Age of Merchants - [Quenched]

[DiM]

wiat, why are those dotted lines in there anyways? arnt the harbors supposed to connect land masses?

yes but harbours aren't enough. this map needs lots of movement options so i added other connections. if the harbours were the only ones there would not be too much tactical options.

right now i'm actually pondering if i should add more ports

[mibi]

yeah why not just replace the lines with ports, that would make all kinds of movement going on, i think two ports per continent is good.

[DiM]

yeah why not just replace the lines with ports, that would make all kinds of movement going on, i think two ports per continent is good.

actually i don't want only 2 ports per continent. but i do think you have something here. i'll put some one way connections.
in a few minutes.

[DiM]

here we go. docking points.

no more connecting lines that clutter the map. just docking points.
i know in the legend it is written with another font but i don't have the fonts library from home so i'll change it later.

also in the legend instead of "ports can attack eachother" there will be something like: "ports can attack other ports and docking points"

so we'll have 2-way connections (port <-> port) and one way connections (port ->docking point)

this solves one thing that's been bothering me. the inner 4 island had only 2 ports and yet they were all connected. now it's more realistic.

edit// i also put the latest factory in all the places.
v70

[mibi]

so if docks are one way, then you have two islands which are inescapable.

[DiM]

so if docks are one way, then you have two islands which are inescapable.

yup. i don't think that's a problem

[mibi]

isn't it kind of weird that you can sail your little boat up to a dock and then you can't sail it away?

i think it would make more sense if harbors can sial to harbors, and docks and sail to docks.

[Evil DIMwit]

so if docks are one way, then you have two islands which are inescapable.

yup. i don't think that's a problem

It might be if, say, someone ends up going last in a six-player game and is eliminated everywhere except on those islands.

[wiggybowler]

It looks to me that there is too much going on, but it could just be me.

[Nikolai]

Yeah, I think making the port stuff more complicated is going to be just too much. I liked the old thing with simple connections better anyway. Oh, and the old factory still rocks... everything else has been way too new.

[DiM]

@ mibi and Evil DIMwit:

harbours can sail to harbours and docks to docks.

docks are for simple movement
harbours for trading and movement.
i modified the legend

i like it.

@ wiggybowler & Nikolai. in the old version i had connections from port terits to non port terits and that looked a bit odd because people could have thought it was only one way. and i also had connections between non-port terits and that looked even weirder. a simple solution would have been to further increase the number of ports but that would have meant making 20 ports instead of only 10. that would have disrupted the gameplay for 2 reasons. the bonus for the pirate cove and the importance of harbours. i want people to fight for their harbours so they can trade efficiently. with 20 harbours you had 9-10 possibilities to to move your res between 2 islands thus not caring if someone takes your harbour.


i also put back the original factory since more people like it. i think i've had several opinions on this point and i decided this one stays.
so here it is:
v70.

[yeti_c]

I've just realised that you call everything a Harbour...

Would Port not be a better name?

Especially as your territorries are "Puerto X"

Puerto is spanish? for Port not Harbour?

Especially as you don't have Harbour/Port in the Key.

C.

[DiM]

I've just realised that you call everything a Harbour...

Would Port not be a better name?

Especially as your territorries are "Puerto X"

Puerto is spanish? for Port not Harbour?

Especially as you don't have Harbour/Port in the Key.

C.

you're right. i also added ports to the legend.

[yeti_c]

So can all Docks attack all Docks?

I think that only the 2 closest docks should link...

Keep the dock gfx... but put in connection lines again... else Docks become too powerful I think...

C.

[DiM]

So can all Docks attack all Docks?

I think that only the 2 closest docks should link...

Keep the dock gfx... but put in connection lines again... else Docks become too powerful I think...

C.

i don't think docks become too powerfull as they don't help with any bonus. their only purpose is to allow movement, but i agree some connection lines could help.

i also modified the legend to explain the dashed lines


here:

[yeti_c]

Perfect - Reckon you can remove the gumph about docks now... it's fairly obvious...

Also Ports to Ports and Docks? is that true?

[yeti_c]

PS Plus there is no actual way of connecting up the middle islands resources and market without going through the bottom conti?

C.

[DiM]

Perfect - Reckon you can remove the gumph about docks now... it's fairly obvious...

Also Ports to Ports and Docks? is that true?

what's a gumph?

and yes i'd like ports to attack both ports and harbours for increased movement. if it's a bad idea it can be easily removed. but read the next post before you think it's a bad idea

[DiM]

PS Plus there is no actual way of connecting up the middle islands resources and market without going through the bottom conti?

C.

the middle island are connected via fort hope <-> pampas, and also pampas has a connection to churacas.

here's my logic.

all continents except middle islands have 3 access points (2P+1D or 1P+2D) this is good because this way the continents have similar borders and thus none of them is easier to hold than any other.

the middle islands continent has 4 access points 2P+2D. i want it to be the hardest to hold, especially because of the pirate cove that can bring valuable bonuses, plus it's more logical and realistic, because the middle islands would normally be stopping points for ships to refresh their supplies before continuing their journey.


also i want ports to attack other ports and docs because of the free movement thing. i want the map to be very open because i want to "force" people to play it like a merchant map not like a classic map. i want to gently guide them into concentrating on resources and not on continents by making the continents fairly large (9-12 terits) and with many access points.
i don't want people to just go and grab a continent in a classic style, and then another and another and so on. i want them to think, to plan expantion carefully and provide them with many routes so they can quickly attack or retreat. in this map to go form one corner to another takes maximum of 5 moves. that's really quick.

[yeti_c]

Perfect - Reckon you can remove the gumph about docks now... it's fairly obvious...

Also Ports to Ports and Docks? is that true?

what's a gumph?

and yes i'd like ports to attack both ports and harbours for increased movement. if it's a bad idea it can be easily removed. but read the next post before you think it's a bad idea

Gumph - is a word to mean excess wording or similar...

In this case now you have dashed lines you no longer need to say Docks attack other docks along lines... just remove it entirely - which should give you a little more space...

OK I understand the port-> dock attack route... works for me.

C.

[DiM]

Perfect - Reckon you can remove the gumph about docks now... it's fairly obvious...

Also Ports to Ports and Docks? is that true?

what's a gumph?

and yes i'd like ports to attack both ports and harbours for increased movement. if it's a bad idea it can be easily removed. but read the next post before you think it's a bad idea

Gumph - is a word to mean excess wording or similar...

In this case now you have dashed lines you no longer need to say Docks attack other docks along lines... just remove it entirely - which should give you a little more space...

OK I understand the port-> dock attack route... works for me.

C.

ah i get it. while i agree the second line in the legend may be a redundant, i will leave it there just to be sure everybody understands the way they can move around the map. it's only a line and the text is readable so i don't need the extra space to make the text larger.

[DiM]

any other thoughts?

[yeti_c]

The + sign in that font is crap...

It looks too rigid... could you play with it a touch?

C.

[DiM]

The + sign in that font is crap...

It looks too rigid... could you play with it a touch?

C.

sure thing. one plus sign coming up:

[yeti_c]

Much nicer... I assume you agreed?

C.