Swargey's Map Pack

[Swargey]

Hi there!

This is my second map pack, I didn't share the first as it was...lacking. Anyway, I've decided to go ahead and share this one.

Comment/Questions/Suggestions are extremely welcomed, and are in fact why I'm putting this thread here, instead of the map section (this part has far more life in it, as the map forum is dead). It contains 3 maps, of all three different types. Enjoy!



Click for the maps

 

[Stormrage]

Nice maps How`s that for attention?

 

[Swargey]

Nice maps How`s that for attention?

Well, was that compliment just for a joke, or because they are good? And I didn't mean necessarily good attention. If my maps are hideous, I want people to tell me the truth so I can get better at map-making. You've misunderstood what I meant by 'attention'

 

[Virote_Considon]

They look nice. I hope you develop scenarios for them in the future!

And wrong forum!

(seriously, you'd be a lot safer putting them in the Map forum, where they won't seep to about page 10 within a few weeks or so)

 

[Stormrage]

No, I really meant they`re nice

 

[Gen. Rommel]

They are pretty nice, but I would like to see some more peninsulas, sub-continents, islands, and other protrusions of land in the continents and archipelago maps. The pangaea looks really good though.

Nice variations in terrain, by the way!

 

[Gary Childress]

Hi Swargey, in what way do these maps differ significantly from just hitting the "generate random map" command on a blank screen in the map editor? I'm not sure I follow what the theme or purpose is for the maps. Most user made maps usually seem to be based upon representations of real geographic areas or else have some over ridding theme to them. Other than the Volcano in the middle of the Pangea map they almost look like randomly generated maps to my untrained eye. Perhaps including a Readme file in future releases would be a good idea. That way you can give people some idea of what to look for.

 

[Stormrage]

I love the way they are centered. I hate it when the game gives me a map where half of my empire is on the east side of the mini-map and the other half is on the west. It seriously pisses me off.

Gary Childress, dunno about you, but I never saw random maps this good

 

[Gary Childress]

I love the way they are centered. I hate it when the game gives me a map where half of my empire is on the east side of the mini-map and the other half is on the west. It seriously pisses me off.

Gary Childress, dunno about you, but I never saw random maps this good

Oh OK. If that is the theme then I think a Readme or at least some information in the OP would be a good idea for future projects to tell us a little about the maps. I don't have a very well trained eye for maps and I didn't see a difference at first glance. Maybe explain somewhere that the "Map is better centered" or "resources are better located" or something like that. I think it helps "sell" the maps better.

 

[Quinzy]

And, Gary, one can see that they seem to have a progression.

 

[Gary Childress]

And, Gary, one can see that they seem to have a progression.

I can see that. It looks like he started out with Pangea and then cut away swaths for the other two. I just didn't see a binding theme to them so I was wondering what it was. I honestly looked at them the first time he posted and thought they were little different from random generated maps and then went on to the next thread. I think a description always helps for those of us who are novices at such things. Some additional information would help "sell" the map to others. Otherwise I think a lot of people will just pass them up thinking they are little more than random generated maps with swaths cut out. That's what they look like to me at first glance. Some of us thick headed ones out here need to be told what to look for.

 

[Quinzy]

I know what you mean. But it's once you start into map making that you realise how horribly difficult it is to get a good looking and well playing map

 

[Swargey]

Hi Swargey, in what way do these maps differ significantly from just hitting the "generate random map" command on a blank screen in the map editor? I'm not sure I follow what the theme or purpose is for the maps. Most user made maps usually seem to be based upon representations of real geographic areas or else have some over ridding theme to them. Other than the Volcano in the middle of the Pangea map they almost look like randomly generated maps to my untrained eye. Perhaps including a Readme file in future releases would be a good idea. That way you can give people some idea of what to look for.

Well I don't know whether to take this as an insult, or a compliment. I guess it's good I've placed my terrain so good it looks as if it's randomly generated to some . But if you go into the editor and make some randoms, you could see this isn't a random generated set, and in fact took me several hours to make.

They are pretty nice, but I would like to see some more peninsulas, sub-continents, islands, and other protrusions of land in the continents and archipelago maps.

I'll keep that in mind for my next map set, I thought the archipelago was pretty good .

I love the way they are centered. I hate it when the game gives me a map where half of my empire is on the east side of the mini-map and the other half is on the west. It seriously pisses me off.

I have the same feeling, I like my maps centered!

They look nice. I hope you develop scenarios for them in the future!

And wrong forum!

(seriously, you'd be a lot safer putting them in the Map forum, where they won't seep to about page 10 within a few weeks or so)

Well, I've never thought of making scenarios with them...I'm not real good at that, but should you ever feel the need feel free to use these! (just make sure to say they were my maps ) As for the wrong forum, I did it on purpose so I could see if they were good or not...the map forum is kinda dead. (cept for when a tet map comes out)

 

[Stormrage]

whats a tet map? I thought the archipelago was good too, but then again, I don`t play those

 

[Swargey]

whats a tet map? I thought the archipelago was good too, but then again, I don`t play those

TETurkhan Test of Time is a "tet"(you see the TET at the beginning of the map lol?) map...I just shortened it out of laziness

 

[Stormrage]

I thought there was only one map for that?

