Re: RAIL ASIA [1.11.12] QUENCHED

[The Bison King]

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAMS!!!!

may this stamp bring you luck.

[cairnswk]

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAMS!!!!

may this stamp bring you luck.

thanks tbk...your stamp did bring luck...i got a credit for the exam, yes results were posted a mere 6 hours after doing the exam. i'm astonished with that speed from that process.

[cairnswk]

^^^ It might have brought exam luck but also brought the flu.
I will post something later this week.

[TaCktiX]

Ver goot, we eagerly await.

[cairnswk]

Version 8

Changed:
1. reworked some rail lines
2. reworked the staircase
3. added large station doors
4. Dushanbe terminal has been moved and lines connecting to it.
5. The Stanz lines are changed

[isaiah40]

Looking good!! Though I think it would be cool to have a couple of people on the stairs.

[cairnswk]

Looking good!! Though I think it would be cool to have a couple of people on the stairs.

OK thanks. are there any gameplay issues?
We are in gameplay mode

[Victor Sullivan]

• Bonus Areas:
  
  • Russian (A): +4 or +5
  • The Stanz (B): +4
  • Siberian (C): +4 √
  • Chinese (D): +10
  • Japanese (E): +2 √
  • Ottoman (F): +2 √
  • Arabian (G): +2
  • Iranian (H): +3
  • Pakistani (I): +3 √
  • Indian (J): +4
  • Southeast Asian (K): +5
  • Indonesian (L): +2 √
  • Philippino (M): +1
  • All Yerevan: +3 √
  • All Dushanbe: +4 √
  • (All of the above values are based on number of borders, number of territories, position, and expansion potential.)
• Other:
  
  • I think the neutrals on TYO E, TAF H, KHI I, and CAI FG are unnecessary, as the drop percentage is still pretty low without them.
  • In your signature, you seem to point that this map is post-1999, yet one of the rails is named after the Ottoman Empire? Is it still called that today?

-Sully

[cairnswk]

thanks Sully for that input.
Do you think the connections are solid for gameplay or could they be made better?

The map is set anytime in the future, so for providence sake i have said 2050.
For instance
1. technically Cairo is in Africa - should that be changed to Port Said?
2. should there be a see route from MNL to HCM
3. should AKY join to VOG with same station type as AST
4. is China too large - should it be broken into eastern and westrn china for smaller bonuses.

[Victor Sullivan]

thanks Sully for that input.
Do you think the connections are solid for gameplay or could they be made better?

The map is set anytime in the future, so for providence sake i have said 2050.
For instance
1. technically Cairo is in Africa - should that be changed to Port Said?
2. should there be a see route from MNL to HCM
3. should AKY join to VOG with same station type as AST
4. is China too large - should it be broken into eastern and westrn china for smaller bonuses.

Okay.

1. Sure, that sounds good.
2. Nah, I don't think it's necessary, and I think it would just look weird and "out of line" (pun intended).
3. No, I think A and B are already reasonably hard to hold.
4. No, I don't think so, I like the diversity it adds bonus value-wise. But, if you break apart KUN and ULB into 2 territories, it would make the bonus much more possible to achieve.

-Sully

[cairnswk]

thanks Sully for that input.
Do you think the connections are solid for gameplay or could they be made better?

The map is set anytime in the future, so for providence sake i have said 2050.
For instance
1. technically Cairo is in Africa - should that be changed to Port Said?
2. should there be a see route from MNL to HCM
3. should AKY join to VOG with same station type as AST
4. is China too large - should it be broken into eastern and westrn china for smaller bonuses.

Okay.

1. Sure, that sounds good.
2. Nah, I don't think it's necessary, and I think it would just look weird and "out of line" (pun intended).
3. No, I think A and B are already reasonably hard to hold.
4. No, I don't think so, I like the diversity it adds bonus value-wise. But, if you break apart KUN and ULB into 2 territories, it would make the bonus much more possible to achieve.

-Sully

Thanks Sully, i'll adjust those and post something soon.

[cairnswk]

Version 9

While i'm waiting for feedback on gameplay questions...

1. Added a couple of men walking dow the stairs
2. Added a fruit and flowers stall
3. Added some cross texture to the windows on right
4. adjusted some things sully mentioned.

