MWiF Map Review - Africa

[Mziln]

The name "Qattara Depression" should be in the depression not above it like most maps.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Mziln

The name "Qattara Depression" should be in the depression not above it like most maps.

Yes.

I was waiting for the addition of the bitmap images before relocating the name. That can be done now.

[Patrice, I think a simple black or white font would look best - no need for the purple.]

[wfzimmerman]

ORIGINAL: Mziln

The name "Qattara Depression" should be in the depression not above it like most maps.

Why? C'mon. Is there a rule that lake-like bodies of land should contain their labels?

It ain't easy putting labels on maps. ArcGIS has an incredibly complicated feature set that still doesn't do a very good job.

Actually, when I saw the (nice) Qattara graphics, and esp. the perimeter hexes which are half-desert half depression, the first thing I wondered is why I can't move half of my corps through the half of the hex that is not covered by dark brown.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman

ORIGINAL: Mziln

The name "Qattara Depression" should be in the depression not above it like most maps.

Why? C'mon. Is there a rule that lake-like bodies of land should contain their labels?

It ain't easy putting labels on maps. ArcGIS has an incredibly complicated feature set that still doesn't do a very good job.

Actually, when I saw the (nice) Qattara graphics, and esp. the perimeter hexes which are half-desert half depression, the first thing I wondered is why I can't move half of my corps through the half of the hex that is not covered by dark brown.

When moving along escrapments, the troops would tie themselves to each other with the sad results that as soon as one soldier fell into the depression, the whole corps would follow. Very depressing - hence the name.

[Froonp]

I was waiting for the addition of the bitmap images before relocating the name. That can be done now.

[Patrice, I think a simple black or white font would look best - no need for the purple.]

About the color, I wanted to have each type of label being the same font size & color.
Terrain features (there are very few of them on the map) are defined for the moment as being color 5, size 10.

Why not redefine in the program the fact that color 5 is violet ? Why not orange ? There is nothing orange on the map, so it would show. If you do not want, I'll simply change the color code of this text, but then all "terrain feature labels" won't be all the same anymore.

[Mziln]

ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman

ORIGINAL: Mziln

The name "Qattara Depression" should be in the depression not above it like most maps.

Why? C'mon. Is there a rule that lake-like bodies of land should contain their labels?

It ain't easy putting labels on maps. ArcGIS has an incredibly complicated feature set that still doesn't do a very good job.

Actually, when I saw the (nice) Qattara graphics, and esp. the perimeter hexes which are half-desert half depression, the first thing I wondered is why I can't move half of my corps through the half of the hex that is not covered by dark brown.

http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/ ... 3/chapter3

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Froonp

I was waiting for the addition of the bitmap images before relocating the name. That can be done now.

[Patrice, I think a simple black or white font would look best - no need for the purple.]

About the color, I wanted to have each type of label being the same font size & color.
Terrain features (there are very few of them on the map) are defined for the moment as being color 5, size 10.

Why not redefine in the program the fact that color 5 is violet ? Why not orange ? There is nothing orange on the map, so it would show. If you do not want, I'll simply change the color code of this text, but then all "terrain feature labels" won't be all the same anymore.

The colors for the labels are taken from the 16 StandardColors in WinUtil.pas. I can easily change these and eventually I expect to make it available for the the player to change (i.e., it will be in a data file). Here are the current colors - note the numbering starts with zero.

StandardColors: array[0..15] of TColor = (clBlack, clMaroon, clGreen, clOlive, clNavy, clPurple, clTeal, clSilver, clGray, clRed, clLime, clYellow, clBlue, clFuchsia, clAqua, clWhite);

So, if you give the Qattara Depression label the color code of 15, it will be white; 0 would be black.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I just noticed we may have forgotten to place the large South African city of Johannesburg on the map.

Today it has a population of 3.200.000 so I guess it definitely had more than 100.000 in 1940. So I guess we just forgot to add it. Johannesburg is supposed to be in the hex 1xSW of Pretoria. The dot should be along the rail line in the NE section of the hex.

I know some people would think it could have been integrated with Pretoria, but it's the same as with Minneapolis / St. Paul that are two separate cities on the MWIF map. Many cities in Europe are in adjacent hexes instead of being integrated. So I feel it's strange to integrate a 3 million city (7 million with suburbs) of Johannesburg into the nearby smaller city of Pretoria (although it's the capital). So I think at the MWIF scale it's better to have both Pretoria and Johannesburg. What do you think?

[Froonp]

I just noticed we may have forgotten to place the large South African city of Johannesburg on the map.

Today it has a population of 3.200.000 so I guess it definitely had more than 100.000 in 1940. So I guess we just forgot to add it. Johannesburg is supposed to be in the hex 1xSW of Pretoria. The dot should be along the rail line in the NE section of the hex.

I know some people would think it could have been integrated with Pretoria, but it's the same as with Minneapolis / St. Paul that are two separate cities on the MWIF map. Many cities in Europe are in adjacent hexes instead of being integrated. So I feel it's strange to integrate a 3 million city (7 million with suburbs) of Johannesburg into the nearby smaller city of Pretoria (although it's the capital). So I think at the MWIF scale it's better to have both Pretoria and Johannesburg. What do you think?

I looked at Google Earth and saw that Pretoria and Johannesburg are 48 km far away (from dot to dot, so indeed you go from one to the next in less than that).
For me it is not the same as Minneapolis / St. Paul, because those cities are separated by a major River, so it have a sense to make both appear on the map. It is to say : There is a city on each bank of the River.
Here there can only be 1 city per hex, so IMO adding Johannesburg is not warranted, because it is too near from Pretoria, and it is Pretoria the capital.
IMO, adding cities to scaled down areas that were depicted at Pacific Scale in WiF FE should only be done to restore in MWiF a functionnal aspect that existed in WiF FE, that can be supply status, defense status, city-dense status, things like that.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

That is ok, but why not call the MWIF city Pretoria / Johannesburg to indicate the hex contains both cities.

The presence of a river (distinction between major and minor rivers doesn't exist in WIF) between Minneapolis and St. Paul doesn't warrant 2 separate cities ihmo. This is not an area where combat will take place. I often see on the internet people speak of Minneapolis /St. Paul as if they were connected and one great city. The same applies to Johannesburg / Pretoria. For me it's strange that one of the biggest cities in Africa isn't mentioned on the map at all. In Europe we have cities separated that are really close together.

According to the railway it's 54 km between Pretoria and Johannesburg. A similar example in Europe is the distance between Brussels and Antwerp that is 46 km. These two cities are 2 distinct cities in MWIF. Probably because Antwerp is a well known major port and the capital Brussels in no coastal city. I guess we can find several examples that the MWIF map has cities in adjacent hexes that are as close together as 50-60 km. For me it's strange that a 3 million (7 million with suburbs) city is not placed on the MWIF map that has European scale level everywhere. It's a pretty big city to omit. But I can easily live with the hex being called Pretoria / Johannesburg if creating 2 distinct cities is not wanted. Then at least Johannesburg is not forgotten.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Someone asked for updated map pictures. Here is a tour of Africa.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Malta.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Gibraltar

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Cape Verde

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Upper Volta - not to be confused with the Upper Volga.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Free France's home away from home.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Angola and Rhodesias

[Shannon V. OKeets]

South Africa

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Mozambique

[Shannon V. OKeets]

We interrupt this tour with a side trip to Madagascar.