Ugh.  I am always late with this.  Well, once again... I'm late.

According to the schedule we are supposed to have the theme for the next competition decided by the end of August.  Discussion/voting for this usually goes pretty quickly, so we can still probably get it done by then.

This is the thread for discussion of possible themes.  Suggest themes here, try to convince others your theme ideas are the best, etc.  For actual voting there will be a separate thread in about a week.

It seems that we have had relatively few entrees for the competition lately.  Some of that was probably due to the tight schedule, which we have recently changed to have a lot more time in it  for development.   That should help some, but I think we have also had some very ambitious themes.  Dr. Seuss, Escher, LEGO.  They all sound so cool, but making maps for them is a bit challenging.

For this theme, I think we should go back to something pretty simple.  Hopefully boost participation a bit. 

So my suggestions are ones that I think should be easy to design a map around:

Homelands

I wanted to call this 'hometowns', but that is too restrictive.  Could be a state, city, country, district, region, etc.  Could be a place you were born, grew up, or call home now.

Castles & Fortress / Siege

I know this topic was called boring before, but I think you could make some really fun games based on this idea. 

Ancient Civilizations (Greece, Rome, Egypt, etc.)

Again, something that is broad enough that it could go in a lot of different ways. 

Some relevant links

The schedule:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjtIsJkyopekdEpUeW84NlRjYzhlQkptNjdTSjFnb3c

Previous suggestions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uXYx7JuYJbw4ZW66qydh2sQztb8OtxkB28H9Cdc0ZBo/edit

Mythology

Anything related to Greek, Roman, Norse (etc.) mythology whether it being their gods, folklore, or a certain story.

I think a map making competition on this would have great potential on producing fun and unique boards.

Here's a couple of ideas:

1. Medicine -- anything to do with doctors, epidemics, anatomy, ERs, human genome, etc.
2. Edgar Allan Poe
3. Flight (or revive the old Transit suggestion to include boats, trains and automobiles)

Mythology I think is a good one.  Lots of possibilities there.  Flight I think would work better as Transit.    Medicine could be very interesting.  Similarly, I was thinking 'Educational' (or maybe 'Science Education' to focus it) as a topic would be cool.   Basically any map where you could learn something by playing it.   I remember a map on ToS that was about the layers of the Earth's crust.  I could see maps based on chemical bonds or equations, the water cycle, the 6 simple machines, a chemical process, anatomical regions, etc.

How about a star-control themed map? Or do we already have too many space-themed maps?

I like educational.  Anything you could learn something from playing.  That leaves the field wide open to just about anything, and it lets the map maker make a map about something their passionate about.   +1

Thingol wrote: How about a star-control themed map? Or do we already have too many space-themed maps?

What do you mean "star-control"?  Is that some kind of sci-fi term I'm not familiar with?

I personally don't buy the 'we already have too many X-themed" argument.  IMO, the primary purpose of the contest is to have fun making and playing maps, not to increase the diversity of the set of boards.

Ha. Google "star control 2". This was a popular PC game from the 90s.

Perhaps a porn theme? I would love to play those maps

Lol someones been burping the worm a little to much.

Knosken? Come on dude.

Knosken wrote:

Perhaps a porn theme? I would love to play those maps

It would definitely make for some interesting maps.  Might be tough to get it past Tom, wargear is a pretty family friendly site.  Maybe if you had some 18+ flag for accounts and maps, but I don't think the benefit of having adult themed maps is worth the effort.

Card Games, Board Games, Children's Games.  Analog Games.

Ooooh...if you did board games or children's games, I have a map idea that I've been brewing for about a year now.  Not sure how good things would go making a competition be my virgin step into mapmaking, but having one of those theme might be just enough motivation to actually get me on the ball to finish the map.

However, I'd likely have to call upon one of the veteran map makers to help mentor me through the process.

BorisTheFrugal wrote:

However, I'd likely have to call upon one of the veteran map makers to help mentor me through the process.

I'd be happy to help.  Are you a paint.net or photoshop user?  I do photoshop, so it might make sense to get someone who uses the same app as you if possible.

BorisTheFrugal wrote:

Ooooh...if you did board games or children's games, I have a map idea that I've been brewing for about a year now.  Not sure how good things would go making a competition be my virgin step into mapmaking, but having one of those theme might be just enough motivation to actually get me on the ball to finish the map.

However, I'd likely have to call upon one of the veteran map makers to help mentor me through the process.

Process is the word, but I'd be happy to help anyway I can.  I figure I owe you one or two...

BTF, Whatever I can do to help as well..

You could just start another thread and let anyone help, or you could Message the lot of those who have expressed interest.

Do you need technical help making the maps, or are there functional considerations that need to be worked out?

Happy to help here as well.

I can do either Photoshop or Paint.net, but I'm definitely more proficient in Photoshop.
I'm not so good with drawing in either, though, more in manipulating an image that already exists.
So I've found a good base image, and when last working on it, I was just trying to manipulate it into something that won't look like shlock.
(I'm pretty nit-picky about how boards look, so it just got frustrating for me)
Once I get it to 90%, I might contact you (Ozy) if I need some help with the cleanup.

The part I'll probably need the most help with is the mechanics of the game though.
I have a good sense of how the game should flow, but as I have no experience designing boards, I'm not sure of how the mechanics will affect the enjoyability of the mid/end-game.

Let me get back on the horse and just get a "good enough" image, so I can get to a place where I can discuss mechanics, then I'll probably be contacting one/all of you for some suggestions.

In case anyone missed it, go here to vote:

http://www.wargear.net/forum/showthread/2618/Vote_here_for_the_next_map_making_theme