Age of Merchants - [Quenched]

[XenHu]

It's quite tall. I'd do something about that if you could. While I appreciate you skills and what you're trying to do with this map, I don't think I would play it. There's a lot of brain work to see if anyone holds a bonus.

Some of your territory lines are too long and going into the ocean and others are a bit short and don't make it all the way through the coloured highlight.

Agreed. I think this map would be a good novelty, but I can't see it getting widespread popularity. I might play it, once or twice.

-X

[DiM]

It's quite tall. I'd do something about that if you could. While I appreciate you skills and what you're trying to do with this map, I don't think I would play it. There's a lot of brain work to see if anyone holds a bonus.

Some of your territory lines are too long and going into the ocean and others are a bit short and don't make it all the way through the coloured highlight.

teritory lines, will be sorted.

about the difficulty of the map i don't think it's that hard.

i said before i played this map with my wife and 3 friends. all i had to tell them was this:

you're a merchant and you have resources (showed them the resources), products (showed them the products) and markets. you have 4 types of resources which combine in 2 pairs to give you one product. own 2 res and a product you get a bonus, own a product and a market and you get another bonus. transport a product to a foreign market by owning 2 connecting harbours and you get a further bonus. then they asked me. do we get a bonus for taking resources to the market? and i answered with a question. do you see that in the legend?? no. then you don't.
and we played and nobody had a problem in spotting the other player's bonuses.
it's easy to see them because there is a trade chain (2R>P>M) for each continent. so basicaly you look at that continent and see if he has the whole chain or just a part. then if he has harbours you look to see where they connect to see if he has a bonus for a foreign market. in 30 seconds you'll spot all the bonuses on the table.

[XenHu]

30 seconds is a long time when you're playing Freestyle..

-X

[DiM]

30 seconds is a long time when you're playing Freestyle..

-X

30 seconds for everybody

so there's no real advantage for any player, plus this will happen only in the first rounds then it should be really easy to spot all bonuses once you get used to the map.

PS: how much time does it take to see all the bonuses in world 2.1??

[KEYOGI]

I think it would take more than 30 seconds. Depending on the number of players, I think it could take you a couple of minutes or maybe longer. I haven't played it though, so I can't comment for sure.

The difference in World 2.1 is that bonuses are identified by groups in a region. The way I understand it, in this map you could have potential bonuses scattered all over the board. I was considering this same problem with Conquer 4, but I think in that map it's a lot easier to identify bonuses.

I like your idea, I really do... I just think it's overcomplicated and this will probably turn a lot of people off.

[DiM]

i don't really know what to say. it took my friends just minutes to understand the concept and seconds to identify the bonuses.

anyway i've updated the xml with the coordinates but i have a problem with testing it.

first the xml tester returns a blank page so i don't know if i have errors or not i've manually checked every connection and it should be fine.

second the army number generator is all screwed up because the map is taller than normal

[DiM]

solved the problem with the army number generator. i forgot to add the dimensions to the xml but still the xml tester returns a blank page

put pieces of the xml in the tester it works but if i put the whole file it does nothing maybe the file is too damn big.


anyway here are the army numbers and i fixed the borders

[KEYOGI]

I don't think the map itself is hard to understand, I just think it will be a hassle to try and identify everyones bonuses. Not to mention time consuming. There's not much you can do about it though. What are the total number of bonus combinations for the map?

"A Product transported to another Continent via 2 Harbours = extra +2"
Could this be worded better? For starters, I don't think you need to mention the harbours as it is mentioned in the next point. I would maybe swap the order of the bottom two points though.

[DiM]

I don't think the map itself is hard to understand, I just think it will be a hassle to try and identify everyones bonuses. Not to mention time consuming. There's not much you can do about it though. What are the total number of bonus combinations for the map?

"A Product transported to another Continent via 2 Harbours = extra +2"
Could this be worded better? For starters, I don't think you need to mention the harbours as it is mentioned in the next point. I would maybe swap the order of the bottom two points though.

how can i word it better??


the order of the last 2 will be changed in the next update.

[DiM]

feedback needed

[Enigma]

i think my biggest problem with this map right now is that it is simply too big. as i think keyogi said earlier, a lot of brain power is going to go into this map, to see how you can manipulate your own territories to gain bonuses, and at the same time to figure out how everyone else is doing the same. it will take some time to train your eyes to see all the different possible bonuses.

since it will already take a good deal of time to think through all of this, i think it just adds annoyance to have to scroll. are you working on the small version of the map as well? because i personally wouldnt use the large one, and i know im not the only one in that boat. (lol pun not intended)

this map has to be very easy to see. it has a complicated bonus system and so to make it playable it has to be very easy to immediatly spot where everything is.

i agree with keyogi, i really like your idea. and there is no question that you are a master at graphics. the trick is to make them complement.

