I have been playing around with different configurations for a custom table and wanted to note some things I’ve landed on that I really like. A main one thing is having the map mounted so that it can slide around as needed on top of a bigger playing area. My table is 65” x 95” in total with a 5.5” arm rest around the outside and the middle is a recessed neoprene surface. I have the OOB Global map mounted on 1/2” rigid foam with a 1/2” aluminum frame around it. This allows the map to slide up close to whoever’s turn it is, but then be in the middle so both players can roll dice In front of them without disturbing the map and in easy view of the other player. (Plus we like lots of room to roll the bones). This ability to adjust the surface along with a standing height, makes it comfortable for long uses because you can move around more and don’t feel as tied down.
Things I’ve learned and changed from original design - I originally used too big of a frame for the map and mounted it on too high of a foam block (you can see these pictures at the bottom) - it made it hard to see the other player’s dice and the big frame took up too much real estate. My global map is mounted on much thinner foam (the framing is bad, you can see if you look closely) but I also used much thinner aluminum angle for the frame. This gives just enough grip when needing to move the map around (I use furniture slides on the bottom, which glide very nicely on the neoprene) but doesn’t make the whole thing too bulky. Having it an inch or so off the surface keeps the dice off, but isn’t so heigh that you can’t see the other player’s dice rolls. When playing other versions (such as Zombies) the board is much smaller, but it can easily swap in and out on the same table since it can move around where ever it is needed or be pushed aside.
I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped. Standing height with a bar stool is a great way to have the best of both worlds.
The 5.5” rim around the table itself gives you a nice arm rest that doesn’t interfere with the gaming surface. I’m playing with how to best add some cushion to this part - open to suggestions. Sometimes I just lay a piece of leftover neoprene on it.
Dice bounce nice on the neoprene and stay off the floor. It also feels nice and has enough give to allow things to slide but be picked up easily. Wouldn’t definitely go with neoprene again as a surface covering.
I made the drawers open to the inside of the table so you can stay hunched over the action while accessing and stowing stuff away. 50/50 on whether I would keep this if I were to do it again. If I were doing it again, I might try to build customer drawers form scratch using actual drawer glides, but that was beyond my ability when I first did this, so I just used clear plexiglass boxes with aluminum pulls mounted on them. It’s nice having them clear, and I was happy with how the pulls came out, but without glides they can be a little fussy sliding in and out of their slots.
I originally designed the table so that I could put a cover surface back on top when not in use, but find I don’t really ever do that, so if I were to do it again, I might not mess with that part (I never even finished staining those as you can see in the pictures).
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A&A G40 Map Files - Archive & Library
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Hey Siredblood,
Yes I have looked at the clean file, but if you compare the clean file and the leveled file, the leveled one is brighter and more colorful. As far as I know there is no leveled version without the ghost card images.
Hey, don’t confuse me with Siredblood, that’s not fair to him, lol! Yes, the “adjusted levels” file should print with more rich, vibrant color. I adjusted the levels histogram in Photoshop to make the darks/midtones more rich and then brought back some brightness. I am sending YG a clean version right now with adjusted levels, so that should give you a good base file to do your own map changes. :)
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This sounds really great YG!
I just finished the European side of my attempt to fixup the files from Ambilzi and you. Sounds like most of my work can be thrown down the drain now as it sounds like Intrepid fixed most if not all of my issues with the original map.
Will check the new map later today to see if I can save myself the hard work of editing the pacific side of the map. Although it feels a bit like a loss of time at the moment :cry: :-)
Hi Tjoek, from what I saw you were doing excellent work, don’t throw away anything you’ve done! This new version of the map is still far from perfect, I didn’t have time to remove every single scratch, dust mark, etc off the board. I did do some work in the Pacific for sure, spent some time fixing some water glitches, and a bunch of blurred/shifted territory lines. Please copy whatever you can off this map to save yourself time!
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This sounds really great YG!
I just finished the European side of my attempt to fixup the files from Ambilzi and you. Sounds like most of my work can be thrown down the drain now as it sounds like Intrepid fixed most if not all of my issues with the original map.
Will check the new map later today to see if I can save myself the hard work of editing the pacific side of the map. Although it feels a bit like a loss of time at the moment :cry: :-)
Hi Tjoek, from what I saw you were doing excellent work, don’t throw away anything you’ve done! This new version of the map is still far from perfect, I didn’t have time to remove every single scratch, dust mark, etc off the board. I did do some work in the Pacific for sure, spent some time fixing some water glitches, and a bunch of blurred/shifted territory lines. Please copy whatever you can off this map to save yourself time!
