The three islands.
Creator: 81suibylop || First Published: 02/03/2012 || Players: 4 || Size: 35x20
Categories: None
Rating: 6.00 in 1 rating
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Comments:
81suibylop (02/03/2012 07:44pm | Edited: 02/03/2012 07:55pm):
Made to slightly resemble the south west of Japan.

Please tell me if there are any problems with the map and I'll try to fix them.

(Also if you can think of a better name for it please tell me xD)
Xmo5 (02/03/2012 10:17pm):
Ouch, 3 towers with 4 countries looks rough if you ask me. YC ad GE are basically assured
theirs but OS and BM are at a disadvantage with the 1 contested tower between them.

Overall a little chokey and a lot of forests which might make fighting slow or lead to
stalemate. OS also kind of gets the short end of the stick, easy access from both
neighboring armies and few safe properties to capture. Leaves them vulnerable with little
money and no tower. BM and GE are basically isolated from YC and I see them easily teaming
up on OS. Meanwhile YC can sit back comfortably in the safety of the mountains, forests,
and chokepoints on their borders and accumulate money, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Those are the big issues I noticed at first glance, so I would fix them before any fine
tuning of balance or playability.
81suibylop (02/03/2012 10:25pm):
Do you think it would be better if I gave OS 1 more propertie and made a way for BM and GE to
get to eachother? I only gave the biggest island 1 com tower since it is the bigest island but I'll
add another one it and move that one if you think that would make it better.
Xmo5 (02/03/2012 10:53pm):
If you ask me, the best way to balance it is to make sure that each country is equally
open to its enemies and make sure they can all reach the same number/type of properties
safely first. So maybe make it so that they all have 1 main enemy and a second "back door"
kind of enemy. You could probably do that fairly well by making it harder for GE to get
to OS and easier for them to get to YC. That way its kind of like YC vs GE and BM vs OS,
but just make sure you leave the path open enough that you can still get through (unless
you made it a team battle) Otherwise when each half won its battle they couldnt get
through to each other and it would stalemate.

Oh, and another thought, instead of ports, airports might be more useful, though much more
dangerous. Right now the ports wouldnt be good for much but maybe transport sneak attacks
because with standard funds nobody could afford a battleship (which would be a real
threat). But again, thats kind of a style thing, if you like ports more here, it is your
map, but keep in mind how it will play out.
81suibylop (02/04/2012 09:50am):
Hmmmm well okay. I'll do some more edits when i can (There's a game on it now so can't
edit anything right now lol)

Out of curiosity what would you rate this now and after i make the edits? (I don't expect
a high rating i really only made this for fun xD)
Xmo5 (02/05/2012 02:33pm):
hmm.. now I'd give it maybe a 4 or 5, but if the edits work out I'd give it more like a 7
and we can discuss more fine tuning then. (Keep in mind its a lot easier to critique a map
than it is to make one haha)
81suibylop (02/05/2012 06:37pm):
Heh a 4 / 5 isn't that bad for a noobie I'd say lol! And a 7 or even more would be great!
(And yeah I know xD)
Xmo5 (03/02/2012 02:53pm | Edited: 03/02/2012 02:55pm):
I think this is a lot better than before, but it still has room for improvement. I still
think this map is harder on BM and OS just because they have a very open battlefield but
its hard for anyone else to get to each other because of the smaller island bridges and
forests. The mountains definitely hinder them a little, but imagine the difference between
trying to get a recon or a rockets from an OS base to BMs territory. The recon can make it
to the pair of cities just in front of BM in 2 turns and a rockets can make it in 3. Every
other front hinders their movement and it seems to take an extra day, despite the fact
that OS and BM are pretty far apart. So I would recommend opening the other fronts a
little so they get more action.

Also, some tips on making a map look nice. First, avoid a lot of repeated terrain in one
place (terrain clumping). For example all of the sea tiles around the outside or some of
the large sections of plains mostly by YC and BM. Try making your islands a little bigger
and leaving less
dead space around the edges (put in or move a few properties if you do so its not just
empty ground) and maybe add some more small sections of road that might connect a few
neutral cities (like the ones at the top left of BMs territory) Little things like that
can make a big difference. Second, try to avoid very long, straight edge/borders,
especially if they come to a corner like on the top right of the map. It makes the map
look like a rectangle, and frankly a little boring. Again, filling in the spaces around
the edges a little would help with that. (its not that you can't have a sea border, but on
a map this size/style you have as much unusable water as you do battleground)

Hope that helps!



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