Forum

by **mibi** on Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:05 am

the white territory lines seem a little off. Can't say I am digging the stone too much either.

by **oaktown** on Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:37 am

MrBenn wrote:If you were to code the cities as neutrals, then the remaining cities wouldn't be allocated to anybody.

Hmm, so you can code a terit as neutral, AND as a starting position, and the starting position overrides the neutral start unless it is not assigned? (Did we have this exact same conversation last month?)

MrBenn wrote:I still think the red/brown regions are quite isolated, and easier to hold than anywhere else

Right now both can be held from four territories, or three if you expand out to Mashu, Assuer, and Nineveh. Perhaps when the red region is dropped to just +5 it will be better? Or do we need another entry?

mibi wrote:the white territory lines seem a little off.

Agreed - the lines would look better just being the color of the background/unfinished wall.

by **MrBenn** on Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:31 am

oaktown wrote:
MrBenn wrote:If you were to code the cities as neutrals, then the remaining cities wouldn't be allocated to anybody.

Hmm, so you can code a terit as neutral, AND as a starting position, and the starting position overrides the neutral start unless it is not assigned? (Did we have this exact same conversation last month?)

Yes and Yes... Déja vu?

by **yeti_c** on Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:32 am

oaktown wrote:The reason I'm suggesting eight is that we could code them as starting positions, so no one player would start with three of them, with the exception of two and three players games in which each player would at start with a minimum of two cities, and the last two would - if I am remembering the rule correctly - would be assigned randomly. You can't make every map perfect for every game type.

1v1 = 4 cities - but that's not a problem - as it would still be fair.
1v1v1 = 2 cities (2 neutral) (Assuming the cities are set to neutral - otherwise the remaining 2 would be allocated randomly.)

C.

by **oaktown** on Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:24 am

yeti_c wrote:[1v1 = 4 cities - but that's not a problem - as it would still be fair.
1v1v1 = 2 cities (2 neutral) (Assuming the cities are set to neutral - otherwise the remaining 2 would be allocated randomly.)

OK, so I was right about how those last two would be assigned, and MrBenn was right about how you can assign them neutral. And 8 start positions in a two player game would be split 4-4, which does give an advantage to the starting player who, as the map is now set up, would start with 15 territories (43-8 =35 /3 = 11 territories each + 4 start positions = 15) plus a city bonus. With an initial drop of six armies it would be fairly easy to knock your opponent down to 13 territories and no city bonus, leaving player two with only four armies to start with.

Anyway, we aren't even an advanced draft here... we have time to work this crap out.

by **oaktown** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 1:37 am

Click image to enlarge.

Added the Bull of Heaven, as well as a bonus for holding the three beasts - bull, scorpion, humbaba.

by **MrBenn** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:50 pm

I get the feeling that all the action is going on in the bottom left-hand corner.... It feels a little congested and lop-sided, as there are none of the special territories over the Jericho side of the map...

by **sailorseal** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:51 pm

Could you rework the bonuses

by **oaktown** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:18 pm

MrBenn wrote:I get the feeling that all the action is going on in the bottom left-hand corner.... It feels a little congested and lop-sided, as there are none of the special territories over the Jericho side of the map...

Do you mean the bottom right corner? If so, I have two comments...
1. the top left is, in my opinion, the most attractive early start - four terits, two borders to hold. And the bottom left ain't bad either.
2. part of the problem is that I have crammed a lot of territories into not many pixels. The Dilmun region is spaced out much more nicely, so one of my next projects will be to move the mountains range north and east and devote the river valleys more pixels.

sailorseal wrote:Could you rework the bonuses

It's early - right now we can do anything. Have something specific in mind, sailor?

by **edbeard** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:28 pm

the map is a bit weird in that you have four continents with two borders. just an observation

the "defeat all three challenges" thing sounds like you have to just take over each territory once and you've got the bonus. just a weird way to put it and I don't see how saying something like "conquer and hold all three challenges" is bad

you've seemingly countered the attractive red area (being able to cut down on your borders and being able to hold brown easily alongside it) with having everyone start in that area. seems fine to me.

maybe put your signature by the title so it's a bit more hidden and subtle? might make for a cooler overall look. make it like you've carved it into the stone so it doesn't stand out but you can see it if you look for it. right now it jumps out at me whenever I look at the lower left territories

by **oaktown** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:14 am

Click image to enlarge.

Spent some time shifting the southeast territories up to give them more space... did this before reading edbeard's comments, so I will tackle those thoughts next.

I guess at some point I should be looking at other folks' maps, eh? Practice what you preach and all.

by **MrBenn** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:23 pm

Yes, I meant bottom-right :oops:

It looks like that area is less congested now - the shifting around you've done has made quite a lot of difference. I'm not completely sold on the 'Bull of Heaven' territory, insofar as it doesn;t sit within any of the regions... you could add another territory between the Bull and Rapiqum, and add them both to the Amorites region (although I'm not too sure how that fits into the Gilgamesh saga)

I like the idea of embossing your signature... but there's plenty of time for little tweaks like that ;-)

[Advanced Draft]

by **herschal** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:47 pm

42 posts and already an advanced draft?? It is good but I think you need a few more peoples opinions before giving it a stamp. And only 3 updates can hardly be called advanced. There are other maps in here with 10 pages of critisism and they are not even advanced drafts. Just because he is an experieced map maker and a cartographer doesn't mean he can get special treatment.
Don't get me wrong though, I love the map!

Edit: I forgot that this was a competition entry and received some vetting there. That makes me less annoied but I still think it should have been in here a little longer.

by **gho** on Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:34 am

Since Gilgamesh isn't one of the more famous historical figures, maybe you could write a short story about him in the legend. Otherwise it looks good.

by **gimil** on Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:58 am

an idea to provok some thought.

Wht not move the contient legends to the bottom and have them in a horizontal line. On that orange section you can 7 brikes making it prefect to fit your legends there. Move the challenges text to undernearth the title and make the title area a little bigger. That will reduce the busyness of the bottom left that benn was talking about.