The Alphabetic Bouts of Cartography: Discussion & Entries

[tnowacki]

Originally Posted by viperhawkz

Well, no use updating my map now. I am defeated;

I wouldn't say that. In the end, the vote decides and it's not only the detailness of the map but the story behind that counts. And I've always been not very good at the background stories. Quebec is much more plausible, I guess.

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by tnowacki

Well, I've managed to do a quick map shortly before the deadline. The map features the independent Catalan Countries which managed to grab Roussillon from France in the end of WW II. The Catalan Countries are divided in 5, if you will, regions: Catalonia, the Pais Valenciá, the Balears, Andorra and Rossellò. Catalonia and Pais Valenciá also have subdivisions which are called provinces (Yes, I know, very creative :|)

The long-lasting independence and the promotion of the Catalan culture and language has led to the almost omnipresent decay of bilinguism, yet, the interesting linguistic divide between Eastern and Western Catalan still remains.

That looks outstanding!
So the name of the state is "The Catalan Countries"?

[Kaiphranos]

First, congratulations to B_Munro, Hetman of H, for winning the eighth round of the Alphabetic Bouts of Cartography! Dangimill has some competition in the "multiple rounds won" category now...

Second: Round I is now closed! Get on over to the voting thread and vote!

Third and lastly: the topic for Round J is...

JAPAN

The color for this round is: E8DA7A (See attached sample.)

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 EST, November 2nd! Good luck!

[metastasis_d]

Congrats, Bruce!
I wanted to enter, but didn't have time to work on maps this week. Nor would anything have been near as good as Megaman's and tnowacki's

[Turquoise Blue]

I see a problem developing here... The reason I didn't enter much of this competition after E, was that the quality standard of maps got too high for me.

People favor quality over plausibility. That is one thing you cannot change. But it does discourage imaginative amateur cartographers that would have created unique maps.

[Klisz]

Originally Posted by Turquoise Blue

I see a problem developing here... The reason I didn't enter much of this competition after E, was that the quality standard of maps got too high for me.

People favor quality over plausibility. That is one thing you cannot change. But it does discourage imaginative amateur cartographers that would have created unique maps.

Just because there are a lot of great maps doesn't mean beginner-level cartographers can't make lesser maps too.

[Liam]

Originally Posted by Klisz

Just because there are a lot of great maps doesn't mean beginner-level cartographers can't make lesser maps too.

It does mean that people are intimidated, though.

Heck, I've tried making maps for most of the challenges but given up, mostly because of lack of time but also because of the consistently brilliant entries making a lot of effort seem pointless. That's just me, though.

[Mr.J]

Originally Posted by Turquoise Blue

I see a problem developing here... The reason I didn't enter much of this competition after E, was that the quality standard of maps got too high for me.

If the biggest problem this contest has is that the maps are too good, I think we're in a pretty good place .

And heck, I almost won Round F with a pretty low-quality map.

[metastasis_d]

Lack of ideas/time have been the sole obstacles to my entering since "A". I had an idea for "I" but didn't have time to flesh it out.

I don't really care if I win or not (which is good because I suck at stylizing); just making the maps is fun.

[Kaiphranos]

Originally Posted by Mr.J

If the biggest problem this contest has is that the maps are too good, I think we're in a pretty good place .

And heck, I almost won Round F with a pretty low-quality map.

Couldn't have put it better myself!

(And while I've been attempting to remain impartial and not comment too much on the entries, I did think the sailors' cabbage was a pretty nifty concept.)

Anyway, I do realize it can be a little disheartening to put effort into crafting a map only to see it blown out of the water by someone else's entry--it's happened to me more than once in Map of the Fortnight! On the other hand, if you aren't getting some sort of pleasure or satisfaction from the mapmaking process itself, just remember--you don't have to compete unless you want to! This isn't some sort of map gym class!

[viperhawkz]

The two Japans in the year 2012.

[xt828]

Originally Posted by viperhawkz

The two Japans in the year 2012.

A map that pretty and you jpg it?

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by viperhawkz

The two Japans in the year 2012.

Very nice looking. Any info on the 2 countries? My first thought is a NK/SK analogue.

[wolf_brother]

Absolutely brilliant.

[xt828]

Originally Posted by metastasis_d

Very nice looking. Any info on the 2 countries? My first thought is a NK/SK analogue.

