What are you working on?

[elmenhorster]

That map seems like the usual world map that has been kicking around, and I have used myself.

Except that I completely wiped out Northern Hemisphere and Asia Pacific that took me days to recreate. Other than that I get your point.

 

[McMonkey]

This concept will probably be best suited to primarily land-based scenarios where train transport was the key strategic element. For example, the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian war, World War one and Two in the European theatre could all take advantage of this idea. We'll see how it goes.

 

[tootall_2012]

Hi McMonkey,

Thanks for sharing your concept. Hopefully Brian will agree to your moving forward with the project (be it in a collaborative effort our not). I never got to play his Civil War senario since it's really designed for multiplayer but I did go over all its components and moving parts to get a feel for it and it is clearly well designed (but of course I expected no less from him, or you for that matter).

I think your supply line concept is ideal for this type of scenario though I have a few suggestions/question:

• With regards item #2) "Move to a Railhead (static, indestructible barbarian unit) and destroy itself, thus triggering an event that will create a set number (say 2-3) of infantry units at a nearby co-ordinate", I implemented a somewhat similar type concept in my Total War scenario, which was itself inspired by Kobayashi's resource idea in his Dainichi Sekai Taisen scenario. But whereas our concept consisted of delivering a "train" or "resource" units by sea to a specifc target hex you would plan on using rail lines with muliple destinations, i.e. "railheads". I like the idea very much!

As such, if you require inspiration on how to generate the event feel free to look in either games event files as the logic should be the same for your train unit. Just a note though, to be able to attack the railheads your train would need at least an attack factor of 1, otherwise units with a 0 AF cannot assault other units.​

• If you want to restrict your trains to move only along railhead terrain consider making all other terrain types as impassable and giving the impassble flag to all units except your trains. If you need to make other terrain implassable, such as mountains, to your other units, you could create a Mountain type unit and assign it to a neutral power that you can never attack.
• Since the Civil War is a strategic level scenario how do you see the units being generated by the railheads, i.e. do they replace production or are they seen as reinforcments. In addition, do you build the train units or receive them by event?

 

[tootall_2012]

These are just ongoing projects, which don't put me under any pressure. That map seems like the usual world map that has been kicking around, and I have used myself.

I wish someone would make a REALLY big world map. That is the project the entire community should get together on.

Hi Curt,

I think it would probably be helpful to any would be map designer for you to give a few tips on what you are looking for. Specifically what do you mean by really big? Your Imperialism scenario already uses a pretty big map in my humble opinion, i.e. 288x255. Just how much bigger are you talking about?

 

[techumseh]

Here's a giga map of the earth I made a number of years ago. You will have to adjust some of the terrain graphics.

 

[CurtSibling]

Thanks to ToTPP, we have unlimited cities and units.

I have all the global maps made for CIV2 to date. They are all limited in size/scope.
What I mean is a map so large it can hold all the major cities of the UK, Europe, the Balkans and Finland, etc...
I do realise that there may be a limit to the actually possible size of CIV2 maps...
I cannot recall if TOTPP fixes this too?

If so...
We need a colossal map that will represent the zenith of the CIV2 scenario dream.
Imagine the possibilities for huge global scenarios?

 

[Broken_Erika]

I'm guessing past a certain size the AI might become a little.....stupid. Even by civ2 AI standards....of course this won't matter much if it's a PBEM game.

 

[CurtSibling]

AI stupidity can be countered somewhat with judicious rules values, and "move unit" events.

Events are now also unlimited in size.

 

[Patine]

While I still debate which scenario in my bucket list to FORMALLY, OFFICIALLY start next and devote a REAL FOCUSED EFFORT to finishing, I thought I would share the list of the 10 scenarios mentioned by regular posters in the last several years as serious projects, but not formally finished or released yet, that I would be most looking forward. This isn't meant to apply undue pressure or as a taskmaster's work list, but just the uncompleted ideas of late that have been mentioned just most interest me.
In no particular order:
-Rise of Rome (McMonkey)
-Yugoslav Partisans (McMonkey)
-Big Napoleonic Scenario (McMonkey)
-Bitterfrost (forgotten next iteration number) (Curtsibling)
-Grand Moff (Curtsibling)
-Burma (Techumseh)
-Blood and Iron (Techumseh)
-Over the Reich (Jpetroski)
-Battle of Britain (Jpetroski)
-Italian Invasion of Greece 1941 (Tanelorn)
Obviously, I've forgotten the formal titles of a fair number of these, but the subject matter is made pretty clear. Again, I'm not trying to coerce anyone to do anything.

