[Abandoned] - Epic Epoch

[Mr_Adams]

I like this map concept, though I don't think I'd be interested in playing it myself.

[thenobodies80]

[Victor Sullivan]

Oo! Congrats!

Could you update the first post?

[Evil DIMwit]

Done.

Any further thoughts?

[Victor Sullivan]

Hmmm... Well, I'm not a fan of letter/number territory names... Is it possible we could formulate names for the individual territories? I can help, if you'd like

And explain to me how the Newtown bonuses work? Do the bonuses apply for each block or all of that color? Either way, the bonuses or territories will probably have to be adjusted...

One idea I thought of, to add a little crossover, is to drop the markets from Seascape and instead give a bonus for holding a Newtown store or factory. This presents some issues, I'm sure, but I thought since we're slamming everything together in one map, why not have them interact? Maybe have the throne yield a bonus for holding other castles/villages? Have oases yield more per "Ocean" territory? Idk, just throwing stuff out there.

[danfrank]

[quote="Victor Sullivan"]Hmmm... Well, I'm not a fan of letter/number territory names... Is it possible we could formulate names for the individual territories? I can help, if you'd like

dreaming up some names and adding them in are 2 diffent things entirely.. The map is quite cluttered and appears it would be a large task..

[Evil DIMwit]

Newtown bonuses are for holding every block of the given color together.

The idea of having foreign markets in Newtown (and elsewhere) is interesting. So's having, say, +1 per Aeternum castle held for the throne, though that would take a bit of legend space that I'm not sure I have. As for naming each territory individually -- even if you set aside the clutter issues, the letter/number names are quite useful to keep territories organized in drop-down menus. I suppose that's less important nowadays with clicky maps, but it's a feature I quite like from WWII Europe.

[Hensow]

am I right in thinking FN is what is Nairobi on this sites classic and AU Dubai if so should they border any way I think Mr been is right the ocean is only a problem if you can very easily take the feudal bit from it which looks hard

[Evil DIMwit]

am I right in thinking FN is what is Nairobi on this sites classic and AU Dubai if so should they border

Yes they are, yes they should.

Here's a new version with some adjustments:

[bigimg]http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af239/RASSyndrome/CC_Misc/Epoch_3.png[/bigimg]

Ocean has a Seascape market now. Newtown does not, since I didn't feel it fit in gameplay-wise, though I could SB1's market over to NX1, or one of SB's resources.
The throne grants +1 per Aeternum castle -- I found a place to fit it in the legend.
I've fixed it so FN and AU touch now, without AU being too open.

I need to start thinking about neutral values and starting positions. Should each player start with a castle? I think that might be the only starting position thing really necessary.

[Victor Sullivan]

I like the changes! Though, should the Throne be more open, now?

[Victor Sullivan]

Oh, and you could probably make another resource pair - put one in Newtown, one in Fahrenheit?

[Evil DIMwit]

1. The throne is supposed to be well-protected.

2. If there's another resource pair, it should be in close proximity and near a market. I don't want the maps bleeding too far into each other. Something like an Aeternum village in Fahrenheit is cool (I'll see if one can fit), but I wouldn't want one in every single area.


Also, bonus pic for you guys: Back when I was putting this together, I was considering a different climate for Fahrenheit. So here's a behind-the-scenes look at the Frostbite texture:

[Evil DIMwit]

Something like an Aeternum village in Fahrenheit is cool (I'll see if one can fit)

Long story short: It can't. Though I don't think a random +2 autodeploy would do much good there anyway.

[Teflon Kris]

With the castles as starts - minor concern, but some are a bit cornered (e.g. Nobles and Templars), whilst others have access to engage in attacking other areas.

The new connections (Helipads and ports) have opened up the map icely - Ocean is still easier to hold - maybe a helipad there too (next-door to the port)? Or maybe move the Newtown, Fahrenheit and Enclave Helipads slightly closer to Seascape may make Ocean a little more attack-able?

With starts it may also be worth considering a castle + one region in each zone? Maybe? Or maybe not necessary.

[Evil DIMwit]

With the castles as starts - minor concern, but some are a bit cornered (e.g. Nobles and Templars), whilst others have access to engage in attacking other areas.

Some of them are more secure bonuses; others are more open. I sure hope I don't have to balance them exactly. I think they're more or less all right, except maybe Generals which is very open. Not sure how I'd fix it, though.

The new connections (Helipads and ports) have opened up the map icely - Ocean is still easier to hold - maybe a helipad there too (next-door to the port)? Or maybe move the Newtown, Fahrenheit and Enclave Helipads slightly closer to Seascape may make Ocean a little more attack-able?

Could be done.

With starts it may also be worth considering a castle + one region in each zone? Maybe? Or maybe not necessary.

The only other zone I really considered that for is Fahrenheit, and with the helipads, that's not really necessary anymore.

