PB71: Lurkers dwell in blissful ignorance

[Qgqqqqq]

No players.

[Qgqqqqq]

I didn't realise this had a subforum.

I've randomly determined that Thoth would be the first player in the turn order.

I can't figure out how to load Totestra through FoR, which likely means it's not possible. Could someone link the adjusted Tectonics script? I think Totestra is likely too unbalanced on its own.

[Tarkeel]

Should be able to roll the map with CtH, just remember the pasture swap for balance. I won't have civ access until Tuesday night, but can help out then if it's still needed.

I think the start balance for 69 was good, but resources should be done less deterministic.

[Charriu]

Should be able to roll the map with CtH, just remember the pasture swap for balance. I won't have civ access until Tuesday night, but can help out then if it's still needed.

Krill removed the pasture swap for this version.

[Mjmd]

Did none of these players read my hatred towards Totestra or am I just wrong?

See rant in PB64 here

http://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/showt...704&page=4

Taking a look at the best example Commodore could come up with below:



1) Its big. I'm not sure how big the players want map, but just a note.
2) The natural expansion room for each player are VASTLY different in area. And this is very normal for Totestra. 
3) Neighbor balance is horrible. The players on the ends only have 1 neighbor while India has 3. Neighbor balance is really hard on random maps but everyone should have at least 2. Again very normal on Totestra that 2 people end up on the ends with islands to expand to.
4) While land quality is always bad on random maps the deserts are even worse than the plains I've been sticking people with. Desert areas again very common on Totestra which does make them feel natural and all, but not great for gameplay. Specifically Maya got screwed here.

If you find a Totestra map that looks good, fair enough, just wanted to throw out these factors as random maps have enough problems without purposefully adding to them by using a bad script. 


I kind of wonder how people would feel about combining random maps. IE do a random Pangea and add some small islands you roll in a big / small or an islands map. One of the things I've hated about maps I've rolled is the access to islands is uneven.

[scooter]

Totestra is what you get when you prioritize aesthetics over gameplay. Someone's going to roll a practically unplayable start, and then I'm gonna have to make a surprise-pikachu meme with their name on it.

[Sullla]

Agreed, it's a map script that produces beautiful-looking maps and can be a lot of fun to mess around with in Single Player. (I have routinely seen starting positions with zero food resource tiles surrounded by jungle or desert or whatnot.) But running a competitive Multiplayer game on such a setup is crazy, this is not going to make for a good experience.

[Qgqqqqq]

I'm going to roll some Totestra maps to see, but I don't necessarily disagree. Some points though: (1) yes, just like Tectonics you need to artificially resize the map - Comms example is saying look how pretty this is, not how balanced, (2) I agree re land quality, hence why I'd want to enhance it with FoR.

I'd generally say that I'm not looking to do significant balancing. So if I can't find an okay Totestra I'll definitely go to another script. I'm not going to play around with copying and pasting to graft maps together

[Tarkeel]

I'm back home a bit early and can help look over starts for tentative maps.

[Qgqqqqq]

Thanks Tarkeel

Alright, I couldn't find a Totestra I thought was okay, so here's a greened Tectonics instead. I've also attached an alternative save - this one is FRTec4. Note that for some reason everyone spawned in the ocean - I'll have to move them to the closest land. Still, I quite like this map - I'll make some slight changes so it's circumnavigable with water. Teal is in a pretty favourable position, but other than that everyone feels reasonable. Just need to discuss the starts - opinions welcome!




Assume a move to the Grassland tile 2NE.


Not sure quite where to move them - either 3N or 3W/1N. Will likely make the peaks navigable also.


2S




Probably 1N. Could see 2W.

And the minimap: