USA Map Pack [Quenched]

[WidowMakers]

These look absolutely awesome. One question about New England map though. You totally removed Long Island as if it never existed.

Thanks. I am glad you like them.

As far as Long Island goes, there are two reasons it is not there.

1) It is not shown in the USA map (not he main reason)
2) it does not physically fit.

Many of the states are not 100% correct. This is based on gameplay space and graphic style.

Thanks for the comments

WM

[GreecePwns]

These look absolutely awesome. One question about New England map though. You totally removed Long Island as if it never existed.

Thanks. I am glad you like them.

As far as Long Island goes, there are two reasons it is not there.

1) It is not shown in the USA map (not he main reason)
2) it does not physically fit.

Many of the states are not 100% correct. This is based on gameplay space and graphic style.

Thanks for the comments

WM

Yeah on second thought it would be rather small and would probably be covered just by the army circles.

[WidowMakers]

Updates:
Adjusted the State Capital bonuses for both Southwest and Rockies

VERSION 10 West

VERSION 12 Southwest

VERSION 9 Rockies

Version 14 Southeast

VERSION 15 Great Lakes

VERSION 9 New England

[WidowMakers]

Here is the updated Southwest XML file

WEST XML v01
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v01.xml

SOUTHWEST XML v02
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v02.xml

SOUTHEAST XML v01
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v01.xml

I will get to the other three asap.
Can I have my stamps now please?

WM

[iancanton]

comments are being written up. watch this space!

ian.

[iancanton]

WEST

West: Worries me.

1. Three continents basically the same size and have the same bonuses (currently) but drastically differently situations.

a. Washington - 6 terr but only 1 border. I don't think this is worth 3 when you compare it to Nevada and Oregon. I'd go with 2 but the 1 border thing worries me

b. Oregon / Nevada: basically the same. Oregon borders all 3 states but you can hold both it and Wash. Nevada allows you to get the highway 80 bonus in addition to nevada very easily. these bonuses seem fine.

2. Washington only having 1 border. I don't really like it. Might be good to put a road from Pendleton to Kennewick. Then you can keep Oregon at 3 with the 2 borders and increase washington to 4.

WEST: I think it'd be better to add the extra border between Wash and Oregon and make 80 go to San Fran.

good analysis, edbeard. i agree with ur original feeling that the washington bonus is a +2 and not a +3. being connected to only one other state makes it the most desirable starting position by far. with the extra connection to washington, oregon (which is the only state that can be attacked directly by all others) becomes even more difficult to hold, possibly more so than even california, and is worthy of a +4 bonus. the state capitals will usually be ignored, since +3 isn't so hot; the +1 for holding three will sometimes be taken, but a +4 or even +5 bonus is needed for anyone even to think about taking the fourth capital, since splitting up ur forces like this can often prove to be fatal on a small map - big risk deserves big reward.

RECOMMENDATION: washington bonus +2, oregon bonus +4, all capitals bonus +4 (but this does not prevent west from being stamped).

SOUTHWEST

nothing wrong at all with the layout, though louisiana is far too attractive as an early bonus grab. there's a greater than 25% chance of player 1 starting with 3 or 4 capitals on this small map, which makes the drop a decisive factor in too many games. unless the 3 capitals bonus is eliminated, well-informed high-ranked players are likely to avoid this map like the plague.

RECOMMENDATION: louisiana bonus +1, remove 3 capitals bonus.

SOUTHEAST

at 13% plus, it's too easy to start with 4 or more capitals from the drop, but i cannot fault the map in any other respect.

RECOMMENDATION: remove 4 capitals bonus (but this does not prevent southeast from being stamped).

ROCKIES

i find it curious that the longest highway, i-90, doesn't have the biggest bonus. i'd have thought it merited at least the +6 of i-25, if not +7. the greater than 29% chance of player 1 starting with 4 or 5 capitals implies that the 4 capitals bonus must be eliminated, otherwise experienced cooks, cadets and privates will be gaining a lot of points against higher-ranked players purely because of the drop.

RECOMMENDATION: i-90 bonus +6 or +7, remove 4 capitals bonus.

GREAT LAKES

iowa is certainly +2 rather than +1, since it has three border cities attackable from three states. i feel that the highway bonuses are a bit low and ought to be at least equal to the number of cities on each highway; however, one less than the number of cities is also fine if u don't want the highway bonuses to dominate the play).

RECOMMENDATION: iowa bonus +2, i-64 bonus +9, i-70 bonus +6, i-94 bonus +9 (but this does not prevent great lakes from being stamped).

after examination, i conclude that the layout and connections on each of the above maps will result in good gameplay and only tweaks to the bonuses remain to be resolved.



ian.

[WidowMakers]

Thanks ian.

All of these recommendations make sense and I will change them except the West.
I am not sure about the bonuses you listed. I don't think a 6 territory 2 border bonus is only worth +2. If anything Washington should stay +3 and Oregon should move to +4
Other than that I am five. GFX stamp here we come. (That is directed at you gimil )

[yeti_c]

Excellent work Widow - I'd like to see Edbeard's response to the above - just to make sure we've got everything nailed.

C.

[edbeard]

1. West

possibly make oregon 4 like he says but keep wash at 3? it's hard to say because these bonuses are so close in size and seemingly the continents are more difficult to hold than the difference in their bonuses.

wash has 6 territories but the easiest hold

oregon has 5 terr but the hardest hold

nevada is in between but can gain another bonus quite easily (the highway) and become 4 borders at +6 (7 terr)

this compares nicely to the north's +7, 2 border, 11 terr area right?


