THE World Map

[Fieryo]

no disrespect intended Grim, and i am well aware it is your map and you have certain rights, but isnt it something of an honor to have your map used like this?

[thegrimsleeper]

It is an honor that he would want to implement the country/continent structure that we others have created. And, I may even encourage that in some way. After all, if you're going to do a world map, it'd be nice for there to be some sort of continuity with the other regional maps.

However.

I believe the real honor comes from an idea which you nurture and really put yourself into. I worked on Europe for over a month, and for someone to just cut and paste it... I guess it's really no different from hip-hop artists sampling old records, and maybe since I listen to some hip-hop, I'm a big hypocrite.

Of course, I don't think I have TOO much to worry about...

please note this is only a mock up for what I'm talking about and is based on other users maps which I hope they don't mind me borrowing from.

I don't mind the structure of my map being used (I don't really think anyone should), but it should have it's own personality. How funny would it be if he jsut pasted them all together... Umm... USA and Australia, anyone?

[ticalien]

As I mentioned in my initial post the image I created wasn't meant to demean or insult any of the mapmakers, it was simply a templete for displaying my idea. To that end, it is my intention to employ a good bit of the country layouts and attack points so long as everyone's OK with that...

So, without further ado I'd like to introduce the initial layout of the world map and how I envision it functioning. Once again, this is a mock up and for the most part uses a free map I found on FlashKit.com. I modified some of the colors and begun to break apart the continents to match what others here have provided. Here goes:

http://thehorns.servepics.com/images/layout/zoomap1.swf

This layout raises a few questions and a lot of opportunities. I don't claim to be any more than a novice flash user and as a result I'm limited in the input I can provide, but I know that virually anything is possible. For instance, a world map down to the town or building level becomes a real possibility. Think, North America > United States > Ohio > Springfield or North America > United States > Minnesota > Minneapolis > Mall of America. Additionally, Flash animations can offer a lot of action and blinking junk that a traditional jpeg or gif cannont i.e. blinking countries at a battle, recently conquered countries etc. The posibilities are virtually limitless.

At this point the major hangup is embedding the flash file for XML input which I know you can do (a simple google search yields a ton of results) and the time to do it. Additionally we need to check with the site admin (Lack??) to ensure that his PHP code will allow fla or swf files (which i don't think should be a problem) and if he's able to open the site up for larger games and time limits. Finally, there will need to be some country realignment and the issue of bonues etc. to sort out.

So, maybe everyone can take a look at what I'm thinking and provide some CONSTRUCTIVE input on how we can make this happen. Additionally if you have any experience with Flash and XML I'd love to hear from you.

[Fieryo]

Wow, its really coming along. you peeked my intrest at the start of this, so anything mroe you do now will simply make me salivate all the more

[AndyDufresne]

I think using the UN seems like a rather crappy idea. Considering how small some of the countries are, and how large other ones are. I think the best route is to go with using the other maps as a base, but not simply copying them exactly. But I think a lot can be learned by studying the maps and layouts.

--Andy

[max is gr8]

We could hand standard triples doubles and got onto teams of 10 with his map we can keep the bonuses but the problems are imagine having 2 egypts

[Marvaddin]

Hmm, I think I can design this huge world map... using the already done maps as ideas, not simply pasting them... Then, thegrimsleeper can do the graphics...

The question is, how many countries and continents are you expecting? Because surely I cant use all real countries, and I need split some countries, too... No chances of US, Canada or Brazil having 40+ territories each. The map would be huge, too... so I hope scrolling is no problem to you.

[max is gr8]

I'll help aswell. But currently I'm tied up in my space map.

[Pedronicus]

I think everyone wants to see this game for team games / tournaments etc.

But we need to have new maps drawn up / existing ones edited by authors so that each continent is a pure copy of the 5 continents from the world map.

I.e. the currently underway Oceania map needs to include New Guinea and Indonesia (and New Zealand for added spice) - split oz in two and you have five mini continets

The Africa map thats awaiting the green light is the way to go... the continent hasn't been pulled apart with adjoining lanes, and therefore is the blueprint for all you map makers if we want to have a world game.

I've always said no to any more maps, but with this many players, the world needs to be the world. It's going to be very hard to get right, but if we do - then lacks site has done the unthinkable and improved on a game that I feel is better than any other board game ever made (And all within 5 months)

[qeee1]

Fine tuning this map could take months... I think first thing you need to do is get an idea of how many teritories total you want because I'd say then it'll be easier to see how much you need to split up each continent.

