[TSL] 40sw4rm's "Old World" 180x82

[Lachlan]

Yes, this Earth Map looks very nice and shaped...

No-mod i hope ?

 

[Gedemo]

any news?

 

[40sw4rm]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy with life and recently moved half way across the country due to work (finally settled in). I've also sadly lost the original map which left me pretty burned out w/civ in general. However, I've started up the project again under a new direction while still maintaining a large "old world" map theme.

I would offer this is a blessing in disguise, as the problem with the last map was that while maintaining accurate sizes, areas like Europe were still small in contrast to the rest of the map and really detracted from the game play possibilities in my eyes. I tried out different projection styles in concept paint hex grids to attempt to enlarge it but it never came to what I would consider fun. I've pretty much concluded the middle ground is to cut the world and disable world wrap. This also solves problems like a too small and skinny Japan and a huge Africa with barely any Civilizations in contrast to the rest of the world.

Despite how that may sound, this actually offers vastly MORE land area for players, still allows for naval game play and is aesthetically pleasing. I'm going the same route of going tile by tile and comparing relative areas on the map via satellite and available elevation maps. I will also go about creating realistic resource placement maps. However, due to the amount of time this has taken I will release the terrain map with random resources first in the near future.

The map goes as far as the Gulf of Bothnia in terms of North and as South as the Gulf of Guinia. Ships from Europe will not be able to reach waters past the Suez canal unless the player creates it. This means there will need to be a city present. I may go the route of putting a city state there but I'm still debating on that. Additionally and in the same spirit, Asian countries w/ ships in the China Sea will have to deal with Siam and Singapore's borders blocking passage on the bottom of the map. I feel this offers a lot of strategic value for the map in terms of bottle neck areas.

Here's the mini map thus far:

Spoiler :

The map size has been altered to 178x81 and will still be a huge eastern hemisphere map relatively speaking. The vision behind this map is to allow players to have both a huge Europe and huge Asia map without playing exclusively only one of the two. If you're like me, you want to have your cake and eat it too.

To put things in proper perspective, the longest uninterrupted land tile distribution on the map in a straight line going left to right is about 130+ tiles.

 

[40sw4rm]

Here's an update on the current WIP: (No longer most current)

Spoiler :

I'll get in the habit of posting more updates similar to this format to keep people updated on the maps progress.

UPDATE: (21 Oct 2015)

Spoiler :

I will begin combing through with an elevation map and placing mountains/hills at this point. The basic terrain influences are pretty much established. However, everything is subject to change and more and more minor aesthetic changes will start occurring to match up with satellite/terrain maps and to balance with the elevation maps.

 

[40sw4rm]

New mini map update! Elevation map has been accomplished for the most part. I will begin combing through and making adjustments in terms of adjusting hill/mountain ratio. The adjustments will be going along the same philosophy of not allowing wasted tiles that I mentioned earlier in this thread. This will also include determining whether "mountains" are actually there or not as well, since initial placement is based off elevation only.

I will also need to consider hill placements for general play ability to avoid production starved regions.

All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with how things are progressing, looking for a releasable version in the very near future. Any feedback is appreciated and welcomed in terms of certain regions looking a little wonky from a bird's eye view.

Updated:

Spoiler :

Updated: (Europe elevation completed for the most part, 24 Oct 15)
*Terra formed England, Ireland and Greece regions a bit to allow better geographical representation.

Spoiler :

EDIT: Most current minimap is located on first post.

 

[40sw4rm]

Quick update:

Progress on hammering out the elevation map is going smoothly. I also completely reworked Japan to give it a more realistic representation of its mountainous and rugged terrain (resulted in a slight size overhaul). I'm really hoping this makes for one of the more unique representations of Japan for in contrast to similar maps like this. All-in-all, Japan has about 80 +/- tiles and should give players more real estate than what they're use to on other maps.

Europe's elevation map is done as well. Images for that area will be released in the near future as I get closer to the completion of the elevation map.

I've also attached a progress report image below. I'm really dreading the Himalayas.

Spoiler :

Japan: (Larger Picture, Strategy Map)

Spoiler :

 

[40sw4rm]

Big update. Elevation map is now 100% and it's looking like I'll be ready to release the map next week. As always, with this update I will provide more teasers and a sneak peek into how the map looks when loaded up. Enjoy! I hope everyone interested can get a true sense of the magnitude and size of this map with the shots. This map is a giant.

Spoiler :

 

[40sw4rm]

Alright all, the map is now available over Steam.

