# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Board Game Mapping >  Silk Road Board Game

## snodsy

Here is a game that I've been working on, based on my Silk Road Map. The Map would need to be extended to include Sea Routes. But this is just an idea so far. Hope this PDF uploads right, This includes the RULES of PLAY, the playing cards and pieces.  Comments Welcome

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## Voolf

This looks very promising snodsy. I havent read all the rules yet, but i will do that. I dont know if you have already post this map on forum, but i see it for the first time and i like it very much. The characters portraits are so cool  :Very Happy:

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## ThomasR

You got a knack for those kind of maps and giving away the rules is very generous ! Thanks a lot snodsy !

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## snodsy

Hey guys;

I know I've been missing for the last month or so, haven't been doing any mapping, but have worked on the Silk Road Board Game, not sure if the game is any good, getting ready to Play Test soon.

I've worked on the Game Instructions, game board and Playing Pieces so I can play test to get some feedback.  If anyone would be interested in Play Testing and giving feedback, I'd appreciate it, let me know and I'll send PDF of the pieces needed.

Below is a link to a dropbox file showing the Instructions Book, the last page also shows the game board and the playing pieces I have developed.  (let me know if the link doesn't work)

I haven't really illustrated anything yet, but would in further development.  This may just end up being a nice portfolio piece in the end, we'll see.

Thanks for the vote on the Silk Road Board Game for the Atlas Awards, appreciate it.  


DROPBOX LINK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6ezt74lcsd...tions.pdf?dl=0

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## ChickPea

I'm not a gamer so haven't downloaded, but just wanted to wish you luck with this. It's a great project!  :Smile:

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## Robbie

I've been wanting to make a digital board game using godot. How would you like to partner up on this? I'll take a look more closely once I get home but it could be neat.

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## Mouse

Its a great looking piece of work, Snodsy  :Smile: 

Best of luck with taking it forward  :Very Happy:

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## Greg

This is a really cool idea Snodsy and what a great map to do it with too! Best of luck with it and I hope to see some more!  :Smile:

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## ThomasR

Thanks a lot for sharing this snodsy !

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## tilt

looks great Snodsy - if you still need playtesters I might just be up for it - I have a group I game with every month.. aaaaannndddd... I might ask you to return the favor later when my own board game is ready to test  :Wink:

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## Robbie

I've been working with snodsy a bit to create an app version of this game..It's very early, so I've been building basic framework.  I have the tileset and the cursor movement as well as some basic data about specific game spaces (like names, commodities is forthcoming).  It's coming along nicely I think.  Here's a few screenshots. As you can see, I also have pan/zoom on the board working as well.

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## tilt

Looks great Robbie, didn't even new you did that kind of programming  :Smile:

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## Robbie

> Looks great Robbie, didn't even new you did that kind of programming


I don't  :Wink:   This is my first time...well...I've been working with Godot for a while now for work purposes, and I made flappy map and a 3 first person dungeon map for a challenge previously.  I also have a super secret breakout clone game in the works.  We'll see...too much on my plate at any given time typically.

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## snodsy

Robbie;

Looks great man!  Nice to see it come together, 

I now see how you use the Hex outline Spiky thing - shows which hex your on.  Like it.   

Thanks for taking this on, it's pretty exciting to know this might be an actual game at least to some degree - hope it's good conceptually.

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## snodsy

Here's an update of the illustrative background and the reference background of the hex game board. Robbie still plugging away at the programming so we can test play on-line, Tilt we'll take you up on your office  :Smile:  .  I've also cut out the pieces and ready to game play here at home when I can get a group together.

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## Abu Lafia

Wow. this is really great to see how it is coming together snodsy! The new board is looking fantastic, especially seeing all these tokens, cards and the cutter around. Very exciting!  :Very Happy:  As i wrote to you, i'd love to give it a play test if it is ready for it.

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## ChickPea

This looks great. It's always fun to see a digital map printed and out there in the real world. I don't even game but I'm excited about this project!  :Very Happy:

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## ThomasR

The project is amazing but look at that map ! That's a gem !

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## Robbie

Saw the share on twitter and figured I should update my progress as well.