[cairnswk]

i guess if there is no more gameplay comments, then this could be stamped and moved to graphics eh?

[Peter Gibbons]

Well for the purposes of discussion, is there any merit to adding any of the following connectioms?

A) IST to TLV
B) MHD to AKY
C) switch the KHI to NDH to a KHI to MBA

No strong feelings on any of these but they do seem to be worth discussing.

[cairnswk]

Well for the purposes of discussion, is there any merit to adding any of the following connectioms?

A) IST to TLV
B) MHD to AKY
C) switch the KHI to NDH to a KHI to MBA

No strong feelings on any of these but they do seem to be worth discussing.

Peter, thanks so much for commenting.
A) is defintiely doable.
B) MHD to AKY - Aktay is a beachside resort on the Caspian Sea. So that is doable also. There isn't a lot to the north for a connection to VOG. But there is a highway from north of MHD Mashhad to AKY.
C) I wouldn't replace the Karachi to New Delhi line between those two capitals, but i could place the other line betwee Karachi and Mumbai, if that makes strategic sense.
There should really be a line between New Dehli and Islamabad, but there is not room, so i reluctant to pull out the other line between KHI and NDH

[cairnswk]

Version 10
1. New line from MHD to ATY
2. New line from TLV to IST
3. two new motorised carts placed

[cairnswk]

I've also just added a line in China from BJN <-> SHG <-> HKG
i look at this and thought it would be absurd that a line didn't exist between thos three big cities.

[cairnswk]

[ender516]

Yes, that addition makes a lot of sense. That is Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, correct? I imagine that would be an extremely busy corridor.

Question: Does SAP only connect via ferry with VST-D and not VST-C? If so, perhaps the ferry route should be coloured like the SHG - KAG route. If not, and SAP connects to both VST stations, perhaps the ferry route should fork and show all three colours.

[cairnswk]

Yes, that addition makes a lot of sense. That is Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, correct? I imagine that would be an extremely busy corridor.

Question: Does SAP only connect via ferry with VST-D and not VST-C? If so, perhaps the ferry route should be coloured like the SHG - KAG route. If not, and SAP connects to both VST stations, perhaps the ferry route should fork and show all three colours.

Thanks ender516 for that comment.
You've raised an good issue there about the Vladivostok connection...
So i have followed your hint and allowed two connections there, something slightly different from other rail maps.
Please f5 to see the chage in the above V11.

[TaCktiX]

You've done a lot of Rail maps Cairns, and it's showing. My only clarity complaint right now is the fact that the DSH and TBS bonuses are mentioned by full name in the legend, with nothing equating the abbreviation to the full name. It normally wouldn't be that big a deal, but you've got a LOT of bonuses in this one, rivaling Rail Europe easily.

[cairnswk]

You've done a lot of Rail maps Cairns, and it's showing.

Thanks TaCktiX. i hope that means this looks better.

[/quote]My only clarity complaint right now is the fact that the DSH and TBS bonuses are mentioned by full name in the legend, with nothing equating the abbreviation to the full name. It normally wouldn't be that big a deal, but you've got a LOT of bonuses in this one, rivaling Rail Europe easily.[/quote]
Understood. Adjusted for next version 12

[MarshalNey]

OK, first thing is your first post- it needs upadating! I realize sometimes the rate of updating seems worse than Microsoft Windows, but it really saves a ton of time.

The second thing is that this map looks sweet! I'm very glad that you have 2 stations here and that they are smaller- it opens up the strategic options.

As for the breakdown, here's what I have, please correct me if I made an error (as I am wont to do):
+2 Bonuses

Rail E: 4 regions, 2 borders
Rail F: 4 regions, 2 borders
Rail G: 6 regions, 2 borders
Rail L: 5 regions, 2 borders
Rail M:3 regions, 2 borders

+3 Bonuses

Rail H: 5 regions, 4 borders
Rail I: 5 regions, 3 borders
Rail J: 7 regions, 3 borders
Tblisi Station: 4 regions, 4 borders

+4 Bonuses

Rail C: 5 regions, 4 borders
Rail K: 7 regions, 4 borders
Dushanbe Station: 5 regions, 5 borders

+5 Bonuses

Rail A: 7 regions, 4 borders
Rail B: 8 regions, 4 borders

+11 Bonus

Rail D: 14 regions, 8 borders

77 total regions, 4 neutral (MNL-M, PSD-F (?), TYO-E, TAF-H)

73 total deployable regions
2p & 3p = 24 each, 1 neutral
4p (dubs)= 18 each, 1 neutral
5p = 14 each, 3 neutral
6p (dubs, trips)= 12 each, 1 neutral
7p = 10 each, 3 neutral
8p (dubs, trips, quads)= 9 each, 1 neutral

If this looks correct, please copy and paste into your 1st post.

