Why the latest WolvHaven Metro map is the best one in WolvHaven’s history so far
WolvHaven’s Metro Map as of 28 September 2016
Let’s face it. Without the WolvHaven Metro Map, those who are new to the system or use it occasionally wouldn’t know how to get from A to B. The metro, made to move people would pretty much be useless if they didnt know which line(s) to take to get to their destination.
Throughout its 5 year history, every railway system in WolvHaven’s old world has at least one transit map.
With the recent opening of Esplanade Metro station, a new station at Silloner, an extension for Line 3 to Marine View and future expansion to Mechanicsburg, an update to the old metro map was long overdue.
The result - Possibly one of the best - if not the best metro map that WolvHaven has ever seen.
A history of WolvHaven’s Transit Maps
At the beginning, WolvHaven was small. Like real small. The size of the main island is about the size of 2 city blocks in the current New Wolv Haven world. What we have is a Metro System with 1 line, 2 stations and a circle line that never saw its completion. What we have? A map thats made in MS Paint. Unfortunately, this map can no longer be found anywhere as it has been wiped but picture a squiggly line mess.
In 2012, WolvHaven was in its 2nd Generation world - Wolv City (it was here where the name WolvHaven was born). The size of the island was rather reasonable, possibly a third the size of WolfMinster Island currently. At that time, we weren’t that good at digital design and had to rely on beno’s metro map creator to make the transit map of the city. The end result was this.
Wolv City MRT/CART Map - 2012
Then came 2013, this is where WolvHaven was in its 3rd Generation world - New Haven. Size of the city - eeh, quite close to the size of WolfMinster island, however most of the land was mountains and was difficult if not impossible to build on. By this time, we were still using beno’s metro map creator. But this time, it was only used to draw out the lines. The stations and the names etc. were added on later using Microsoft Word, finishing off the entire map by taking a screenshot of the map on Microsoft Word at the end. This map was largely inspired by the way Harry Beck’s original tube map had diamonds in it to represent interchange stations. The end result was:
Pretty decent I would say, however, things get interesting when it comes to the current world. The current world has 3 versions of the Metro Map - each portraying the system at a different point of time. By then we had Adobe Illustrator and with some basic Illustrator skills, the first WolvHaven Metro Map was born - depicting the Metro in the current world’s early days.
WolvHaven Metro Map - April 2014
Simplicity and clarity set the standards for WolvHaven’s future Metro maps. This was a glimpse of what the future of WolvHaven’s Metro maps would look like. This map was largely inspired by the Washington Metro maps with its thick lines and station dots being within the lines - it was a hit when it was first placed in WolvHaven’s Metro stations as part of a trial of the Image Maps plugin.
The first time WolvHaven Metro Maps made it in-game
Soon, the WolvHaven Metro system expanded and an update was seriously needed - with the opening of line 3 and the Line 2 extension, it was time for an update again. With slightly better illustrator skills, the newer metro map become the most iconic (at the time). This, was WolvHaven Metro’s map in late 2014.
WolvHaven’s Metro Map - November 2014
It was the first map to include a background that shows the Ocean and WolfMinster island together and was celebrated as the best Metro Map at the point of time. It basically was a more enhanced version of the previous metro map - but with more details. Although the way all but one metro station’s names are all diagonal was debatable, the metro map looked pretty decent.
However, an embarassing update to the map when line 4 was built sent this map to its death. It hadn’t accounted for the space that Line 4 would take and was basically just an addon to the old map. The larger mistake was the way Line 4 was connected to University instead of Dakota. So there it goes, down the drain.
As WolvHaven expanded into Westford island, the need for a new Metro map came - However, this would not come until a few of the metro lines were operational.
The planning this time round for the map had to be meticulous. The whole map was drafted out on a piece of graph paper to mark out where all the stations would be as it would be the largest single update ever to WolvHaven’s metro map. The planning went well. The execution however, didn’t.
WolvHaven’s Metro Map - Janurary 2016
WolvHaveners were disappointed with he way this map turned out. Complaints flew in over many different aspects of the map and it was like the map had taken a step backwards in terms of design rather than forward. Complaints such as the way the East West Line (line 3) had a sharp 90 degree turn at Renaissance, lines being too thin, fonts too small and the lack of standard as some of the lines had curved edges while the others did not. But the largest offender of all was the way westford island was depicted as a larger island than wolfminster. It didn’t meet the idea of simplicity and clarity. The map looked like an utter mess, as well as the inefficient usage of space and the incorrect portrayal of the shape of westford island quickly sent this map to the guillotine in terms of approval. WolvHaveners would have to be stuck with this ugly mess which they could not feel proud of for the next few months.
During these few months, there were service pattern changes and this meant that the map would need an update again. Using the feedback thad was given previously, the new map was faced with the challenges of exceeding the standards set by the maps before and avoiding a repeat of similar mistakes.
The result, this beautiful masterpiece.
WolvHaven’s Metro Map as of 28 September 2016
What makes this map the best one of all?
The way it combines both the old and the new. It has thick lines that can easily be seen on the map along with station dots that are equally spaced out between sections, making the map clearer to view. The size of the font for the stations has also been increased and it looks even more organized than ever.
It’s like the April 2014 Map and the November 2014 Map had a baby.
The most radical change to the map would be the way the interchange stations are shown. Gone are the days where the interchange station is depicted by a white-black blob. Each line has their own dot in the interchange station which makes it more organized as well considering the City Hall, Waterloo and Primerose blobs from the January 2016 map.
This change enabled the lines to be drawn in a neater fashion as well since they all can be spaced out equally. Compare the City Hall - Waterloo section in this map and the Jan 2016 map. The lines in the current map are easier to follow as they aren’t all jumbled up togethr but rather a small gap spaces them out.
The Legend and Metro Services section is also much clearer and provides more information than the previous one.
The best part of all - it’s mechanicsburg ready. The map can easily be extended once the sections in Mechanicsburg are complete so this map is pretty much futureproof.
WolvHaveners were clearly pleased with this map, some hailing it as “Perfect” and the “Best one of all” with many saying its “Easier to read and understand”. This map fulfills its goal of showing people how to get from point A to B and does it in Simplicity and Clarity at the same time. A clear winner.
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