SteamWorks

[zimmah]

How about moving the engine from westmorland to cheshire?

[DiM]

How about moving the engine from westmorland to cheshire?

yeah sure. it won't matter that much as the island will still have just 1 entry point.

You don't have any island with only ports... How about removing the balloon from either Surry or Glocester?

that would make a bit of a puzzle in deciding the right bonuses. if i lower the continent by 1 then it's too much. if i leave it unchanged it's not right either.

however i will do something else. remove port from east riding and transform the balloons from northumberland and west riding into ports. that would make northeast continent a place with 5 terits and 2 entry points (both ports) and i can lower it to +2 from +3. this way i will get the all-ports island and at the same time keep the bonuses balanced.

V18.1

Click image to enlarge.

[zimmah]

How about moving the engine from westmorland to cheshire?

yeah sure. it won't matter that much as the island will still have just 1 entry point.

yes, but in theory someone could take the engine and the balloon, and force someone to have that extra steam, without getting access to the engine.

[DiM]

How about moving the engine from westmorland to cheshire?

yeah sure. it won't matter that much as the island will still have just 1 entry point.

yes, but in theory someone could take the engine and the balloon, and force someone to have that extra steam, without getting access to the engine.

good point

[iancanton]

I see every game on this map boiling down to the same set of "engine/steam, engine/steam" with the occasional grab for Oxford to eliminate or setback someone else, with counterbalancing only in the form of forcing excess steam or removing bonus pairs entirely.

it feels more like a 'DiM lite'. It has all signs of a good map by DiM but designed with the intention for smaller games.

i think both TacktiX and gimil have hit the nail on the head here. while the gameplay is somewhat limited in variety, there's just about enough there to serve as an introduction to the earlier DiM maps.

i find the negative steam bonus unclear. what happens if u have 2 engines and 3 steam? do u receive only a -3 bonus or both +2 and -3?

ian.

[gimil]

Hi DiM,
A few minor things I am going to pick on today.

Firstly Dr. DiM island in the legends is annoying me, its just a little to bright in that area, it always catches my eye and if I am not looking in that area my peripheral visions still picks it up. I think if could do with going down a tone or two.

Suffolk terr name doesn't look as bold as Norfolk, or any other name for that matter. It could also do with a nudge a few pixels up and to the left so that it is not touching the boarder. In fact a few territories could do with some nudges to center them better within territories and move them away from borders, balloons, steam etc:

• Essex - up a few
• Norfolk - left a few
• Somerset - right a few
• Devon - left a few
• Dorset - right 1px
• Staffs - left a few
• Cheshire - up and right a few
• Lancashire - left 2px
• West riding -right a few

The territory text in general is a little difficult to read, but not hugely so. I think a very minimal creamy, orange glow (similar to the colour of the paper) around them will make them more legible by stopping the maps texture obscuring the text. You know what I mean?

Finally, I am going to pick on your steam.You know the steam leak you have shooting across the map? It doesn't look right, its colouring and texture are all wrong and different compared to all the other steam you have.I would suggest a rework for that.

Apart from that your looking good!

[Coleman]

i find the negative steam bonus unclear. what happens if u have 2 engines and 3 steam? do u receive only a -3 bonus or both +2 and -3?

ian.

The way I read it you would lose the bonus for one engine and have a minus 1 for the extra steam as it says it is only -1 for each extra steam, not for all the steam and it says you lose the engine bonus, not all engine bonuses.

So it would be +2 for one engine + steam, the other engine + steam negated, and then -1 for the extra steam. I think

+2 -1 so +1 overall.

If that is not the case a reword is probably needed.

[ender516]

i find the negative steam bonus unclear. what happens if u have 2 engines and 3 steam? do u receive only a -3 bonus or both +2 and -3?

ian.

The way I read it you would lose the bonus for one engine and have a minus 1 for the extra steam as it says it is only -1 for each extra steam, not for all the steam and it says you lose the engine bonus, not all engine bonuses.