After digesting these figures, I have the following recommendations:

Rail M bonus lowered from +2 to +1
Rail G bonus raised from +2 to +3, and one extra border added
Rail H bonus raised from +3 to +4
Rail J bonus raised from +3 to +4 and one extra border added
Rail K bonus raised from +4 to +5
... and then there's the Rail D bonus. It's a white elephant, even worse than Asia in Classic. Nobody but nobody is going to collect this bonus until the game is decided already in their favor. Yet, you already have more than enough bonuses, so splitting it up doesn't look like a good idea. You could palm some of its regions off to other rails maybe, but this would only make the other rails non-viable while not really helping Rail D significantly. In light of the fact that the number of total deployable regions on the map is a very unfavorable number, I would be inclined to recommend that you chop out some of the stations in Rail D... but that's just my first thought and any other idea that might reasonably reduce the borders of this bonus would be welcome.

As for your neutrals... they could be moved to better spots to prevent dropping bonuses. The most obvious move to me is the neutral on the F-Rail. Move it to Tblisi Station, since that's a very droppable bonus at the moment and needs a neutral. Thus two birds with one stone.

The second thing that I would do with the neutrals is to get rid of the neutral on Rail H. It's not needed... if it turns out that you need the neutral for your total region count to be a golden number, move it to Rail L.

Finally, as mentioned earlier the total number of deployable regions for this map (73 regions) is a non-golden (one might say black) number. Some adjustments need to be made to either increase or decrease it to a golden number.

-- Marshal Ney

P.S. I didn't give a rationale for my suggestions for raising or lowering the bonuses (other than Rail D), but if one compares the values between like rails, most of them are self-explanatory. Rail M is too good of a deal for +2... I think that a bonus should not be both easy and more efficient than larger bonuses; rather a small bonus should be a tradeoff (easier to take and hold, but less efficient). Otherwise it dominates the strategy disproportionately.

[cairnswk]

From Sully / From MarshalNey / Decision

• Russian (A): +4 or +5 / Rail A: 7 regions, 4 borders + 5 / +5
• The Stanz (B): +4 / Rail B: 8 regions, 4 borders +5 / +5
• Siberian (C): +4 / Rail C: 5 regions, 4 borders +4 / +4
• Chinese (D): +10 / Rail D: 14 regions, 8 borders +11 / +11
• Japanese (E): +2 / Rail E: 4 regions, 2 borders +2 / +2
• Ottoman (F): +2 / Rail F: 4 regions, 2 borders +2 / +2
• Arabian (G): +2 / Rail G: 6 regions, 2 borders +2 / +2
• Iranian (H): +3 / Rail H: 5 regions, 4 borders +3 / +3
• Pakistani (I): +3 / Rail I: 5 regions, 3 borders +3 / +3
• Indian (J): +4 / Rail J: 7 regions, 3 borders +3 / +4
• Southeast Asian (K): +5 / Rail K: 7 regions, 4 borders +4 / +4
• Indonesian (L): +2 / Rail L: 5 regions, 2 borders +2 / +2
• Philippino (M): +1 / Rail M:3 regions, 2 borders +2 / +2
• All Yerevan: +3 / Tblisi Station: 4 regions, 4 borders +3 / +3
• All Dushanbe: +4 √ Dushanbe Station: 5 regions, 5 borders +4 / +4

77 total regions, 4 neutral (MNL-M, PSD-F (?), TYO-E, TAF-H)

I count 73 regions plus 4 neutrals - correct
I'll add more shortly about those other changes.

[Victor Sullivan]

Both Marshal and I suggested M's decrease to +1. I think it's a valid concern that a bonus of +2 would be too high for it's borders, territory count, position, and expansion opportunities (i.e. L - Indonesian).

-Sully