In this screenshot you see all the newest features in one.  I have added the commodity slots available in each place of interest as a pop-up when you hover over that space. Also, you can see the beginnings of AStar based pathfinding...the camel at Susia is the destination, and the path started one space northeast of Rhagae. I still have some AStar work to do to deal with calculating movement costs and not forcing a player to take the shortest route if they choose not to. After that I'll start implementing some actual game logic. Pretty exciting!

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## Abu Lafia

It's looking amazing already Robbie! So great to see the app version of the game unfold. The idea to make the commodities as a pop-up  is brilliant and makes the board infact less crowded, although with it might come a "memory" dimension into the game  :Smile: . Exciting stuff indeed (well, i not even know what AStar means  :Very Happy:  )!

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## Robbie

That's a great point Abu...And with that I may make a keypress or button to show all commodity slots...Smart!

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## Abu Lafia

> That's a great point Abu...And with that I may make a keypress or button to show all commodity slots...Smart!


Oh yeah, that'd come in handy indeed!

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## snodsy

Good point on the memory dimension - there is a legend at the bottom already, with the commodities and their value, but could include the cities the commodity could be found in --- either listed or again as a popup for each commodity or as Robbie mentioned a keypress. Thanks!

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## Abu Lafia

> Good point on the memory dimension - there is a legend at the bottom already, with the commodities and their value, but could include the cities the commodity could be found in --- either listed or again as a popup for each commodity or as Robbie mentioned a keypress. Thanks!


Yes, i've seen the commodity legend on the board. It's very good to have indeed!  :Smile:  I was a bit confused at first, because i wasn't sure whether the prices are the same everywhere. By chance i saw the row of three orange commodities in Alexandria first and couldn't find an orange coded good with the value 25$... i guess it was just an unintended color swap and should be (blue) spice in fact?  

PS: replied to your PM too  :Smile:

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## Robbie

> Yes, i've seen the commodity legend on the board. It's very good to have indeed!  I was a bit confused at first, because i wasn't sure whether the prices are the same everywhere. By chance i saw the row of three orange commodities in Alexandria first and couldn't find an orange coded good with the value 25$... i guess it was just an unintended color swap and should be (blue) spice in fact?  
> 
> PS: replied to your PM too


When I went to code the commodity slots based on region color and availability I found a few mismatched and figured out the intent. I still owe snodsy my spreadsheet that shows commodity spread. 

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## Robbie

Btw, my next update will feature a combination between path finding for guidance and step by step movement for player tokens. I'm pretty excited about it because it means I'm starting to move towards game logic rather than just basic game board dynamics. 

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## snodsy

Here's an update on the map line work.  Not sure if it's going to work with the HEAVY graphic elements (Hexes/symbols).  But enjoying working on drawing mountains anyhow. 

Thanks Abu Lafia for your comments and critiques. Currently a player's sequence is to roll and see what happens based on "spaces", or getting to a destination to buy or sell, or running into somebody to trade with.  Haven't thought about it, although I do know what you mean, maybe in testing in comes up - I'll definitely keep it in mind, thanks.

Here's one with just the line work/parchament background   and one with an overlay of the game board hexes (greyscale/multiple layer).  Comments welcome on drawing or game play.  Robbie looking forward to seeing your "logic"  :Smile: .

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## snodsy

Labels_Gameboard Overlay and rough area color only - no shadows/highlights yet. Comments welcome.

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## snodsy

Update on map, shadows and some highlights starting in southeast corner

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## Mouse

Hey Snodsy  :Smile: 

That's looking really beautiful.

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## snodsy

Thanks Mouse;

Here's an update, more shadow and highlight, still to add white-linework highlight and snow to mountains. Not sure if this is going to work with Gameboard's hard graphic hexes? But either way a good way to get going again on mapping. Comments welcome.

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## Mouse

Is there any way that you could do the hexes instead, Snodsy?  

I mean, I can imagine so easily a soft pressed 'jigsaw piece' type appearance on your map done with a single layer of overlay shading and highlight (a bit like a grid of hexes that are only visible by the shade and light catching the edges of a very slight bevel on each hex piece) that wouldn't interfere so much with the beauty of the map itself.

