South Africa 1885

[AndyDufresne]

Beta ftw!
Hopefully this will mark the onset of more SA maps

Or at least a few more Africa maps.


--Andy

[Leehar]

Beta ftw!
Hopefully this will mark the onset of more SA maps

Or at least a few more Africa maps.


--Andy

That too ofc, they have only around 5 or 6 with egypt taking a considerable portion of those by itself.(Rail Africa, Africa, and Madagascar are the only others I know of?)
I just couldn't help feel a bit biased in favour of sa tho (If I had more confidence in myself I might've tried it myself, I still may consider attempting it in the future if there aren't any forthcoming)
Still, africa has a considerable amount to share and there are a lot of possibilities for maps on it, so hopefully some enterprising mapmakers can share more on it (not least of which could be a map on something like the cradle of human-kind)

Anyway, I'm eagerly awaiting the beta of this map, best of luck completing the xml IH

[Industrial Helix]

Actually, Gilligan is graciously doing the XML for this one. I'm kind of petered out on this map myself.

As for other Africa maps... I was thinking a Barbary Coast map might be quite sweet with a hold a capital and then build your own bonus scheme based on famous hijackings and battles of Barbary history.

[army of nobunaga]

you or cairns or NAtty ever think about ebaying your maps in board form? I would buy some of them.

[MrBenn]

Hopefully Gilligan will be able to pull some XML from his array of handbags at some point soon...

I'm a little bit worried about the "bonus-doubling" of the capitals and forts. I'm assuming that they're starting neutral? At the same time, I wonder if they completely overpower some areas... Have you got a back-up plan in case they make the map incredibly unbalanced?

On a side note, the legend wording about the bonus-doubling could do with a bit more clarity - ie do they double ANY bonus, or just the area within which they reside?

[Industrial Helix]

The forts and ships start neutral and I can change it to read any bonus rather than each. They also start neutral.

As for gameplay balance, the idea is to replicate the scenario the British often found themselves in with the Boer wars (and to an extent the Zulu wars). Essentially you have this hostile population (the bonus without fort) and then all of a sudden they're armed and at war with you. More like history, once the real wars get going (after forts and ships have been taken) then the numbers get higher but ultimately retain the balance of the map without forts. If everyone holds a fort and the bonus its located in, then its essentially the same as the without the forts but with higher numbers. Yeah, higher numbers rolls differently than lower numbers, but that's an element of the game.

The game should change dramatically once the forts are taken and the first half of the game shouldn't be the same as the first half. Ideally, players with any sense wold play the game differently and accordingly to the rules set down. Don't let your opponent get the forts and if there are other players in the game, team up with them against the stronger player. I have faith in the players of CC that they can manage this aspect of the map.

When you get down to it, the map has set parameters and therefore an optimum strategy to succeed on it. What needs to be avoided, and steps have been taken to do so, are unfair drops and an unfair advantage at this strategy. I mean, it's not like the danger of a doubled bonus is some veiled threat, its explained right there in the corner. Any reasonable player ought to know to get the doubled bonus or stop the other from getting it.

Worst case scenario, we switch the forts and ships to autodeploy 1 or 2 and it becomes Europe 1914 is a funny pattern.

[Victor Sullivan]

Worst case scenario, we switch the forts and ships to autodeploy 1 or 2 and it becomes Europe 1914 is a funny pattern.

I hope it doesn't have to come to this

[MrBenn]

What size neutrals will be on the forts/ships to start?

[Industrial Helix]

Five.

[Gilligan]

XML: http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/14 ... icaXML.xml

Large 88

Click image to enlarge.

Small 88


Now, I finished the XML except for that doubling bonus thingie. Do you need all forts, or just one? Does it double all bonuses you have?

Oh also - I wasn't sure if being on top of the territory name trumped being in the territory itself, so some numbers are to the side. If you'd still prefer on the top I can fix that.

[ender516]

Gilligan, if you need an idea for the doubling bonuses, I made the following suggestion back on August 1:

I think the most straightforward way to deal with the XML is to create a continent called "a source of weapons", which contains all ships and forts, but only one territory required, and zero bonus. Then each bonus will require two continents, e.g. "Basutoland", with a bonus of +1, and "Basutoland with a source of weapons", with the obvious component continents and with an overriding bonus of +2.