 

[JPetroski]

@McMonkey , @Grishnach and I are also working on two new lua scenarios: The Battle of Midway and Philip of Macedon. Both of which could be finished relatively soon if this pesky summer would stop being so lovely

 

[CurtSibling]

As mentioned by Patine, I have these on the work list:

"Grand Moff" - Imperial Star Wars conquest epic. Units being tweaked. 40% Complete.
"Invasion Of Zarklaw" - Fantasy scenario. Red Front in the Bitterfrost world. 50% Complete.
"Overlord" - WW2 version of Imperialism II. 80% Complete.
"Vendetta" - Alt-history global battles, set in 1980. Units Complete.

Some other ideas swirling in my brain. My 2D work also takes priority.
I do make CIV2 scens for the joy of it, and will have all completed eventually.

 

[Tanelorn]

"OXI" Its 1940 actually. New map, to encompass the whole Marita Merkur campaign. Graphics and cities/ unitssetup mostly done (no screens or leaders), working on the techs, no events yet.
1989 southern front. Mostly the same map as above. Units done. Doing the cities. Techs/ events at 50%.
Rethinking the battle of Crete scenario.
Fantasy scenario on the way back burner.

 

[Patine]

The scenarios I'm most interested in pursuing at this point would be as follow:
Finishing (or revamping)
-Modern Middle East 1990-2020
-Empire of the Rising Sun
-War of the Spanish Succession
-Fallgelb (from a French perspective player)
New Scenarios
-Fall of Rome
-Great Northern War
-Pacific Rim 1990-2020
-West African Crises 1990-2020
-Horn of Africa/Red Sea Coast 1990-2020
-Italo-Turkish War 1911
-Libyan Civil War 2011-????
-Heptarchy (Dark Ages, Pre-Norman Britain)
-English Civil War 1643-1649
-Chinese Civil War 1945-1949
-Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada) 1983
-Wars of Santa Ana
-Rise of the Inca Empire (No Spaniards - Ends at the time of death of Pachacuti and the inevitable outbreak of succession war - whether events in the scenario would be at that point or not in game - and dire portents and omens)

 

[Patine]

There are also four that are "dreaming" projects that I don't yet feel skilled or ready to even seriously consider starting yet.
-Africa World Wars: A scenario spanning Sub-Saharan Africa for the whole duration of both World Wars and the Interwar Period from a British Empire perspective with the struggle to capture German colonies in Africa in WWI, uprisings in British and French colonies that declared allegiance or sympathy to the Central Powers, including the Dervish State, the Maritz Rebellion, the Kaocen Revolt, the Volta-Bani Revolt, and the Chilembwe Uprising, and then the Second Italo-Abyssian War (and the British invasion, historically, of Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia), the British and Free French liberation of Vichy French-held colonies, a single Japanese naval unit in a naval battle off Madagascar that represented the ONLY battle in the whole historical Second World War where Japanese and Germans of any sort fought together in the same battle, and a POSSIBLE (through events and circumstances) return to Sub-Saharan Africa by German force in WWII, though.
-My own whack at a strategic (Europe, Pacific, and Atlantic Ocean, as three separate maps) scale WWI scenario.
-A really weird idea of sticking a bunch of small-scale, short Latin American wars across almost 200 years of history in one folder with all the same files, but different .scn files, but with the small number of unit types that would be needed for each, I that this mad scheme might actually work. The small conflicts I had in mind were:
*The rebellion of Tupac Aramu II and Tupac Katari, both claiming decent from the lines of Sapa Incas, against the Viceroyalty of Peru 1781-1785
*Cisplatine War 1825-1828
*Gran Colombian-Peruvian War 1828-1829
*Insurgencies in the Empire of Brazil 1835-1845
*War of the Confederation 1836-1839
*Civil Wars that tore apart the United Provinces of Central America 1838-1841
*Filibuster War (Nicaragua) 1856-1857
*Federal War (Venezuela) 1859-1863
*Colombian Civil War 1860-1862
*Paraguayan War 1864-1870
*Colombian Civil War 1876
*War of the Pacific 1879-1883
*Colombian Civil War (Panama Crisis) 1885
*Acre Insurgency 1900-1903
*Colombia-Peru War 1932-1933
*Chaco War 1932-1935
*Ecuadorian-Peruvian War 1941-1942
*Early Colombian Communist Crisis 1964-1975
*Dirty War and Pinochet White Terror and Communist Counter-War Late-'60's-1975
I don't know this crazy idea could actually work at all, hence why it's in the "dreaming" list
-Caucasus 1918-1920's: You play one of the First Armenian Republic, Democratic Republic of Georgia, People's Republic of Azerbaijan, Northern Caucasus Mountainous Republic, or the Kuban Cossack State, and build a nation, mark your borders, build infrastructure, get a government off the ground, and build an army, and hope you can withstand the onslaught when Trotsky and the Red Army over the mountains from the north. Again, I'm not sure how EXACTLY this would work - it just struck me as a neat idea.

