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.
Looks good to me. Something reserved first so we don't seem too pushy. Exchanging some map info will be good soon, but I'd like to see how they react to an "unknown" initiating contact with them. Any other thoughts?
Alright, I'll go ahead and send it in 5 minutes from this post if nobody else comments (sorry everyone sleeping; a prompt, short reply seems best to me)!
Edit: Message sent.
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.
I agree with the idea that responding promptly is likely more important than parsing a perfect message with lots of discussion. Particularly for initial greetings and simple exchanges.
shadyforce Wrote:Re mids eta, how about we give a cheeky sort of reply such as: "Is there a wildcard option for 'you're never going to get them'?"
Brilliant! I like it. Another suggestion: "Turn 30? Because that's ours "
I was actually going to suggest this to Kyan even before the message because he was looking for a micro challenge, but "Assuming equivalent number of forests and production potential as us, as well as stone (they'll probably reach for it), how early can an opponent build the Pyramids?" Of course, if anyone else wants to try, it could be very useful info.
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.
Merovech Wrote:Brilliant! I like it. Another suggestion: "Turn 30? Because that's ours "
I was actually going to suggest this to Kyan even before the message because he was looking for a micro challenge, but "Assuming equivalent number of forests and production potential as us, as well as stone (they'll probably reach for it), how early can an opponent build the Pyramids?" Of course, if anyone else wants to try, it could be very useful info.
Before us.
That's my suggested answer as well as the reality. Other teams are expecting us to be playing the billy bullshit game. Darrell's kicked off the banter with that initial e-mail. With diplomacy, it's not always the wisest option to respond exactly as they expect.
My reply would be:
Proposal to Darrell Wrote:Pyramids ETA? At least 1 turn before anyone else is my best guess. Just don't pull a rego and lose them
As for your challenge, guess who has the highest post count in Team Gillette's sub-forum.
"