[PB 85][lurkers] somehow, civ4 returned

[greenline]

someone recommended rolling twenty maps and sharing them among lurkers. Nothing against rolling that many, but I don't want to take 5+ screenshots for each starting location per map. If there's an ergonomic way to get all the important details for a map in one quick screenshot then I might do that later, but I figured it's better err on the side of more balance rather than less.

So far I messed around with B&S to get settings I liked for 5 players. Normal continents and islands mixed in on small seemed to be best (Tectonics, global highlands, and Totestra would work better with 7-8 players, not so much here I think). When I found a shape I liked I then looked at each start and did some light balancing. Every start should have two at least directions to settle in early on with available food and some grass tiles, with horses placed to ideally be less convenient early on than the copper. All strategic resources should be available.

Things I did not do: add ivory to every start, add plains hills.

Start A:




The most significant changes were here. Originally the landmass with the silks was an island, and there was no land connection to the southwest either. I added land bridges to not force the player to rush galleys just to put down cities early on, made the land to the south a little more hospitable with a bit more seafood + less desert, and added strategics.

Start B:




Removed some jungle to the north, added strategics, added a bit of grass on the desert to the west. This could potentially use a bit more sprucing up if lurkers agree, as it is rather food sparse and has a lot of jungle in the way.

Start C:




Greened up the southeast a little, added strategics, trimmed a bit of jungle.

Start D:




Mostly added strategics here. There is a lot of jungle, might also need a bit of extra food.

Start E:




Added strategics and a bit of food to the west.

Full zoomed out shot of the map:

[MJW (ya that one)]

Love the star wars refernce

[civac2]

Map seems very imbalanced.

[greenline]

I can roll and edit a map to be a lot more balanced than this one, I just got the impression that more of the players wanted something rougher and more random.

[civac2]

Maybe. It is not fun to be stuck in a position which was not winnable from the getgo for months.

[Mjmd]

I was the one who recommended twenty. However, I also recommended just showing us lurkers the 3 best. Which should cut down on the work.

I will say big and small is a crap map script for multiplayer. I think only Commodore voiced an opinion on script, but even in his initial thread comments it doesn't seem he wants to go late. However, big and small will probably go late........

[greenline]

I tried rolling some more maps and was dissatisfied with what random scripts can put out for five players. For something vaguely balanced you are really limited to a snake pangaea, a 2 player + 3 player continent, or 5 private islands. So eventually I just decided to edit a snake pangaea from tectonics that looked interesting:




High level map overview. This is after sinking chunks of land to make it more evenly distributed, not too big, and other balancing. 






Start A, including what players will see and the surrounding terrain.






Start B






Start C






Start D






Start E

Balancing up to this point includes strategics, including two early copper sources for each player and one horse. Capitals are not made to be identical in strength but each has three food and a plains hill. Players have access to some calendar happy, ivory, and one or two precious metals early, as well as at least one significant island nearby.

[RefSteel]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Looking just at early strategics:

Start C needs closer mainland copper and horses.
Start D needs closer mainland iron.
Start E needs mainland horses.

THen, looking just at later strategics, they all look okay except that Start A's only Coal sources seem to be contested.

[civac2]

This maps looks a lot better. It is connected in a ring? Only issue perhaps is that the huge mountain range produces a strategic imbalance. It is very cool though.

[greenline]

This maps looks a lot better. It is connected in a ring? Only issue perhaps is that the huge mountain range produces a strategic imbalance. It is very cool though.

It is connected in a ring.

Added close by copper and horses to Start C. Also expanded the land a bit since this was the most cramped start.




Added mainland horses to Start E:




Closer iron to start D:




Closer coal added to start B[sic]:





An overview of the large mountain range, which was a feature of the original map roll that I scaled back somewhat. The red arrows shows the paths units can take over hills, while the purple arrows highlight routes of flat terrain that players could use to attack with 2 movers without obstructions. It also locks down a big chunk of the land not available to all 5 players as unproductive, but aesthetically pleasing tundra+ice.