Another minor update:
Edit: I like the idea of a gameplay guide, so here it is:
First post updated a little too.
Gameplay Guide for Multiplayer Games(I can add graphics to this if necessary)
The map is suitable for up to 9 players.
In multiplayer, with more than 4-players the village bonus is unlikely to be a big feature until the end-game (after a player has made the first kill etc.).
The Desirable Gameplay Dynamics for Multiplayer GamesEarly GamePlayers start on a village. First turn, with normal 3-troops deploy, they all have the obvious option of taking one of the outer strongholds which is a +1 auto-deploy (marked with a green-edged army circle).
With the 7-neutral on the treacherous routes, players should be well-seperated and unable to go for an early opponent kill without high risk. Especially if opponents leave troops on their villages for defence (as in Middle Ages/Labyrinth/Crazy Kingdoms, if a player no longer has a village then he is killed). Does the 7-neutral need increasing?
Hopefully, players will not have great difficult in the first few turns given the low value of neutrals near the start positions. They can then advance to the Mediterranean area (inset). Each starting area has its own route into this central area.
Theoretically, on roughly the same turn, players will arrive at, and take, an auto-deploy central stronghold in the med inset area (marked with a cyan-edged army circle).
Middle GameOnce players have a central, med inset stronghold (cyan-edged) and an outer, main map stronghold (green edged), they will also get a +1 (conditional) auto-deploy on their trade route (violet-edged region adjacent to central stronghold).
This will most likely result in a period of build-up as players prepare to either aim for one of the objectives (which would require being a significantly dominant player that others cant stop - unlikely, hence my question as to whether to simply removing the objectives, although they could still be a surprise element in fog games).
Players will feel the need to fort and deploy carefully given the need to keep a village strong in case of attack, balanced with the need to have plenty of troops on their central stronghold for the various options and bonuses available from there.
Options to Advance from the Central StrongholdsSome players may be reluctant to advance from their central stronghold in a hurry, especially as leaving it weak may invite opponents to head though their central stronghold and out to their village. Additionally, the advancement options aren't too easy!
However, some of the options available involve transformations which have an immediate impact on the game.
Advancing - First Step
Central Strongholds can all attack Athens, the Med (Great Sea) and Israel. The latter two are killer neutrals, whilst Athens has no value in itself and would not be worth stacking-on (apart from in trench games or for advanced 'blocking' tactics).
From these regions players can move on to Olympus, Atlantis, or Cerebus (the hounds at the gateway of the Underworld), as well as to the Heroes.
Advancing - Second Step
Olympus and Atlantis both give a simple +1 bonus (not auto-deploy this time).
Cerebus connects to the two other Underworld regions. Holding the Underworld gives a +4 bonus but is extra-hard to hold given the decay on all 3 regions.
The value of Heroes is that they unlock some conditional borders. To take a God you need a hero:
Ra can be attacked from Israel when you have a Hero. Ra controls the sun and can therefore devastate civilisations - hold Ra to the next turn and all others' central strongholds (where they may be stacking) lose 2 troops (transformation feature). Whilst not an instant game-winner, this may be a useful mid-game tactic to slow down others' preparations to go for killing/winning moves and weaken them for your own purposes).
If players get to Hades Palace (unlikely to be defended given the decay) whilst they have a Hero they can then take Hades. As we see below, holding a God is useful, plus taking Hades means that straight away all central strongholds can be attacked from Hades' Palace (without having to go through other central strongholds).
If players get to Olympus and have a hero they can take Zeus. Olympus can straight away attack outer, main map strongholds directly. This may be an attractive option to prepare for killing an opponent by bypassing his central troops and getting through to his 'home' defences near his villages. Players may wish to wait for the next round though, as holding both Olympus and Zeus gives Zeus a +1 Auto-Deploy.
A hero also allows players get to take Poseidon from Atlantis. Atlantis can straight away attack treacherous routes on the outer map, another attractive option to prepare for killing an opponent (by bypassing his central troops and getting through to his 'home' defences near his villages). Again, players may wish to wait for the next round though, as holding both Poseidon and Atlantis gives Poseidon a +1 Auto-Deploy, plus, treacherous routes (except the two near the players' own villages) lose 3 troops each, making it more viable to use the conditional border from Atlantis.
More complex optionsThe Kraken
Whilst Zeus-Olympus and Poseidon-Atlantis options give small bonuses and alternative ways of getting to players 'homelands', the Underworld gives a potential larger bonus and Ra helps deplete opponents, the Kraken is the most devastating region on the board.
The Kraken can directly attack any villages and is therefore a quick route to winning. Holding the Krakjen till next turn makes this easier as others' villages are also depleted.
However, 'releasing' the Kraken there isn't so simple:
To 'release the Kraken' players first need to take a Hero, two Gods and the Titans (maybe I make this slightly less difficult: 1 Hero, 1 God and the Titans) .
The Titans
As well as being required to release the Kraken, the Titans are also powerful in their own right: the transformation feature means that holding them next turn, they will seek revenge on the other Gods and deplete them, damaging other players' preparations for a winning/killing move (also making it easier to take a second God from an opponent to then 'release the Kraken').
