Kingdom of Karan and Targa

[The_Duke]

YIP!
Great Map,
Targa, is there any new maps in the works?

[ceremony]

Definitely an outstanding map - thanks Targa!

The thing I like most about it (besides the appearance) is the size. It's nice to have a m/p map that doesn't require 13 players like Orania, since once you get up above 10 players or so games tend to slow down quite a bit.

I'm definitely looking forward very much to anything Targa releases in the future.

[Buzzbomb]

Im glad you made this post Zen because I have been wanting to ask "Where has Targa been?" I want to send him money to make more maps for us. I have not seen him on the Boards lately.

I agree I am enjoying Karan a whole lot to! Thanks Targa! That map is just perfect in size, why do you guys want them any larger?

BB

[ March 02, 2004, 21:46: Message edited by: Buzzbomb ]

[Torvak]

That map is just perfect in size, why do you guys want them any larger?

Because it's fun I haven't been playing on anything else but the world map since it came out.

[fahdiz]

Well, I'll add my voice to the choir...

Yay Targa!

I play on a lot of the maps, but only two with any regularity: Orania, and Targa's fantastic Karan map. I usually use Karan to test out new stuff, to try differences in indie strength, and so on. I love it and can't wait for your next map!

[ March 02, 2004, 23:19: Message edited by: fahdiz ]

[st.patrik]

Gotta agree - great job Targa!

I especially like the fact that mountains are barriers - there are a great amount of chokepoints and such which give provinces a strategic value, plus which it's very nice to look at - all your effort is worth it in my opinion, and please continue to make maps for Dom II.

[von_Schmidt]

Same here. Map looks great, has variety and chokepoints and gives a different experience based on where you start.
Have I said it looks great yet?

If this was the (visual) quality of the maps the game was shipped with, the reviews and perhaps sales might have been even better.

I like the size as well. Since I play SP only, by the time I've got a third of the map conquered and several Level 9 research levels reached, mopping up is fast and furious.

And on the other hand the mapsize is sufficient to allow the AI players to do their thing (for some reason this often includes casting bl**dy Burden of Time) while I build up my position during the opening phase.

[Pocus]

Originally posted by Torvak:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Im sorry but I cant join in here praising this map. Not like it takes much to make my DomMaps look like junk but HEY he didnt have to raise the bar so high!

(Im just kidding. Yes its a great map. A new standard to shoot for)

Same here. I hate him (her?) for that.

I also want to do these nifty 3D effects.

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Torvak, just DL'ed your map. Rest assured it is far above what we ask, from a artistic standpoint. Your is very enjoyable and beautiful too. Its the difference between 'very good' and 'excellent' (no offence ment!).

[Targa]

Well, I guess it behooves me to reply in some fashion, since Zen has "let the cat out of the bag", so-to-speak. First, I'd like to thank all of you for the positive feedback. It's nice to know that all that effort is appreciated. To be quite honest, I was somewhat disillusioned and disappointed at the lack of response when I released the Kingdom of Karan map. IIRC, there were only perhaps five people who commented at the time of its release. I think it's unfortunate (from a modder's perspective) that Illwinter doesn't have some kind of "download counter" for each item hosted on their site, as this would give modders a rough idea as to how popular their work is.

My own personality (call it a flaw if you wish) requires some form of encouragement, interest, and positive feedback to keep me interested in something. I have a feeling, however, that the vast majority of people who create "fan works" do so with one hope in mind: That it be used and appreciated by the players. I can't imagine that many people would continue to put untold hours into fan-works if they weren't being used by anyone.

If properly motivated, I can bury myself in my work, as you can see here:
http://www.thiefmissions.com/targa/

That was when I was playing Thief 2, and became an active member of the Thief community. Players create "fan missions", in which they like to employ new objects and graphics that weren't released as part of the original game, so I was able to find my niche as an "object creator". To this day, I still receive e-mails about that work, and the site is now mirrored in several places, including a translation and host in German and Russian. I'm not egotistical about it, but I am happy that the countless hours of unpaid work that I put into it has made it a valuable resource to the gaming community.

Unfortunately for me, I prefer my games to be a bit less cerebral than Dom2 turned out to be, and I stopped playing it at about the same time that I released the Kingdom of Karan. This, coupled with the less-than-enthusiastic response to Karan's release, drove me away from the computer and back into the arms of fantasy novels.

To answer a few specifics:

@Norfleet: The latest map is Orania-sized, roughly twice the size of Karan.

@Torvak:

Same here. I hate him (her?) for that.

"Him" would be the proper term here.

@Ragnarok-X:

i guess it must be hours if not days to make a map like this

More like hundreds of hours.

It's interesting to note, now that I think about it, that during all those hours I spent making objects for the Thief community, I very rarely actually played the game. I guess I'm more fond of actually working with graphics than I am of playing games. Anyways...that's enough rambling on my part. Thanks again for your kind words. On to the big question, which is all you really care about anyway, isn't it? Will I make more maps? Probably, now that I know there's life out there. Don't hold your breath though. With Spring fast approaching I'm probably going to be busy with other things around the house, so my computer time will be of necessity limited.

While we're on the subject, though, you could give me your thoughts about the next map. I started one that's the same size as Orania. Compared to Karan, should I go smaller or larger, or make another one of the same size? The Orania-sized one will take a long time, since everything is done by hand...

[Arryn]

Targa,

At least as large as Orania, and preferably as large as World (# of provinces).

As for popularity counts, while my web site doesn't yet track individual downloads, I can tell you that I get an average of ~100 distinct visitors per day, about 2/3rds new ones. Of the ~100, 2/3rds go to my d/l page and grab multiple items. On the day I put maps up my traffic doubled. Based on these numbers, I estimate that for each active poster on the forum there are 40-100 lurkers. I'm sure you can do the math from there. Just because only five people took the time to say nice things doesn't mean there aren't hundreds of people that appreciate your effort.