[SPOILERS] Mapmaking discussion

[Mardoc]

1 - Varn Gosam / Malakin
2 - Cardith Lorda / Kuriotate
3 - Arendel / Ljosalfar

After some thought, I think I'm going to choose the Khazad as my first choice with Arturus as the leader

2nd choice, Os-Gabella of the Sheaim. Someone has to bring the world to ruin!

3rd choice - Faeryl of the Svarts. Sinister Satyrs and Werewolves prowling the dark forests.

I'm still thinking I want to do Highlands, at least as my base. But everything depends on Kyan, if he ranks Lanun high or low in his final three .

[DaveV]

I'm still thinking I want to do Highlands, at least as my base. But everything depends on Kyan, if he ranks Lanun high or low in his final three .

Just do Seas for your water pick. That generates a reasonable amount of coast, and all of the seafood. I'd recommend going up a map size and picking Dense peaks as well. This tends to produce lots of interesting bottlenecks. Seaborne invasions also come into play.

None of this avoids the usual problem that a northern start is , while a southern start is .

[Mardoc]

FINAL SUBMITTED CHOICE:

1. Rhoanna of the Hippus
2. Varn of the Malakim
3. Decius of the Calabim



my god that was hard.

[uberfish]

Honestly the main thing is to keep the map as natural as possible to avoid inadvertently breaking the game with overpowered barbarians (which unfortunately seems to happen a lot.) I'm certainly guilty of this myself, being responsible for the Acheron/Sons of the Inferno fiasco in pbem5 (?)

[Mardoc]

None of this avoids the usual problem that a northern start is , while a southern start is .

Had some discussions with a programmer friend of mine, and the net result is that I'll be able to do the copy 6 times thing after all. So I think I will .

I'm currently debating if the map I create to be duplicated will start at Duel size or Tiny. Most of the players did say they wanted a large map, and with 6 players starting fast (with 2 settlers each), that does make sense.

Here's where we're at for comparison:
Standard = 64x40 = 2560 tiles
Large = 84x52 = 4368 tiles
Huge = 104x64 = 6656 tiles

Duel = 32x20 = 640 tiles X6 = 3840 tiles
Tiny = 40x24 = 960 tiles X6 = 5760 tiles

So we're talking a map that's either halfway between Standard and Large, or one that's halfway between Large and Huge.

I do intend to use the Seas/Ridgelines setting, that seems to produce the most interesting tactical questions. And also means a large chunk of the world is uninhabitable, pushing its effective size down.

Thoughts on which would be more appropriate? Right now I'm leaning toward making a Tiny map to be duplicated, and officially setting mapsize to Huge for the sake of Kurio city count. But if someone sees a problem with this, I'm open to persuasion.

[DaveV]

Just going by gut feel, I'd go with the duel option. Highlands maps tend to play larger than the advertised size (I tend to go 2x the normal number of civs when I play one in SP, or it tends to feel very empty). Add in the maze effect from the mountains and seas, and it can take a very long time to move from one side of the map to the other.

Math check: the Kurios need space for 4 or 5 (depending on map size) super cities, which, with zero overlap, is 148 or 185 tiles. Out of 640 allocated, that seems possible.

[kjn]

Agree with DaveV. The Pitboss 6 map was probably too large, and it caused the game to become very defensive.

[Mardoc]

Math check: the Kurios need space for 4 or 5 (depending on map size) super cities, which, with zero overlap, is 148 or 185 tiles. Out of 640 allocated, that seems possible.

I think this is the piece that's most convincing, actually. Subtract 15% for oceans and a generous 15% more for peaks, and we're left with still 450 tiles/civ. Which is ~20 normal, full BFC cities; that ought to be enough room for anyone to agree it's a big map.

I think the official size will still be Large, though, not Huge. That's what it's closest to, and Kurios would just be silly if they can own all the land.

A first draft will be coming tonight, of the 1/6 portion. I won't get my friend to do the duplication until we're happy with the way a single player's land looks. I think the map will end up toroidal, though.

Main things I'm going to pay attention to:
All the strategic resources exist, and are moderately grabbable
Reasonable paths exist to the N/S and E/W neighbors, so the map doesn't dictate who's targetted.


Um...is there anything else I ought to do? Mirror eliminates a lot of the worries

[uberfish]

sounds good so far

[Mardoc]

I'm actually not sure anything needs changed on this map. Highlands will be very neat!

Remember, the below is one civ's land. I intend to copy this whole map 6 times, and each civ starts in the same spot. The only reason all 6 are currently on the map is to save me time later, in adjusting the header. Well, and to provide landmarks.

I'm thinking the start location is the Malakim spot here - maybe it's worth chopping a couple of the forests out.


To the N/S, we have this:


To the E/W:


And finally NE/SW:


Any suggestions? Thoughts on which of the starts they should be given, and why?

Finally, I'm debating what to do about Unique Features. None of the players seemed too enthusiastic about them; maybe I just leave them out.