bryguy wrote:question, should i leave the resources as they are with famine and all, or scratch famine and the current resources and replace them with better resources? like a forest and lumber yard to stop the decay on the grass side of the wall where they have the siege instruments
i can't tell, since i don't really know 100% how the famine system works, but i think it's a good idea to just add wood to the system you use, if possible
i don't think you should remove the idea of famine, as i think it was a very good idea and it's something very different from other maps. (therefore you need to be very careful with explaining though, if noone knows exactly how it works, noone will play your map cuz it will be 'too hard to understand'
did you remove 1 castle btw? i really think 8 castles would be better, if you have room to place it.
also make sure the map is balanced (equally bonuses, distance between important recourses and 'connections' and possible ways in and out) off course it doesn't be to have perfect balance, but at least it needs to be a bit fair for all starting positions

(i didn't really have had time to look at the balance of it now, so you should dicide for yourself if no castle has serious advantages or disadvantages over others, or maybe someone else can help you with it)
some things do draw my attention tho
the desert has still only 2 ways out (scorpion pass which has still only 2 borders outside the desert) but there are 4 ways in now (don't know how the trading camps work so i didn't count them as a way in or out)
(defence disadvantage)
the island of Cardoce has only 1 way in and 4 ways out (the dock, bordering the 4 other docks (serious defence advantage, possible minor attacking advantage)
some more things might need a bit of tweaking in order to get balanced
the updates look good so far