So it would be +2 for one engine + steam, the other engine + steam negated, and then -1 for the extra steam. I think

+2 -1 so +1 overall.

If that is not the case a reword is probably needed.

Sorry, but that's not what was said back here: http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewto ... 5#p3239268
The wording, I think, was discussed in the pages just before and after that post.

also, could you clarify how the bonus system works at this point? it understand the continents and the 1 for every steam+engine but i'm not sure if i understand the too much steam damages you engine part.

Let's say i have 2 steam and 1 engine, since i have the bonus for +1 steam and +1 engine, i'd expect +1 bonnus, but since i have more steam then engines i'd get a negative bonus, is this bonus going to make me get +0 or -1?

here are all the combinations:

6S + 6E = +6
5S + 6E = +5
4S + 6E = +4
3S + 6E = +3
2S + 6E = +2
1S + 6E = +1

6S + 5E = -1
5S + 5E = +5
4S + 5E = +4
3S + 5E = +3
2S + 5E = +2
1S + 5E = +1

6S + 4E = -2
5S + 4E = -1
4S + 4E = +4
3S + 4E = +3
2S + 4E = +2
1S + 4E = +1

6S + 3E = -3
5S + 3E = -2
4S + 3E = -1
3S + 3E = +3
2S + 3E = +2
1S + 3E = +1

6S + 2E = -4
5S + 2E = -3
4S + 2E = -2
3S + 2E = -1
2S + 2E = +2
1S + 2E = +1

6S + 1E = -5
5S + 1E = -4
4S + 1E = -3
3S + 1E = -2
2S + 1E = -1
1S + 1E = +1

[DiM]

the explanation regarding the steam bonus was discussed some time ago, as ender pointed out.
i understand it clearly but obviously not all people do and i want this map to be easy to understand.

so the bonus works like this: every time you get in a situation where you have more steam terits than engine terits you lose ALL the engine bonuses and get a negative bonus of 1 for each excess steam.

so let's say you have 4 engines and 4 steams and somebody takes 3 of your engines. at the start of next turn you'll have 1 engine and 4 steams. normally that engine would give you a +1 when paired with a steam BUT since you have excess steam you lose ALL the engine bonuses (the +1) and get -3 from having 3 extra steams.


the current wording is: "Excess steam makes you lose the Engine bonus and reduces troop bonus by 1 for each extra Steam"

how about: "Having more Steam than Engines is bad! For each excess Steam you lose all Engine bonuses and get a -1 troop per turn"

[DiM]

Hi DiM,
A few minor things I am going to pick on today.

Firstly Dr. DiM island in the legends is annoying me, its just a little to bright in that area, it always catches my eye and if I am not looking in that area my peripheral visions still picks it up. I think if could do with going down a tone or two.

Suffolk terr name doesn't look as bold as Norfolk, or any other name for that matter. It could also do with a nudge a few pixels up and to the left so that it is not touching the boarder. In fact a few territories could do with some nudges to center them better within territories and move them away from borders, balloons, steam etc:

• Essex - up a few
• Norfolk - left a few
• Somerset - right a few
• Devon - left a few
• Dorset - right 1px
• Staffs - left a few
• Cheshire - up and right a few
• Lancashire - left 2px
• West riding -right a few

The territory text in general is a little difficult to read, but not hugely so. I think a very minimal creamy, orange glow (similar to the colour of the paper) around them will make them more legible by stopping the maps texture obscuring the text. You know what I mean?

Finally, I am going to pick on your steam.You know the steam leak you have shooting across the map? It doesn't look right, its colouring and texture are all wrong and different compared to all the other steam you have.I would suggest a rework for that.

Apart from that your looking good!

thanks for the input.

V19:
* reduced opacity for oxford on the minimap
* moved terit names so they would better fit the terits
* added a little glow to the terit names
* tweaked the steam
* reworded the excess steam part in the legend

Click image to enlarge.

