Too Many Maps ??!!

[vchef69]

Is it just me or is there too many maps out there ? I just find a hand-full of maps not interesting at all ( Cross-word, Circus Maximus, Indo-China, Chinese Checkers, Conquer-man, and a few others) Any thoughts to eliminating some seldom played maps ??? Just my opinion !!! Vchef69

[Timminz]

Why eliminate them. You can easily just not play them, like most people do.

[lord voldemort]

exactly they arent bothering...just ignore them...

[Optimus Prime]

There are some players who enjoy the difference in gameplay on Chinese Checkers or Crossword.

[RjBeals]

There is a new map select page that is being developed. I've seen the beta. It will make scrolling through maps a lot easier. It's also being discussed to allow users to create their own "favorites" screen where you can drag & display just the maps you care to start games on. You could of course go back a level to view all. Cause let's face it - there's more and more people making maps, and we aren't going to stop !!

[amazzony]

There are some players who enjoy the difference in gameplay on Chinese Checkers or Crossword.

Yes, exactly

If you don't like Crossword then don't play it. I adore that map and I enjoy surprising people on tournaments with it (though I've used it so long that people get used to it ).

[Optimus Prime]

There is a new map select page that is being developed. I've seen the beta. It will make scrolling through maps a lot easier. It's also being discussed to allow users to create their own "favorites" screen where you can drag & display just the maps you care to start games on. You could of course go back a level to view all. Cause let's face it - there's more and more people making maps, and we aren't going to stop !!

Well, YOU better not stop at least, RjBeals.

I figure if you make enough I won't have to play on anything but yours.

[brandoncfi]

Without all the amazing maps on CC life would be boring, also how would I run my Map Blaster tourneys

[Vace Cooper]

There is a new map select page that is being developed. I've seen the beta. It will make scrolling through maps a lot easier. It's also being discussed to allow users to create their own "favorites" screen where you can drag & display just the maps you care to start games on. You could of course go back a level to view all. Cause let's face it - there's more and more people making maps, and we aren't going to stop !!

I was just about to suggest that.. That sounds great!

[edbeard]

I disagree with you all

If vchef69 doesn't like a map then we should just burn it. We can't have him waking up in a cold sweat knowing that other people are enjoying maps that he/she has no interest.

[Pedronicus]

I was asking for people to stop making maps mid 2006. they never stopped making maps. Bastards!

[Snorri1234]

I disagree with you all

If vchef69 doesn't like a map then we should just burn it. We can't have him waking up in a cold sweat knowing that other people are enjoying maps that he/she has no interest.

Word.

My entire life is dedicated to making vchef69 feel good.

[InkL0sed]

I disagree with you all

If vchef69 doesn't like a map then we should just burn it. We can't have him waking up in a cold sweat knowing that other people are enjoying maps that he/she has no interest.

Word.

My entire life is dedicated to making vchef69 feel good.

Error: SarcasmOverkillException

[Robinette]

I was asking for people to stop making maps mid 2006. they never stopped making maps. Bastards!

If you start up your crusade again... You will have my support!

Or just give up and make a map that has Map-Makers doing battle in a virtual Map-Making world....

[hulmey]

I disagree with you all

If vchef69 doesn't like a map then we should just burn it. We can't have him waking up in a cold sweat knowing that other people are enjoying maps that he/she has no interest.

Not burn it up, but at least have the option of not seeing it as RJbeals has described. a favourites list is a fantastic idea and would keep everythin neat and tidy. I dont intend to play half the maps on here

[killmanic]

I agree we should cut the bad maps that alot of people hate like, classic and doodle.

[hulmey]

I agree we should cut the bad maps that alot of people hate like, classic and doodle.

doodle is out of my favourite list thats for sure!

[gimil]

To many maps? I hope you mean not enought

[vchef69]

Well - well , very interesting comments guys !! Points well taken , I CAN just ignore and not play the maps I dont like, but I was trying to consider the overload of the system !!! I agree that being able to select your favorites and list them is a good one !!! Cheers, Vchef69

[gdeangel]

I saw this coming a mile away ... the press to decommission maps. Some of the least popular maps have the most interesting gameplay. The diversity of maps is why I play on this site (and this site only.)

