I think I liked it better with the stronger background. It just seemed to do something to the map that made it look more....authentic I guess is the word I would use. Now, no offense, but with the lighter colors it still looks good but it looks a little too digital. Not that digital is a bad thing but you can certainly tell a difference between the two. The first one looks to me like it might have been painted, while the second you can certainly tell was done on a computer.