What can I bring to the table? I'm a forward and abstract thinker, who has developed analytical skills throughout my law degree. I have been a gamer for years, love backing new projects and getting involved with suggesting ideas. I actually wrote two full-fledged gaming ideas and sent them out to a number of developers back in the mid-to-late 90s. I received feedback for neither, but The Sims and Empire Earth were developed in subsequent years by the teams I had sent my ideas to...and they were pretty bloody similar! I'm sure it was just coincidence....
I'm also currently a researcher for the Football Manager series of games, which means I also get to beta test and suggest feature improvements (some of which actually do make it to the final version!).
Aside from that, I'm a student so I can offer my time with few restrictions. I'd like to be considered for option 1) or 2) as my gaming collection is in a bit of a stagnant phase at the minute and I'm not going into the gaming industry (I'd love to, but there's not much use for a law student), so c) wouldn't be of much use to me. I'd be happy to be judged on my usefulness before a decision is made on the reward package I receive. It would be unfair to give me the 'any Steam game or $100' if I don't add any value to the project!
Now, feedback on the new map!
I love the idea of having a switchable map with a satellite overlay as well as one that 'fits' with the rest of the UI with clearer borders. It looks nice, clean, modern and really does go with the feel of the game. The two buttons in the top left also look fine, as does what I assume is the new location 'pinpointer' in the top right of the map - though I wonder whether this needs moving to the right a little, as the gap to the right is bigger than the gap above and so looks a liiiiiiiiiiiitle bit unbalanced.
Is the compass (bottom left) staying, or will it be moving, as currently it's peeping out from under the map!
As a final note, will the 'Headlines' be longer than those currently in-game? If not (or not by much), what will you do with the blank black space before the 'On/Off' button? Would it be worth moving that up and having something else underneath? Perhaps a 'logo' for the 'software' being used by the player character?