Europe Engulfed?

[GJK]

Personally, I like the 3d edging on the counters. I wonder if we can make them actually look like blocks? That might make stacking inside of areas a bit much though if it gets high density.

Also prefer the rectangles for the unit symbols, but I'll let owners of the game chime in on that - they may be used to squares. :laugh:

 

[GJK]

Maybe something like:

 

[Swampwallaby]

Gary - my id is swampwallaby :smoke:

Another decision point - Do you make your vassal module mirror the game components EXACTLY, or do you 'improve' on them?

I prefer the look of the Rectangular symbols, though this means you can't use my rotating dots idea. Every choice has trade offs.

For a first module with not many counters, feel free to hand make all of the counters. On your 10th module with a couple of hundred counters to crank out and you will be looking for every shortcut you can :OHNO:

I create the 3D effect on counters using ImageMagick. I use a lot of original artwork that tends to be much larger than the final counters. I cut up the artwork sheets, name the imaes and keep all of the original artwork images in one folder and create a script using excel that uses ImageMagick to resize all of the counters, add the 3D effect around the edge, reduce the colors, change to indexed and save as PNG's.

If I need to change all the counter sizes, I just have to change the Excel spreadsheet which regenerates the script which recreates all of my counters in the new size.

If you are unsure of what counter size to use, I would recommend this technique for your own artwork also. Nothing worse than having to make every counter 5 pixels bigger :nervous:

Game Piece Images also does 3D borders (though only does Rectangular counters).

 

[Countertroll]

Swampwallaby, where were you when we started to redo the VASL counters? 2,288 counters later and we are still going...

But, back to this.

I like the rectangles and am going to drive on with them.
I also really like the block look that Gary just posted. It will of course make the overall counter size a bit bigger. Then again, playing with the depth of the border provides some flexibility should you want to resize counters.

Gary, to save me some time on figuring out a good way to do the block depth, can you shoot me a psd if that is how you did it, or a tip on good angles for Photoshop if not?

For color approval, here are some blanks to follow.
I have not done Axis Minor, British, Neutral or Italy yet.

 

[Countertroll]

American Blocks

the two american block types.

 

[Countertroll]

Russian

the three Russian block types. Note that the ABN color is just a bit lighter than the normal units.

 

[Countertroll]

German

the 3 German blocks

 

[Countertroll]

and finally the French block.
Are the color selections fine so far?

 

[Countertroll]

OK, really this is it

I'm tired now, so this is it for today.
Neutral, Italy and Italy ABN.

Just looking for OK on color schemes. Blocks to come later...

 

[GJK]

Kenn - love those colors for those samples!

I've zipped up the .psd template that I used in that sample above with the 3-d effect, along with another that has a little bit of rounded corners to them (I think the original game's blocks have rounded corners?) and also a screenshot showing the way that I got the approximate color variations for the top/side/trim of the blocks (it's not very scientific). Feel free to pretty those up or adjust as you see fit!

Very small zip, grab it at the VASSAL site under our module files page.

 

[Ogreking]

As a player I like the 3-D blocks, as long as they "expand" when you mouse over the stack on an area there should not be a problem with crowding.

The blocks in my box are square edged. The colors look great.

 

[Countertroll]

thanks Gary, the files were helpful.
I also like the square versus rounded blocks.

more samples in a bit.

 

[GJK]

thanks Gary, the files were helpful.
I also like the square versus rounded blocks.

more samples in a bit.

Kenn, I can put the top, side and trim on seperate layers if you want, that might make it even easier, though I think the magic wand should pick those up pretty easily as well.

 

[Countertroll]

I put a zip at the VASSAL site, all the (non elite) Soviet blocks.
here are some samples.

look OK?
I can finish up the rest of the blocks today/tomorrow if these pass muster.
The names are certainly up for change if desired.

 

[Countertroll]

and I kept the trim black for now. I think it sharpened up the 3D affect; although I can be wrong.

 

[GJK]

They look good to me! Let's see how someone that actually owns the game thinks of them though - I've never seen the game except for what is on boardgamegeek, so I'm not even really sure what the thing looks like.

 

[seanmac31]

The counters look superb. The only thing to remember is that the Soviet and German OOB includes elite units that have a darker background (it looked like one of the three German units was meant to be elite, but I thought I'd mention it anyway).

 

[Countertroll]

At the VASSAL site I removed the ru.zip file and replaced it with ee_blocks.zip. It is the completed block set.
I took some liberties with the Axis Minor powers. The have one letter nationality designations on the stickers. I did not care for the look on the blocks so did not include them. I find them to be unnecessary anyway since the unit type block is a different color for all of them anyway.

next up the square information counters. 60 x 60?
I am going to take a day or two off, I have a few VASL Logs to do and some AoO Counters to work on also.

I am still very interested in seeing how to take the map/counters and make the VASSAL module.

 

[Swampwallaby]

One problem with the way you have done these blocks.

You have no way of knowing what the full strength of a unit is as you can only see the current strength.

In real life, you can see the full strength of your unit at a glance because you can see all of the dots on all 4 (or 3 or or 1) sides.

Brent.

 

[Countertroll]

good point and explains why they went with a square unit type symbol instead of a regtangle.

I still prefer to stay away from using a square, so what suggestion would you make?

I guess this is when the mod creation drives some decisions. I have no experience there so am open to suggestions.

Obviously the blocks need to exist in 4,3,2,1 varaitions for units that have a maximum size. How to deal with rotating them?