Yes please. No need for debate. If someone wants to make a map that the territories don't flood with color from border to border (I've seen some compelling arguments for times when they don't need to), then the author can use the paintbrush tool with AA off and plop a lazy circle on their map image. Or, at least, type a Dingbat font icon onto the image. Really, its not that much to ask.

Added benefit: the minimum effort to make a map goes up a short, but important, step that should keep the review team from being overwhelmed by sub-par boards once the site population is larger.

seconded! (and i make a lot of circle maps!)

The thing that will annoy me to death though would be those that plop the lazy circle and then plop the numbers on those circles lazily too. So they won't be evenly placed (lol insert link to Cumber's Salem map :P).
As for Reviews, ya I still think there needs to be some sort of guidelines to what Passes graphically and what doesn't. I'm really glad there is some sort of Review system for maps. Even if there is some sort of really nice Board browse system and/or Secret Map Council that puts maps higher in the list, I think it may diminish the site when there are 'junk' maps available for Open play. The fresh Board section is one of the nicest things of WG.

Horribly written there :p.

I would agree with this proposal if someone agrees to make a clear, detailed tutorial explaining how to make a couple different basic types of fill maps (e.g. lazy circles, dingbats, border-to-border flood). A lot of people may have good ideas for boards, but be too intimidated by the graphics aspect to give it a try. A tutorial would help up-and-comers get their foot in the door.

I made something like that for the WF forums, although it wasn't the best/greatest and didn't go super in depth.

Hmmm interesting idea... I guess if we are going to go down this route then now is the time to do it!

Could be I allow exceptions but it's by application only? i.e. you need a good reason to do Fill mode?

tom wrote: Hmmm interesting idea... I guess if we are going to go down this route then now is the time to do it!

Could be I allow exceptions but it's by application only? i.e. you need a good reason to do Fill mode?

If you do it, I say just do it, no exceptions... at least that's my first quick thought.  Is there any reason a Designer wouldn't be able to do Circle Mode (which is what I assume you meant at the end there)?

I'm just thinking something like Cumber's Zombies vs Humans map or some of the other boards with hundreds of circles.... could be very painful to do in fill mode? Although it's not hard to draw a bunch of circles I guess.

You don't even draw 100's of circles, you draw it once and copy it in a new layer each time.
Get rid of the circles! You have done so much to make the site user friendly in the design tool it should be used for more than just googling an image of a chick in a bikini and adding the circles.
The problem with writing something is that different people use different editors. I'll help anyone that asks. Cram tudored me and I will happily return the favor to someone else.

tom wrote: Hmmm interesting idea... I guess if we are going to go down this route then now is the time to do it!

Could be I allow exceptions but it's by application only? i.e. you need a good reason to do Fill mode?

By that, I hope you mean "i.e. you need a good reason to do Circle Mode."

And, frankly, tom, if you have a snap-to-pixel thing coming, then there's absolutely no reason to ever need circle mode. None. Simply, no reason. I can use my paintbrush tool to make a circle, pencil a dot in the very center, copy&paste that all over the place, upload, add my terry's, snap 'em to, and upload a new picture without the alignment dots on it. The whole process of centering numbers should add less time than re-do'ing my custom colors palette for a map.

I never had training wheels on my bike as a kid; and, go figure, I was riding a bike without training wheels long before the other neighbor kids. Most people will raise (or lower), without thinking, their effort to whatever minimum level of expectations you set for them.

I write like I speak and think. Which, apparently, needs lots of punctuation. Commas! Yay!

Uh yes sorry meant Circle Mode.

Isn't there a case though for board designers starting off with Circle mode and then moving onto Fill mode? Does it raise the bar for new designers to get started too high? If circle mode wasn't available would you guys all have started making boards?

I admit I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, I love the quality of the boards which you guys have publishing to date so I'd prefer to keep it that way.

ps on this note - Toaster is very kindly redrawing the 'Global Warfare' board in Fill Mode... anyone up for doing the same for 'Europe 1560'? Would be very much appreciated!

Fixing Europe should only take me a little time so I can do it if you send me the original background just to keep it as close as possible. I won't even do anything Risky to it or nothing!

I appreciate the Devil's Advocate role and I wouldn't have made Rent if it wasn't for circle mode but that is not to say I wouldn't have started making maps. The help in WF sucked and it was made only for MS Paint and only really told you how to import a map, not really how to create it.
If someone wants to make a map they should and I'm happy to test and help them in any ways but we shouldn't give people a crutch just because. If you have an idea you really want to make, you'll find a way. I always have found ways of doing what I wanted to do. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The biggest help a map maker has is other map makers.

Thanks Risky I'll wing the base image your way.

How about Circle mode is enabled, it just has a note by it on the Designer which says something like 'Only Fill Mode maps will be accepted for submission as Public boards' or words to that effect?

That way designers can easily get started with Circle mode, play around with stuff with friends then take the step up to Fill Mode when they're ready.

My first map was actually done using the filled colored numbers on WF, so neither fill nor circle. (It didn't work very well). Personally, I find it easier to learn to do something the right way first, even if its harder, than it is to learn a baby step and then re-learn the hard way. If fill mode is all anyone ever knows, then anyone who wants to make maps will learn how to use it and never know any different.

Agreed.

tom wrote:

ps on this note - Toaster is very kindly redrawing the 'Global Warfare' board in Fill Mode... anyone up for doing the same for 'Europe 1560'? Would be very much appreciated!

The original Warfish "Europe 1560" map was banished for being a direct and unacknowledged rip-off of a board on the Lux Delux site.  It is also full of historical inaccuracies as well as being generally ugly (in my opinion, at least).  It was very popular, though, so when it disappeared I made my "Medieval Europe" map with the idea of filling the gap.  Medieval Europe is coming to WarGear as soon as its reviewers decide to approve it.

That said, there is still a need on this site for a big, sprawling, 16-player capable geographical map, since Medieval Europe is a much smaller map.  Europe 1560 is filling that need right now, at least for up to 12 players.   What we really need is an extra-large modern or WWII era Europe map.  If nobody volunteers, I might do it myself....

And to return to the original topic, I think that filled-circle mode is very helpful for beginning mapmakers, and should be kept for private game designs, but I have no problem with prohibiting it for public designs.  I gave it up after my second board design, and have never looked back.

tom wrote:

How about Circle mode is enabled, it just has a note by it on the Designer which says something like 'Only Fill Mode maps will be accepted for submission as Public boards' or words to that effect?

That way designers can easily get started with Circle mode, play around with stuff with friends then take the step up to Fill Mode when they're ready.

This is a good middle of the road option. making the entire site a strict fill only is a bit harsh and will be very discouraging for new mapmakers. most peoples first map is a non fill map and when you build confidence you can progress to a fill map.  if the bar for the whole site is set to high you will only get a very small pool of people that will even attempt a map and you will miss out on some very talented people that have great game play ideas but little to no graphic talent. so forcing them to try to learn the hard way first may just push them to another site but if they get feed back on the circle maps and suggestions as how to make it a fill you will get them hook line and sinker. you gotta rember no one started in grade 8 everyone began in kindergarden its about babysteps.