PSSST: hey buddy wanna make a map?

[Thoth]

Is there anyone out there who would be willing to make a map for FFH PBEM 3?

We've pretty much agreed to use the Erberus Continents script with a few balance changes + map vetting so the amount of work would be fairly minor.


Anyone willing to volunteer?

[haphazard1]

No one else has responded, so I will offer my services.

I don't really have experience creating maps for MP games, but from reading through the set up and technical thread for FFH2 PBEM3, it sounds like you are looking for a mostly natural Erebus Continents map with just a few alterations:

- All unique features present, but the Big 3 (Yggdrasil, Remnants of Patria, and Dragon Bones) not near anyone's start.

- All civs possible to contact by coastal routes (or by land, of course!)

- Overall check for general balance -- reasonably even starting location potential, no capitals 5 tiles apart, etc. Just how far to go with this aspect is open to suggestions, but from the discussion of wanting a mostly natural map I am assuming this should be minimal, with only truly glaring problems corrected. (Major question: should I adjust starting positions to roughly equalize available land? Or only move capitals to avoid ridiculously close starts?)

I have pretty decent experience in WorldBuilder as far as land, civs, etc., goes. But is there anything special I would need to do to allow for a possible future human player for Hyborem? (Someone mentioned adding another human and killing him off to leave a slot? ) I have never delved into the mysteries of direct edits to the WorldBuilder save.

Also, I am guessing I need to set up the players in the turnset order which was listed in the tech thread? Will this get the ordering correctly, or do I need to do something in addition?

I am glad to help out, but if the players feel I don't have enough experience or get a better offer I will happily fade back to lurkdom.

[haphazard1]

Follow up on player order:

Based on posts #7 and #8 in the tech issues thread, the order should be:

Warrior Knight - Einion Logos of the Elohim 8:00-14:00 GMT
Irgy - Tebryn Arbandi of the Sheaim 10:00-12:00 GMT
Mr. Yellow - Sabathiel of the Bannor 15:00-19:00 GMT
Nyktorion - Thessa of the Ljosalfar 18:00 - 22:00 GMT
Mardoc - Hannah the Irin of the Lanun 23:00-4:00 GMT
Thoth - Varn Gosam of the Malakim 23:00-4:00 GMT (same timezone as Mardoc but can play later/morning if there's a slip up)

Please correct if this has changed or if I have misunderstood anything.

[WarriorKnight]

- All unique features present, but the Big 3 (Yggdrasil, Remnants of Patria, and Dragon Bones) not near anyone's start.

Yep. Also maybe the guardian should be away from everyone's start too.

- All civs possible to contact by coastal routes (or by land, of course!)

Yep, no isolated civs.

- Overall check for general balance -- reasonably even starting location potential, no capitals 5 tiles apart, etc. Just how far to go with this aspect is open to suggestions, but from the discussion of wanting a mostly natural map I am assuming this should be minimal, with only truly glaring problems corrected. (Major question: should I adjust starting positions to roughly equalize available land? Or only move capitals to avoid ridiculously close starts?)

Well, it's your choice really. The more balanced the map is the better, but no need to try and balance every last detail. It depends on how much detail you want to put into it. Personally I would like to see everyone have roughly the same land, so moving starting positions to have roughly the same land would be fine (as long as the spot has decent capital potential, no moving into desert for example) but it's all your decision.

I have pretty decent experience in WorldBuilder as far as land, civs, etc., goes. But is there anything special I would need to do to allow for a possible future human player for Hyborem? (Someone mentioned adding another human and killing him off to leave a slot? ) I have never delved into the mysteries of direct edits to the WorldBuilder save.

I don't know about this one, so I can't answer it for you.

Also, I am guessing I need to set up the players in the turnset order which was listed in the tech thread? Will this get the ordering correctly, or do I need to do something in addition?

Follow up on player order:

Based on posts #7 and #8 in the tech issues thread, the order should be:

Warrior Knight - Einion Logos of the Elohim 8:00-14:00 GMT
Irgy - Tebryn Arbandi of the Sheaim 10:00-12:00 GMT
Mr. Yellow - Sabathiel of the Bannor 15:00-19:00 GMT
Nyktorion - Thessa of the Ljosalfar 18:00 - 22:00 GMT
Mardoc - Hannah the Irin of the Lanun 23:00-4:00 GMT
Thoth - Varn Gosam of the Malakim 23:00-4:00 GMT (same timezone as Mardoc but can play later/morning if there's a slip up)

Please correct if this has changed or if I have misunderstood anything.

Yes, you need to put the players in the correct order. The 1st player also hasn't been decided, so would you be able to do that as well?

I am glad to help out, but if the players feel I don't have enough experience or get a better offer I will happily fade back to lurkdom.

I'm sure everyone in the game is grateful that you've stepped forward and we'll all be happy with whatever you come up with.

[Thoth]

I'm sure everyone in the game is grateful that you've stepped forward and we'll all be happy with whatever you come up with.

Agreed. Thanks for helping us out haphazard1 it is appreciated.

[haphazard1]

Glad to help out. I just hope I don't screw anything up horribly. Especially something that would not come to light until you have all put a couple months into the game.

I have rolled a handful of Erebus Continent maps, and found one which looked promising. (First one put Yggdrasil, Remnant of Patria, Dragon Bones, gold, and plains incense all within 5 tiles of one civ's start. Another had 3 civs starting in a triangle, each about 8 tiles from the other two. Some crazy results from this script.) I have done a little balancing and tinkering, but have tried to keep it to as little as possible to go with the more natural map theme which was discussed.

Maybe I should create a map thread in the FFH2 PBEM3 forum to see if I can get some additional feedback? As my first attempt at preparing a map for an MP game, I would like more input to avoid disappointing the players.

Also, an FFH2 question: I have never played the Elohim before, so I was surprised to see they started with visibility on all unique features. I could not find anything in the FFH2-pedia entry on their civ, but I am guessing this is related to their being guardians of the sacred places? Or do I just have some odd bug due to WorldBuilder?

If it is intended, I need to do a little visibility corrections in WB to restore this.

[WarriorKnight]

Also, an FFH2 question: I have never played the Elohim before, so I was surprised to see they started with visibility on all unique features. I could not find anything in the FFH2-pedia entry on their civ, but I am guessing this is related to their being guardians of the sacred places? Or do I just have some odd bug due to WorldBuilder?

If it is intended, I need to do a little visibility corrections in WB to restore this.

Yes, the Elohim have visibility on all Unique Features at the start of the game. The manual mentions it somewhere. As the Elohim player, I would like to ensure that I do indeed have my unique features map visibility when I play this game.

[haphazard1]

The Elohim visibility for unique features has been corrected (they can see them from the start).

[Mardoc]

Glad to help out. I just hope I don't screw anything up horribly. Especially something that would not come to light until you have all put a couple months into the game.

Thank you very much for this! I can assure you, you won't screw anything up worse than the random map generator would have (as you've apparently already found out).

[Mr. Yellow]

Thanks for stepping up to this haphazard.