Yeah I noticed that your great work did not included all the small scratches I’m removing. So I can continue my quest to get the cleanest map ;-) Overall really nice to see the community around this great game come alive.
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Hey YG,
I didn’t mean to offend you or complain, I just saw that in your latest video (bathrobe one) I believe you said you wanted to give people the most options possible in this thread, and I was just asking for what I wanted in a map. I should have said thanks earlier but I didn’t, so thank you.
Intrepid,
Thank you for making a leveled clean version as I would not know how to use the program to do that myself. I really appreciate it!
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Hey YG,
I didn’t mean to offend you or complain, I just saw that in your latest video (bathrobe one) I believe you said you wanted to give people the most options possible in this thread, and I was just asking for what I wanted in a map. I should have said thanks earlier but I didn’t, so thank you.
Intrepid,
Thank you for making a leveled clean version as I would not know how to use the program to do that myself. I really appreciate it!
Thanks Schroeder, what I had meant in that video is that the files that I was sharing in this thread would be added to the many map files that already exist and therefore bringing about more options. Sorry for the misunderstanding… the files that you were asking for are now available in post #1 thanks to Intrepid.
Cheers, and thanks for your support.
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[…] Yes, the “adjusted levels” file should print with more rich, vibrant color. I adjusted the levels histogram in Photoshop to make the darks/midtones more rich and then brought back some brightness. I am sending YG a clean version right now with adjusted levels, so that should give you a good base file to do your own map changes. :)
Thank you for the great work, Interpid and also YG of course. This new Clean Leveled Version really looks great. I always loved the Naval/Air Bases and I think with the removed round tracker and combined combat charts its a really good compromise between customized and OOB!
I am also not a fan of the ghost boxes, but its interesting to see your houserule version and despite the missing combat chart, the Clean/leveled version is perfect for my taste :-)I really would love to print it right away, although I somehow need to wait for Siredbloods and Trojeks versions to be finished, because both are really interesting too :lol:
Thank to all you guys for the great work! :-)
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I am also not a fan of the ghost boxes, but its interesting to see your houserule version and despite the missing combat chart, the Clean/leveled version is perfect for my taste :-)
YG and I chatted today, and we decided to offer his custom version in both color options, and the clean version in both color options. There will be some like yourself that want the battle board but not the ghost boxes, and others will want countless other variations (I read someone wanted two battle boards, lol). I just don’t have the time to be able to provide all those unique designs; I’ve already spent far too much time editing maps. :-D
In your case, you could open the custom file with the battle board in a free image editor such as http://pixlr.com/, select around the battle board, copy, and then open the clean version, and past the battle board back in place. If your selection contained some land that will help you line up the battle board to pixel perfection (use arrow keys to nudge the selection around), and then you can save the file again as your own custom JPG. :)
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Thanks Intrepid, all files you just mentioned are available in post #2 of this thread with clear descriptions of what they are and what’s on them.
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That new battle board design is indeed sweet. I will be grabbing that and having it printed. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for also doing the leveled/clean map!
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Thanks for the new versions, Interpid! The Colour versions in both custom and clean are awesome - and you are right of course, cutting out the battle board should be possible even for a noob like me xD
I still havent found a print shop in vienna (most of them dont even answer my mails lol…) and still want to wait for sireds and trojeks maps to be finished. But as soon as I have a version printed, I will let you guys know :-)
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Off topic For the life of me I can’t find the post YG made about a month ago in regards to the best material to print a map. Anyone know what I am talking about?
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Hey YG,
first at all: good work.
Is it possibible to get a fixed version of the “A&A1940Global YG Intrepid Clean Original Levels Mar31” map,
where the Naval Base in Normandy / Bordeaux is fixed (switched colours, black and white)?Would be great.
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Hey YG,
first at all: good work.
Is it possibible to get a fixed version of the “A&A1940Global YG Intrepid Clean Original Levels Mar31” map,
where the Naval Base in Normandy / Bordeaux is fixed (switched colours, black and white)?Would be great.
Thanks.I’m deep into trying to get my custom card decks released right now, but I will certainly look into it.
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@Young:
I’m deep into trying to get my custom card decks released right now, but I will certainly look into it.
Yeah I use your first card deck without the house roules for my games. :-D