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How "watery" is this water to you? Enough or do you expect something more from "abstract map-tier water"?
The important thing is, it has a different texture from a land. You can even do this the other way around and it would still be fine.
Fine as "Human Entity №094456345 is able to differentiate water and land. Context requirements [12 ref]. RTTX. END_MSG"?
Yes, in this sense textures are completely swappable :)
I think this looks better than flat blue, but it really depends on the rest of your map. Can't really see a lot of it here.
And why are there a few short horizontal lines in the left side of it?
Those horizontal lines are "waves". They look better when there are more of them on the screen.
It really doesn't matter too much honestly. The important thing, if it matters to the game, is that the effect the water has on gameplay is conveyed.
It appears to be a ~~19th century or world war 1~~ WW2 era war game? For example: If there's a pathing route for units moving by sea to different areas in thr Black Sea here that should be able to shown without being obscured by the color/texture. So if there's a supply/shipping route from Istanbul to Svestapol, however that is shown should be visually clear.
Another possibility for general vibe artistically would be to look at period specific maps. A ~~19th~~20th century looking map overlaid on a parchment texture can sometimes work for a game wholesale. At the very least there are specific and standardized map functions and symbols used to depict features you can always refer to. Topographic and physical maps can provide a lot of reference points for this stuff.
*edit saw the tank images better, so ww2 and 20th century?
This is a turn-based game in the WW2 setting and maps were completely modern-like in that period. Dull and boring.
Moreover -- I'm a programmer, not an artist. So I try to use any nuance that helps me improve aesthetics but doesn't require actual draw-design-art-thing. It might be "doesn't matter" but most people won't even give a game a chance if it would be boring-looking. And it won't be a very good game anyway -- I work alone and my abilities are limited.
I really can't afford to skip on those little things.
The dull and boring WW2 era maps are an aesthetic that I have enjoyed in WW2 strategy games, for what is worth.
All I mean by the 'doesn't matter' point is that there is not a high bar for visual effects and that the GUI not be compromised in the process. It appears you're aware of that already, so don't get hung up on how it looks too much; dull and boring isn't necessarily bad in this case.
Looks great with your minimalist map style. Nice work!
I like it.