Omega Cities v4 <waiting for XML update>

[natty dread]

351 total territories. 16 starting positions. 160 buildings in 16 cities. 191 land territories. Supersize....

Welcome to Omega Cities. We don't do things half way here...

We push all the envelopes. All of them.

v4.2

Click image to enlarge.

older versions

v4.1

Click image to enlarge.

v4
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/125/omega4.png
V3
http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/6788/omega3.png
V2
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/1169/omega2.png
V1
http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/6789/omega1.png
V0 Drafts
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/6352/cow4.png
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/7161/cow3.png
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7161/cow3.png
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/7161/cow3.png
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/4163/cow2.png
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7269/cowk.png

It is 20 minutes to the future. After world war 3, civilization has degenerated into isolated city-states, squabbling & fighting each other for the sparse resources. The society is heavily militarized. Your task is to build your city into an invincible stronghold, and gradually eliminate your competition, annexing their lands to your own, eventually building a new country. Surely a noble cause like your justifies any means, no matter how violent...


Comments welcome.


Gameplay section: under construction...

[Teflon Kris]

Sounds like ...

Age of Cities

In a post-apocolyptic world ...

Incorporating AI into the story would be cool

[theBastard]

I like it, just maybe a litle more simple gameplay would be fine. too much "buildings" are there for me...

[natty dread]

Something I'm considering is making the land area into a hexagonal map, similar to king's court...

[DJENRE]

COuld be nice. Let's see what you'll do to make it nicer.

[natty dread]

Click image to enlarge.

Ok, I made a hex-based layout. The map now has a whoppin 344 territories. (as a funny coincidence, the image is also 344 KB in size...)

I will probably add some impassables.

I also decided to get rid of the starting/neutral distinction for cities. This gives 16 starting positions. Although I might drop it to 12 and have 4 of the cities start neutral, but either way, the map will be ready for 12-player games if they ever get implemented. I mean, why make a map as large as this if you can't play 12 player games on it...

[CJ Lues]

Awesome!!! Cant wait to play THIS map!!!

[natty dread]

A slight graphical update, to give an idea of the direction I was planning to take this, graphically.

Click image to enlarge.

..damn, I forgot a port...

[natty dread]

Another graphical update. Man, this map is fun to draw.

Click image to enlarge.

[QoH]

ONly 20 minutes into the future and we are in WW3? Damn, that sucks

[natty dread]

ONly 20 minutes into the future and we are in WW3? Damn, that sucks

It's an expression. It's not meant as literally 20 minutes.

Man, drawing this map is so much fun I just can't stop. I made icons for farms and mines.

Click image to enlarge.

Btw, the territory count is now at 351. Which is one less than Hive.

[natty dread]

I changed the name of the map. It's a reference to "Omega day", an euphemism for apocalypse... this is after all a map of a post-apocalyptic world... well, I couldn't think of anything better. Let me know if you like or hate the name.

Click image to enlarge.

This is now a working draft, territory names etc. are in place.

Comments welcome.

[natty dread]

Click image to enlarge.

I changed factories to give +2 per mine since there are fewer mines.
Also transport centers give a bonus based on the amount of transport centers, now. It's the only non-cumulative bonus building now.

And some other minor changes.

[OliverFA]

Very interesting concept! I will go in deep to offer some meaningful comments for this map. But for the moment I wanted to say that it is really worth. That is what CC really needs. Maps which are original and have an interesting gameplay.

[natty dread]

Thanks, I appreciate it. Feedback would be welcome.

[grifftron]

Wish it could be made without everything being hexagons... we do have the new map sizes now, be a little bit more creative maybe... i just don't like seeing all these hexagon maps coming out, kings court, the hive exc... but just my 2 cents... if others like it, they like it.. go for it i guess

[natty dread]

Wish it could be made without everything being hexagons... we do have the new map sizes now, be a little bit more creative maybe...

Thanks for your opinion. Firstly... you do notice that the map is already supersize? There's not much larger I could go... and making the map even larger just to fit the territories in different shapes would be counter-productive.

Secondly, the hexagon arrangement is something that is needed for this map. Hexagon is the perfect natural shape. It is one of the few polygons that tessellate. It can be used to create a grid where every polygon is the exact same size and the same length from each other (unlike, say, squares). Triangles would work too, but essentially, they would be the same as hexagons, only less intuitive. By having a regular shape for the territories, it is also much easier and more intuitive to figure out the range of bombardments.