2. Southwest

no real problem here. +1 for Lou is OK because grabbing the highway bonus will make for a +4 bonus area only holding 3 terr as borders with 6 terr total. sounds fair.


3. Rockies

we had I-90 as +5 because you can hold the whole north with 2 territories (sheridan and post falls). you'd prevent someone from getting the I-25 bonus and you'd have at least +4 from terr bonus and a +10 from your continents.

I-25 is much harder to hold in that you can't cut down your borders easily.

but +6 or +7 isn't a big deal


4. Great Lakes

not sure how Iowa was at +1. perhaps it was an old bonus and had less borders previously. or perhaps the recommended bonus number never got added to it and it was from WM's original just put numbers up to put numbers up version.

how often are highways going to be held? not often so changes aren't going to do much. I think we just have to make sure if they can be held easily with a couple territories they don't have huge bonuses. no real problem with those changes I guess.

[WidowMakers]

SMALL MAPS
VERSION 11 West

VERSION 14 Southwest

VERSION 10 Rockies

Version 14 Southeast

VERSION 17 Great Lakes

VERSION 10 New England

[gimil]

Good work Widowmakers, you earned this:

[WidowMakers]

LARGE MAPS
VERSION 1 West
[bigimg]http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/6548/usawestlv01wy7.png[/bigimg]
VERSION 1 Southwest
[bigimg]http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/3663/usaswestlv01dd7.png[/bigimg]
VERSION 1 Rockies
[bigimg]http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/933/usarockieslv01yb6.png[/bigimg]
Version 1 Southeast
[bigimg]http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/2956/usaseastlv01rm9.png[/bigimg]
VERSION 1 Great Lakes
[bigimg]http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/7030/usagllv01rq6.png[/bigimg]
VERSION 1 New England
[bigimg]http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8707/usanelv01ag9.png[/bigimg]

[WidowMakers]

XML for all maps (still need to do coordinates but everything else is done)

West XML Version 3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v03.xml
Southwest XML Version 4
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v04.xml
Rockies XML Version 1
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... es_v01.xml
Southeast XML Version 2
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v02.xml
Great Lakes XML Version 1
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... es_v01.xml
New England XML Version 1
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... nd_v01.xml

[WidowMakers]

1 down, 5 more to go.

West XML Version 4
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v04.xml
XML Large
[bigimg]http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/1803/westxmllv01kf4.png[/bigimg]
XML Small

[WidowMakers]

2 down, 4 to go.

Southwest XML Version 6
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v06.xml
XML LARGE
[bigimg]http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/6192/southwestxmllv01cg7.png[/bigimg]
XML SMALL

[WidowMakers]

3 down, 3 to go

Rockies XML Version 2
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... es_v02.xml
XML Large
[bigimg]http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9099/rockiesxmllv01hj2.png[/bigimg]
XML Small

[WidowMakers]

4 down, 2 to go

Southeast XML Version 2
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... st_v03.xml
XML Large
[bigimg]http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5122/southeastxmllv01sf8.png[/bigimg]
XML Small

[yeti_c]

WM - you're a machine - great work churning those co-ordinates out!!!

C.

[gimil]

Correct me if I am wrong, but would this pack quenched put WM as record holder for the most quenched maps beating cairns?

[the.killing.44]

Correct me if I am wrong, but would this pack quenched put WM as record holder for the most quenched maps beating cairns?

1. cairns — 19
T-2. WM — 13 (with this 14)
T-2. yeti-C — 13

[yeti_c]

Correct me if I am wrong, but would this pack quenched put WM as record holder for the most quenched maps beating cairns?

1. cairns — 19
T-2. WM — 13 (with this 14)
T-2. yeti-C — 13

13+6 = 19

C.

[the.killing.44]

Correct me if I am wrong, but would this pack quenched put WM as record holder for the most quenched maps beating cairns?

1. cairns — 19
T-2. WM — 13 (with this 14)
T-2. yeti-C — 13

13+6 = 19

C.

Ah … I forgot it was 6 seeing how it's one thread. But he'd still be tied.

[WidowMakers]

WM - you're a machine - great work churning those co-ordinates out!!!

C.

All I am using is my new XML tool and Jota's Java coordinate tool. With 6 maps you develop a pretty good workflow system.

[WidowMakers]

Correct me if I am wrong, but would this pack quenched put WM as record holder for the most quenched maps beating cairns?

1. cairns — 19
T-2. WM — 13 (with this 14)
T-2. yeti-C — 13

13+6 = 19

C.

Ah … I forgot it was 6 seeing how it's one thread. But he'd still be tied.

Well 19, 20 or whatever. My goal is not to have the most maps. My goal is to make good maps. I mean look at World 2.1. It is in the top 5 of the site and the carto that did it made only 1 map. So numbers alone does not justify quality. I will continue to make maps and will continue to try my best to make them enjoyabel experiences for everyone.

Plus I do have (20) Maze Craze (needs XML), (21)Time and Place, both my other Draknor levels (22,23) to start after the USA map pack is done.

Make sure you read my editorial in the 13th foundry newsletter. You will see that my main goal (as far as graphical maps) is not to churn out similar maps for the sake of numbers. But to learn each time and develop a better , more well rounded, portfolio of styles and skills.

Thanks for all the support everyone has given me through the USA development.

WM

[joe cool 360]

I'm afraid I don't have much to add to the discussion, but I just want to say those maps look very well done and I'll be very excited to play on them once they are finished.
Keep up the good work!!