[AndyDufresne]

And if this does ever get off the ground, and actually completed, I would recommend not issuing it out to the public right the next minute. I would suggest doing large private games to test it with x number of people, who will play the map again and again thoroughly to ensure that when it is released it is not a hulking mass of error bugs.

--Andy

[ticalien]

I can create the map, but I need to hear back from Lack before I proceed, so I don't spend all kinds of time for it not to be supported. I've posted here looking for some of his feedback and also PM'd him with no avail. Once some technical questions are answered the project can proceed. In regards to the layout I am and will continue to support the world map based on existing continent layouts, making only minor changes as necessary. It will allow a uniform feel for the site and make the playability that much better.

[Hoff]

I'm all for this world map, it sounds like mad fun.

[lackattack]

ticalien, your world map concept is very interesting. It kind of reminds me of Global Wars, the original online Risk game, which let you zoom into a continent to see it better. Of course, we are not just talking about zooming and scrolling, but having actual subcontinents!

Regarding your technical questions, it would be easy to open up a map (or all maps) to more than 6 players. While your flash protoype is cool, I've avoided having any flash on Conquer Club. I don't want to deal with people not having the right version installed or outdated display logic that's tied up in some swf file which I can't change. HTML is simple, open, and makes it real easy to put a transparency of armies on top of a traditional image of a map.

So let's say you had an image for the world plus an image for each subcontinent. I'd have to put in some way of navigating between the different images. Add logic to the game engine so that it knows which subcontinent you're looking at and filters the picklists to the approriate territories. The XML format would have to be extended so you can specify which countries belong to which subcontinent. The army allocation formula would have to be extended to put armies on world-map countries when you own the associated subcontinent. When you finish conquering an entire subcontinent, the engine would have to give you ownership of the associated world-map country automatically.

Subcontinent support has a lot of potential, but to be realistic, won't happen anytime soon. I have 2 major projects slated for summer 2006: Tournaments and AJAX (AJAX will make the game interface speedier and cut down on bandwidth). I think we're talking about a major project here, so my advice is to sit on the idea for now, and after Tournaments and AJAX I'll give you an estimate of when I can have the changes done on my side.

[Jota]

I have 2 major projects slated for summer 2006: Tournaments and AJAX (AJAX will make the game interface speedier and cut down on bandwidth).

Will the Ajax be optional, with the old (current) interface available to folks who prefer not to use javascript?

[lilwdlnddude]

if all the territories will be the same as the smaller maps, you could just copy all the xml codes and put them together. but i dont know how your making this map so dont listen to me..

[johnnyrotten]

I have 2 major projects slated for summer 2006: Tournaments and AJAX (AJAX will make the game interface speedier and cut down on bandwidth).

Lack, come on, what good's a football team gonna do you, eh?

[bob the fig]

thats an awesome idea! i think it would be fun

[Black Jack]

I'm all for a world mega-map, the more... the merry

A question... how many players will the map support?

Judging by your composite map... it would permit up to 36 players.

Triple with 36 players...would be very interesting

[AndyDufresne]

I imagine a seemingly impossible battle...each member of your team ends up on a different continent...fending for themselves, hehe. But it all could be interesting....but lets work on realstic items for now.


--Andy

[freakshow]

In real life there are 193 countries, with only a few removals that could be whittled down to 180 countries which would divide evenly among any number of people, sure in a 3 player game each person would have 60 countries, thats just the price you pay for having such a cool map. I would be willing to do some graphics for this with out subcontinates however as has been mentioned scrolling will be involved.

[AndyDufresne]

If the world map was ever created, I almost think it should be limited to 'Large' games only. Chances are someone would end up with a continent or two early off in the game! hehe, but as there are starting to be small maps for only 3-4 players, there should also be the same standard for large maps, having only x-y number of players.

--Andy

[Black Jack]

With mega-maps, designers need to step out of the box.

The biggest one that I know of has 226 territories... split between 29 continents.

My favorites run from 70 to a 100+ territories, 8 to 12 continents and a max of 16 players.

[Willgfass]

it would seem pretty ffun, albeit long

[fluffybunnykins]

I guess we'd have to think about deployment - I mean would you be able to to take your huge reinforcement that you've earnt by conquering Africa (for example) and plonk it all in a remote corner of Greenland where you previously had just one army on one solitary territory, thence destabilizing the whole of North America?
Hold on, that's a bit like Bush in reverse!
But you get what I mean?