The Gameplay Calculations - Making the Deirable Gameplay Dynamics Come Into PlayFor the above desirable dynamics to work, i.e. for players to use the mythical features (rather than simply build-up and go for kills by heading though the 'treacherous routes', or opponents' central strongholds (and trade routes)) requires some
thoughtful analysis of the bonus, decay and neutral values of the folllowing components:
- The Central Strongholds (cyan-edged army circle, starts n4) and 'Trade Route Defence' regions (violet-edged army circle, starts n3) - I'm conscious of having low neutral values for the early stages of the game, to avoid games being decided early by getting bad dice for a couple of rounds trying to take the same region while an opponent quickly grabs a small bonus and expands onwards (as can happen often in say, AoR2 or Treasures of Galapagos). In theory, after a couple of turns players will have had their auto-deploy outer stronghold (green-edged army circle) which should help make sure the n3 and n4 aren't too much trouble? Setting these regions too low however, would mean a player with a slight early advantage could take their 'own' central stronghold and another to then overpower an opponent before he has got to the central area.
- This whole conundrum has even led me to consider conditional borders for all central strongholds, where they cant attack adjacent strongholds for the first, say, 5 rounds - but then, that may not create the desired middle-nd-end game dynamics either. And, in any case, am I confusing conditional borders with transformations now?
- Another option may be to make the route from the 'Trade Route Defence' (violet-edged army circle) to the Central Strongholds one-way. This would remove the option for players to deplete one another' central strongholds and go for a kill through a players' defensive-line, but ensure players then either use the mythical features or break through treacherous routes to kill one another. Also, reducing the ways for players to get to one another would probably result in more players risking leaving few troops behind to defend their villages. Making these access routes into the central, med map one-way would negate the need for the 'Trade Route Defence' feature (conditional auto-deploy) which I could then remove, (or maybe not since, if one player grabs another players central stronghold it may be re-taken thanks to having troops remaining from auto-deploys on the violet-edged regions). Maybe if these routes are one-way, Zeus' feature could be to unlock attacks in the opposite direction (as opposed to his current feature of enabling Olympus to directly attack outer stronholds)?
- Treacherous Routes - effectively they protect players from each other - I suspect to force central play (i.e desired dynamics) the n-value should be a fair bit higher?
- Athens/Great Sea/Israel - to encourage players to use the mythical features maybe the neutral valkues should be lower? Does Athens need to be a killer neutral as well?
- Underworld - should the bonus be higher, or maybe the decay on the 3 regions lower? Or is it right (considering that a player could defend on Cerebus as the only way in)? Maybe the neutral values should be lowered on HP & Tartarus?
- Gods, Heroes, Olympus and Atlantis - is 4 a good neutral value here? I find 5 off-putting (e.g. Emperors in Poison Rome) and maybe 3 is too easy?
- The Titans and The Kraken - again, is 4 a good value? Maybe lower since its already hard enough to trigger the conditional borders to get to them?
[spoiler= To Do List]
Short-Term
Consider gameplay simplifications and/or ways of making gameplay more understandable.
Consider and try full names on actual regions (but not legend scrolls) for AT, OL & HP.
Invite gameplay discussion and consider remove of both objectives.
Improve elipses for main map and inset (including thinner inset elipse on main map) - add pattern if possible, or even have no outer elipse and the map 'fades-out' to the parchment?
Other graphical improvements.
To-Do List - Further AheadReduce the overall brightness, particularly some of the army circle-symbols.
Pay a politician so the circle size doesn't matter / enrol Sepp Blatter as my lawyer.
Background ornaments - Zeus / Poseidon / Egyptian Gods etc.
Large Version - do lots of work after enlarging with the background and some other aspects.
Consider and try alternatives for overall layout of the different sections.
'Embellishments' (maybe along the lines of the Celtic sun God now in the Atlantic) in any space left.
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[spoiler=Done]Reduce/remove 3D Himalyas 'frying pan' effect (and add reduced effect to Andes for consideration.
Make Gods army circles slightly more distinct.
Make 'Ra', 'Kraken' and 'Zeus' text more readable (change text colour).
Write 'Gameplay guide'.
Add region names and army numbers for new gameplay elements.
Create and find minimalistic explanations for further scrolls regarding new gameplay elements. Use different shapes for new types of region introduced.
Scroll improvements.
Further work on Cerebus and Underworld background.
Addition of subtle outline for land.
Work on Atlantis & Olympus Insets.
Improve text on scrolls where it is least clear
Consider moving things around a little so the Underworld is below the Med inset
Reducing and changing icons.
Swap icons for Roman Colliseum / Ampitheatre.
Remove icon in South America and create a new one (plenty of possibilities here as no common visual concept of how Tiwanaku looked).
Army circles colour system / shapes
A little further work on Atlantis Inset.
Work on the background (land shapes, colouring, detail etc)
Long-term, the favorite overall layout idea in my mind is:
- Main map and Med inset map ('Lands of the Great Sea') to each be on a parchment
- Some gameplay/legend notes on each in the corners of these parchments
- A book with 2 pages of info and mini-elipses for the heroes, gods, underworld etc (this will also deal with the brighter colours/pastel clash with the main map)
- A couple of small scrolls in any space left for any other info (e.g. Abbreviations)
[/spoiler]
