[Abandoned] -The Chako/K'zari War

[DearCyrus]

Map Name:The Chako/ K'zari Wars
Mapmaker(s):DearCyrus
Number of Territories:41(+5 neutrals and 4 Killer Neutrals and 1 special (non-combatant) territory. Total:51
Special Features: Killer Neutrals, Auto-deploy, conditional border, bombardment
What Makes This Map Worthy of Being Made: This map chronicles the War that will one day be carried out on a far off planet. Thousands of years from now on the Planet of Chako, The tribes of the island nations were awoken in the night to see fire bursting from the skies. These distant descendants of ours had secluded themselves in order to establish their own culture and have little memory of the journeys our kind once made to the stars. The ball of fire split and fell all around.

The Kzari scout ship had been caught in an electromagnetic pulse and lost most of their instruments... In a last ditch effort to survive, they headed towards a patch of land on the horizon. As all K'zari Scouts are trained to do, they deployed their Telepods To the far reaches of the territories to ensure quick travel, but they were unable to recover and crash landed on the central island. Searching for resources to Rebuild the ship, the K'zari spread out attacking anyone who got in their way... And so it went for a hundred years. The K'zari have only their telepods and genetic replicators to show of their once vast technology, and the People of Chako have learned to fight well, as the Human spirit always will.

The day of the final battle is upon us... Who shall Survive?

The Teleportation stations are linked directly to the K'zari ship, making it attack-able from 9 territories. Units from the K'zari ship can attack any of the teleportation stations.
The player who owns the K'zari Ship at the beginning of the game is designated The K'zari, and receives +5 auto-deploy. The Teleportation stations start neutral.
Update - Version 13




No longer super sized. I have scaled down the map slightly, scaled down the border significantly, and moved a few names to fit. The interior space of my territory icons is sitting at about 25 px. so I think my 888's should still fit nice and snug.
Updated texture layer and opacity of text-boxes(for visibility of text).

Questions:
How do you feel about the fake data on the left and bottom of the map? Should it stay or go?

Should the Sea routes:
1) Stay as they are (Killer neutral).
2) Be removed completely.
3)Be turned into regular connections, with no territory in between?

show: Previous Versions

[MasterGuns]

looks clean and well colored, but would like to see more detail all around-such as there are on Siege!, arms race, island of doom, super max, pearl harbor for example.... also make the Teleport stations look different from the other territ spots on the board. -MG

[DearCyrus]

Thanks for the input! I am new to this site, and map-making, and can use all of the help I can get. Just to be clear, You mean more details on the map itself, I.e. bushes, mountains,etc..?
Personally I think the maps you listed are in a much different style than the one I intend to make, but I can look into that.
This is my rough draft, and changing the look of the teleport station and Ship are on my to do list. The overall feel that I am going for is similar to the classic map in simplicity of style but with a little bit of glow and drop shadow similar to a holographic display for the Army circles, for a sci-fi effect.
I will repost once I have implemented some changes.
Thanks again!

[Industrial Helix]

Cool story, but an uninteresting map.

[DearCyrus]

Cool story, but an uninteresting map.

How would you suggest I improve it? I have NEVER made a map, or art of any type before to be honest. I am on the ground floor here, and am here to learn.

[Seamus76]

You have a great start, well done!

I think what IH may have been trying to say is that you should incorporate the story more into the map. You obviously have some skills based on the draft, so I think adding the story might allow for more gameplay to be developed based on what you can put on there, and what you come up with(symbols, etc.).

You may want to think about moving the land with Mirova over a little to the left to give you more room for Elo, or move that up, etc. But more room always comes in handy down the road.

Adding the text and a legend will really help bring your idea together, and may provide a better opportunity for people to help.

I use GIMP, so if I can answer any questions just let me know. Good luck, and whatever you do, stick with it.

[DearCyrus]

I have been kicking around some ideas as to how I could spice my map up a bit and I am thinking about skewing the map at an angle to give a perspective view, and possibly adding a grid maybe a hex grid,to give it a tech feel. Still have to see if it can be done without making the land masses appear to small, but it is an idea. What do you guys think?

