just some thoughts on MAPs



the index from the Random maps project Here are just some factors I consider when selecting from the randomized maps for the Dominions 2 game. I generate these maps nightly for a fresh batch to shop thru each day.

Firstly in consideration, is it pleasing to the eye. Or at least as much as we can get the DomMap generator to do so far. I prefer that no land color (terrain type) be too solid for too large an area. If swamp or mountain cover 5 or 6 provinces then there is a chance for a player to land in the middle and be handicapped for too long at the beginning of the game.

Then, is there areas which might serve as chokepoints if a player lands his home capital there. The DomMap gnerator does mark the worst spots as "nostart" automatically. The way I run it presently it no-starts any sea province that doesnt have at least 2 watery connected neighbor provinces. The land provinces must have 3 open neighbors. So the random maps as they are run now would work for people to play on but since I like to add randomly scattered problems to the map I need to be more careful that I wont accidently shut the player into a tiny area they cant fight out of.

An exception is if the area they can be shut into is large enough. So I will select maps if there are obvious choke spots but it it seems to split the map evenly into large areas.

As far as oceans and seas, I prefer 1-3. One big one is OK. If its centered and allows movement all around it then thats a plus. Two fairly equal sized oceans are nice. If they are at oppossite corners, or near each other, both are fine. They allow a different type of game as far as the 2 water nations are concerned. I wont pass up on a map that happens to have three fairly equal seas also since we already know that Kristoffer is working on a third water nation to add to the Dominions2 game.

For scenarios where the AIs are going to be pre-placed and very modified there are things to consider in selecting a map. Since Dominions2 numbers the provinces from lower-left to upper-right. This means that the bottom half, and the upper half, of a map is easiest to run mass numbers for writing changes. In other words I can easily generate lines of #nostart 1, #nostart 2, #nostart 3, on up to say 150 in order to set aside thetop portion of the map. So I often will select a map because it has an interesting formation at the top or bottom. Sometimes I might choose a cool looking map that has an island in the middle or something like that but I do it knowing that adding the correct #nostart commands to the .map file is going to be a pain.

For now all the maps I generate are massively huge. I would make them larger than 2000x2000 pixels except my machine blows up trying it. And I know that 450 land with 50 water is alot of provinces. In fact its presently the maximum since the game balks at trying to do certain things in the .map file over 500 instances. There are a few reasons I run that large. Small to medium maps are being done beautifully (manually) by other players so I feel that the huge maps such as I like are a gap that needs filled. Another reason is the random routines I like to run against the .map file do add interesting variations to the playing but since its random there has to be enough room for you to play AROUND obstacles that are randomly created too rough.

As far as map sizes, I might get around later to generating seperate batches. Maybe tiny, small, medium, large, huge, epic, crazy, specialized, and my favorites? Yeah, maybe someday. And I will take requests if you want to speed me up on one of those. But what about those sizes. Players have different ideas about what a small or a large map is. I find it easier to consider it was the number of provinces that each nation can capture (or start with now that its been added as an option) before conflict is forced to happen.

For a player to capture all of the provinces around his castle as a buffer and for resources, we are probably looking at.. 5? There are 17 nations (at this time) so 5*17 would be 85 provinces. Actually, if you fairly consider the land and water nations then the best map should probably be 15*5 or 75 land provinces, and 2*5 or 10 water provinces, to a total of 85.

So if 5 provinces each at 75 land and 10 water is a small map, then what would be good sized for the others? I guess anything smaller than that would be a tiny map. Plenty of desire for those since many people only want to play with 2-4 nations at a time and dont want them to be too far apart. A small (85 prov) map would be quite a game for only 2 players.

If a medium map offered all 17 nations a chance for 10 provinces of forcing war, then it would be a total of 170 provinces. For fairness it would probably be best done at about 150 land and 20 water. Thats not a bad map. A sizeable but not overwhelming project for someone to do well (not like I do it). Grab your paint program and the notepad program, then dig in. Make unique features and then design provinces around those. Such as a Dragons Lair, or a Trolls Grotto, the haunted Whispering Woods near some friendly looking farmlands. Decide what natives would be there, and what gaurdians. What magical sites can be found there and any other game factors.

So what about a large map? One that can support something like 12-17 players and allow some strategic play for something like a multiplayer online game of Dom2. At 15 prov each we are looking at a map with 255 provinces. About 225 land and 30 water. Thats a pretty hefty map to create manually using a paint program and notepad so I guess we are getting into my territory for random creation support.

Why would anyone want a map larger than that? What would a huge map be? How about one with some strategic selection of which provinces to attack to add to your empire, and tactical use of choke points between you and your neighbors. One that would make the special tactics of playing flying nations such as Caelum or sneaking nations such as Pangaea an advantage they wouldnt have on smaller maps. One that would be good for a really long running multiplayer game. AND one that allows full use of the new feature in giving each player up to 9 provinces right off the bat. Thats what huge is for. Something like 20 provinces each? For a 17 nation game that would be 300 land and 40 water for 340 total provinces. If you give each nation 9 starting provinces thats 153 used up and 187 left. Divide those by 17 and you get 11 each to conquer. That means you have a map where you can start all 17 nations at 9 starting provinces ending up with free space between you about equal to what we figured for a medium map. Cool!

So why Epic? Well, because its the maximum the game allows is as good an answer as any. But is it stupidly extreme? A map with 450 land and 50 water gives 17 nations each 29 provinces to capture. With the option of starting with up to 9 provinces that still leaves 20 each or equal to what a huge map offers for a completely full game. WOW. OK I admit thats probably about as high as we need to go.

So we ended up with:
TINY <5 each, or less than 85 total provinces. Best done as 75 land and 10 water.
SMALL 5 each, or 85 total provinces. Best done as 75 land and 10 water.
MEDIUM 10 each, or 170 total provinces. Best done as 150 land and 20 water.
LARGE 15 each, or 255 total provinces. Best done as 225 land and 30 water.
HUGE 20 each, or 340 total provinces. Best done as 300 land and 40 water.
EPIC 25 or more each, maybe to the maximum 500 total provinces. Something like 450 land and 50 water.

These are only my own thoughts on the subject. Feel free to go to the Dominions 2 discussion boards and start a debate. COMING TO A SITE NEAR YOU (probably this one) the INSANE map size! MUHAHAHahahahahhaa...