[Abandoned] - Maze Craze

[bbqpenguin]

couldy you make the white territorya little less... white? it kind of hurts my eyes to look at. if you could tint it just a tiny bit... so that it still white enough to be called white but doesn't leave an afterimage when i look away

[WidowMakers]

couldy you make the white territorya little less... white? it kind of hurts my eyes to look at. if you could tint it just a tiny bit... so that it still white enough to be called white but doesn't leave an afterimage when i look away

sure

[WidowMakers]

Version 17
Toned down the white territories and changed them to a cream color. Easier on the eyes.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Comments? Bonuses OK? Starting Neutrals OK? Respawn Levels OK?

[oaktown]

only way to know how the gameplay is going to be is to let it loose in the real world

the last map I said this about was Das Schlos.

Those bonuses are friggin huge, but I guess they make sense for a 453 territory map. I hope.

I'd like to see a horizontal line in the top left legend separating the "Revert to 30 neutrals" line with the rest fo the info in that box, since they aren't related. You've used lines in that way elsewhere in the legend.

It's been a while since I have visited this thread, so I'm trying to think out the logic behind the neutrals reverting to 30. There are so many paths between any two points that once a neutral becomes 30 it will never be hit again. Let's say I hold the white and you hold the light blue just below me: I have two places from which I can hit you directly, and if those are well defended I have eight other routes with flimsy 2s through which I can hit you. I'm quite confident that in 96% of games on this map, the 30s will never be hit - and if they are it will be when the game is already virtually over.

So really the high neutral reset is just to make walls, yes? That's cool.

That said, the key to holding any color bonus is going to be setting up walls around yourself as you advance. The easiest colors to hold - and therefor the colors that should receive the smallest bonuses - will be the ones that can be taken progressively, with walls being easily constructed behind you for defense. Obviously the corner and side colors will be the easiest starts. For example, you can hold yellow by creating 14 walls and holding three points. White can be held with 17 walls and defending six points. To hold red you need to create 21 walls and hold 6 defense points. Gray requires just 12 walls and 5 defense points. Yellow and gray seem to be the easier holds, yet they are both worth more than either white or red. And yellow seems to be worth way to much relative to, say, the light green, which will require you to create 16 wall squares and hold two points: +27 for a region that may be more difficult to hold than a +42 region?

I haven't looked all the way back through this thread to see how the bonuses were calculated, but I think that the main ingredient has to be how many unique individual points of contact a region has with neighbors. The light green may look nice and safe against the top edge, but it has almost as many unique points of contact (18) as the white region (23). And poor purple: 25 points of contact yet it's worth less than white, yellow, and gray.

of course, this only takes into consideration ease of holding the entire region, not the ease of setting up walls as you advance. Some regions (like white) will require you to create more walls along the way to keep your enemies from breaking through from other arms of the white region. Whew!

Is there a segment line missing in orange? You have a 13 territory sub-region. White has a 12.

The similarities between the "I" and the "J" still bother me.

I'm pleased with the bonus rather than the victory condition - placing 454 armies is pretty much a victory anyway.

alright... I hope I gave you some things to chew on widow.

[bbqpenguin]

i love the cream color instead of white. you're an angel

also, i don't actually expect anyone to know this, but i wonder what the probability of starting for with the 454 bonus would be.

[WidowMakers]

i love the cream color instead of white. you're an angel

also, i don't actually expect anyone to know this, but i wonder what the probability of starting for with the 454 bonus would be.

It is impossible. Every subgroup will have a neutral starting army. it will be impossible to start with any bonus other than the territory count bonus.

[edbeard]

only way to know how the gameplay is going to be is to let it loose in the real world

the last map I said this about was Das Schlos.

beta maps. play at your own risk (no pun). lack didn't seem too into the idea though.

[whitestazn88]

i wouldn't mind giving it a test run on cc...

[bbqpenguin]

i love the cream color instead of white. you're an angel

also, i don't actually expect anyone to know this, but i wonder what the probability of starting for with the 454 bonus would be.

