match exactly if that's possible.

I'll be more precise next time.

As for your note that you made a new mountain and tree icon, I hope you mean to say you duplicated the icons that are currently there exactly and have it easily set up to paste in as needed. What I hope it doesn't mean is that you created your own drawings for them.

Oh come on now, that mountain I drew looks really nice! I copied Ranik's shape and made it better!--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

I also just noted that the font you used is some form of sans serif, whereas all the other fonts have serifs (the little ticks at the ends of letters). And the size of the font is slightly larger. There's a list of the fonts used at Talk:Ranik_Maps#Fonts used.

Yes I know what a serif is, I just didn't recognize the font.--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

I know details like these may seem picky, but the consistent visual quality of these maps is one of their selling points.

Okay no sweet-looking rocky mountains for you!--DRSircha 04:16, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

One final unrelated tip: to make these talk pages easier to read, include one additional colon(:) at the beginning of each of your paragraphs in order to indent it further. Each colon equates to one 'tab' worth of indent, so if the previous person used a single indent, you would use two for example. And to keep clear who is saying what, include your signature at the end of what you're typing by using two hyphens(--) followed by four tildes(~). Sig example can be seen here.--Evran 18:13, 27 September 2010 (UTC)