Faerun from The Forgotten Realms (Conquests, 224x200)

[Tr0x]

Hello all faithful Civ III players!

I've based this on the Forgotten Realms (i.e. Dungeons and Dragons universe) in the hopes of staying true to the epic nature of Faerun. So...I made it really fricken big!

This map is MASSIVE. It's easily the largest map I've ever made and one of the largest ones I've ever played on. So, if you like epic maps, this is the one for you even if you don't know what the Forgotten Realms is.

Up to 31 civs can play on it at a time, but be warned: you will have crazy loading/turn-waiting times. So, if you don't mind waiting 2-3 min between each turn at the start of the game, then go right ahead.

All units and civs are the same as they would be in Conquests, although I've added city names and tweaked some colours to my liking.

This was heavily influenced by the following Faerun map:


Known Issues:

• You must have Conquests to play this
• Loading times can be long depending on how good your computer is
• Time between turns is VERY long at the beginning. Bare with it though and it seems to clear up after 10-20 turns
• If you have a lot of civs playing on the same map, some may be the same colour, though I've tried to fix this.

Screen caps:

Zoomed out

Zoomed out


Comments are appreciated!

Version 2.0 uploaded December 7 2009

 

[Mithadan]

Looks awesome! Not that I have any knowledge whatsoever of Forgotten Realms...

 

[timerover51]

Greetings, Tr0x. Have not seen you in a while. Now I know what you were doing. I have been having fun with your Ptolemy map, and was thinking about reposting it. I have found it to be very challenging. I will need to download this one as well, considering that I know some of the Forgotten Realms authors. Are you aware that Gary Gygax died a couple of weeks ago? I am not that far from Lake Geneva, and knew him. I did some work for TSR in the early 1990s.

I have discovered with the Ptolemy map that if you have only 4 to 6 civilizations, it runs pretty smoothly. Probably this one would be the same way.

 

[Ares de Borg]

Interesting map, well done!

 

[againsttheflow]

Looks beautiful, you certainly seem to have put a lot of effort into this one.

 

[timerover51]

Tr0x, I took a good look at it in the editor, and it really looks good. Did you set the civilization locations yourself, or leave that to automatic. I like the location of the Netherlands on the islands, but the Byzantines do not have a lot of land to work with. I might do some tweaking in order to play them.

 

[Tr0x]

Wow! The Civ III community is still clearly alive and kicking! I'm really glad a few people have taken interest in this so far, especially because I'm so proud of this map

timerover, it's great to see you on here again! I'm really glad you liked my Ptolemy map and are still keeping with it. I'd actually really appreciate it if you reposted it since I've switched computers and it seems to of been lost

To be honest, the only Forgotten Realms author I know of is R.A. Salvatore so my appreciation for this was solely through games like Neverwinter Nights and Baulders Gate.

That reminds me! The civs on the map were strategically placed to reflect their counterparts in the Forgotten Realms. Starting location of the Romans = Baulder's Gate. Germany = Neverwinter. Border Kingdoms = Byzantines etc...

Feel free to edit the locations to fit your play style! In the case of the Byzantines, they've done exceptionally well in the one game I've been working on. (I can post screen shots of it if anyone is interested in seeing how things worked out...I think I played with about 25 other civs )

Comments and suggestions are always welcome and thanks again for the feedback!

 

[timerover51]

Tr0x, per your request, I have reposted the Ptolemy map, giving you full credit. I presently have two games going on it, and plan to start one as the Carthaginians shortly. I may post that as a scenario, as I am playing with some of the units, and giving the Carthaginians the War Elephant as their UU, plus giving it to them earlier than Chivalry. Not sure where the designers came up with the Numidian Mercenary, as the Numidians were light cavalry, not hoplites. Hannibal's heavy infantry was mainly Spanish in origin, and not mercenary, but from the Carthaginian holdings and allies in Spain.

 

[Tr0x]

Thanks a bunch timerover! Feel free to edit the units and such to fit your playing style.

Anyway, getting back to this map...has anyone tried it out yet?