[Evil DIMwit]

Here's an adjusted version, with a helipad in Ocean and the territories in northern Aeternum reconfigured to give the Generals a slightly better position.

Also the Newtown helipad is now in the area that corresponds to Chicago, because it's so appropriate.

[bigimg]http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af239/RASSyndrome/CC_Misc/Epoch_5.png[/bigimg]

[natty dread]

Hm. You currently have a separate legend for each area, which is of course good. But I think you should add a sort of "global legend" for the map elements that are shared between areas, ie. the helipads and ports. It may require some moving stuff around but I think it's doable.

[Evil DIMwit]

Other than the helipads, the cross-zone elements are the ports/markets that thematically belong in Seascape, and the throne/castle bone from Enclave. It's an odd combination to be putting in a whole new section of legend.

[tvremote]

What I really like about this map is how the different themes blend together a little bit. Along that vein I think it would be interesting if you added a newton bonus for the part of seascape outlined in yellow. TBH I thought it was part of newton originally because of the outline. I don't know if that would make seascape too overpowered, but it would be cool to have that little bit of blending of the themes.

[Evil DIMwit]

What I really like about this map is how the different themes blend together a little bit. Along that vein I think it would be interesting if you added a newton bonus for the part of seascape outlined in yellow. TBH I thought it was part of newton originally because of the outline. I don't know if that would make seascape too overpowered, but it would be cool to have that little bit of blending of the themes.

While it might be cool, that part already has its own associated bonus already, so making it more powerful would be unnecessary.

[Victor Sullivan]

Alright, so Ocean has a connection with Seascape (the not-so-local market), and Enclave has a connection with Aeternum (the throne bonus), so what about a connection with Fahrenheit and Newtown? Maybe put a house or factory on one of the Fahrenheit territories? Like maybe a house on FC1 or a factory on FT3?

[Evil DIMwit]

I don't think there's really a point. From a gameplay standpoint, a single auto-deploy or 1-bonus territory doesn't fit very well with the Oasis-like mechanics; from a thematic standpoint, there's not really a reason to put a factory in the middle of the desert. I mean, the helicopter pad is already kind of stretching it.

[Victor Sullivan]

I don't think there's really a point. From a gameplay standpoint, a single auto-deploy or 1-bonus territory doesn't fit very well with the Oasis-like mechanics; from a thematic standpoint, there's not really a reason to put a factory in the middle of the desert. I mean, the helicopter pad is already kind of stretching it.

I was thinking more in terms of the factory using the adjacent oases' resources.

[Victor Sullivan]

Okay, some bonus hammering-out:

• Newtown
  
  • I suggest making Housing 2, Business 3, and Industrial 1. Given the two territory Housing bonus area, and the fact that the Business and Industrial districts are stocked with +1 bonuses, I think it'll work out fine.
• Enclave
  
  • Barley to +3, since it has an extra border with the helipad.
  • Meadow to +4, as all of its territories are borders.
• Aeternum
  
  • Do castles count in the region bonus calculation? I noticed Mighty's realm only has two territories excluding the castle, for example.
• Fahrenheit
  
  • The Twin Oasis bonus seems rather steep, given the other bonuses around the map, even with the auto-decay. Maybe something like +10 to +12 would work better.
  • The Small Oases I think would be more appropriately valued at +2, like I said before, given the other bonuses on the map.
  • I realize there's the auto-decay of all desert territories that plays into this, but most of the time , no one leaves a stack of more than 1 out in the desert, so it doesn't have an effect. In addition, they're cheap territories toward the territory bonus, and it's not likely someone's going to gather up your desert territories. Also, you only have to guard one territory (2 with the Twin Oasis, but you get a much larger bonus) and with a bonus of even +2, that's pretty easy to maintain. Even if you make the Twin Oasis bonus +10, that's +3 per Twin Oasis territory after adding the auto-decay.
  • Also, what's the reasoning behind the dark brown lines? It seems they don't have a gameplay function... Were those put there to define the territory formula you used for each piece?
• Ocean and Seascape seem fine to me.

-Sully

[Evil DIMwit]

Newtown:
I'm not sure if it's clear that to get a bonus in Newtown you have to hold every territory of the corresponding color. I need a way to state that more succinctly, though.

Enclave:
I might increase Barley to 3. Meadow might be worth 4, maybe.

Aeternum:
Yes, castles count in region calculations, just as they do in Feudal War.

Fahrenheit:
To get to the Oases, you need to break through some neutrals, so I want them a bit overvalued.I'm thinking something like 3 for every oasis territory, 3 for every desert territory one away from the twins, 2 for the next layer, and 1 for the next layer (maybe 2 for FL3).
The brown lines are pretty much just there to delineate which region of the desert corresponds to which Classic territory, and accordingly separate the regions that the letter codes refer to.