4p_Temple - Map Entry

[Carrow]

Here is the map I am considering to enter to the Wesnoth Cartographers Contest.
Before I officially submit anything, I would like to get a response from the community and a couple people who would like to play test it.

4p_Temple was created to be a tournament style four player map (North VS South).

Comments, suggestions, critiques, or anything else to make this a better map is welcomed.



I want to make quality maps for the community, so if this style of map is not needed or wanted say your thoughts and I can draft up more.
Beyond this map, I plan on making more even after the contest is over.
Thank you!

[Battlecruiser_Venca]

Are you sure, that this map needs the same team turn order as the mainline map the "Clash"? This turn order gives top team P1 advantage as in 1v1 matches. The more standard for 2v2 matches is P1P4 vs P2P3 (as more mainline maps do follow) thus negating the P1 advantage in most cases (you only have to care for P1 vs P2 village grabbing).

[Velensk]

1/3 vs 2/4 can definitely be balanced and is a very interesting alternative to 1/4 vs 2/3. Most mainline maps use the latter but it's not actually because the former is inherently problematic.

I'll edit this post to give a critique to the map later but I don't have time now.

EDIT: alright, I see some serious dynamics issues here and factional problems. The biggest issue, is that river in the middle. You have extremely tight fronts but you break it up with water terrain with no walking paths. There isn't really much terrain barriers between opposing villages other than that narrow strip of water and the castles. The implication, is that any faction that is better at fighting over the water will have a massive advantage in particular drakes. Drakes don't care about the low defense they get on water as they have low defense everywhere whereas the low defense and movement this gives their enemies is a major advantage. Drakes will be able to attack and retreat and flank easily when every other faction will be slowed. The castles also help make it even more of a stalemate because now, not only is it impossible to flank without water/air power but if you try to break it you'll suffer your worst condition against a fortified enemy. The tightness of the fronts also doesn't give players much wiggle room for short term disadvantages. Control of water on this map is so critical and yet, if you have water units the only way to really deploy them is to rush the central keep with your leader and recruit them there. Once there, you'll almost certainly find yourself in a caged match against an enemy leader in much the same position. On the other hand, factions with fliers are not quite as constrained and have a major advantage at controlling the flanks if they do end up locked in the middle.
-Another problem is the distance between the outer keeps and the keeps in the center. If you count between P1 and the central keep you'll count 16 hexes. This means that a player who happens to get a 6 mp leader, will be able to get there a turn sooner than a player unfortunate enough to draw a 5 mp leader and again in tight situations even something like that can be breaking.

I'm not overly fond of the general design and the way the river is positioned is a problem. What you have could lead to some interesting casual games with a very tight cagey team fight in the center and either stalemate or harassment on the edges but I think with more competitive players you'll find major imbalances.

[Carrow]

Thank you for the feedback!

Water supremacy: This is one aspect that I didn't take into account at all. When I had my leader in the center, I make use of water units to harass the flanks. As a remedy and to incorporate more water based fighting, imagine this: Take player 3's position, a river that flow from the top of the map, adjacent to the keep, down to the west side of the southern village and into the swamp. Or swinging that river to the east and into the flank castles. (Or splitting it between the side and making that village+terrain and island.). Then having the flanks as islands of the sorts.

Central map: Adding some fords in the center of the map, connecting the sides will help movement throughout, even linking the castles with fords. I am considering removing the keeps and castles that are in the center of the map and spreading out about 4 castles in the center for defense. Also I think adding some forest and hills in there would be beneficial. Generally spreading out mobility and fighting grounds in the center.

Flanks: With a new design that has rivers flowing into this area from the north and south, I think the whole flank could be an island possibly with a village on it. The only problem I see with that, is whoever get to the island first gets the village first. So creating the island in a way that give the late arriving player better defensive position could somewhat counter the imbalance.

Player positions: The reasoning behind placing the players in such a way is that I wanted to have the east to be more Southern favored and the west more Northern favored. This gives a team balance and forces players to work together.

I really loved the idea of using the walls to direct the flow of battle. And I forced it into this map. The more I think about fixes for this map, the more I think I should scrap it. I will work with it some more to see if I can make it playable and post a draft.