Kind of like this, only not as ham-fisted as my attempt  :Wink: 



(and if that's just a really silly suggestion feel free to have a chuckle - I know nothing whatsoever about gaming and how these things work  :Wink:  )

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## Robbie

I think what he's going for in board game style hex movement is constrained path movement, not free movement over the whole hex grid. The hex spaces are overlayed over the artistic map as a reference. I'll try and get some more screenshots up because I have player movement working now. 

Snodsy, if you want to send me a map update, I'll include it. 

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## snodsy

Thanks Mouse, I do really like that effect - Robbie is this anything easily done - but with the specific path hexes?  Transparency on them with edge treatment? I do do this in photoshop as a layer too.  I'll update the map to dropbox later. Hopefully I'll get to work on it a lot this weekend.

Thanks

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## Robbie

I can make the hexes appear any way you want...they already have a little transparency to the whole layer...I have the sprite sheet for the tilemap and I can remove or modify the fill on the cells.

Here's a screenshot showing some of the early die roll and movement functionality.

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## Robbie

Here's two more screenshots with the new map WIP in place.  Snodsy, we'll need to do some alignment work on the labels and placements of things with regards to the hexes. I assume you'd like things lined up with the hexes, but if not, we can adjust.

Also, i now have the trading dialog box listing what's for sale in a hex...will get the buy/sell stuff done soon I think.  I'm basically doing one-player/one-camel logic first...then I'll expand the logic to account for turns and camels and such.

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## Mouse

I agree with you about the labels, Robbie.  Maybe now the hexes are in place the place dots on the map itself could be deleted, and the labels adjusted as if to label the hexes, as you suggest - if Snodsy's happy with it?

This is really rocking now.  Looking great, guys  :Very Happy:

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## snodsy

Yeah I know about the labels, I've moved them for the map that I am doing that's without the hexes for now, but will do another layer that works for the hexes, thanks for calling that out though, you never know when its indented.  Looking good Robbie, not as bad as I had thought it might.  I'll update the Dropbox file later with the correct label placement.

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## ThomasR

I cannot wait to see the app ! Marvelous map !

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## DanielHasenbos

Little late for the party, don't know if you've already continued work since the latest update. I think I would reduce the opacity of the hexes slightly so that you can the the map through it a little better. I agree with Mouse that it would look better is you removed the icons for the cities and adjust the labels. Perhaps you should even remove the labels entirely and once the hexes are all in place get back to re-label the whole map. This may not be the nicest way to go, but it would certainly make the labels look better with the game board. From what I can see it mostly involves cities, but I have seen at lease one regional label and a couple of mountain ranges being covered by hexes.

Anyways, this is shaping up really nicely and I can't wait to see it finished. It's probably been asked before, but are you going to publish this?

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## snodsy

Thanks Thomas & Daniel, Robbie is working on the on-line version and we plan on testing it soon. Still lots to do, I've basically finished the map for now with labels positioned correctly. I'll start on some other graphics for the game here soon. Thanks for the comments.

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## snodsy

Here's a  new version with the Labels working (did already catch the two northern labels overlapping) with the HEX grid (hex grid at 80% transparency, added a few fields in china and some subtle coloring but that's probably it for now until we get the game up and testing.

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## Mouse

OMG!  That just makes SUCH a difference (not that it wasn't good before!)

Excellent map, Snodsy  :Very Happy:

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## Greg

This is looking aboslutely stunnign Snodsy. As Mouse said, the new update really works wonders!  :Very Happy:

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## Voolf

You work very hard on this one snodsy. One can see how much love goes into this. Great job

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## kacey

Wow this is really neat Snodsy, the map looks great.

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## snodsy

Thanks all appreciate the comments, hopefully the game will be as good as the map, we'll see, but now I can blame Robbie if it's no good  :Smile:

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## Robbie

That looks fantastic snodsy!  I've had to take a short break from development due to another project I need to finish up...I'll get an update to you soon though.