40sw4rm's "Old World"

 

[albie_123]

Thank you so, so much for making this into a lua script rather than a scenario. I'll probably end up taking out some of the mountains, but that's just personal taste. Love your work.

 

[Gedemo]

Hi, thnaks for the relaease, it's a great work!

Just a quick reportabout something strange:
I tried last night a game with 12 random civs and some city states with the "blank" map (the first in the list). When the game starts, I was surrounded by at least 5 other civs' settlers within 2 tiles.

 

[40sw4rm]

Thank you so, so much for making this into a lua script rather than a scenario. I'll probably end up taking out some of the mountains, but that's just personal taste. Love your work.

Glad to hear you like it. I'm personally starting to lean towards creating a less mountains version replacing some of the mountains with hills in the future. I've been hearing a lot of feedback concerning them to balance game play.

Hi, thnaks for the relaease, it's a great work!

Just a quick reportabout something strange:
I tried last night a game with 12 random civs and some city states with the "blank" map (the first in the list). When the game starts, I was surrounded by at least 5 other civs' settlers within 2 tiles.

That's really odd considering you're using the civ5map at that point. I'm wondering if that's a product of the game reacting to the mountains and terrain for the map when assigning the starting plots. Was it a one time occurrence?

 

[Gurra09]

The map looks great! A few TSL quirks: Kiev has its start location set at x63y32 which is in the middle of the Arabian peninsula. Also, Vilnius doesn't have a start location. (Neither does Tyre but I figured the Phoenician coast is full with both Sidon and Byblos on it.)

 

[40sw4rm]

The map looks great! A few TSL quirks: Kiev has its start location set at x63y32 which is in the middle of the Arabian peninsula. Also, Vilnius doesn't have a start location. (Neither does Tyre but I figured the Phoenician coast is full with both Sidon and Byblos on it.)

Thanks for pointing those out and glad you're enjoying the map. The two city states not having TSL entries were definitely oversights. I'll also take a look into Kiev's start location and correct it to be more accurate. I did a majority of the TSL entries all at once right before release so I'm very reliant on feedback for possible oversights like that. I'm expecting to have the patch ready this weekend.

 

[meer]

I love this map!

I just would like clarification on one thing, is this compatible with the Community Balance Patch?
I'm new to using maps and modding in general, so apologies if this a dumb question

 

[40sw4rm]

I love this map!

I just would like clarification on one thing, is this compatible with the Community Balance Patch?
I'm new to using maps and modding in general, so apologies if this a dumb question

No worries and glad you're enjoying the map! Yes, it's compatible with CBP. The "mod" portion of this is a XML rule change that decreases city settle distance to two tiles and another that removes "New World" civs from being selected as random AI opponents.

Feel free to let me know if you run into any issues or have any other questions.

 

[K_Minoru19]

As I can see, it doesn't support CL Philippines.

 

[40sw4rm]

As I can see, it doesn't support CL Philippines.

Good catch! I could've sworn I had included that civ with the initial release--which is especially funny considering my wife is from the Philippines. I'll be sure to include TSL support for the civ in the next update I'm aiming to push out this weekend.

 

[K_Minoru19]

Good catch! I could've sworn I had included that civ with the initial release--which is especially funny considering my wife is from the Philippines. I'll be sure to include TSL support for the civ in the next update I'm aiming to push out this weekend.

Thanks! I tested the map and a bunch of other civs are also missing, the ones I can remember are Portugal and Morocco but I'll check to see others. Also, Akkad spawns in the Nile.

 

[meer]

The "mod" portion of this is a XML rule change that decreases city settle distance to two tiles and another that removes "New World" civs from being selected as random AI opponents.

Thanks for the reply!

A thought about opponents/civs:
Just started a new game as Random Civ, got Indonesia; predictably, I didn't get a spawn point, and the game moved on to player 2, followed by the You Have Been Defeated screen. Would it be possible to remove Indonesia and others as a valid random option for the player, too?

This was on Abundant/TSL/Suez btw.

 

[40sw4rm]

Thanks for the reply!

A thought about opponents/civs:
Just started a new game as Random Civ, got Indonesia; predictably, I didn't get a spawn point, and the game moved on to player 2, followed by the You Have Been Defeated screen. Would it be possible to remove Indonesia and others as a valid random option for the player, too?

This was on Abundant/TSL/Suez btw.

Coincidentally, I've added some XML to the mod to make Medan the capital of Indoensia and will have them starting in Sumatra next patch. I'll look into removing the choices issue. It may just be easier to delete the civs once the mod is loaded in retrospect.