Great Lakes v3

[Drewcifer]

Explore the Great Lakes, carve your empire out of the north woods, roll your Panzers across the endless prairies of the Midwest! I hope you all enjoy the map I have made. Size is 100x100 (regular).

Updated v4

In the updated version I have made the following changes:
-I have removed the Indianapolis starting area.
-There is one fewer opponent on on the map.
-I have removed some of the luxury items from around the Toronto area.
-I fixed Ontario's wine regions, If anyone cares.
-I have removed all of the tundra from the map (sort of).
-I have removed the desert from the south of the map.
-Desert is now Sand Dunes.
-Oil can now be found on grassland and forest.
-Iron can now be found on forest.
-I have removed the two mountains from northern Ontario.
-The Thunder Bay starting location has been put in the proper location.

Updated v5

-Manitoba has been completely redone, Winnipeg is now a quality starting area.
-All the tundra has been fully removed.
-All the strategic resources can now be found in Forest.
-Ohio has been reworked along the lines sugested by Procifica.

Updated v5.1

-The tech rate has been changed to 260.
-More game and dairy have been added around the Cleveland starting area to make it more competitive.


This download has both the .bic and .bix versions of the map

Great Lakes v3 removed after 62 downloads
Great Lakes v4 removed after 24 downloads
Great Lakes v5 removed after 23 downloads

 

[Drewcifer]

I have fixed the tundra issues that the next two posters discuss.

 

[Breddan]

Nice; but since I am Canadian, I have to say that realistically there should not be any tundra on that map, or at least next to none.

 

[Richard III]

Just downloaded, and I'll have a look myself, but Breddan's right. The first tundra should appear as far north as the point where Manitoba joins Ontario at the coast of Hudson's Bay. Even that's a little too far south, actually.

It's all rock and forest north of Superior.

That said, thanks for the work. Although I'm already several civ3 commitments behind, I hope to make an ontario politics scenario someday (Tories in the hinterland, Libs in the Horseshoe, etc.) and/or and 1812-era scenario, so this is cool stuff.

R.III

 

[Drewcifer]

This post is no longer relevent.

 

[Drewcifer]

and here is the picture...

 

[LesCanadiens]

This map wouldn't be appropriate for an 1812 scenario, as the war took place along the Canadian-American border, including Quebec, which isn't shown.

 

[Drewcifer]

mispost.

 

[Procifica]

Being originally from Akron, Ohio, have a couple comments to make about that area. (and Ohio in general)

1) The Muskingum/Tuscarawas River doesn't extend quite as far north toward the Cleveland starting location as you have it.

2) The Cuyahoga River should be added and should start just east of Cleveland, and then continue down to Akron, then hook up northeast just a little bit. The Muskingum/Tuscarawas River should end about 1 or 2 squares south of the Cuyahoga River.

3) The coal in East Central Ohio should be moved a little further south. Most of Ohio's coal is in the southeastern portion of the state. Coal should also be added to southwestern Pennsylvania. These two states are in the top 5 among Coal producing states. West Virginia, too, should have coal.

4) Wine/Grapes isn't grown in Ohio.

5) Akron is world-famous for Rubber, you should move the rubber deposit out of southeastern Ohio and put a few by where Akron would be.

6) The Scioto and Miami rivers extend a little too far north.

7) Lake St. Clair seems a little bit too big.

8) There is/was a little bit of oil in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Overall though, this looks like a really good map.

 

[Procifica]

Originally posted by LesCanadiens
This map wouldn't be appropriate for an 1812 scenario, as the war took place along the Canadian-American border, including Quebec, which isn't shown.

Not to mention, it also took place briefly in Washington DC/Baltimore area, and around New Orleans.

But I see what he meant by a good map for the War of 1812.

 

[Procifica]

Oops, forgot to add one more thing.

9) The Hills ratio in northeastern Ohio and southeastern Ohio should be reversed. Southeastern Ohio is much more hilly than northeastern Ohio.

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by Procifica
Being originally from Akron, Ohio, have a couple comments to make about that area. (and Ohio in general)

1) The Muskingum/Tuscarawas River doesn't extend quite as far north toward the Cleveland starting location as you have it.

2) The Cuyahoga River should be added and should start just east of Cleveland, and then continue down to Akron, then hook up northeast just a little bit. The Muskingum/Tuscarawas River should end about 1 or 2 squares south of the Cuyahoga River.

3) The coal in East Central Ohio should be moved a little further south. Most of Ohio's coal is in the southeastern portion of the state. Coal should also be added to southwestern Pennsylvania. These two states are in the top 5 among Coal producing states. West Virginia, too, should have coal.

4) Wine/Grapes isn't grown in Ohio.

