I didn't go crazy or anything, there's just the one repentant angel, a held manes near the hippus, and some giant spiders with command that should be immobile until they're captured.
Oh fuck.
Just got my computer back and looked over the changes.
Firstly it was clearly using a old version of the map - several things hat I balanced (and can't have uploaded) are missing, most importantly the Hippus capital is overpowered and doesn't match thevision I was thinking of when I dismissed you on it -ฯif you look in the hippus thread you'll see the actual start (plainshill moved 1NE(means that to settle there they give up a dye) and incense erased (replaced in the gold area) )which is significantly weaker then the current one - they'll have an extremely powerful start.
The other thing I noticed was that the sheaim don't have incense - again as is visible in their starting pic, I placed it under the desert hut to fine them the resource for high priests.
There were a bunch of other edits that weren't there, but all relatively mild compared to those.
However I also take issue with some of your more obvious edits:
Firstly the kraken.
I'm sorry but what on earth were you thinking?
Kraken kill naval combat for basically forever, they have the highest strength if pretty much any unit in the game, so this means that both will the water be practically be abandoned (kraken come with unit ai attack afaict) but the possessers of lake fish will have big health advantages.
The kraken ARE a viable game option, but the map needs to be made with that promise in mind, with the knowledge that it serves as a xiv esque buffer area, rather then a border in itself. None of this is the case, which means interesting tactical areas are ignored and will function practically similar ti a range of mountains.
Secondly I don't understand the nerfing of brigit - its practically impossible to get in mp with kraken surrounding it its basically impossible.
Also the Ygg areas haven't been well thought out - though of relatively equal distant for each player, the areas are not equal - sheaim one for example is right in the gems/gold/pigs superspot, while the sidar is in a relatively border area, in a different direction from their general expansion pushes, and falls next to only a corn.
The great spiders haven't been well thought out -you realise that because they're unit ai unknown they'll never make anaction, just stand there.
[I don't like the mane, but that's cosmetic reasons really, the idea was forseperate regions of hell terrain roughly dividing players, so the mane spot feels relatively un thought out and unconsidered .
I'm also pretty sure it'll have two archers/bright because that's how it loaded for me.
If they do want a change my advised actions would be this: delete kraken, change the starts back as I detailed, delete/change unit ai on the spiders, REMOVE YGG (yeah this isnt what was intended but I think its just too unbalancing and giving one eacgamey too), and delete the two gold next to the innismouth sign.
If I get a chance I'll do the changes myself - that is I'll alter the latest versian I had and delete the lairs/guardian.
It may be they decide its not necessary tho.
Thanks for helping anyway though
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
Re: old map
You posted that one as the final version
Re: Kraken
Kraken are beast units and shouldn't enter cultural borders or pillage improvements. They also only existed in the icier lakes.
Re: Brigit
She's not likely to be relevant regardless of where and how she's placed.
Re: Yggdrasil
I considered balancing the areas better or removing it entirely, but didn't want to throw off other aspects of the map. It's the most powerful resource in the game and affects every city in an empire.
Re: Spiders
The AI settings were deliberately changed so that they would be immobile without being "held." They could be ignored or captured.
Re: Mane
The problem to be solved there was the Hippus being boxed in from expanding in that direction, and thus forced to attack the Ljosalfar. Moving the Hippus would have been easier, but I added a couple land tiles to the lake instead. The mane only exists so the starting settler didn't go wandering off that direction as a direct result of the change. It should go down easy to 1-2 warriors.
This map is still super-unbalanced. I don't think it can be balanced without a major rewrite, so I was going for the FFH-style "balanced imbalance with nifty toys," while avoiding automatic losses caused by barbarians. A less chaotic, more natural seeming map like we have in XXV would have been easier to balance, but again, it would have been a total rewrite and the player start positions would have been totally different too.
Another option is to use the 5 player map BCW wrote that was never used and just remove the barb city that was causing trouble.
EDIT: Ah, you've already handled it
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FFH-20: Jonas Endain of the Clan of Embers
EITB Pitboss 1: Clan/Elohim/Calabim with Mardoc and Thoth
Regarding kraken - I know for sure that they naturally start with UNITAI_ATTACK, as though they are beast units they are summoned rather then spawned. If you'd changed them after adding, then I missed it somehow.
Generally speaking the icier lakes are the ones that we want to be more important, as they create a front that would otherwise be largely ignored - this is why they're generally larger too.
Yeah I decided that just deleting ygg was for the best.
Oh, I didn't realise the great spiders were purposeful, I still didn't think them overly necessary so didn't add them.
I agree the map is unbalanced, but I had no intention of balancing perfectly. Each should have a relatively equal chance at a win, and the important areas (capital, strategic resources) are each within easy shouting difference from one another.
In the end I decided to just use my draft. It wasnt greatly edited just erasing ruins and some barrows, adding the across lake access tiles ellinmist had, and removing ygg.
I chose not to move the guardian, but revealed the tile for the sheaim and balseraphs, so each should know to avoid it.
I didn't see the pirate ports, and kind of wish id added them now.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
I didn't check or change the AI on the Krakens, so you may be right there. I assumed that other beast units would behave like Hill Giants, Turtles, and Sea Serpents do.
The inspiration for the spiders came from 18. Bob popped a named spider from a lair and it came with the command 1 promotion. He captured it and it was a lot of fun. Spiders can generally survive in the wilderness and not get attacked by barbs(except lizardmen, which were removed), and a spider with command could go around capturing orcs. I had animal AI set for them but changed it to avoid having the AI ruin anybody's day. (Player vs player is different) The held promotion doesn't always go away properly if a unit is captured.
Pirate coves(placed on ancient forest coast) and kraken were supposed to offset each other somewhat. The coves would make the lakes more appealing and kraken would counterbalance it. Economic advantages instead of military ones.
I should have thought to check the original guidelines you were given, but the map was so heavily edited it didn't occur to me. Overall my goal was to exercise restraint, but I felt that a few small changes could be added in keeping with the changes you'd already made, in addition to the changes required for playability.