Also, on the small map, the troop number for Ulundi looks likely to run into the fort troop number. Maybe the fort could be moved southeast a bit.

[Leehar]

What size neutrals will be on the forts/ships to start?

Five.

You sure thats not maybe a bit too much? This just relates somewhat from the Flanders change, and maybe if you wanted to bring the forts more into play a 3 or 4 will be better? I guess maybe the bonus double is hopefully enough incentive

[Industrial Helix]

Given the power of the forts... I think it should be alright. I don't expect them to come into play every single game, just perhaps certain types and under certain situations. To be honest, is it too high, I don't know. I'm waiting on Beta to resolve that.

Gilligan - hopefully Ender's thing will help you out. One fort has the power to double any bonus that is also held. For example, if you held Pretoria it would double Natal or Swaziland or both. So it's all interchangeable.

As for coordinates:
Small Map:
Kannaland up a tad
Caledon up a tad.
Piquestburg up a tad
Fraserburg up a tad
Ulundi left a tad
and I will move the word Harding down a tad, see image

Large map looks good to go.

Click image to enlarge.

[Gilligan]

Alright, I can't for the life of me figure out how to do the one-time multiplying :'(

[ender516]

Alright, I can't for the life of me figure out how to do the one-time multiplying :'(

I have taken the liberty of updating your XML with continents which do the double bonus. (I also added the final "l" to "Transvaal".)

SouthAfrica.xml

[Industrial Helix]

Is this the final version of the XML? Should and has it been forwarded to Forza for checking?

[Gilligan]

Alright, I can't for the life of me figure out how to do the one-time multiplying :'(

I have taken the liberty of updating your XML with continents which do the double bonus. (I also added the final "l" to "Transvaal".)

SouthAfrica.xml

THANK YOU SO MUCH ENDER!

Industrial, I will update those coordinates that you asked for, and then I will forward it to Forza AZ.

Here it is:



I'm thinking up a little bit more on Fraserburg

[Industrial Helix]

Yeah, just a tad.

[Arama86n]

I'd like to applaud the nice clear colour scheme. For those of us that are colour blind* It is very helpful, thank you.

*The term doesn't actually mean what it implies, but refers to a varying degree of difficulty in distinguishing between different colours.

[Industrial Helix]

You're welcome. I'd say it was partially by chance, but I did run the colorblind tests on it to makes sure everything had enough contrast to distinguish itself. Out of curiosity, is it the colors themselves that make it easier to see or is the contrast?

[Arama86n]

I have (perhaps among other things) what they call red/green colour blindness. When certain shades of red and green (read; Pink & teal) come together I can't distinguish between them at all. And generally when small areas of red and green are combined in close proximity it becomes difficult for me.
Other issues I've noticed is simply seeing a different colour from everyone else, lol. certain greenish brown colours I might call brown when others call green. And the same with Blueish purple.

The only map on CC I'll refrain from playing due to this issue is Hive. It's not the map per se, but when you add that multitude of coloured armies on top of it in such close proximity...
In general it's faint maps like Ireland, France 1789 etc that when you add the coloured armies on top of, strains the eyes to distinguish bonus boarders, but It's not a deal breaker, I can play them if I have to

And yes, it's the contrast of the boarders that make it very easy to distinguish between them.

[Industrial Helix]

Hmm, interesting. I'll be keeping that in mind for future maps and thanks for the insight.


Anyway, here are all the necessary files which can be found on page 1.

Link to XML: http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/14 ... frica3.XML

Link to small image: http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/551/ ... 7small.png

Link to large image: http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8282 ... 7large.png

[Raskholnikov]

This is a truly beautiful map. Can't wait to play it.

[Gilligan]

There seems to be something in the XML that causes an error on MapMaker, but no error on chipv's Wizard. Both myself and Forza can't find the issue, so I sent it to Benn to see if he can diagnose the mysterious issue.

[ender516]

I am having trouble loading Gilligan's version of the XML to examine the source, but I checked my version, and found that I had two <components/> sections in the "Swaziland w/ a source of weapons" <continent/>. This is reported as a syntax error by the MapMaker tool.