5) Akron is world-famous for Rubber, you should move the rubber deposit out of southeastern Ohio and put a few by where Akron would be.

6) The Scioto and Miami rivers extend a little too far north.

7) Lake St. Clair seems a little bit too big.

8) There is/was a little bit of oil in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Overall though, this looks like a really good map.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, most of what you have said I will incorperate into the next version. It may take a few months, please bear with me. I had a hard time with Lake St. Clair. I wanted the landmasses to look right, I wanted the lake to have the right shape, and I wanted navigation to be possible between lakes Huron and Erie. It wasn't simple to reconcile all of these things. As for the wine, I am a chef, many restaurants here in MN use "Port" and "Madiera" from the Bass Islands near Toledo as cooking wine. The brands "Miers" and "Lonz Winery, Three Islands" are the most widespread, definitely not great but drinkable; you might be able to find them in your local liquor store (the other wine locations are also accurate and actually produce some very good wine, much better than Ohio's, no offence).

 

[Procifica]

Bass Islands would be near Sandusky/Port Clinton, but you have it about in the right area.

You probably should sprinkle just a few hills in west central ohio, as the highest point in ohio is near Bellefontaine. Just a few though, its not really much of a hilly region.

 

[andy80]

Its a pretty cool map, just get rid of the Tundra.

 

[Drewcifer]

All the Tundra has now been removed.

 

[Drewcifer]

I am spamming my thread to tell you all that I have just uploaded the newest update of this map. While the changes are minor in scope (changing the tech rate and improving the Cleveland starting area) they are a major step towards finishing this map. Unless somebody tells me where more sand dune areas are around the lakes or points out some terrible error, this is probably the final version of the map. While I am always open to imput, the lack of recent complaints makes me think that the map is mostly sound and accurate (though if the tech rate is still off please let me know).

I feel a need to put this project to bed so I can start some new ones.

If you have any other version of the map, I strongly suggest you replace it with v5.1.

Great Lakes v5.1 represents a step up from previous versions gameplaywise. I have been tweaking this map for over a year now. This map now provides for very competitive gameplay.

It is interesting that when I am playing the US side of this map I usually come into contact with all or most of the US based civs before any of the Canadian ones. The opposite phenomenon seems to be true when starting on the Canadian side.

Something about the layout of the map makes it very difficult to open up a large technological lead. I am often one technology behind the rest of the world using this map, something I am not used to generally.

While I have made this map for my own use and pleasure, I hope that the rest of you enjoy it as well.

 

[Drewcifer]

I have played on this map several times now. I recomend playing it on an easier level than you normally use. It is very challenging.

 

[White_Detroiter]

Verry cool map. I liked how you use desert as the dunes, but Detroit is not on Lake St Clair but the Detroit River and it faces south at Canada. but the south part would look bad so it is up to you. One more thing Where are the largest fresh water dunes in the world, you know the sleeping Bear Dunes just west of Traverse City.

 

[White_Detroiter]

Some info & ideas

The Saginaw bay - Tri Cities region (Saginaw, Midland Bay City) is a low flood plain with many rivers converging aroung the city of Saginaw (My Home town) and there are small oil felds around I-75 from Saginaw to about Pineconning and west on State Highway 20 to around Mount Pleasant.

There are some small Mountains in the far western UP called the Porcupine Mountains and should be represented by 2 mountains side by side (east to west)

In the Up there are alot of pine forests some trees are over 200 years old.

FYI Lake Superior seems a little filled in & rough

most of mid & sothern lower Peninsula are farmland while in the the north the winters are to harsh some spots can get over 400 inches of snow per year making Michigan the snowiest place east of the rockies.

In the Cities of Houghton & Hancock it is not uncommon for students to make up 2-4 weeks of school in the summerform snow days or so i have heard.

The requirements for a snow day in Michigan are 6+ inches over night or sometimes day before and when the school buses start getting stuck (about 10-15 in) then you are let out early.

Another cool thing is that in the Porkies or Porcupine Mts and Keweenaw Peninsula they have snow poles on the side of the highways to mark where to plow in really deep snow the pols can be taller then you standing on your car WOW!

 

[Drewcifer]

Thanks for the imput. I will take it into consideration when I do the next update, probably after Civ3 Conquests comes out. It is tricky to get coastlines right because of the way the editor works. This was the first map I ever made and Lake Superior was the first part of it. I have never been completely satisfied with it. I think I need to move the north shore one or two squares north. However, this would require a rework of all the lakes north of Superior as well and would be a very time consuming task. Don't hold your breath waiting for it. Feel free to fix it yourself.

I grew up in the lake effect snow belt east of Lake Ontario so I know what you are talking about. The snow would be waist deep by the middle of December in New York's Tug Hill plateau.