I have made multiple versions of the Alamo Mission Maze. An initial kids version and then my original maze of the week in both black and white and later color. Today we get a full improvement redux - I hope you like it! So Maze of the week #10 also becomes MOTW #158. You can read the original blog post here:

Maze of the Week #10 - The Alamo Mission Maze

And now the redux. I have been using the same program (Inkscape) to make my mazes for many years and I am still learning how to use it. It is free software and I use an old version so everything new I learn is self-taught and by experimenting. I recently found better ways to do things and I decided to go back and revise some mazes.

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Changed the maze size from 34 x 22 to 34 x 19.5. Originally I made the size 2x a tabloid size sheet of paper for easy printing. Now I adjusted the size to reflect the actual maze with printing a secondary concern.

2. Added background details. The maze was floating on the page and I wanted to fix that…

The first thing I added was the state flag/pole on left side
I added the ground on each side and extended it off the page.
I added a small building to the right side and a wall on the left
Each of the above got textures to reflect the stone they are made of.

3. Added a textured lawn.

4. Changed the font size. The title increased while the location was reduced and moved to the 2nd line.

5. Changed Start & Goal colors. Previously the black lettering was difficult to see so I changed it to blue.

6. Newly Colored Stones. I added some color to a variety of stones on the front of the building to better reflect how it actually looks, including adding some water stains. Previously the building was one consistent color.

7. Added Shadows. I added some shadows to the windows.

8. Added a Sky.

And here are the old and new versions: