A feature that confuses some gamers in TCS games is the use of contour lines for elevation detemination. Since these players have been trained bg other games (and not mal maps) the tendency to try to determine the elevation of a hex as "falling to the next lower contour line" makes itself apparert. This creates the layer cake form of terrain games have taught some to expect. The problem is that TCS games were not designed to be interpreted in that manner and this leads to problems like "what elevation is it if the line goes through the middle of the hex?"

Contour lines in our games, as in real topographic maps, show the exact elevation for points along that line. Elevations between lines are assumed to progress smoothly through the contour interval until the next line where they are equal to it. Hexes are assumed to have the elevation from an imaginary center dot. Therefore, a hex with the line going directly thmugh the center is the easiest case -- read the number along that line and you have it.

For cases falling between two lines of different elevation, one must determine a rough proportion of the distance from one line to the other used by the hex in question and then add the appropriate amount to the lower of the two contour line values. Most of the time the actual determination of a hex's elevation is unneeded -- but that is how it is done if you want to be exact.

For hexes falling between two lines of the same elevation (as on top of a hill or in a valley) merely add (hill) or subtract (valley) 1/2 of the contour interval from the last available contourlinc. Guesstimating thc crests of hills and ridges is not hard after you get used to judging quick proportions of distance from one set of lines to another. If all else fails, trace a line across the center of the hill or ridge in question perpendicular to your LOS -- if your unit is on the enemy side of the line the LOS is not blocked, if the line falls between your unit and his, the LOS is blocked.

Coloration

A feature of all our tactical games (those requiring an LOS) is a coloration of the hexes to help indicate elevation. The CWB games use a hex color code system for devation which is very similar to that found in many other games. What does confuse some is ow method of color coding (which has changed somewhat with Barren Victory, more on that later in this article) in which lower devations appear darker than higher ones.

This is based on some fairly standard cartographic concepts which were either ignored or unknown to earlier game-mapmakers. Everyone used to "dark is up," so now maps took some by surprise -- we had violated a law! No, actually, the earlier maps were incorrect. Cartographers have kept to a "dark is down" concept for years. Why? Basically, both the appearance of aerial photographs and human eye perception follow this color scheme. From above, valleys are darker than surrounding hills because the lower levels have a higher concentration of moisture. The human eye perceives dark things as further from the observer, therefore if dark is down it is more natural to the eye's perception.

So why the change in Barren Victory? Actually, what you are seeing is a perceived change, not an actual one. The above concept still holds in my map making. What changed was that our computer based map production allowed more freedom than ever in color selection. Barren Victory's maps make use of a color hue change as well as simple darkness in order to show devation. Thus, you still have dark valleys but as you go up you transition to tans, browns, reds, etc.

Prior to that map, we were constrained to variations in two colors (yellow and blue) to generate the levels we needed. Those maps followed a succession of tones of each from 0 to 30 percent Blue and 0 to 100 to 10 percent Yellow in a bewildering number of separate over1ays. Not only was this process clumsy and expensive, it limited rather severely the number of levels possible.

When a map required a large number of levels (like Thunder at the Crossroads) I had to resort to tones which became too-close-to-call in difference or, gasp, my "light red" which I was reminded later was another term for pink! Just another bad spasm. with the computer, we are free from that menace but subject to numerous other traps...

In the TCS maps another technique was used (also to be altered with the "computer-based freedom" with the Omaha maps.) Those were color coded to help identify the features given by the contour lines, only. The colors on those maps are not designed to determine exact elevation-- that's what the contow lines are for. The colors exist to help the map stay away from that devil of contour lines the spaghetti map. Without a color system of some sort contour maps devolve into a mess of spaghetti like lines with little rhyme or reason until the player spends a few hours studying them. Ask any infantry Second Lt who had no prior service before commissioning... So, I added to color coding to help out, but not to solve the puzzle.

In the Omaha maps, I will be grouping devations by color so as to not kill the computer with excessive data (maps our size ride right on the line of what is possible to do as it is, no need push it and risk total failure) and 2. take advantage of the lay of the ground and colors available to make it work well.

Those maps can easily be divided into three wnes for color purposes: the beaches, the bluffs overlooking the beaches, and the inland areas. The beaches are basically flat and can be handled in one color -- sand. The bluffs include a large elevation change over a very short distance and it would be wasteful to show this in more than two colors. The inland areas are fairly flat, but what devation change that exists is important, so I'll give one color per deviation there.

I hope the above was useful to at least some of you. If you can think of anything else you would like this sort of "behind the scenes" look at, please let me know.