Vanuatu (first draft)

[SultanOfSurreal]

Click image to enlarge.

Basics
28 territories
6 continents (+1 special territory)

Vanuatu is a country situated in the South Pacific. Sparsely populated and very small, it is an obscure yet beautiful part of the world I thought might make a pretty good map. The country is composed of many tiny islands, a good portion of which contain active volcanoes. The six provinces compose the base of gameplay, and I've tried to represent most of the "major" (100+) human settlements here, as well as a couple of the non-settled areas. There's not much else to say; this is a very basic, small map, good for 2-4 player games. I understand it needs graphical work, and the borders here are tentative and far from final.

Ideas and problems
As said, Vanuatu is small. I included army circles in my first draft because I wanted to make certain I could cram them all in. I think I've done an okay job of it, but i can always shuffle them around if need be. It still looks sort of cluttered, so if anyone has tips on how to reduce that, they'd be appreciated. Also general tips on the direction gameplay could take, and for improving the graphics. (I'd especially like to know how to do the "wake" effect around islands.)

Again, as said, I wanted this to be a pretty basic map, gameplay-wise. However, I was thinking about implementing a special sub-bonus for holding volcanic islands. A lot of the volcanic islands are also the smallest, and I'd still like them to be part of the 5 provinces, so I'm not sure how I would demarcate those if I did try it.

Anyway, this project is just beginning, so any feedback you have, feel free to share.

[MrBenn]

It's always nice to see fresh faces in the Foundry, particulary when they put so much thought into their posts

Your draft is a fair start, but the biggest concern I have is that the map is incredibly linear - there are lots of continents that can be held by defending a single territory. At 28 territories, the map is also incredibly small, and the combination of these two elements doesn't bode well for good gameplay

[SultanOfSurreal]

It's always nice to see fresh faces in the Foundry, particulary when they put so much thought into their posts

Your draft is a fair start, but the biggest concern I have is that the map is incredibly linear - there are lots of continents that can be held by defending a single territory. At 28 territories, the map is also incredibly small, and the combination of these two elements doesn't bode well for good gameplay

There is only one continent that can be held by defending one territory. The continent bonuses listed in the first draft are pretty far off; I ran the spreadsheet tool and this is what it said:

Click image to enlarge.

I did this for a specific reason. The continents that can be taken over early, that is, the ones with the fewest territories, are the hardest to hold. The continents that take a while to capture are the easiest to hold. I love micrompas like Luxembourg, Doodle Earth, and etc., but good luck on the drop and with the rolls can give one player an easy bonus that's impossible to penetrate. This should keep bonuses from coming into play until such a time as everyone has a fair shot. Of course, my thinking could be wrong, and like I said, the gameplay is faaaaar from final.

As for the size, I agree. Vanuatu is tiny even on its own scale (the landmass as a whole is about the size of Connecticut but it's spread out over an area the size of Nevada). I'm not sure how to remedy this and keep the map to scale. I already moved a couple of the islands a bit to fit the army circles...

[SultanOfSurreal]

So is there no interest in a Vanuatu map?

[AndyDufresne]

Have you any additional updates? Any idea where you'd like to go with graphics?


--Andy

[Juan_Bottom]

So is there no interest in a Vanuatu map?

the foundry is kinda slow... but having AndyD post already is kinda a badge of honor. Guy never comes down from his tree.... not into the drafting room anyway...

There is only one continent that can be held by defending one territory.

Still I see what he was driving at. With the humble exception of Malampa, everwhere else is held by holding 1 or 2 spots. The amount of territory held to get a bonus seems off to. Not to mention that there just isn't a lot to conquer anyway. And the army circles cover up the same islands they represent. Maybe you could zoom in, and then you could see everything better, and maybe then add more islands?


I must say though. I've never seen a spreadsheet in here before. It's amazing....

[MrBenn]

[Moved]

It would appear that development of this map has stalled. If the mapmaker wants to continue with the map, then one of the CAs will be able to help put the thread back into the Foundry system, after an update has been made.