[Seamus76]

Personally I would just have to see what it looks like unfortunately, but with that being said, it might be best to knock that out quickly and then focus on the gameplay elements, like the legend, etc. Which again will help get more people commenting on things that will help move your map along to the next step.

[DearCyrus]

show

I was thinking something like this...

[iAmCaffeine]

That looks very cool, love the 3D aspect. At first glance my main concern is the amount of chokeholds in the map, but maybe the teleports would overcome that.

[DearCyrus]

Thank you! I did put the choke points in intentionally, but they could also be removed if it restricts things too much. I feel it will force some conflict especially around the teleports, but I guess we will have to wait and see how it plays...

[iAmCaffeine]

My main concern is the large bonuses like the blue and pink only being accessible 2 ways.

[DearCyrus]

What if I added a sea route between them, that would open another inlet to both blue and pink and possibly put teleport 4 in 3 way congestion... Could be interesting.

[iAmCaffeine]

That would be an improvement, in my opinion.

[Aleena]

Bottle necking a game around a few connecting points is not a good design, though it makes a good strategic defensive stronghold.

Maybe if you do add Sea routes - to make them available as an option for use - but not as a primary desirable route - you can make it slightly longer then using teleports - maybe 2 or 3 spaces between the lands and also make any water space turn back to neutral every turn - so a player who tries to cross the dangerous waters instead of using the teleports must make it all the way or will be lost at sea....

[DearCyrus]

Thanks for the idea! I like it... Consider it done. Lol

[DearCyrus]

May I elicit any additional feedback before starting work on my next version? I plan to include (potentially) new symbols for the ship and teleports as well as a scrolling text gif legend... I hope to get some support behind this map, so I can get it moving through the foundry. Any help in doing so is much appreciated!

[isaiah40]

May I elicit any additional feedback before starting work on my next version? I plan to include (potentially) new symbols for the ship and teleports as well as a scrolling text gif legend... I hope to get some support behind this map, so I can get it moving through the foundry. Any help in doing so is much appreciated!

Just go ahead and do another draft! As for the scrolling legend, that would not be a good idea due to the fact that in speed games - especially in the 2 min speed games - people trying to read the legend will use up their time reading it and not playing, thereby quite possibly losing the game. A player should be able to glance at the legend, find what they need and read it, not wait for what they need. Plus, a scrolling legend would be a distraction for some.

[DearCyrus]

Thanks for that info. I hadn't taken speed games into consideration. My main rationale for the idea was to be able to add more of my story elements into the map without sacrificing the feel of the map. This would help explain the backstory of my map to those who weren't following this thread, which I have to assume is a strong majority of the site members. It is probably also possible to add a stationary legend for bonus information, etc.

[Aleena]

I assume if your going to join a speed round - you'd try to be more familiar with the map before you even started...
As this site grows and new dynamic versions of maps are created - The layouts, rules, and other aspects are becoming a little more challenging and complex - in some cases - even if the Legend is visible their is soo much to it, that the player would need to take a few minutes to let it all sink in....

We all have made a bad move from time to time, and to play a speed game with out studying the map first - is one of the biggest bad moves a player can do.... In the future I personally would like to see the back stories and legends on a second jpg image separate from the map itself so that the full space of the map can be used for game play.. Maybe an a/b button that allows a player to toggle between the Legend and map for those who want to take a quick look while playing...

Who knows - maybe if they adopted this suggestion as an option for future maps, that it would be the first step to a multi-map game.... ??

Let's think forward to the future of this site and the great new dynamic games that this site will be offering as options, instead of finding reasons and ways to hold us back from growth and prosperity... Those whom do not change with time will die out....

[DearCyrus]

Hahaha. I think you need to go make that pitch in the XML suggestions thread! Basically a click for more button... A range of possibilities from the mundane to the mind blowing.

[DearCyrus]

Here is version 2 of my map. Still need to make a teleporter that is proportional to my ship. The question stands, should I make a sea route between Ashad and Solve and if so, should it be Killer or a direct route?
[img[/img]

[iAmCaffeine]

Image isn't working for me..

[DearCyrus]

Wow, mine either now! Will re-update when I get home from work... sorry! :/

[DearCyrus]

Please give me any feed back possible, as I would like to push this forward for a draft stamp!