 

[CurtSibling]

@Patine

Just complete one or two.
You'll never get even a fraction of those completed.

 

[Patine]

@Patine

Just complete one or two.
You'll never get even a fraction of those completed.

I'm not planning to attempt to multi-task and do them all at once. That's a list of interests. I plan to select one and finish it, and then move on to the next. It's more of a long-term wishlist, if you will.

 

[Patine]

@CurtSibling In fact, I'm very close to making my firm decision, one I intend to stick through till completion. I've narrowed it down to three, and should have solidly decided by the end of the weekend. You are right that if I keep waffling nothing will ever be finished, so, what I decide this weekend I'll put a firm commitment to.

 

[JPetroski]

The thing about civ2 creation is there is so much to do that it's really easy not to complete something. It takes a long time to build a scenario and taking breaks can lead to you forgetting what you had planned and getting stuck. I don't think it is a coincidence that the scenarios I've published were works I committed fully to and generally finished with 2 to 4 months of constant effort.

I also try to stay a organized as possible and work off of a variation of a Gant chart so I understand what steps need to happen in what general order. I like to plan out what I'm going to accomplish by particular dates aND try to stick to it. Life usually intervenes, but I need a plan.

How are you approaching this Patine? Perhaps you should invest some time developing a system and then move to creation? It might help you complete one of your great ideas.

 

[Patine]

The thing about civ2 creation is there is so much to do that it's really easy not to complete something. It takes a long time to build a scenario and taking breaks can lead to you forgetting what you had planned and getting stuck. I don't think it is a coincidence that the scenarios I've published were works I committed fully to and generally finished with 2 to 4 months of constant effort.

I also try to stay a organized as possible and work off of a variation of a Gant chart so I understand what steps need to happen in what general order. I like to plan out what I'm going to accomplish by particular dates aND try to stick to it. Life usually intervenes, but I need a plan.

How are you approaching this Patine? Perhaps you should invest some time developing a system and then move to creation? It might help you complete one of your great ideas.

The three I think I've narrowed it down to for my next project to focus to are my Fall of Rome, Pacific Rim 1990-2020, and War of the Spanish Succession. All three are broad in scale as opposed to single battles or small-scale wars, which I've found in playing scenarios, as well as my early tinkerings, I've come to prefer (though certainly not to the exclusion of other scenarios). I will admit, while the Korean War scenario that I had begun years ago and @McMonkey lent a huge hand in finishing and evolving into something greater, and I'm very proud of what we've accomplished, I've come to believe that my next project should have a bigger scale, in terms of geographical and, possibly, temporal scope, but without defaulting to yet another WW2 scenario (at this point in time, at least). Plus, my plans for the Fall of Rome and Pacific Rim (and possibly accomplishable in WSS) is to give the player more leeway to go outside historical decisions and have them be relevant and "game-changing" (a term I personally think is grossly overused in the world today), within the bounds of manageability. Fall of Rome and WSS have PoV players in mind for the scenario to be built around - Pacific Rim, not so much so - it could POSSIBLY have different events files for different players, and maybe a PBEM mode. Pacific Rim could also benefit from a lot of Tanelorn's recent graphics uploads, and thus has that impetus to it. But that's where my considerations stand at the moment. I believe that, even though I haven't yet done scenarios, or seriously started any, of this calibre, all the resources are here for reference, and I can pretty much "stand on the shoulders of giants," if you will.

 

[JPetroski]

@CurtSibling, Vendetta sounds interesting - I'd love to hear more about the concept.