[Abandoned] - Zodiac Map

[rsacheli]

need suggestions for further updates...

[Blitzaholic]

nice idea, i suggested a zodiac map awhile back, looks neat

[Hopscotcher]

I really like this map! Reminds me a little of 8 thoughts, but much more intricate!

I LOVE the multiple bonuses for the varied signs. Gotta say, I don't have anything on the con side right now.

Mayhap name the stars that make up the signs instead of numbers?

[TaCktiX]

I know map space is at a premium, but I can't help but think getting any bonus on this map will be a massive crapshoot. Escalating games will end when cardsets get big enough, with nobody holding a bonus until game's end. No Spoils will take frigging forever as people hope the dice roll in their favor. If any map has need for build-a-bonus, I think this would be the one. Consider subgrouping the constellation with a dotted border or something like that, and adding that "a group of 3 is +1, a group of 4 is +2", etc. etc. I'll see if I can get ian or Incandenza to look at it to suggest best subgrouping, as they're more thorough gameplay folks than I.

[Hopscotcher]

I know map space is at a premium, but I can't help but think getting any bonus on this map will be a massive crapshoot. Escalating games will end when cardsets get big enough, with nobody holding a bonus until game's end. No Spoils will take frigging forever as people hope the dice roll in their favor. If any map has need for build-a-bonus, I think this would be the one. Consider subgrouping the constellation with a dotted border or something like that, and adding that "a group of 3 is +1, a group of 4 is +2", etc. etc. I'll see if I can get ian or Incandenza to look at it to suggest best subgrouping, as they're more thorough gameplay folks than I.

HOWEVER, that means that initial drops are much more likely to have starting bonuses much like Pearl Harbor. So. person A might start with a +2 deploy and he can break person B's +2. When Person B goes, he's already behind the ball and just trying to get back his +2. Personally, I think I like the map the way it is.

[mattosaurus]

I think it presents unique enough gameplay and an interesting enough theme. I say give it draft status.

[Incandenza]

So I'm in general agreement that the bonus situation presents some difficulties. The constellations themselves seem to be a collection of Asias, with the odd South America sprinkled in, to use a Classic analogy. Plus the supercontinent groups (Air, Spring, etc) seem almost preposterously difficult to achieve, and in fact would only really play a part at the very very end of a game, and even then only maybe.

I concur with Hopscotcher than having little intra-constellation build-a-bonuses probably isn't the way to go. Maybe the solution is to split the larger constellations in half, have Outer Pisces and Inner Pisces, for instance.

Plus I'm not wild about how the Black Hole works, the way the negative bonus is set up, it's such a powerful disincentive to capture that I wager that it'll go untouched until the very very end of a game. Maybe it would be better to set it up as a high-ish killer neutral.

Plus plus, I got about halfway through reading your first post on dispersion of starting neutrals and starting positions and my eyes glazed over and I drooled on my keyboard. I'm not confident that the xml can support such features, and I can't in good conscience advise you to continue with a map that requires changes to the xml, as there's no telling when such features would be made available. So I'd stick to what's currently available and go from there.

[iancanton]

there have been no comments for over a month, so this one's headed to the recycling bin. if the mapmaker wants to continue with the map, then one of the CAs will be able to put the thread back into the drafting room, after an update has been made.

ian.

[rsacheli]

im not getting anything as far as graphics go here... i am going to make create the different sizes (big and small) and will attempt to start on xml...

i need more input on the black hole!!!

[Hopscotcher]

I think the Black Hole should just reset to Neutral. Maybe 2.

It would be cool if it sucked troops adjacent to it at -1 per round.

[rsacheli]

SAD NEWS

My harddrive failed and I lost EVERYTHING!

I do believe this map is now dead until I can extract what I can off my old harddrive and from other computers that I have worked on...

[rsacheli]

If I can some how retrieve the lost files, I will change the Black Hole to Resets to 3 Neutrals and any connected to it -1 each turn...
That should clear up the confusion on that?

anything else that might need to be changed?

[rsacheli]

I am working on recreating this map... I am doing my best to make it look the same

[rsacheli]

Click image to enlarge.

heres where I am at so far with the rebuild...

[Victor Sullivan]

I hope Libra doesn't stay +5...

[rsacheli]

That's an oops... I'll fix that while I work on the background

[army of nobunaga]

i like it man.. adda lot of stuff around it.. and I see it working.

[rsacheli]

Click image to enlarge.

[rsacheli]

All I should really need to do is put the numbers back out... after that its all just cosmetics...

[iancanton]

welcome back to the gameplay workshop!

ares ought to be aries. ares was the greek god of war (analagous to the roman mars). i suggest coding aries (the ram) as 3 start positions, so that no-one starts with this bonus in 2-player or 3-player games (4-player and larger games will be totally unaffected).

ian.

[rsacheli]

at this point, I am going to ask for help with coding... if there is anyone willing to team up with me on this to do the coding?

[rsacheli]

welcome back to the gameplay workshop!

ares ought to be aries. ares was the greek god of war (analagous to the roman mars). i suggest coding aries (the ram) as 3 start positions, so that no-one starts with this bonus in 2-player or 3-player games (4-player and larger games will be totally unaffected).

ian.

ares has been changed to aries... cant believe that wasnt caught before or perhaps it was and i missed it...

[Victor Sullivan]

at this point, I am going to ask for help with coding... if there is anyone willing to team up with me on this to do the coding?

I love xml I can help.

[rsacheli]

added numbers, added to the background...

Click image to enlarge.

[Victor Sullivan]

Do you think there would be a way to show both the element and season groupings through the colors?