Amelia Wrote:Pyramids? I thought that was a lock for us
Well, I certainly wouldn't mind that
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
Many excellent points by everyone. I think it is too early to be sure which teams will be strongest, as we do not yet know how participation and team cohesion are going to develop. Which players are most active and how well they work together is going to determine which teams are strongest as teams, rather than as individuals. Scooter's point about oledavy and PB6 is a good one -- Team 3 in that game really came together as a team. So the Pirates may be one to watch if oledavy can inspire them as he did in PB6.
Merovech Wrote:Early wonder thoughts: First, I agree that TEAM is going to try to build The Oracle, maybe planning on grabbing Metal Casting for The Colossus and forges. I think that the Tropical Trolls are going to try very hard for The Pyramids and The Great Library, Team Menagerie is going to grab Stonehenge and most of the other wonders, and everyone is going to want the Great Lighthouse.
Team Menagerie certainly has an edge with IND, but if stone or marble are available that could have an even bigger effect. If we are right about the map being roomy, then REX is going to be important and any early wonders come with opportunity cost of foregone expansion. Of course toroidal maintenance means REX comes with real costs as well and the economy must be grown to pay for it, so maybe some foregone REX is not that big a deal?
I strongly agree that Tropical Trolls are going to want the Pyramids. As the only non-FIN team they are going to need something to compete economically with everyone else. I find it curious no one went for PHI, even FIN/PHI which was certainly available. (Yes, there is some anti-synergy with FIN and PHI, but there is also some 'best of both worlds' aspects that can be quite effective.) A Pyramids gambit is a bit less desirable than it might be without the extra GPP, but still could be quite strong even with everyone on an equal footing for GPP generation.
ATrain Wrote:Any thoughts on what the other teams might think of us?
Well, to me Pacal signifies an intention to REX and a solid economic base and the Vikings signal a willingness to go to war in the Macemen / Rifileman eras and a tatically dangerous foe on and near the sea. Overall, we're actually pretty versatile, I think.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
We don't have to kill at Macemen. I think that's a mistake - locking yourself into a kill gameplan just because of your UU. I think the biggest Viking boost isn't the Mace boost but it's the boat movement boost. The Zerk is a situational unit, but the boats are a BIG thing all game long. But Pacal is versatile as we're likely to have more land due to EXP, and in a late-game CE that favors us.
And what will they think about our team members? Are we going to be pegged as a dangerous team? Are we more likely to see a dogpile due to our esteemed leaders?
ATrain Wrote:And what will they think about our team members? Are we going to be pegged as a dangerous team? Are we more likely to see a dogpile due to our esteemed leaders?
Possibly yes. Diplo will be a challenging job here because of the natural tendency of teams to try to isolate the perceived leader a bit, even if that "leader" is not really the leader at all. Trying to make friends will be a high priority for us.
scooter Wrote:Possibly yes. Diplo will be a challenging job here because of the natural tendency of teams to try to isolate the perceived leader a bit, even if that "leader" is not really the leader at all. Trying to make friends will be a high priority for us.
And having dedlurked for Rego a fair bit, it's interesting how hard much harder diplo can be when the player/team has a reputation from previous games that won't easily change, no matter how we act this time around.