Conquer Club

firstly, a mistake to fix in the xml, about which there can be no argument: the asha loe AL6 bonus is currently written as AL6 and shows like this when that bonus is held, while the other six similar bonuses are written in full.

secondly, another mistake in the xml: the neutral tags for amos and loe are missing, so they are failing to start neutral and some players are starting with the calypso kings or kiwi beige brigade bonuses.

the majority of games on this map are 1v1 games. i've checked 25 1v1 games with the bowler coded as neutral that have actually finished. of these, player 1 has won 16 and player 2 has won 9, therefore there is a reasonable advantage gained by going first (skewed by 5 games where someone started with the bonuses mentioned above). the bowler was conquered in 15 games and ignored in 10; the latter was not the intention when this map was designed. only one singles bonus was held in the 25 games.

to satisfy both the principles that player 1 does not start with a bonus and that the bowler is active from a very early stage, i suggest that the bowler starting neutral is reduced from n3 to n1, with the PC3 starting neutral being removed if the number of starting regions falls below 69 (not sure if it does). to encourage play on the field rather than among the spectators, i further suggest that all of the singles start as n2 instead of n3, since no-one ever seems to want them; the same might be done with the fours, which are also rarely held, while the batter 1 neutrals might reduce from n4 to n3 (but consider the last one carefully, in case it tips the balance too much).

ian.

iancanton wrote:firstly, a mistake to fix in the xml, about which there can be no argument: the asha loe AL6 bonus is currently written as AL6 and shows like this when that bonus is held, while the other six similar bonuses are written in full.

Fixed.

secondly, another mistake in the xml: the neutral tags for amos and loe are missing, so they are failing to start neutral and some players are starting with the calypso kings or kiwi beige brigade bonuses.

Fixed.

the majority of games on this map are 1v1 games. i've checked 25 1v1 games with the bowler coded as neutral that have actually finished. of these, player 1 has won 16 and player 2 has won 9, therefore there is a reasonable advantage gained by going first (skewed by 5 games where someone started with the bonuses mentioned above). the bowler was conquered in 15 games and ignored in 10; the latter was not the intention when this map was designed. only one singles bonus was held in the 25 games.

Nice analysis

...to satisfy both the principles that player 1 does not start with a bonus and that the bowler is active from a very early stage, i suggest that the bowler starting neutral is reduced from n3 to n1,

Done.

...with the PC3 starting neutral being removed if the number of starting regions falls below 69 (not sure if it does).

Not yet done! until decision made

...to encourage play on the field rather than among the spectators, i further suggest that all of the singles start as n2 instead of n3, since no-one ever seems to want them; the same might be done with the fours, which are also rarely held,

4 x Singlesreduced to n2
8 x 4s reduced to n2
...Done!

... while the batter 1 neutrals might reduce from n4 to n3 (but consider the last one carefully, in case it tips the balance too much).
ian.

ian, i'll reduce these now and if it tips the balance too far we can always pull back again.
Done!

I'll wait until decision is made on third last point above before attaching the new xml file, but all others have been changed.
Thanks ian for your efforts once again.

That's a lot of neutral changing... How will this alter the gameplay? Maybe this should be BETA for another minute or two.

chapcrap wrote:That's a lot of neutral changing... How will this alter the gameplay? Maybe this should be BETA for another minute or two.

I have no objection to that happening.

...to satisfy both the principles that player 1 does not start with a bonus and that the bowler is active from a very early stage, i suggest that the bowler starting neutral is reduced from n3 to n1,

Done.

Not in the game i just started?? Did you put this on hold to beat it?

cairnswk wrote:

...with the PC3 starting neutral being removed if the number of starting regions falls below 69 (not sure if it does).

Not yet done! until decision made

cairnswk wrote:I'll wait until decision is made on third last point above before attaching the new xml file, but all others have been changed.

i count 67 starting regions, so we need to remove the starting neutrals for both pc3 and mike atherton to make 69.

ian.

The bowler is still nuetral 3..... is this the plan going forward? From a team game stand point this map is not as interesting in the current form.

1st All Rounder has been misspelled in the xml as 1st All rounder, but is correct on the map itself. 2nd All Rounder is already correct for both.

ian.

iancanton wrote:

cairnswk wrote:

...with the PC3 starting neutral being removed if the number of starting regions falls below 69 (not sure if it does).

