(April 10th, 2013, 05:33)Qgqqqqq Wrote: Merovechs been really busy lately, but I think you should accept him, as I really doubt that anyone is willing/available to make a balanced map.
I can of course roll you one, but I think you should be happy with what mero is offering, rather then seeking something likely impossible.
Yeah, I apologize for this, but I think I'm going to have to withdraw my offer. I simply don't have the free time right now and probably won't until May.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
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.
Can someone post the final map settings decided? I think I can make the map, if the settings aren't too complicated (I can do a more natural map - hand drawn or mirrored is a bit out of what I can make right now).
Thanks for the offer, Ichabod. I think Sian has most of the information on the front page, but that a few important questions maybe still need to be decided. Like: how big should the map be? I see one vote for "not too small". I'll cast a vote for "not too big", so that it now averages out to "just the right size".
We decided on settings etc. We'll get the starting screen shots BEFORE we pick.
Settings:
Decided settings:
Quick
Emperor
No Orthus
No Acheron
Normal barbs
Restricted Leaders
No Vassals
No Tech Trading
No Keelyn, Statis, Volanna
Simulated in-game diplomacy (can only send 1 message to each civ per turn, or a message to everyone)
Huts off
Lairs on but not located near starting positions
Living World
Compact Enforced
Quote: After looking over the preferred playing times, I believe we should play in this order:
WK 0-12
sian 11-20
yellow 18-22
black sword 21-23
jalepeno 18-2
HK 23-3
With first in the order randomized of course.
We also decided on a starting shade and lush capital.
I also brought up that it should be flat if possible torrodial gives just too much maintenance..
Thats about it, but reading through the thread is probably better.
THANKS A LOT!
"Gentlemen. You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!"
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
So, you guys are ok if most of the map is randomly generated (with some check for balance + remake of the capitals)?
Regarding lush capitals, are you okay with a capital that has 1 resource of each tech? So, 1 agriculture, 1 AH, 1 crafting (wines), 1 mining, 1 calendar, 1 hunting and 1 fishing? It's very luch and fair, I think. Since I'd make all capitals equal, I think we can discuss this openly.
That sounds good to me, I'd prefer a random map with some tweaks to a more balanced mirrored one.
I also like toroidal over spherical, but wouldn't mind too much.
The main problem I see with giving 1 resource for each tech is it limits the players ability to adapt to their start, which I guess would be part of the aim of seeing starts before picking civs.
in agreement with Yellow's summary of settings except I think we should use the revised order I sent out the other day. It fits much better with my preferred playing time.
Also, I have a slight preference for cylindrical over flat, but am willing to leave it up to the mapmaker.
(April 9th, 2013, 04:47)jalepeno Wrote:
(April 8th, 2013, 21:37)WarriorKnight Wrote: *WK's playing order*
seeing yellow's times made me realize I did the time zone math backwards (we're both in Germany). I'm in GMT +1, can play 17-01, so that means 16-24 GMT. I think the revised order should be:
WK 0-12
sian 11-20
yellow 18-22
jalepeno 16-24
black sword 21-23
HK 23-3
Thanks Ichabod! What you've described sounds great to me.
I vote toroidal. More ways to have neighbors makes for a more interesting game. And the increased maintenance won't matter in the early game, which we ought to be able to get through quickly thanks to the shades and lush starts.