[gimil]

That all looks much much better, except Suffolk it still needs to be moved left and up a few, oh and i think that piece of steam needs to be made a little more transparent

[DiM]

That all looks much much better, except Suffolk it still needs to be moved left and up a few, oh and i think that piece of steam needs to be made a little more transparent

both issues solved. will be visible in the next update.

[gimil]

That all looks much much better, except Suffolk it still needs to be moved left and up a few, oh and i think that piece of steam needs to be made a little more transparent

both issues solved. will be visible in the next update.

Good man. Can't wait to see it.

[DiM]

That all looks much much better, except Suffolk it still needs to be moved left and up a few, oh and i think that piece of steam needs to be made a little more transparent

both issues solved. will be visible in the next update.

Good man. Can't wait to see it.

if you insist...
V19.1

Click image to enlarge.

[cairnswk]

Dim...westmidlands....what's the territory east of Shropshire...is that meant to be Staffordshire?

[DiM]

Dim...westmidlands....what's the territory east of Shropshire...is that meant to be Staffordshire?

hmm. you're right. don't know how i missed that one and used the short form.
i'll change it asap. thanks

[DiM]

so is the gameplay ready now?

[Victor Sullivan]

Northeast should be decreased to 2. And there are 7 balloons and 9 ports. Do we want the imbalance, or an equal 8 and 8?

-Sully

[DiM]

Northeast should be decreased to 2. And there are 7 balloons and 9 ports. Do we want the imbalance, or an equal 8 and 8?

-Sully

LOL i actually said that but for some reason forgot to make the change in the legend

however i will do something else. remove port from east riding and transform the balloons from northumberland and west riding into ports. that would make northeast continent a place with 5 terits and 2 entry points (both ports) and i can lower it to +2 from +3. this way i will get the all-ports island and at the same time keep the bonuses balanced.

as for the ports/balloons thing i don't mind the difference. if anything it proves even more that the map is not symmetrical

so here's the latest image

V20:
*moved suffolk a bit
*tweaked horizontal steam
*changed staffs to stafordshire
*added the changed northeast bonus to the legend

Click image to enlarge.

[cairnswk]

I beleive Surry needs to change to Surrey...I could be wrong, but...

[gimil]

The steam now looks perfect.

I beleive Surry needs to change to Surrey...I could be wrong, but...

That is correct.

[cairnswk]

The steam now looks perfect.

I beleive Surry needs to change to Surrey...I could be wrong, but...

That is correct.

thanks gimil.

PS. i think Hertford is the name of the town, whereas Hertfordshire is the region/shire name also, and
Worcester is the name of the town in Worcestershire, although that may be a difficulty for space reasons.
Your territory perhaps should be Oxfordshire, as Oxford is the town.
I'm sorry about picking these up this late in the development and leave it up to you if you want to change it.
But you do have shires/counties represented graphically on the map and not towns.

[gimil]

The steam now looks perfect.

I beleive Surry needs to change to Surrey...I could be wrong, but...

That is correct.

thanks gimil.

PS. i think Hertford is the name of the town, whereas Hertfordshire is the region/shire name also, and
Worcester is the name of the town in Worcestershire, although that may be a difficulty for space reasons.

I believe you are right on both counts again.

Also Cambridge, should be Cambridgeshire and glocester (spelt wrong I believe) should be gloucestershire, buckingham should be buckinghamshire, Oxford is Oxfordshire.

We have gone shire crazy here! But, I don't really think it is an issue if DiM can't fit them using the name of the major city in that region is close enough I would think.

[cairnswk]

...
We have gone shire crazy here! ...

Yes I have started something here which was initially a spelling pickup...but for consistency shouldn't these names represent the relevant region being displayed. Just my thoughts.
I checked these here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_co ... of_England
but there are also abbreviations that could be used on this page for space reasons.

[Coleman]

Whoa you guys are fast. Thanks for the rewording, doubt anyone capable of playing normal risk could get confused now.