South Seas: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the South Pacific 2016-10-05

[Drewcifer]

This is my map. The size is 256x256 (huge++). To reduce the negative effects of huge maps I have made it impossible to build cities on desert. At the same time most of the resources can be and are found on desert terrain. You will need to build colonies in the outback. Oil can also be found in jungles. This is the first version of this map and is not perfect, especially in the placement of recources. If you see mistakes please let me know. If you want to use the New Zealand starting location you should create an Ancient Era Ship that can travel over Sea and give it to your civilization.

Like all decent maps that cover a large portion of the Earth this map is a custom projection created from a number of local maps of various scales.

Updated v2

I have made the following changes:

-I have tried to put the strategic resources in the right places using National Geographic Mapmachine, www.abs.gov.au and New Zealand government statistics websites (all very good websites for resource placement).
-To do this I have changed many of the rules for what resources can be found on which terrains.
-Oil resources represent oil AND natural gas reserves in the real world.
-I have fixed Nauru and added lake Eyre.
-I have improved the terrain around some of the starting areas to improve competitive balance and gameplay.
-I have greatly reduced the strategic resources on the map.

Different starting locations require very different stratagies. If you start in southeastern Australia, be prepared to fight early and often. Some of the more outlying starting areas are more conducive to building and exploration.

On the whole, I believe that this map is now very balanced for gameplay and is a marked improvement on version 1. I hope you all agree.

Again, please inform me of any oversights or mistakes.

 

[Drewcifer]

This download is for PTW.

South Seas v1 removed after 181 downloads.

 

[Drewcifer]

The download for the v1.29 bic map version for regular Civ 3 is further down in the thread at post #13.

 

[LouLong]

The idea is nice, especially with the polynesian canoe and other units already realized.

 

[LouLong]

OK, me again. I personally think your map is interesting but I regret:

- the resources (and the terrain below them sometimes). A desert island with oil !
- the division of Indonesian islands. You cut the map right in the middle of Borneo which makes it really unrealistic. That is a pity for a map that could definitely be used for historical scenarios.

For that kind of maps, I think creators should provide :

- a resource-free one (for scenario/mod-makers)
- realistic resources if you can (in-between map)
- all standard resources to use this map with the regular rules.

I think it is a good start and I hope you carry on a bit.
Of course my ideas might not be of much interest to others.

 

[LesCanadiens]

Thanks so much for this sweet map!
I've been looking for a map that has a decent sized New Zealand on it, and my search is over. Interesting to see if anyone wants to make this into some kinda scenario.

 

[Drewcifer]

To reply to your points Loulong: the desert island is Nauru, formerly the worlds largest producer of phosphate, I thought that either saltpeter or oil would be the best way to simulate this. As for Borneo, it wraps around to the other side of the map, when you play the game it is a seamless whole.

 

[Matt P]

Being an Aussie, I think I'll have to give this a go. I just hope my civ starts on the Australian mainland and not on NZ

I was just interested Drewcifer, what made you want to create a map of the South Pacific (being from the U.S. and all ) ?

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by Matt P


I was just interested Drewcifer, what made you want to create a map of the South Pacific (being from the U.S. and all ) ?

It is often very cold here in the winter. It can get as cold as -35 C ( approx. -32 F ). When it is painful/dangerous to be outside for more than ten minutes a nice game of Civilization in the South Pacific is a pleasant diversion.

 

[LouLong]

Originally posted by Drewcifer
To reply to your points Loulong: the desert island is Nauru, formerly the worlds largest producer of phosphate, I thought that either saltpeter or oil would be the best way to simulate this. As for Borneo, it wraps around to the other side of the map, when you play the game it is a seamless whole.

OK for Nauru, I guess salpeter would be more accurate but.
Now it is the desert that I mind (just need to change in the editor so that plains support it).

Sorry for Borneo, when I opened it I thought it was a "flat map".

Otherwise as I said very good idea.

 

[Matt P]

Originally posted by Drewcifer
It is often very cold here in the winter. It can get as cold as -35 C ( approx. -32 F ). When it is painful/dangerous to be outside for more than ten minutes a nice game of Civilization in the South Pacific is a pleasant diversion.

Man, that's freezing. I complain about 7 degrees in our winter. I think I'd get frostbite everywhere if I lived in that climate.

I can't speak for Indonesia or New Zealand, but here in OZ it is certainly nice and warm at the moment. Some might say it's a bit too hot at the moment, especially with all the bushfire problems we've got at present.

I'll give the map a go and give U some feedback.

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by LouLong


OK for Nauru, I guess salpeter would be more accurate but.
Now it is the desert that I mind (just need to change in the editor so that plains support it).

You make a good point Loulong, in the next version of the map I will probably change it.

 

[Drewcifer]

This is the Bic map version for regular Civ 3.

South Seas v1 has been deleted after 63 downloads

 

[Yoda Power]

How did you make a bic version from a bix file?

 

[Drewcifer]

I didn't, I made the map before I got PTW. The first version of the map I posted was from after I transfered it to the Civ3X editor. I have a couple of thoughts on the subject. If you are interested please read the thread in the Creation and Customization forum that I have started.

 

[Drewcifer]

I am getting ready to do a version 2 of this map.

Before I do that howerver, I would like to get some feedback.

If you have played on this map, have you noticed things that could improve the gameplay?

I would also like feedback from people who have firsthand knowledge of the area. Is the terrain correct? Where can I get information on where to put the resources? I would especially like some feedbck from Australians and New Zealanders.

 

[rlw33]

Hi Drewcifer,

The map looks great. As I live in New Zealand i'll be sure to give it a go.
I wonder if you might be good enough to tell me what you did in the PTW editor to prevent deserts from having cities built on them?

thanks in advance,

Raymond

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by rlw33

I wonder if you might be good enough to tell me what you did in the PTW editor to prevent deserts from having cities built on them?

In the rules editor click "Terrain" and go to Desert. At the bottom of this page is a box that says "flags". Inside this box there are many different actions listed, each with a check mark in front of it, the first is "Build Cities"; if you uncheck this you cannot build cities on Desert.

 

[Matt P]

Originally posted by Drewcifer
I would also like feedback from people who have firsthand knowledge of the area. Is the terrain correct? Where can I get information on where to put the resources? I would especially like some feedbck from Australians and New Zealanders.

I'd like to help you Drewcifer about telling you where certain resources are, but not even I have a great idea about where things are exactly mined/found in Australia. I'd especially have no idea about where saltpeter or uranium are located. We have a coal plant in Newcastle and Illawarra (in the state of NSW - east coast) and a nuclear plant to the west of Sydney. Horses are located in most states of Australia I believe. (We've got racetracks everywhere)

I don't think it would matter if you were a bit inaccurate with the resource distribution on the map - it wouldn't really concern me. There'd have to be plenty of information on the web to help you.

Good luck

 

[Drewcifer]

I have now updated this map along the lines detailed at the top of the thread. If you have downloaded v1, I strongly reccomend that you replace it with this version.

Enjoy