2p_Cloverleaf - First Map

[Carrow]

Here is my first stab at map making.


I added the map as an attachment, but I am unsure if i did it correctly.

Critiques?

[Velensk]

First of all, I'd just like to thank you for posting a picture. It makes giving help so much easier.

Second of all, I'd like to recommend the guide to making multiplayer maps stickied in this forum. If you read the whole thing it has a lot of good general advice. My third of all will go over some things covered there.

Third of all, in regards to the map itself: The biggest problems are first player advantage and variable movement distances. For example, the village closest to the center of the map on the northeast bank (between the ford and the bridge) is 9 hexes away from player 2 and player 10 hexes from player 1. The problem is that much of the time, p1 will be able to reach both this village and it's mirror on the southwest bank before player 2. If you look at any of the mainline maps, you'll see that each player has an equal allotment of villages which they can reach before the other player can but on this map if p2 does not get a 9 mp scout, then one village that would be "his" can be stolen before he can get there which leads to many other issues of dynamics. Other similar problems abound.

Faction wise, it looks decently balanced. I think loyalists might find their advantage a little strong, and rebels and northerners a little weak but factional balance is kind of moot when a mirror match isn't balanced. You can actually keep the same general shape and fix up the dynamics but it'll play very differently than you have it now.

EDIT: While I'm here, I'd also like to throw in a plug for the map-making contest going on (see the announcement at the top of this forum). True it's for a 4-player map contest and this is a two player map but it's not actually much harder to design or balance a 4 player map than a 2 player map and that could be an extra incentive to improve your skills.

[Carrow]

Thanks for the advice!
I have read through the guide before I made this map, so I tried to keep these issues in mind. But because I am new to the game, some of the intricacies have slipped by, such as the first player advantage issue. I think making the map bigger would help out, or making the fords in the river harder to cross. Or moving those villages one space to be adjacent with the two muck spaces.

One question I had about this map, do you think there is too many villages for the size of the map? I test played this map a handful of times and there seems to be 2-3 main points of battle at any given time. But when one front starts to win, the battle might as well be over because one side will have a ton of villages while the other has a very small amount. To remedy this in future maps, I wanted to have 5-6 villages close to each of the players castles that are defensible to a degree. This is to mainly give a last chance to the losing player if they have a major defeat on the front line.

Creating any map on here seems to throw me off because I cant seem to achieve perfect symmetry. I just need to get used to the hex spaces I suppose.
The problem for me is wanting to use even numbers on the sizing of the map, I think If I start to use odd numbers I can get better results.

I will fix this one up and post a new version of it later today or tomorrow. The next map I am going to shoot for is a four player map. If I feel I have a good enough design I would be happy to submit it to contest!

[Carrow]

Here are some of the changes I made.
First off i removed the villages that are able to be stolen and moved them more inland.
Next I made that whole area near the center of the map a little harder to traverse, including taking out a strip of the ford in the river.

I played four rounds, two being with myself, and two against the computer. I think that the loyalists may have an upper hand on this map. Alas, I am still new to the game and map making, so I could be wrong.



Any critiques are much appreciated.

As a side note, I am thinking of making this into a four player map. By splitting the map into quarters and pushing those to each corner of the map. Then having a big snowy mountain in the center, with snowy forests and mountains along the sides, trying to push battles for a North vs South feel, but keep the strong possibility of a threat from East and West. Making the map suitable for FFA or team matches.