Not yet done! until decision made

cairnswk wrote:I'll wait until decision is made on third last point above before attaching the new xml file, but all others have been changed.

i count 67 starting regions, so we need to remove the starting neutrals for both pc3 and mike atherton to make 69.

ian.

Done. In version 28 coming up.
With 100 territories, there are now 31 neutral starts, making 69 starts.

jimboy wrote:The bowler is still nuetral 3..... is this the plan going forward? From a team game stand point this map is not as interesting in the current form.

Yes jimboy, it is going forward...very shortly

iancanton wrote:1st All Rounder has been misspelled in the xml as 1st All rounder, but is correct on the map itself. 2nd All Rounder is already correct for both.

ian.

Fixed. Thanks.

ian, please check these, if you would.

Version 28 Neutral starts


Small


Large


XML version 28 as at 170712
as attached.

cover is still n3 instead of n2.

3rd Umpire is part of Umpires bonus as well Media Centre reads better as 3rd Umpire is part of Umpires and Media Complex bonuses. the name of the latter bonus has changed, as already reflected on the scoreboard.

do u consider it helpful to highlight the bowler's +2 by underlining, bolding, large font or some other method? it's almost invisible to someone who's looking for the bonuses and sees the list on the right.

maybe move the n2 from loe to tawera, so tawera isn't trapped?

ian.

iancanton wrote:cover is still n3 instead of n2.

It's ok in xml, changed on neutral starts map.

3rd Umpire is part of Umpires bonus as well Media Centre reads better as 3rd Umpire is part of Umpires and Media Complex bonuses. the name of the latter bonus has changed, as already reflected on the scoreboard.

Done.

do u consider it helpful to highlight the bowler's +2 by underlining, bolding, large font or some other method? it's almost invisible to someone who's looking for the bonuses and sees the list on the right.

Underlined...

maybe move the n2 from loe to tawera, so tawera isn't trapped?
ian.

Done. Thanks Ian.

ian, all those changes should be evident in the above post, including the changed xml shift Loe to Tawera
I've been able to underline the "bowler gets +2" and bold it on the large map, but doing that on the small map only blurrs it too much

cairnswk wrote:ian, all those changes should be evident in the above post, including the changed xml shift Loe to Tawera
I've been able to underline the "bowler gets +2" and bold it on the large map, but doing that on the small map only blurrs it too much

Could you change it to that nice green color to help make it stand out? Just a very random thought.

Should this just be moved back to BETA?

isaiah40 wrote:

cairnswk wrote:ian, all those changes should be evident in the above post, including the changed xml shift Loe to Tawera
I've been able to underline the "bowler gets +2" and bold it on the large map, but doing that on the small map only blurrs it too much

Could you change it to that nice green color to help make it stand out? Just a very random thought.

Now that's a great proactive thought...i like it...done

chapcrap wrote:Should this just be moved back to BETA?

I don't know if that would achieve anything...we are simply trying to tweak things so that players can be happier with the gameplay...almost like negotiating between two parties

So is there still going to be another change to the size of the nuetral on the bowler or is this it now? I was under the impression that more changes were on the way

Apparently the discussion surrounding the change has been forgotten. Basically this was changed from a great map to garbage in my mind.

jimboy wrote:Apparently the discussion surrounding the change has been forgotten. Basically this was changed from a great map to garbage in my mind.

jimboy wrote:So is there still going to be another change to the size of the nuetral on the bowler or is this it now? I was under the impression that more changes were on the way

I have not forgotten about this jimboy...RL and other priorities simply get in the way sometimes...
and since there are always going to be people who are unhappy about changes made one way or the other, then these are the least of my priorities...sorry!

cairnswk wrote:ian, please check these, if you would.

Version 28 Neutral starts


Small


Large

Click image to enlarge.

XML version 28 as at 170712
as attached.

tnb80...were these changes ever uploaded?

Hasn't yet cairns.

fast-bowler 1 and fast-bowler 2 on the map have become fast bowler 1 and fast bowler 2 in the xml. it's fine with or without the hyphen, as long as we're consistent between the map and the xml.

are u sure u can't fit in media centre instead of media cen., at least on the large map?

ian.

iancanton wrote:...
are u sure u can't fit in media centre instead of media cen., at least on the large map?
ian.

let's be consistent eh?!