The Dink Network

Boy, I was afraid of this. (Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback.)

I'm not a visually minded person at all. Back when I worked for high school newspaper, they once had me try to lay out a page. That sounds pretty simple, and I was using Quark Xpress which pretty much does it for you, but somehow my result was still such a visual mess that they had to throw it out and start over. I have trouble even understanding decoration.

Actually, I've been diagnosed with a visual learning disability, one of the effects of which is that I can't remember people's faces like most people do. I've lost a lot of friends that way. I don't mean to suggest this excuses bad map design, though.

I probably don't have to tell anybody that mapmaking is the hardest part of this; even scripting is hilariously easy by comparison. You're going to think I'm hopeless or exaggerating, but I spent hours on that bar screen as it is, and it's probably the most thoroughly decorated screen I've made so far. That's not to say I'm averse to going back and adding more detail, but even as I've been going it seems such an excruciatingly slow process that it feels like I'll never finish. I'm still early in my first real area despite putting pretty much my entire life into this for weeks. Mike Snyder finished the Arithia trilogy in as much time.

Sorry, I don't mean to whine. It's not common for "Upcoming DMOD Hype" threads to rapidly turn into "Help the author with Making Maps Not Look Terrible 101," is it? I must be looking pretty bad here.

Anybody want to be "Map consultant" and look over this thing as I make it? Heh, I very much doubt it. At any rate, I won't give up.