It is impossible. Every subgroup will have a neutral starting army. it will be impossible to start with any bonus other than the territory count bonus.

wow really? that's great. is that exclusive to this map or i that universal for all maps? i know i've started with a continent before but i always though they should figure out a way to prevent that

[WidowMakers]

wow really? that's great. is that exclusive to this map or i that universal for all maps? i know i've started with a continent before but i always though they should figure out a way to prevent that

It is just for this map. Since there are so many territories, it is easy to assign many of the starting neutral and not affect initial bonuses and use up most of the map.

[laci_mae]

Hey WM,

I haven't stopped by in a while, so thought I'd say "Keep up the good work." I know you're stuck in XML hell. Is there any indication that the update will be activated? Ever?

Best,
L

[whitestazn88]

i'd prefer it if we allowed sub-group bonuses to still be achievable on the drop.. not a big fan of making a bunch of random neutrals in this maze...

[edbeard]

they're not 'random neutrals'. they're placed for the specific reason of stopping a bonus from the drop. you say you don't like this but with this many bonus regions, it's much more likely someone will start with one. rather than leave the game to chance of a good drop, widowmakers has decided to cancel out these opportunities making the game probably a bit more even from the start.

[Natewolfman]

I dont know if i would call this a maze though No real dead ends, not majorly at least, it would be a VERY easy one if it were an actual maze but that aside it looks really good, im looking forword to this one

[WidowMakers]

I dont know if i would call this a maze though No real dead ends, not majorly at least, it would be a VERY easy one if it were an actual maze but that aside it looks really good, im looking forword to this one

I do have to agree with you on the difficulty (or lack there of) of the maze. But once I made teh walls and everything, plus the bonus areas, there was not much else that could be done.

I really would like this to get done as well. But I need a new XML feature (killer neutrals that respawn at different number than they started) and until that is here, NO MAP.

But I will ask again if the bonuses are OK. Please give input. Are they too high? Are the neutral respawns to high?

WM

[Blitzaholic]

Hm, I actually like the idea of the Killer Neutrals you have. It's like a real Hedge Maze...I.E. you can follow along the designated path, or if you feel like it...you can cut through the Hedge (though this grows back amazingly fast).

The graphics I'm not sure about. Top notch looking, but it looks more like an online arcade game...perhaps Bejeweled.

Maybe consider going with a Hedge theme or a Field (as in corn, wheat, etc) maze.


--Andy

I got that game bejeweled and bejeweled 2, lol

[max is gr8]

This should be moved to final forge, it's completely ready for play, just the XML is being waited upon

[Androidz]

Just a question i know you changed the Any route to start to fininsh to shortest route but cant you atleast give 3-5 routes.. When you get the Xml, then you should be able to have more than one route anyway? i think chooseing routes is much funnier.

[max is gr8]

I agree, but can there be a loop of overrides? If you take 2 paths you get double bonus. I presume.

[Androidz]

I agree, but can there be a loop of overrides? If you take 2 paths you get double bonus. I presume.

Double or not dont make a diffrence 452 armies is enough for a clear victory anyway and holding to lines is almost impossible;).

[max is gr8]

Well in some games it wouldn't be, have you seen builders games.

[Androidz]

Well in some games it wouldn't be, have you seen builders games.

Yes ive seen them. Well hold 1 route. Only 1 Line count.

[Emperor_Metalman]

they're not 'random neutrals'. they're placed for the specific reason of stopping a bonus from the drop. you say you don't like this but with this many bonus regions, it's much more likely someone will start with one. rather than leave the game to chance of a good drop, widowmakers has decided to cancel out these opportunities making the game probably a bit more even from the start.

I agree. I can easily see one player getting a significant early advantage with a first turn bonus.

[WidowMakers]

Can I get my "Game Play Pending NEW XML Feature" stamp too oak?

Thanks

[gimil]

Can I get my "Game Play Pending NEW XML Feature" stamp too oak?

Thanks

Feeling left out?

Here ill give it to you, just don't tell oak