I'm going to say that for me Cataclysmo does the better job of portraying a distinct difference, as opposed to Ubar. While as a single map the before Ubar is great, the after looks more like fog-shrouded than decrepit and crumbling. Well, other than the gaping djinn-hole. If the story had it eerily preserved, blanketed by a mist (sorry - perpetual sandstorm?) or mysteriously out of phase with reality I'd buy the after look better. While dim, all the elements still look intact.

With Cataclysmo, I can easily imagine the forces out of control. If I suspend disbelief enough to accept low-temp lava, then boiling seas that don't cool from currents is OK too :-). In any case, the colors and texture do a grand job of portraying an angry island, done wrong by its unlamented rulers. A few lava encroachments on the built-up areas would've been even better... Though I guess the color of the New Settlements indicates blight welling up between city blocks.

Both Terra Incognita and Blackwater would've been contenders for me, if more completed. I hope both of you polish them off! LindaJeanne, about all you'd need is a bunch of labelling to tell a story between the two main maps. And gen, a simple un-ruined capital on a similar second version would've sufficed -- you've got an effective look going there. I like the crumbling pile. Though I guess if you'd wanted a really cheap other-period you could have removed the ruins altogether and shown an unbroken swath of forest - call it a couple of hundred years even further along :-).

I guess a lot of folks are busy this month? Really the theme needn't have been daunting - I have done before/after kind of portrayals with 60-80 % of the base mapping staying the same.