 

[timerover51]

I am planning to try it out later today, Tr0x. Just want to look over the starting locations a little more.

 

[Doom666]

Oh not the largest map by far.. I used to have those maps once that were at the max size allowed. And man, those did load. But this map seems very nice.

 

[timerover51]

Tr0x, turns are taking several minutes a piece while waiting. Have time to fix myself a cup of coffee and drink half of it. Is there any way to speed it up, or does it get faster over time? I really like the map, and like the locations of the various civilizations, and think that it is a good a map as the Ptolemy one that you did, which I am playing on a lot and also working on a scenario for. Just that it is taking forever to get through a turn.

 

[Balthasar]

As a fan of large maps I've gotta say this one is a beauty no matter what the source. Large maps sometimes cause long waits: the terrain itself isn't causing the delay, you're waiting for for the AI to make it's moves. I'm no expert on this, but I believe you can cut this down by 1) reducing the number of civs on the map, and 2) increasing the cost of all units to limit the number of each that civs can build. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong..

 

[againsttheflow]

turning off sea trade also gives a huge boost...

 

[timerover51]

As a fan of large maps I've gotta say this one is a beauty no matter what the source. Large maps sometimes cause long waits: the terrain itself isn't causing the delay, you're waiting for for the AI to make it's moves. I'm no expert on this, but I believe you can cut this down by 1) reducing the number of civs on the map, and 2) increasing the cost of all units to limit the number of each that civs can build. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong..

I have already reduced the number of civilizations on the map to 4 in addition to myself, and these are the opening turns, like 3950 BC. I am beginning to suspect that it is because I need more memory on my laptop, which I do, or because of all of the barbarians which are raging. I may trim those a little bit as well. Have to try it and see.

I really do like the map, believe me. I have been having a lot of fun on Tr0x's Ptolemy map, and besides, I know some of the people who have worked on the Forgotten Realms when TSR was in Lake Geneva.

 

[againsttheflow]

Yes, barbarians do play a factor. You sometimes see mods (ie TAM) with a no-barbarian option to speed up turn times. You have to keep in mind that they increase exponentially with bigger maps (as does, obviously the terrain).

 

[Tr0x]

Great to see such interest in this! Again, I'm sorry about the turn times...I'm not really sure how to speed things up but the suggestions made above would probably help.

I've made a few small changes/balances to the map but before I release the new version, is there anything you'd like to see added/changed?

 

[timerover51]

Great to see such interest in this! Again, I'm sorry about the turn times...I'm not really sure how to speed things up but the suggestions made above would probably help.

I've made a few small changes/balances to the map but before I release the new version, is there anything you'd like to see added/changed?

The only thing that I have changed is moving the Scandanavians one tile south to put them next to the river. I am going to see if reducing the number of barbarians or changing the setting from raging speeds things up. I may also need more memory, so I will put in on my PowerMac with a Gig of memory and better video card and see if that speeds things up.

The only other thing that I can think of is maybe some more fish and whale resources in the areas where you have a large number of islands. Those areas should have a high concentration of sea life.

 

[Diviner]

wow cool i imagine starting off from waterdeep and my empire stretches from icewind dale to calimshan. really cool. some d&d mod rules could be imported and.. imagine

a pity, that is huger than huge. i even can't play fast c3c large maps, but this should be 2-3 times bigger. ah my bad luck..

 

[timerover51]

I took out what I would guess to be about a hundred barbarians camps, and that sped the game up quite a bit after the first four or five turns. Past that, it is running at normal speed on my Windows game box. Need to check how well it goes on my IBook. As a fall back position, I still have my PowerMac with a big video card and lots of memory to work with.

I am definitely looking forward to having some fun with it. I have some ideas for added resources and other goodies. Tr0x, you might try posting an update with some of the barbarians gone to speed things up a bit. I am still working on the Ptolemy map scenario, with the Carthaginians and Egyptians getting War Elephants and a few other changes.

May 23: After taking out all of those barbarians, it runs much better on my Ibook, along with the other computers. I am looking forward to having fun with this map.