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## snodsy

Here are two options for the HEXES

Option 1 - No dark color hexes (these were slow travel spaces, but maybe simplify and make map stand out better)

Option 2 - No infill on the Hexes, regional color on outline - so you see more of the map?  But do you loose the path too much?


Let me know what you guys think. I have to move a few labels still slightly.

Thanks

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## Mouse

Hmmm... tricky...

I'm not feeling great at the moment, so I won't choose either one or the other because my judgement may be a bit off right now.  I like the one with the solid hexes because the path stands out nicely, but I also like the second one because there is more of the map.

How about a third version where you take the second one and leave the hexes and the bits of map inside the hexes exactly as they are, but increase the saturation of the rest of the map, or make it somehow darker or richer.

Might be a rubbish suggestion.  I don't mind you saying so.  I do have a really horrible back pain right now, and my thinking can go a bit weird when I'm in pain.

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## Robbie

I think keep infill but make the infill much more transparent to allow the map to show through. Symbols stay solid. And for slow move spaces maybe a double border on the hex (same border color just a smaller stroke hex inside the regular hex). How does that sound? 

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## Voolf

> I think keep infill but make the infill much more transparent to allow the map to show through. Symbols stay solid.


This is best option imo. Just week ago i was doing same thing and experiment. Making the infill transparent looks best. I would say something between 10-30% transparent.

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## ChickPea

Yeah, have to agree with comments above. With the transparent hexes, I feel they get a little lost against the background, whereas the solid-filled ones stand out much more clearly. However, partially transparent hexes might be a good compromise. Right now, between the two options posted, my vote is definitely for the solid fill.

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## snodsy

Thanks guys great idea, I think that really helps, here is one with a 50% transparency on the HEXES. Comments welcome.  Robbie, I think for now we'll leave the dark brown hexes (slow traffic) out. Let me know if any of this creates a problem.

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## Robbie

Got a few minutes today to work on this. I implemented the "final" map you posted in Dropbox... There's still a few labels that are off. I'll get you an update soon. 

I also did some work on the player card screen and made it scalable. I'll update the hexes next. 

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## ThomasR

Hi Guys. First I'd like to say that the work you've done is outstanding (and you smell the tiny critic coming) but a tiny nitpick from me. A silk road game set in ancient times with $ as a currency ...

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## Mouse

OMG  :Shocked: 

How funny that the rest of us just didn't even think about it!  LOL!

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## waldronate

Minor spelling point: "Bactrain" camel should probably be "Bactrian".

I do like the road by Dunhuang because it shows the overall effectiveness of the wall: in many places, folks just went over or around the wall without any particular regard for the official gates.

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## Straf

Woah! What's going on in here? Whatever it is it's looking good! A game eh? It's like Elite on camels  :Wink:  Splendid work chaps, do carry on  :Very Happy: 

BTW that map's a beaut!

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## Robbie

Yeah I fixed all the bactrian misspellings on the player card. 

Snodsy, do you intend to get rid of slow moving cells completely or just visually? Because programmatically they were actually causing me some path finding grief and I won't miss them if they're gone, lol. 

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## snodsy

No slow moving pathways.    Thanks for catching the spelling errors.   How about using c for coins instead of the dollar sign.   75c,  60c, etc.   or 75pc, 60pc  or PC for pieces?   I do have three denominations for the coinage (gold 20, silver 10 , bronze 5.)  thanks Thomas.

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## snodsy

Here's an update on the Player Card, each person draws a player card at the beginning of the game and begins at the City named on the card and in one of the 4 regions. This card keeps track of all the commodities, officers on board, camels/caravans, degrees earned and Prized items for each player. A player may play more than one traders.  Comments welcome.  Done in Adobe Illustrator.

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## Mouse

You're making me want to play this game, even though I'm crap at games like this!  

Beautiful work, Snodsy  :Very Happy:

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## Robbie

I wanted to comment on my progress. I've been putting most of my time into a side project that has to be finished by mid June, but occasionally I get to sneak a little time in this. I've got the player card almost fully done and populating based on player data. I've already removed the slow moving hexes and almost finalized movement. Still need to work on trade dialogue. 

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