Thirdly, hexagon maps have a long history of being used in strategy games, both board games and computerized ones. Using hexagons is not only a practical choice, but a thematic one as well - it summons a feeling of a complex strategy game, which this map essentially is.

In summary... the hexagons are necessary and will not be removed from the map.

I can understand and accept if you don't like the map... massively complex maps like this certainly aren't for everyone.

[The Bison King]

Would much rather see you working on Age of Steam Pacific Rail.

[natty dread]

Would much rather see you working on Age of Steam Pacific Rail.

Is that the only reason you voted no?

If so, I'll count it as yes

[The Bison King]

Would much rather see you working on Age of Steam Pacific Rail.

Is that the only reason you voted no?

If so, I'll count it as yes

eh, not really... I'm not interested in this map at all. I'm not meaning to be negative but you asked. My vote really is a No.

I'll be waiting for Pacific Rail, do you still plan on doing it? It seems like it keeps getting pushed behind project after project. Korea, Antarctica, and now this. I'm more convinced than ever that Pacific rail will be the bomb, especially after seeing how Siberia turned out (really digging that one).

[natty dread]

Ok, we're getting a bit off topic here... but, briefly:

Firstly, I've never had a set schedule or order for my maps. I'm sorry if I have said something that has misled you to think otherwise.

Secondly... I was planning on Pacific Rail, but honestly, I'm not sure about it at this point. It all depends on how popular Transsib ends up being. Orient Express has not been too popular (Lunar War was released at the same time and it has over 2x more active & finished games.) It's still too early to say about Transsib, but if it ends up as (or more) unpopular as OE, then I don't know if I should bother with a third part. At this point, the only thing that is safe to say about it is, if/when I make it, it's going to be totally different from both OE and Transsib.


Now as for this map... I appreciate your honest opinion, and I know this map is not for everyone. This is a huge, complex map, and while some people appreciate maps of this kind of complexity, not all people do... that's ok. I however think that this map is going to be my "magnum opus" in the sense that it's going to push the envelope of CC mapmaking on pretty much all fronts.

This map is also something that has been stewing in my head for a long time and it's something I really want to do. Lately I've been doing a lot of maps where other people design gameplay and I just create graphics... now, I want to do something epic and massive that I can call entirely my own.

[The Bison King]

Well good luck.

[OliverFA]

I changed the name of the map. It's a reference to "Omega day", an euphemism for apocalypse... this is after all a map of a post-apocalyptic world... well, I couldn't think of anything better. Let me know if you like or hate the name.

I personally prefer, using your own words, "20 minutes into the future"

[natty dread]

I changed the name of the map. It's a reference to "Omega day", an euphemism for apocalypse... this is after all a map of a post-apocalyptic world... well, I couldn't think of anything better. Let me know if you like or hate the name.

I personally prefer, using your own words, "20 minutes into the future"

That's a bit too long for a map name...

[natty dread]

Ok, as for gameplay...

I'm thinking, since this map has a lot of territories, and I want the focus to be on the building bonuses, not hoarding land, I'm going to severely limit the territory bonus.

What I'm currently thinking is: 1 for every 4 territories, minimum 3, maximum 10.


--- more gameplay musings:

If, by chance, we manage to get conditional autodeploys implemented while the map is in gameplay, I'd very much like to make all the building bonuses to autodeploy in their respective cities. Except maybe the transport center bonus. This would bring a totally unique aspect in the gameplay of the map.

It's a pretty big if though.


Another question that needs consideration, is... losing conditions? There are several buildings that can only bombard, and several buildings that cannot assault at all. Perhaps it would be prudent to code it so that if you hold nothing but buildings that cannot assault, you are out of the game.

Although, on that note... I'm not sure if the buildings should be unable to assault back to their city (except barracks). Sure, this makes the barracks building more special... but perhaps it doesn't need to be that special, maybe it suffices to have it as an easy autodeploy bonus? Also the military academy building will hugely increase the importance of the barracks.


Also... the Air Base is an important building, being able to bombard other cities' buildings. But it seems really powerful, each of them being able to assault all cities. Perhaps a range limit should be implemented? Like, bombard the buildings of cities at range 10. This would effectively make it about half the map for most cities. Or perhaps a less realistic but more "fair" solution: bombard the buildings of cities on the same side of the river?


Thoughts on these and other topics would be welcome.