My MP map(s)
Moderator: Forum Moderators
My MP map(s)
Since I'm not making much progress on any large projects, I thought I might as well try my hand at some smaller MP scenarios (files available on the 1.3 addon server). The first (and only so far) is a 2p point capture map under the truly inspired and original name of Capture. Standard MP play, except that the game can also be won by capturing and holding any 5 of the 6 windmills for a full turn.
Unfortunately I cannot claim much in the way of balance at this point. Map design is not my forte to begin with, and the scenario stretches the boundaries of what MP is balanced towards. I wanted to give some weight to the windmill capturing aspect over straight up slugging, so I deliberately stretched the battlefront out, with a clear contrast (and easily held chokepoints between) between the built-up southwest corner and the sparse northern section with the windmills. Can't really guarantee how well it plays out, though. Any comments would be appreciated.
Unfortunately I cannot claim much in the way of balance at this point. Map design is not my forte to begin with, and the scenario stretches the boundaries of what MP is balanced towards. I wanted to give some weight to the windmill capturing aspect over straight up slugging, so I deliberately stretched the battlefront out, with a clear contrast (and easily held chokepoints between) between the built-up southwest corner and the sparse northern section with the windmills. Can't really guarantee how well it plays out, though. Any comments would be appreciated.
- Attachments
-
- 2p point capture
- capture.JPG (84.27 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
I love the idea, but from the overview it seems that players will forget about capturing windmills and just fight each other for a much quicker game. This due to the fact that all windmills are north and far from the starting locations.
I think what would fix this would be to make the map a bit smaller and have windmills both north and south of the keeps, perhaps moving them closer too.
That's just what I gather from how it looks; it might play like you wanted it to.
I think what would fix this would be to make the map a bit smaller and have windmills both north and south of the keeps, perhaps moving them closer too.
That's just what I gather from how it looks; it might play like you wanted it to.
Problem is, the smaller and more evenly distributed the map gets, the less room there is to maneuver. The less room there is to maneuver, the fewer options players have; players would have to fight through each others' armies anyhow, so there wouldn't be that much of a difference.Deciero wrote:I love the idea, but from the overview it seems that players will forget about capturing windmills and just fight each other for a much quicker game. This due to the fact that all windmills are north and far from the starting locations.
I think what would fix this would be to make the map a bit smaller and have windmills both north and south of the keeps, perhaps moving them closer too.
The intent is to provide heavy terrain between the two keeps to slow down attackers and facilitate defense. An all-out direct assault is (hopefully) doomed to fail; odds are heavily against an immediate knockout blow succeeding, and an attacker who neglects to send at least 2-3 scouts north is going to be stuck with a huge income disadvantage (if not an outright loss once the opponent swipes the windmills). But that's a considerable amount of gold at the start being devoted to securing villages/windmills up north, which means that many fewer units to devote to attacking, which takes even more steam out of the southern front.
The end result is, ideally, players are stuck with a dilemma: they must defend both the northern and the southern front, since both represent vital bases of income and both have a loss condition (death of leader if you fall on the south front; opponent's victory by point capture if you fall on the north front).
- Doc Paterson
- Drake Cartographer
- Posts: 1973
- Joined: February 21st, 2005, 9:37 pm
- Location: Kazakh
- Contact:
Really nice aesthetic.
I know what you're saying about it being a balancing nightmare though- It looks as though flyers would be very frustrating here, and that mobility differentials between the factions would make for some large power discrepancies. Undead would be absolutely brutal, as they could threaten a "windmill-KO" with little economic tradeoff (bats)- forcing a faction like Loyalists to spread their forces thin to prevent such a thing. It looks as though saurians would also have a field day. You could try breaking up the large patches of terrain; particularly the large swamps.
Flyers are still going to be very hard to catch/finish in the center, so you may want to sub a bit more of the shallow water for ford- I think that would certainly help.
Really great concept though, and I hope you keep at it.
I know what you're saying about it being a balancing nightmare though- It looks as though flyers would be very frustrating here, and that mobility differentials between the factions would make for some large power discrepancies. Undead would be absolutely brutal, as they could threaten a "windmill-KO" with little economic tradeoff (bats)- forcing a faction like Loyalists to spread their forces thin to prevent such a thing. It looks as though saurians would also have a field day. You could try breaking up the large patches of terrain; particularly the large swamps.
Flyers are still going to be very hard to catch/finish in the center, so you may want to sub a bit more of the shallow water for ford- I think that would certainly help.
Really great concept though, and I hope you keep at it.
I will not tell you my corner / where threads don't get locked because of mostly no reason /
because I don't want your hostile disease / to spread all over the world.
I prefer that corner to remain hidden /
without your noses. -Nosebane, Sorcerer Supreme
because I don't want your hostile disease / to spread all over the world.
I prefer that corner to remain hidden /
without your noses. -Nosebane, Sorcerer Supreme
Thanks for the comments. I have revised the map, on the principle that there is really not any such thing as "too many ford tiles" for something like this (also changed a few rough tiles in the southwest to castle ruins, to allow loyalists and other terrain-challenged units to maneuver while retaining the defensive flavor of the area). My goal is to add sufficient weight to water units to hopefully counter some of the advantages of flying units. In particular, while I normally don't care for nagas I think this is one map where their high movement would really be worth it. Knalgans may be getting the short end of the stick here, though, with no water unit and a huge price tag on their gryphons. Much as I love footpads, I'm not sure how well they'd cut it on this map. And, well, good luck getting any dwarves into action in the northeastern corner...
I'm still worried about northerners vs. undead, too; not only are naga very vulnerable to adepts, but their wolf riders are generally less suited to fighting off bats than other factions' scouts are. Northies vs. drakes is also probably going to be problematic, since augurs are almost as bad as adepts and much more mobile, to boot.
I'm still worried about northerners vs. undead, too; not only are naga very vulnerable to adepts, but their wolf riders are generally less suited to fighting off bats than other factions' scouts are. Northies vs. drakes is also probably going to be problematic, since augurs are almost as bad as adepts and much more mobile, to boot.
-
- Posts: 74
- Joined: February 18th, 2007, 7:46 pm
Your map inspired a different kind of MP map. Check it out: http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=