 

[Gary Childress]

I wasn't being insulting. You said in your second post that you wanted the "truth". So I gave you the truth, exactly what my first impression of the maps was and that a Readme file or an explanation of the maps was probably a good thing to give. There's a difference between an insult and just telling it like it is. If you want people to tell you the truth then you will have to be prepared for less than favorable responses too.

I just generated a few random maps earlier today and they were just as centered on the map. The only difference I could see at first glance is there was no diamond in the center of the pangea with a volcano. I think explaining something about the maps helps catch people's attention. Otherwise many of us who don't make our own maps may wonder what is so special about them.

Conversely you could spend hours upon hours doing a map and if it doesn't accomplish much more than a random generated map, then what's the point?

Again, not to be insulting, that's just my gut reaction to seeing those maps without any explanation of what is unique about them.

 

[Gen. Rommel]

I'll keep that in mind for my next map set, I thought the archipelago was pretty good .

I don't think you fully understood me. I didn't say the maps weren't good (specifically refering to the Archipelago and Continents maps). On the contrary, they are very balanced and realistic in terms of terrain placement (unlike the random maps that place massive chunks of desert and jungle in the same places everytime, which sucks). I merely meant that a few more "landmarks" could be placed, which make the map feel more alive. Take the boot of Italy, the Iberian peninsula, and the gulf of Thailand for instance. These all are things that the random maps never include which make them a bit lack-luster. A few of these kinds of elements and you'd have yourself a top-notch map which I'd gladly play on (in fact, I'd play on these ones as well as is ).

By the way, how is resource placement? I always hate how the random maps disperse resources so clumsily. I'd like to see things like certain regions completely dominating oil trade for instance, just like in the real world. Or maybe a mountainous area where large coal and iron reserves are traceable which are less prevalent elsewhere. Those kinds of things would greatly add to these maps (in the case that it's not already so).

 

[Swargey]

I don't think you fully understood me. I didn't say the maps weren't good (specifically refering to the Archipelago and Continents maps). On the contrary, they are very balanced and realistic in terms of terrain placement (unlike the random maps that place massive chunks of desert and jungle in the same places everytime, which sucks). I merely meant that a few more "landmarks" could be placed, which make the map feel more alive. Take the boot of Italy, the Iberian peninsula, and the gulf of Thailand for instance. These all are things that the random maps never include which make them a bit lack-luster. A few of these kinds of elements and you'd have yourself a top-notch map which I'd gladly play on (in fact, I'd play on these ones as well as is ).

By the way, how is resource placement? I always hate how the random maps disperse resources so clumsily. I'd like to see things like certain regions completely dominating oil trade for instance, just like in the real world. Or maybe a mountainous area where large coal and iron reserves are traceable which are less prevalent elsewhere. Those kinds of things would greatly add to these maps (in the case that it's not already so).

Wow, thanks for the advise! In my next map pack I'll be sure to work on adding more landmarks and such. As for the resources, I currently just randomize them, but your way seems much better, as I am heading more toward realism. I'll diffidently put these two things into action on my next pack.

 

[Swargey]

I wasn't being insulting. You said in your second post that you wanted the "truth". So I gave you the truth, exactly what my first impression of the maps was and that a Readme file or an explanation of the maps was probably a good thing to give. There's a difference between an insult and just telling it like it is. If you want people to tell you the truth then you will have to be prepared for less than favorable responses too.

I just generated a few random maps earlier today and they were just as centered on the map. The only difference I could see at first glance is there was no diamond in the center of the pangea with a volcano. I think explaining something about the maps helps catch people's attention. Otherwise many of us who don't make our own maps may wonder what is so special about them.

Conversely you could spend hours upon hours doing a map and if it doesn't accomplish much more than a random generated map, then what's the point?

Again, not to be insulting, that's just my gut reaction to seeing those maps without any explanation of what is unique about them.

Well, even though it sounded like an insult I didn't say that was a bad thing. As for the maps being random, you should apparently take a closer look at things. Maybe if you downloaded the set, opened them up and took a look around you could find some things that don't look 'random' to you. That volcano surrounded by plains and mountains you keep mentioning is actually my signature for the map that lets people know its a Swargey Map. And also, I hadn't geared it to be user friendly to those who don't use civ, As this is a Civilization thread and website . Not to sound harsh, but if you've played a decent amount of civ, you can tell the difference between a random map and a user created map. For instance, most of my land masses are round and centered while most random land masses are odd shaped and not centered. Lastly, what is the point of anything? I create these purely for fun, and not for anything else. Maybe you should ask why people make scenarios, or MODS, or even play Civilization for that matter.