Context
I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I made quite a lot of maps a few years ago (mainly 2013-2016). When I was looking back over them, I found there are two maps of a similar theme. They are both focused on Europe and include some colonial theatres. They are:

1701: War of Spanish Succession (Imperial) | Made 2014 | 478 territories | 3.9 rating
Thirty Years War (1618-1648) | Made in 2015 | 2264 territories | 4.2 rating

However neither of them achieve what they're supposed to achieve. The first one has a reasonable amount of territories, but fails in most other areas. The art style is ugly, the sea connections are extremely confusing, and the territories are very uniform and uninteresting. It also doesn't take population density into account, so some areas are very overpowered (such as the Spanish colonies). The second one is a bit better; the art style is cleaner (though not amazing) and the sea connections are much easier to follow, but it still has uniform, boring territories with no geography. It also has the same population density issue. The 2k+ territories also make it too big for a lot of games.

New Map
I continued to use Inkscape after I retired from Warzone map making, and have improved a lot since then. So I've decided to make a new 17th Century Europe map to fix all the issues with the previous two maps.

• The territories are all of varying shapes and sizes, reflective of the respective geographic/administrative relaties
• Important cities are separate territories, which can typically only be accessed through one other territory due to city walls
• There are still colonial theatres, but I've reduced their scope, such that they no longer make colonial nations overpowered
• There's a unique bonus system in the colonial theatres that makes colonies easily tradeable, which will make diplomacy more interesting
• Geography and territory placement is being utilised to make strategy more interesting; for example, France will only be able to cross the Rhine if it captures Cologne or Strasbourg
• There's more art in non-territory areas, which makes the map look more aesthetically pleasing

Link: https://www.warzone.com/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=104779

Sounds awesome, can't wait for it! It will hopefully spark some new diplomacy games.

Wooo, he's back!

Your Thirty Years War map was what got me into mapmaking, which in turn is the only real reason I still play this game.

In my mind it's always been the gold standard of historical maps that I aim (and fail) to uphold.
So the idea that it needs to be improved on is heresy!

But that's the sentimentality speaking -- the new map is looking very nice already.
Love the new city designs, not sure I understand the port symbols: most sea connections have a port symbol, but not all?
Looking forward to the finished map!

Edited 3/1/2024 10:31:25

Thanks Murk (and Ammaren)! Regarding ports, all the sea connections in Europe should have them. I know Denmark is a bit confusing, I'm planning to change that one. The idea with the ports in the colonial theatres is that each one connects to:

• All territories of the same colour in the same theatre
• The European port that goes to that theatre

For example, the red port of Virginnia connects to the other English New World colonies of Boston and Jamaica, as well as the West Country (as its port of Bristol goes to the New World). I haven't used ports elsewhere in the colonial theaters, as it would break this system.

I'll write a short note on the map somewhere clarifying how the colonial ports work before the map is released.

Edited 3/1/2024 13:35:17

Nice, I've used your thirty years war map extensively for some of my hosted templates

Your name was a familiar for me from when I tracked player id with growth of Warzone in 2015-16ish.

I was clicking around a bit, and it looks like Skåne and Izmir have no connections, but aside from that this map looks amazing! I love how you approached cities and ports.

Thanks for taking a look Forsaken! I've fixed Izmir. Skåne is deliberately not connected to the rest of Danish territory, but I've just added Sweden, and it's connected to some Swedish territories now.

For sure. I somehow didn't realize there were more territories on the way. I'm looking forward to the finished product!