Oh no! The map is completely, horribly wrong!

[mcv]

I recently switched from SS 4.2 to 6.3, so I'm seeing a lot of changes at once, including some big changes to the map. Venice looks a lot more islandy, for example.

When playing the HRE and contemplating what to do with Groningen and Antwerp, I noticed that the Dutch shoreline had had a dramatic upgrade. Lots of gorgeous detail showing all those big, 20th century polders. But isn't Stainless Steel supposed to be medieval?

In the middle ages, we hadn't started to pump parts of the sea dry yet. We hadn't even started pumping lakes dry yet. We were just at the stage of draining swamps. And yet the map shows all the great works we accomplished during the 20th century. Our coastline has changed quite a lot since the middle ages, and the Stainless Steel map shows the wrong version.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I love it that someone has invested the time and attention to change the simplistic, lumpy coastline we had in 4.2, into a pretty accurate representation of the beautiful lines of the Dutch coastline. On the other hand, it's such a shame that all that effort was done with a modern map at hand, rather than a medieval map of the Dutch provinces.

(Really, look it up some day. The difference is huge and dramatic. Also consider that it was all swamp in the early middle ages, and you'll understand the saying: "God created earth, the Dutch created the Netherlands.")

[Lord Lancelot]

I've seen in 5.1 that Riga is in Kurland Not in place where it must be And there is no river Daugava, that is important now, and was important in medieval.

[mcv]

If you want rivers, two important Dutch/Belgian rivers are also missing: the Meuse and the Schelde.

[Ishan]

Mapping is not a easy task and to be honest this was the last thing i learned as even a slightest mistake results in a crash and there is no clue in the log files what went wrong.

The SS team has done it's best to provide the best gaming experience to the TW players.
As far as the rivers are concerned it's not a big deal to place rivers but there are certain limitations in placing rivers and dividing them or merging them they are very tricky to place.

So instead of Complaining about the map the SS team would appreciate a few kinds words instead.
Suggestions are always welcome not criticism

[mcv]

So instead of Complaining about the map the SS team would appreciate a few kinds words instead.
Suggestions are always welcome not criticism

That's why I started out by mentioning the gorgeous detail. I am honestly really impressed by the detail of the coastline. It's a really, really impressive job. That makes it all the more sad that it's based on the wrong data.

I completely understand that it's just not worth fixing. The net effect would be maybe 3 squares that should have been sea and are now land. And with no good reason for any unit to ever move into Holland (the north-western peninsula), the practical effect of the game is practically nil. A road would have to be diverted one square, but that wouldn't make it any longer or shorter. It's just not worth it.

Still, with all the other historically accurate detail in the game, I felt it necessary to point it out anyway. Maybe someone will remember this detail if the map ever gets redone for Stainless Steel 8 or something.

The SS map is based on satellite data so is very accurate - for the 21st century.
as you mention it's not so good for some areas for the medieval period.

as and when we find some satellite data from that period we can update the map

I can see that's going to be a problem. However, even on a detailed satelite map, it's not hard to point out the large parts of land that have been added to the coastline. And the small bits and internal lakes don't show up on this scale anyway.

Seriously though folks, if you can provide historically accurate medieval maps please post them.
It's possible that in future they can be incorporated in a future revision.

I'd love to help out here. I'll see what I can do.

[For England Men]

Am very happy with the current map although good find on the dutch coast i never thought of that, personally when looking for historical maps I use a site that the following 11AD one comes from but I am not sure if the coastlines are correct or these are territories laid over the modern map;

http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/ima...Hem_1100ad.jpg

[mcv]

Hard to tell because it's so small, but it looks like this one still shows the big 20th century polders.

Also, it's using a projection centered on the equator, and I think one that's centered on Europe would make more sense. Of course with the huge area covered by the Stainless Steel map, you're always going to get some deformation, but you get less deformation if you use a projection that's centered on the center of your map.

But for telling which empire was where, it's a really nice map. Tuareg is misspelled, though. (Or was it spelled differently at the time? Not unlikely, I guess.)

[For England Men]

not sure on the spelling thing he is usually pretty accurate though take a look around his site he has maps from loads of different times and geographical areas I use them for a lot of reference, best of all it is completely free as well.

I did zoom in on the dutch coast and it does look a bit different to the modern coastline but to be honest I am not sure what it would have looked like so can't tell completely. He probably uses a generic map and lays the empires over them though.

[philipjd]

::gives a kind word::

[Tears of Destiny]

::Gives a FEW kind Words::

[Gorrrrrn]

The SS map is based on satellite data so is very accurate - for the 21st century.
as you mention it's not so good for some areas for the medieval period.

as and when we find some satellite data from that period we can update the map

Seriously though folks, if you can provide historically accurate medieval maps please post them.
It's possible that in future they can be incorporated in a future revision.

I'm aware that, for instance the coastline of England has had changed somewhat in certain places, but finding a good map showing those changes is another matter.

[mcv]

Yeah, the difference is pretty dramatic when you look at just the Netherlands. The history of the Dutch fight against water is pretty interesting. On a European scale, the effect for Stainless Steel is pretty inconsequential, however. I think it's pretty awesome that the map is so detailed that you can even notice stuff like this.

Like I said, I don't expect this to get fixed any time soon. I just thought my overly alarmist title would be funny. Well, maybe it's not as funny as I thought at the time.