SBG #2
Table of contents:
(4 posts, 4 attachments)

1. map zip file (attached to this post
2. minimap screenshot
3. map notes and map outline jpg.
4. second zip file (same map w/out preset start locations)

mini-map screenshot

First of all, thank you to all the kind folks who played my first map (you can find it on the forum at http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14695) and also took the time to give me some feedback.

From those comments, I picked up on three main points that people did not like about the older map:
1) It took too long to meet up with other civilizations. (translation: the map was too big)
2) Exploration got a bit monotonous, particularly since the map design includes so much repetitive terrain. (translation: the map was too big)
3) Folks couldn't get more than 12 civs when they started the scenario. (Is this my fault? I changed the option to 16 in the editor. I don't know what's up with this one.)

So, taking constructive criticism to heart, I present a leaner, meaner game board with more civ interaction (diplomacy, trade, warfare, etc.) and less navigation of one empty square after another.

Map Specs:
- overall size 120x106
- exactly 256 full game board 'squares', with an additional 12 half-squares to round things out along the top and bottom.
- 256 squares = 16 of each strategic and luxury resource. Exactly. Once again, when playing with 16 civs, if you can grab more than one of any particular resource, then someone else will be hurting.
- Fixed the 16 civ problem. Easy enough to do; from this point on no matter what size the map I create, it'll be 'huge' as far as civ3 is concerned.
- Each game board 'square' is home to a luxury or strategic resource. All terrain is important. There are no 'empty' spaces on the board.
- 22 pre-set starting locations. A few more than 16, obviously, but I found it easier to space things out this way.

Hopefully the smaller size will also mean games are faster, and nastier. I hope you'll agree that less is more. And if you want to scale things back a bit, just play with 12 or 8 civs rather than a full complement of 16.

for those of you who would rather leave things up to fate, I present the same map BUT WITHOUT any pre-set starting locations. You'll be put wherever the comp thinks you should be...

I'm definitely going to try this one out. It looks like the kind of map I've been wanting to make but haven't had the time to get started on.

EXCELLENT!

I love how you don't have to worry about your cities overlapping, just put them in the middle of the land areas, that solves one of my biggest headaches! :goodjob:

I feel like I've remembered you answering this recently, but I'm really tired right now, so I'm no sure: how do you make preset positions, again? ^_^;; Sorry if this is a repeat of something you've doubtless heard many times ^^;

Let's see if I get this right: You're asking one of two things here. Either how to make a player start location, or how to assign said start locations to respective civs.

1) In the editor, placing a player start location is as easy as placing a goody hut. Select 'player start location' from the overlay brush menu. Once your brush is 'loaded', you can click anywhere on your map to place a player start location.

2) To assign player start locations to specific civs, you'll need to use a utility like gramphos' civ3multitool. check out the thread for program, instructions, and discussion.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7787