[Abandoned] War of Wizards

[natty dread]

Map Name: War of Wizards
Mapmaker(s): natty_dread
Number of Territories: 138 land territories, 8 wizards, 40 spells == 186 total
Special Features: Losing conditions, bombardments, one-way assaults, collection bonuses, limited region bonus, ranged attacks, killer neutrals, decays, autodeploys, conquest gameplay
What Makes This Map Worthy of Being Made: I've long wanted to make a fantasy-themed map, and this map here is my first attempt at one. The map has unique gameplay that is very complex and strategically challenging for various game types. The gameplay and bonuses depend on whether you start with a wizard of Dark or wizard of Light, and you have to adjust your strategy accordingly.

Map Image:
[bigimg]http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5705/wizards7.jpg[/bigimg]

And with neutrals
[bigimg]http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/61/wizards7n.jpg[/bigimg]


[spoiler=old versions]http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5705/wizards7.jpg
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/9615/wizards6.jpg
http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/9615/wizards6.jpg
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/3667/wizards5n.jpg
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3410/wizards5.jpg
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/3410/wizards5.jpg
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4743/wizards4.jpg
http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/4743/wizards4.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4743/wizards4.jpg
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/218/wizards3.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/9939/wizards3.png
http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/5966/wizards2.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8084/wizards2.png
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/4153/wizards1.png
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4153/wizards1.png
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/4153/wizards1.png[/spoiler]

Each player starts with 1 wizard and his/her corresponding tower. The wizard can 1-way his/her own tower, but the tower can't assault back to the wizard. You need to bombard other wizards through the Temple of Fury which resets to 70 and can be bombarded by the level 5 spells. If you lose your wizard you're out of the game.

Your bonuses and spells depend if you start as a Wizard of Light or Wizard of Dark. You only start with 1 wizard and you can't take other wizards, so you're stuck with the side you start with and have to adjust your strategy accordingly.

[isaiah40]

Here is your very first stamp!!

[natty dread]

Thanks.

I'll try to get territory labels done today.

I have also yet to decide how I want to handle the standard territory bonus for this.

[natty dread]

Territory labels

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

Slight tweak on the labels- I changed all NW/NE to N and SW to S, so there won't be any confusion - there's already SE territories for those around the Seketh tower.

Click image to enlarge.

[Industrial Helix]

This is pretty cool... but I'm a tad confused at Holy Wraith... do you mean Enemy Towers rather than Dark Towers?

[natty dread]

Nope... it bombards all dark wizards' towers, similarly as Poison Sending bombards all light wizards' towers.

Note that you don't have to bombard/assault someone's tower to eliminate them, and losing your tower is not the end of the world since you can always retake it.

[AndyDufresne]

I like the look that is map is going for I think. For gamplay, it is probably a map that I wouldn't play often, but it doesn't really look too complicated. It reminds me overall of some of old computer games I use to play back in the day. Hm,

Keep it up, I think I'll be back.


--Andy

[cairnswk]

Natty, what is the icon on TA4?

[natty dread]

Natty, what is the icon on TA4?

It's a ferry.

Yeah... I'll probably redraw most of the icons after the gameplay is done, to get them in a more consistent style.

I like the look that is map is going for I think. For gamplay, it is probably a map that I wouldn't play often, but it doesn't really look too complicated. It reminds me overall of some of old computer games I use to play back in the day. Hm,

The largest inspiration for the map was a 90:s PC game called Master of Magic. Maybe you played it sometime...

[Industrial Helix]

Nope... it bombards all dark wizards' towers, similarly as Poison Sending bombards all light wizards' towers.

Note that you don't have to bombard/assault someone's tower to eliminate them, and losing your tower is not the end of the world since you can always retake it.

Ah right, I missed the second lower box of wizards... cause I was staring at the towers and thinking "they're all kinda dark though..." No problems here anymore

[AndyDufresne]

I like the look that is map is going for I think. For gamplay, it is probably a map that I wouldn't play often, but it doesn't really look too complicated. It reminds me overall of some of old computer games I use to play back in the day. Hm,

The largest inspiration for the map was a 90:s PC game called Master of Magic. Maybe you played it sometime...

I may have, I can't recall. I know I've played a few titles by Microprose. And in general, and a number of fantasy-genre games from the 90's as well!


--Andy

[Industrial Helix]

Stickied for now

[natty dread]

Thanks.

I made a new gnoll icon which is better than the old but I'm not sure if I'm still quite satisfied with it

Click image to enlarge.

ps. apparently, gnolls are cross-breeds between gnomes and trolls?! Who knew.

[Flapcake]

Hi Natty. cool map your making, I love that ancient fantacy world.

My comment atm. The Heim tower color, I find it very simmelar to the landbase color but ofc. all the ohter towers are pretty clear so thers no doubth of who is who, it just look weird.

Is it deliberately that your symbol is not a pentagon? I imagine myself that this is for ethical reasons, It would however look more cool with the pentagon.

I think your awesome map is ready for a stamp

[natty dread]

Actually I just chose a hexagram because it looks cooler. More symmetric.

[natty dread]

So, anyone have any pre-draft stamp input? Anything about the graphics or gameplay? I'm open to suggestions here.

[Flapcake]

So, anyone have any pre-draft stamp input? Anything about the graphics or gameplay? I'm open to suggestions here.

I still think that the text color on Heim tower should be be changed it is very similar with the background

[natty dread]

So, anyone have any pre-draft stamp input? Anything about the graphics or gameplay? I'm open to suggestions here.

I still think that the text color on Heim tower should be be changed it is very similar with the background

I'll adjust that in the next update.

[nebsmith]

How about the distance from each Tower to the nearest Port, it varies from 7 territories to 3.
Would it be much of an advantage starting closer to a Port ?

[natty dread]

How about the distance from each Tower to the nearest Port, it varies from 7 territories to 3.
Would it be much of an advantage starting closer to a Port ?

Well, there are so many other factors in play here, it's hard to tell... but I don't really see how it would be that significant. Sure, the ports grant you some extra mobility, but there are other means to move around on the map.

Anyway, if it becomes an issue, the placement for the ports is by no means set in stone...

[QoH]

The map itself looks very similar to the AOR maps... any particular reason?

[natty dread]

You could say apples look similar to bananas because they're both fruit...

[QoH]

You could say apples look similar to bananas because they're both fruit...

not really...

I"m just wondering. And I know the GP is completely different, I was just curious as to why you made the basic outline with the island in the middle so similar to that of the AOR maps.

[natty dread]

The island is relevant for the gameplay, so it's there. I wanted to basically divide the land mass in 2 parts, with an extra island in the middle that both sides can access, so a river/sea/bay/random body of water going through the middle of the map seemed like the most obvious solution.