Map Discussion

[Sullla]

Now for the other major question I need from each team: what kind of map do you want? I'm going to provide some general maps scripts, which will serve as a basis for the customized map that will follow. What I want your team to do is let me know what kind of map you'd like to see for this game. Here are five general options to think about:

Wheel: One of the better Multiplayer maps for this sort of game, and a very "fair" map, with equal territory for all civs and access to each team. May be too unnatural for some teams' tastes. Also on the small side.



Donut: A fun script added in the expansion. All the teams start on the outside edge of the donut, with a large region of peaks in the middle. The peaks can also be replaced by water, or standard terrain, if desired. Lots of early contact on this map.



Islands: A map that features lots of water and naval combat. Each team has their own starting island to themselves, which may or may not be what you want. The islands by default are separated by ocean, but they can be bridged by turning on the "tiny islands" setting.

No Tiny Islands


Various Tiny Islands


Archipelago/Snaky Continents: One of my personal favorites, due to the crazy and unpredictable land forms it spits out. Navies will still be emphasized heavily on this script. Here are three different looks, with different settings:







Global Highlands: A more interesting take on Pangaea, IMO. The peaks make for all sorts of wacky geographical formations, and interesting decisions on where to settle. Lots of customization options in the settings too. The latter two pictures explore some of the peak options.







Now what I would like from each team is to discuss and agree on a ranking of your three top preferences. This doesn't mean that you'll necessarily get the script that you picked first, but I will take into account what kind of map each team wanted. For example, if your team was dead-set on an Islands map, I'll lean more towards the naval ones in the overall decision. You can also simply say, "we trust the map maker, come up with a mystery game that looks awesome" as I know a couple of teams have suggested. If that's the general team feeling, you can skip this discussion entirely.

Once again, I'm asking each team to come to a decision on their top three map preferences by Wednesday, November 19th of next week. At that point, I'll see what each team decided and do my best to come up with something agreeable to everyone (although that may be impossible...) Thanks for your input, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

 

[CommandoBob]

The kind of map we want depends on the kind of game we want. With contigious land masses you've got to find your neighbors and estabish your borders early. That would seem to lead towards a heavily miltary focused game.

If we knew whom we wanted to be, we could ask that the map be crafted towards that leader.

The map in MTDG 2 - Civ III was not the map I expected, though it does appear to be a balanced map. It was nice to have your own landmass to yourself. But the distances to get to other Teams area are great, and the smaller islands are more of a nuisance that a real hellp.

I am fine with a 'Let the mapmaker decide' decision. It may not be the map I expected, but I can live with that.

 

[donsig]

Well, I can start by saying I don't like the archipelago or global highlands maps. In these maps some pairs of teams will have contact much earlier than others. Seems too random for me. So I lean towards a map that gives all teams equal access to all other teams. Not sure if I prefer one that makes contact easy (like the donut or wheel) or difficult like the islands. In the former I'd want water in the small center. In the latter I'd like the tiny islands included.

But I'm willing to play any map and surprises can spice up the game.

 

[Boko]

I agree with donsig on this. I did a lot of island maps myself, but I wouldn't mind doing a wheel map either.

 

[jkpsmp1]

I am typically an island player, but the wheel would be interesting. The others types would make it too easy or hard to make contact early with other players.

I vote for the the islands with various tiny islands.

Jeff

 

[Shogu]

I am ok with all but islands (and tiny islands).

 

[Boko]

I had an idea for a map. I posted it here. Let me know what you think.

 

[matthewthegreat]

I like the Islands map

 

[cav scout]

I don't want a symetrical map like the donut. I would prefer a more realistic setting over a chessboard like game environment.

I would go for islands with the tiny islands, but make the tiny ones a bit larger to allow for viable cities (maybe even stick some choice resources on them). And galley contact possible between the all the civs would be good.

 

[donsig]

Here's a summary of our map preferences this far. It's a bit sketchy because many of us didn't really choose a specific script. I assigned partial votes as best I could. Top vote getter in italics.

Wheel: 1.03
Donut: 0.53
Islands (w/o tiny islands): 1.00
Islands (with tiny islands): 2.83
Archipelago: 0.20
Global Highlands: 0.20
Map maker's choice: 1

 

[CommandoBob]

I think that Civ III's MTDG 2 would have been more interesting with some mid-sized islands in the world. Or landmasses with choke points. Which I think points to the Islands (with tiny Islands) selection.

 

[Sullla]

Thanks for the summary, donsig. Still two more days to discuss the map setting option before the deadline. If nothing changes, I will record the team vote for an Islands map, with Wheel and "custom interesting mystery map" as distant second choices.

 

[Kaleb]

I would go for a variant of the wheel as long as there were narrow points where canals can be built to connect the inner-seas.

My vote goes for map-maker's choice. Ideally with everyone contactable pre-optics with a few mid-sized or small-islands available for post-Astronomy colonisation