I'm not a huge fan of the blur, either.

This project is a really cool idea, I can't wait to see it finished!

I haven't downloaded the program, but I've read the comments in this thread.

I'd like to use this to create worlds for table-top games. This would mean I'd want the map generated and exported to an image, then a list of each city, the weather in that city, and any other information you generate. I'd have to be able to advance the timeline manually and such.

Is there any possibility of doing something like this?

Also, does this program include earthquakes and volcanoes? What about hurricanes and tsunamis?

Wow. This project is so cool!
I'm really looking forward to how this will evolve.

But I have to agree with the others. The blur is... to blurry...

This will probably be revisted several times before I'm done. I found the main cpu sink to be the translucent layer of the fog of war. I went from 50% (all of one core) to 30% (while moving) when I took the layer out, 20% when I'm not moving. So, for now, I'm keeping that layer out, as it causes several problems.

Well, at least it's unanimous! I personally didn't like it either, as it gave me headaches, haha. But it was easy to implement, so I thought why not! I reduced the blurring considerably, so now it's more of a 'ghosting'.

Certainly! Considering I want to be able to save the game, it wouldn't be much of stretch to do this. Before I started programming, I actually went to my brother (a frequent DM for D&D) and asked how he went about making maps.

Yes, both good natural disasters for mountain areas and water areas respectively. I'm thinking of low odds and only allowing one or two disasters of this type per game year, as they will reduce the population (and send out an emotional chain effect).

This, however, isn't going to happen. All the information used to generate the world is freed after it gives me an image to work with. Thus, I can't actually change the map image. I mentioned earlier why I'm doing this.

As of now, yes, just me. However, I would love artists and musicians to help when the project is far enough along. Artists can help out with the many different icons that are going to represent weather, node type, relation status, etc. I would like to have different cultural themed music to have fade in and out when moving in between empires. I'm getting ahead of myself though...

Version 0.0.7

Version 0.0.7  
Addition  Empires: Creating and expanding
    Organizations:  Forming ladders of important people / organizations
    Screen viewing organizations (Left control + Left mouse click on node with empire)
    Icons for each organization type
    Nodes are colored according to their empire
  
Modifications  Resolution lowered for better cpu usage
    Blur reduced to more of a 'ghosting' due to user feedback
    Removed translucent layer of Fog of War until I can find a better method (huge CPU sink)

Wow, I've actually maintained somewhat consistent with my updates (past few mondays). This new version was especially fun for me, as it wasn't very difficult to implement and added a neat new layer to the game.

Once the world is created, a proportional (to the node count) amount of empires are created. Each empire then picks a "safe" node to start with and then they expand by taking turns, expanding to one node per turn. They can only expand to nodes with population and traverse paths that are unlocked. They will travel by land before they cross the seas.

http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/598009
Next I create the way their government is organized. The icons above in order from left to right are:

Religious or Magical: Organizations that focus their attention around higher power(s) and will make decisions on their beliefs, regardless of how radical
Militaristic: Concerned with power, might, development of weapons, tactical warfare, etc.
Scientific and Technological: Focused on the advancement of knowledge, hopefully they have some sense of morality and don't perform experiments on you...
Royalty: Decision makers who have obtained their positions by the rights of their ancestry
Secretive: They are concerned and focused on something, but no one knows what that would be. Mysterious. Often times, these organizations exists without the general knowledge of the public...or even its own governmental system.
Political: Big wigs. The people appointed to debate and determine the direction of the organization.

Here's an example+screenshot below:
http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/598005
Here we have the Madison empire, a relatively small populated empire. The main people of their government is formed as follows:
http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/598006
It turns out this empire is mysterious and has a set of decision makers, but no one knows how they are appointed or what they intend to accomplish. It is headed by a single person (in-game, move the mouse over the box to see the name), followed by another, followed by a group of five people who all answer to the two people above.

But what about empires with hundreds of thousands of people? They need a decent sized governmental structure to run properly. Take for example the following Randolph Empire:

http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/598007

This is a royal empire all headed by one person. However, below, there are groups organized around other themes. On the far left there is a militaristic board that forms military structure. Maybe they are focused on weapon development or perhaps they help advise the king/queen in what to do in times of war. This is where the players imagination fills the gaps.

New Controls
Left Control + Left Mouse Click on a node with an established empire: Views the government structure
Left Mouse Click a square in the organization screen: If it is another branch, labled with an icon, it will zoom in for you review
Right Mouse Click in the organization screen: Go back one level

And, of course, the game!
Codenamed: MyQuest Version 0.0.7

NOTES: I will be making the naming engine smarter for people's names (creating first and last names, plus familial names for royalty branches) and intend to create names for sub branches (The Evil Ministry, The Bureau of Warfare, The Enlightened Few, etc.).

Also, I think I've come up with a name for my game. MyQuest was just something to get started with, I didn't put any thought into it and it's incredibly bland. I'm thinking of calling the game "Lore". Short, easy to remember, fantastical, captures the idea of the game, mysterious, epic, it pretty much fits all those categories in my mind.