[DiM]

the map is currently smaller than the world2.1 map and as far as i can see many people play world 2.1 and i doubt they do it on the small version.

to make this map smaller i have to give up on the legend.
if i do that nobody will be able to play it.

i'm not currently working on the small version because i don't know weather this will ever get finalised. most people don't seem to understand the concept and think the map is too hard to play. why would i bother making a small version when nobody wants to play it

[Enigma]

the map is currently smaller than the world2.1 map and as far as i can see many people play world 2.1 and i doubt they do it on the small version.

to make this map smaller i have to give up on the legend.
if i do that nobody will be able to play it.

i'm not currently working on the small version because i don't know weather this will ever get finalised. most people don't seem to understand the concept and think the map is too hard to play. why would i bother making a small version when nobody wants to play it

i play the small world2.1. speaking for myself, i understand the concepts and like them. i would just like to see these concepts presented clearly on the board. dont give up on it

[Enigma]

the map is currently smaller than the world2.1 map and as far as i can see many people play world 2.1 and i doubt they do it on the small version.

to make this map smaller i have to give up on the legend.
if i do that nobody will be able to play it.

i'm not currently working on the small version because i don't know weather this will ever get finalised. most people don't seem to understand the concept and think the map is too hard to play. why would i bother making a small version when nobody wants to play it

i play the small world2.1. speaking for myself, i understand the concepts and like them. i would just like to see these concepts presented clearly on the board. dont give up on it

[DiM]

i have no idea how to present the concepts better. but i'm open to any suggestion.

[DiM]

seeing that the feedback is really scarce i'm begining to think this map is not worth it. i've put in a lot of effort in creating it but i don't regret it cause i really love to do maps. plus i printed the map and i can play on it with my friends. i wanted to bring a breeze of fresh air with a new game concept and a new style for map design. unfortunately the interest on this map seems to have faded away. so it has come to this. should i continue or not?

[Bad Speler]

yes, continue, its a great map!!

[hulmey]

continue

[Enigma]

please continue its such a new idea that perhaps every1 else is as in the dark on how to make it work as you feel, and that may account for the scarce feedback. but it really does look good. dont give up.

[Gozar]

Don't stop now!

[DiM]

thanks guys for the support but at this point the map has reached a point where i get little or no feedback. without feedback the map can't progress.
i don't know, i'm rather new to this whole map making process so maybe i this is how the foundry works, maybe things move really slow in here. this thread is only 19 days old and i already did lots of updates and improvements as quickly as i could, maybe i should just be patient and wait and wait and wait.
i really imagined things move quicker around here. i'm not saying i expected this to be quenched in 2-3 weeks but at least i expected constant feedback. i have more ideas i want to work on but i'm affraid if i start working on new maps this one will simply be forgotten and i don't want this to happen.
i have 13 votes to continue so far and 7 asking me to stop. out of these 20 votes not a single person posted to ask for improvements. let's assume the 13 persons that voted yes are satisfied with the current state of the map and don't want any improvements (which is not true) but the 7 guys that voted no should have said what they don't like, maybe their complaints can be attended to and solved. i never voted in a poll without offering some constructive criticism.

[Skittles!]

DiM, I like this map, and how it is different from other maps.

But I don't like the font for the areas. It just seems.. Too big for it. I know you've had a hard time with the fonts, but still, I think the font is too large for the territories.

I hope you continue with this map DiM, as it has good potential.

[mibi]

I'd love to play this map. Once the game play is figured out, I could really care less about fonts and lines and other visual factors as it's the game play and the players that make a game fun, for me.

This map for me is ready to go.

[DiM]

DiM, I like this map, and how it is different from other maps.

But I don't like the font for the areas. It just seems.. Too big for it. I know you've had a hard time with the fonts, but still, I think the font is too large for the territories.

I hope you continue with this map DiM, as it has good potential.

too big? huh
well it used to be smaller but various people complained it's too small and i made it bigger. i'm in the middle of a rt game now but as soon as that finishes i'll search for more fonts and post them.

just to get this clear. you like the font but it is too big and you want me to make it smaller? or do you also want me to change the font?

[Skittles!]

DiM, I like this map, and how it is different from other maps.

But I don't like the font for the areas. It just seems.. Too big for it. I know you've had a hard time with the fonts, but still, I think the font is too large for the territories.

I hope you continue with this map DiM, as it has good potential.

too big? huh
well it used to be smaller but various people complained it's too small and i made it bigger. i'm in the middle of a rt game now but as soon as that finishes i'll search for more fonts and post them.

just to get this clear. you like the font but it is too big and you want me to make it smaller? or do you also want me to change the font?

The font type is fine, the font size is I think too big for it.