Baltic States [3/10] V33 P34 Beta!!

[Bruceswar]

The vote had merit. I took 2nd place. Better than me taking 4th place.

[lostatlimbo]

This looks pretty good.

You do definitely need more impassables. Particularly in the Latvia section, but really could use 4-5 more across the map.

I hope you try some different fonts too. This one is pretty flat and doesn't really fit the look of the map (in my opinion).

Hope it makes it through the Foundry sooner than later. I need it for a tourney. :)

[lostatlimbo]

One other suggestion: just for a fun effect, you should try distorting and blurring the gridlines a little bit in random spots. Your background has the texture of an old map, but the grid is too straight and clear. It is incongruous.

[Bruceswar]

A new update will be coming soon. I have some ideas on game play.

[TaCktiX]

It's been a couple weeks. Any forward movement on that update?

[Bruceswar]

I will have an update in a few days max.

[Bruceswar]

[bigimg]http://musiciansheadquarters.com/balticv12.png[/bigimg]

Changes:

Added Army numbers
Added neutral 3 to make sure nobody drops the island bonus.
Added Impassable in Estonia to balance out the play some there.
New Impassable for the Mountains

[iancanton]

west estonia and islands estonia can be combined usefully, for example, to form a proper continent in the classic sense. islands estonia especially ought to be eliminated as a stand-alone bonus because of its small size and isolated location.

Sorry I missed responding to you. I just want to mention I really happen to like that there is a bunch of bonuses. It leads to many different ways to win this map given different drops.

no worries, bruce. having a 2-region bonus in a corner of the map doesn't lead to many ways to win though. it simply ensures that this is the best part of the map to secure in the early stages and gives a consistent advantage to the one who has a good drop there (like classic oceania). with six 3-region and 4-region bonuses, which is already an extreme number, a tiny 2-region bonus in addition makes no sense at all.

my previous comments on the undesirability of a 2-region islands bonus still stand, bruce! this is especially because this bonus is in the corner. if u feel that u really must have a 2-region bonus, then split the central latvia bonus, which i see anyone with any sense avoiding, and merge west estonia with islands estonia.

ian.

[Bruceswar]

Any more thoughts on what Ian says?? What if I dropped it down to a 1 with a neutral 2?

[natty dread]

Seems feasible to me. A lot of maps have 2, even 1 territory bonuses, and if the bonus is low enough and there's no chance of dropping it, I don't see how having a 2-territory bonus would be a fundamentally bad idea.

[Bruceswar]

Seems feasible to me. A lot of maps have 2, even 1 territory bonuses, and if the bonus is low enough and there's no chance of dropping it, I don't see how having a 2-territory bonus would be a fundamentally bad idea.

That was my first thought also. Most people are not going to fight neutrals with a large chance to get broken.

[TaCktiX]

I agree with ian's concern. With it being a corner bonus, it'll be a total shoe-in +2 for anyone who decided to focus on that corner. In the early game it'll be hard to hold, but by the mid-game it might very well be the Most Effective Bonus.

[Bruceswar]

I agree with ian's concern. With it being a corner bonus, it'll be a total shoe-in +2 for anyone who decided to focus on that corner. In the early game it'll be hard to hold, but by the mid-game it might very well be the Most Effective Bonus.

So then would dropping it to a plus 1 rather than 2 help? Making it a neutral 2 also instead of 3.

[TaCktiX]

That sounds fair, and it's not a limiter seeing as that bonus can be expanded out of in two directions (unlike certain Classic bonuses *coughaustraliacough*).

[iancanton]

if u do this, then it'll be a mistake to drop the neutral to 2. keep it at 3 because it'll still be the easiest bonus to take in most 1v1 games, since most other bonuses will have at least one region with 3 random neutral troops.

u really need to do something about making the latvian bonuses easier, especially in the west. the winning strategies available are currently limited to variations of starting at the extremities and working inward.

ian.

[laughingcavalier]

Minor point: you have named the island Saaremaa after its capital Kuressaare - is that intentional?

[Bruceswar]

Minor point: you have named the island Saaremaa after its capital Kuressaare - is that intentional?

Not following you here?

[Victor Sullivan]

Minor point: you have named the island Saaremaa after its capital Kuressaare - is that intentional?

Not following you here?

I think he means you should change it to the name of the island, not the name of the capital.

-Sully

[isaiah40]

my previous comments on the undesirability of a 2-region islands bonus still stand, bruce! this is especially because this bonus is in the corner. if u feel that u really must have a 2-region bonus, then split the central latvia bonus, which i see anyone with any sense avoiding, and merge west estonia with islands estonia.

ian.

This I agree with. You can split Central Latvia at Cesis/Ogre and call them North/South Central Latvia. You could also switch Jelgava from West Latvia to South Central Latvia. As for the bonus values, both North and South Latvia could be +4, and West Latvia can remain at +4 as it will have the same number of bordering territories.

[thenobodies80]

You can split Central Latvia at Cesis/Ogre and call them North/South Central Latvia. You could also switch Jelgava from West Latvia to South Central Latvia. As for the bonus values, both North and South Latvia could be +4, and West Latvia can remain at +4 as it will have the same number of bordering territories.

I totally support what isaiah is saying. Currently Central Latvia looks like a no-man land. Have two smaller regions could help to have the players to stay in the middle of the map instead to run away to find a safe place in the edges of the map.
Also agree with iancanton about the possibility to remove the Island estonia bonus, merging it with west estonia (if you do it the value can be +4). But if you're not going to merge it I suggest to reduce west estonia to +3, it looks similar to SE estonia and the island looks and easy expansion if you already have the west part of estonia. Btw saying this I assume Rapla doesn't border with Paide, although if I look at the map those regions have a connection point.
Again, if you're not going to merge the island, maybe W latvia could be worth a +5 instead of a +4, not totally a central bonus, but I wouldn't go for that bonus if not necessary as it is now.
Finally I see the W lithuania as a +3, but also +2 doesn't look a so bad number.

I have some graphical comments but I'll leave them for when you reach the graphics stage.

Nobodies

[Bruceswar]

I can take those now ... Any comments are welcome. An update will be coming soon.

[ManBungalow]

Very nice.

>consider auto-deploys for the capital of each country
>split central latvia up as suggested already

And although you may not be completely at the graphical stage yet, I'll leave my thoughts now;
>the grid is visually...strange. I know it's marble, but those lines interfere with some of the borders and I think it'd look okay without
>the colours of some of the adjacent bonuses are quite similar - namely central/west latvia and north/west lithuania
>to be really meticulous, I might sort all the bonus listings from top to bottom geographically : )

[thenobodies80]

It's passed a month without an update.

Moving this one into the Recycling Box for a [Vacation] period, if you want to continue with the map, then one of the Foundry Moderators will be able to help put the thread back into the Foundry system, after an update has been made.

Nobodies

[Bruceswar]

To get this rolling again. We think there needs to be split in Latvia? Past that what else we looking at so we can get the game play stamp on this.

[natty dread]

Maybe you could consider dividing it like this?



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_regions_of_Latvia