I doubt is puts much of a load on the system... once you have a game engine that plugs in with a map template, you've gotten yourself into a model that will work with the same efficiency whether you have one model or 1000... I doubt the architecture has dedicated a dedicated game server for each map, which is what would be applicable to your concern. Maybe that would improve performance marginally, but you'd only really notice it once the site gets a lot bigger and load starts to max out the limits of the scalability of the current architecture (which I have no actual knowledge about in fairness to the site).

What is a real problem, though, is the chaos of having 88 maps to choose from one 1 screen when you want to start a game. He's what happens: a noob hears about the site, signs up and gets overwhelmed when they try to start a game. So then they try to search for a game, but again, they need to select a map filter to get a decent result. They get overwhelmed and decided to just play classic, and never quite get over the apprehension of "strange" maps.

My proposal, and I've made this a few times, is to revise the "map list" screens(that would be search & start game) into a drill down format. The drill down would be by category, using the categories that cairnsw bases the Map Movement stats on is a simple place to start (continental/country/city/region, empirical, historic battles, WWII, fantasy, Sci-fi, game transplants). There would be a "show all" button, that would bring up something like the current pages, but the default view would be just continental (i.e., classic and a dozen or so of the other stuff that's easier to start out on). You could have a setting in control panel for people who don't like that so it would default to show all maps automatically. I also like the suggestion of a "favorites" map list, but that would only be helpful to veterans and not deal with the issue of overwhelming noobs.

[ahunda]

My proposal, and I've made this a few times, is to revise the "map list" screens(that would be search & start game) into a drill down format. The drill down would be by category, using the categories that cairnsw bases the Map Movement stats on is a simple place to start (continental/country/city/region, empirical, historic battles, WWII, fantasy, Sci-fi, game transplants).

I think, these "theme categories" in the Map Movement Stats are completely useless. Rather implement categories according to game-play. Something like this:

What we did is put stuff into 4 basic groups.

1) Simple - If you understand risk you can just read the continent values, and jump in and play.

2) Moderate - If you understand risk you can understand this, but you'll need to read a rule or two in the legend first to get it. You could probably still jump in and play and be alright though.

3) Complex - It can be understood, but it make take you some reading and a bit of playing before you fully get it, there are many rules. Can't just jump in and play without reading or you'll miss things.

4) Extreme - You pretty much need BOB (script to help you understand the map) or have an avid background in strategy games before you can understand this map. Even with reading through all the rules you could still be confused and miss things without several play throughs.

Simple

Classic
Africa
Ancient Greece
Arctic
Asia
Australia
Battle For Australia
Brazil
British Isles
Cairns Coarl Coast
Canada
Caribbean Islands
Doodle Earth
Europe
France
Germany
Hong Kong
Iberia
Indochina
Ireland
Middle Earth
Middle East
Montreal
North America
Portugal
Puget Sound
Scotland
South America
USA
U.S. Senate

2) Moderate

Alexander's Empire
BeNeLux
CCU
Chinese Checkers
Circus Maximus
Discworld
Extreme Global Warming
Feudal Wars
Great Lakes
Italy
Madness
Malta
Midkemdil
Mongol Empire
Philippines
San Francisco
Space
Tamriel
World 2.1
WWII Eastern Front
WWII Iwo Jima


3) Complex

American Civil War
Berlin 1961
Crossword
Duck and Cover
D-Day: Omaha Beach!
King of the Mountains
Siege!
Solar System
USApocalypse
WWII Western Front
8 Thoughts

4) Extreme

Age of Merchants
Age of Realms: Magic
Age of Realms: Might
Bamboo Jack
Battle of Actium
Conquer Man
Pearl Harbor
Rail USA
Valley of the Kings

I am not saying, that I agree with everything in that list (e.g. why is San Francisco supposed to be more complicated than British Isles), just that a distinction along the lines of game-play makes more sense to me.

[gdeangel]

Yeah, I like that idea... I must have missed coleman's post. But I also agree some of these maps are miscategorized... If Scotland and Italy both at least belong in the same classification, and Madness would seem to be under stated in difficulty.

I also think there is something to distinguishing battle maps from geographic maps, but either way it would cut the intimidation factor of seeing 88 maps on your first trip to the site.

[AndyDufresne]

Some ideas regarding a better start a game screen have been tossed around, and one may come into development.


--Andy

[killmanic]

The list is missing waterloo.

[t-o-m]

chef, stfu there are not too many maps