The East-West Tokyo makes me think of the two Germanies, actually. IIRC the post-invasion occupation plan for Japan did call for a divided Tokyo, but with the Soviets having the exclave here, in an inversion of the German situation.

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by xt828

The East-West Tokyo makes me think of the two Germanies, actually. IIRC the post-invasion occupation plan for Japan did call for a divided Tokyo, but with the Soviets having the exclave here, in an inversion of the German situation.

Don't know how I missed that.

[viperhawkz]

Originally Posted by xt828

A map that pretty and you jpg it?

I didn't save it as a .jpg. I think Imgur might have lowered the quality, because it's saved as a .png.

Originally Posted by wolf_brother

Absolutely brilliant.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by metastasis_d

Very nice looking. Any info on the 2 countries? My first thought is a NK/SK analogue.

West Japan is a republic and a democracy, more-or-less a more militarized version of OTL Japan, minus the monarchy - though, the throne remains technically open, should they find someone with a valid claim who's willing to take it. The Emperor and his near family were killed during the bombing of Tokyo; most Imperial family members who survived were later assassinated or executed by the communists.

Speaking of communists, East Japan is your bog-standard communist dictatorship. It's more "East Germany" than "North Korea", though their border guards can be a little overzealous sometimes. Since the end of WWII, there have been a trickle of people fleeing, but most of them are part of the military - see overzealous border guards above for why civilians have a hard time getting out. Most people who escape to so in military boats or aircraft, to the eternal dismay of the navy and air force.

Originally Posted by xt828

The East-West Tokyo makes me think of the two Germanies, actually. IIRC the post-invasion occupation plan for Japan did call for a divided Tokyo, but with the Soviets having the exclave here, in an inversion of the German situation.

The situation leading up to East/West Japan is not quite the same as OTL, though it is indeed the result of Occupation Zones.

[xt828]

Originally Posted by viperhawkz

I didn't save it as a .jpg. I think Imgur might have lowered the quality, because it's saved as a .png.

Imgur is prone to that - I use Photobucket, and a number of members use Deviantart, if you're looking for an alternative.

West Japan is a republic and a democracy, more-or-less a more militarized version of OTL Japan, minus the monarchy - though, the throne remains technically open, should they find someone with a valid claim who's willing to take it. The Emperor and his near family were killed during the bombing of Tokyo; most Imperial family members who survived were later assassinated or executed by the communists.

Speaking of communists, East Japan is your bog-standard communist dictatorship. It's more "East Germany" than "North Korea", though their border guards can be a little overzealous sometimes. Since the end of WWII, there have been a trickle of people fleeing, but most of them are part of the military - see overzealous border guards above for why civilians have a hard time getting out. Most people who escape to so in military boats or aircraft, to the eternal dismay of the navy and air force.

The situation leading up to East/West Japan is not quite the same as OTL, though it is indeed the result of Occupation Zones.

Nice. Any detail on how the occupation zones came about? Did the Allies have to resort to a full invasion of the Home Islands?

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by xt828

Imgur is prone to that - I use Photobucket, and a number of members use Deviantart, if you're looking for an alternative.

Yeah, I haven't figure out Imgur's limit yet, but they're good for a quick upload. Photobucket is okay for image limits, but takes longer. Deviantart is good because there is no (as far as I am aware) image size limit.

[viperhawkz]

Originally Posted by xt828

Imgur is prone to that - I use Photobucket, and a number of members use Deviantart, if you're looking for an alternative.

Originally Posted by metastasis_d

Yeah, I haven't figure out Imgur's limit yet, but they're good for a quick upload. Photobucket is okay for image limits, but takes longer. Deviantart is good because there is no (as far as I am aware) image size limit.

Right, I've re-uploaded the map on DeviandArt and replaced the .jpg above.

Originally Posted by xt828

Nice. Any detail on how the occupation zones came about? Did the Allies have to resort to a full invasion of the Home Islands?

After turning Leningrad and the Soviet First Field Army into glowing craters and securing a peace treaty, the Allies were able to turn their attention fully towards Japan.

Without another a-bomb available, there was just one remaining option.

British, French, Commonwealth, Dutch, Free Chinese and Philippine forces move north, hopping from Ryukyu to Kyushu and onwards. Meanwhile, the UAPR lands forces near Tokyo - this is when the bomb that kills the Emperor is dropped.

After some of the most brutal fighting of the war, Japan capitulates. It is divided into British and UAPR occupation zones...