Tribal War - Ancient Israel v16.1 [2014-05-22] pg23 Quenched

[isaiah40]

New XML has been uploaded, and the name has been changed!

[Seamus76]

Things seem to be working pretty well on this one. I haven't heard any complaints so far.

[t4mcr53s2]

nice to see this back in action.. really enjoyed the games i played in its first life...
Also congrats on Alaska!

[agentcom]

Dibon lost its connection over that bridge thing to Ein-Gedi sometime in the last week or so ... almost screwed me up in a turn I just took.

Actually the Dibon/Ein-gedi border was not supposed to be there, except through the Dead Sea killer neutrals. That xml error for that has been fixed, which you noticed, but now the army numbers are messed up. We may have to temporarily go back to an older version, which may also have the incorrect Dibon/Ein-gedi border. But again, the map is not supposed to have that border, and the final map will not.

Then you should take out the little pathway there that makes it look like they're connected. I don't see the point of that little path if the regions aren't going to be connected.

The lines are dividing lines for the two Dea Sea terts, and show which terts on each side attack which of those, or both. I had originally used 1 single divider line, but changed it in v10 on 2012-12-04. So for the last over 8 months there has not been a mention of such confusion. I'm not saying it's not there, but once we get the map back up, and some more games played, we'll have a better idea as to the whether or not this is a problem, or just a case of an XML error giving the wrong impression from the beginning. i.e. Would you have had a problem if the border had been closed the first time you played the map, as it was intended.

Other than that I hope you're enjoying it.

Yeah, it's enjoyable. I'm playing another game on it now. I think you should go back to the single divider line that you say you had in a previous version. Something about a double dashed line makes it seem like it's supposed to be a path to me. Also the crosshatch thing that is oriented vertically and intersects the dashed line looks like it is supposed to indicate that the two seas border each other "under" this "bridge."

Think about it this way, no other territory border on your map has a double line on it. Why does this one? The bridges that are actually intended to be on the map sort of look like a double line line, adding to the confusion.

It might also be confusing historically, since the Dead Sea was parted by Moses according to Judeo-Christian faiths. That little path looks sort of like a footpath that's maybe meant to show this.

OK, I'm out of reasons, but the bottom line is that it is confusing and it doesn't have to be. Just replace it with a 'normal' border. Single line and no weird crosshatching.

[isaiah40]

It might also be confusing historically, since the Dead Sea was parted by Moses according to Judeo-Christian faiths. That little path looks sort of like a footpath that's maybe meant to show this.

That was the Red Sea, the Dead sea was never parted.

[Seamus76]

CURRENT UPDATE INFO - 2013-12-08:
- Removed one of the two Dead Sea tert divider lines. Thanks for the feedback agentcom, I hope this removes any possible confusion.

I also need to get the most recent XML and fix the coordinate of that Dead Sea 2 tert.

CURRENT MAP VERSION:

v16.0 - Large (840x800)

Click image to enlarge.

v16.0 - Small (630x600)

Click image to enlarge.

[Seamus76]

CURRENT UPDATE INFO - 2013-12-10:
- Updated the XML to fix a couple of coordinates including Dead Sea 2.
- Also added the full name of the weapons to the abbreviations. i.e. "SW-1" is now "SW-1 (Sickle Sword-1)".

*- I also made one small graphics update, so please use these map images when pulling the xml.

[agentcom]

It might also be confusing historically, since the Dead Sea was parted by Moses according to Judeo-Christian faiths. That little path looks sort of like a footpath that's maybe meant to show this.

That was the Red Sea, the Dead sea was never parted.

LOL ... I'm an idiot. Man the Foundry is making me feel really dumb today.

I still stand by my comments on the graphical reasons that this is/was confusing. I see that the new version has a single dashed line, which I think is a great improvement. I'm still not a big fan of the cross hatches that go across it, though. Is there a reason why you like those so much Seamus? To me, it would be much clearer without them.

[koontz1973]

It might also be confusing historically, since the Dead Sea was parted by Moses according to Judeo-Christian faiths. That little path looks sort of like a footpath that's maybe meant to show this.

That was the Red Sea, the Dead sea was never parted.

LOL ... I'm an idiot. Man the Foundry is making me feel really dumb today.

I still stand by my comments on the graphical reasons that this is/was confusing. I see that the new version has a single dashed line, which I think is a great improvement. I'm still not a big fan of the cross hatches that go across it, though. Is there a reason why you like those so much Seamus? To me, it would be much clearer without them.

This has/is one of my things as well. With the line now being single, the swords hold no relevance and could confuse. Best to remove them completely. Also, how about making the line the same as the ones on the land?

[Seamus76]

It might also be confusing historically, since the Dead Sea was parted by Moses according to Judeo-Christian faiths. That little path looks sort of like a footpath that's maybe meant to show this.

That was the Red Sea, the Dead sea was never parted.

LOL ... I'm an idiot. Man the Foundry is making me feel really dumb today.

I still stand by my comments on the graphical reasons that this is/was confusing. I see that the new version has a single dashed line, which I think is a great improvement. I'm still not a big fan of the cross hatches that go across it, though. Is there a reason why you like those so much Seamus? To me, it would be much clearer without them.

This has/is one of my things as well. With the line now being single, the swords hold no relevance and could confuse. Best to remove them completely. Also, how about making the line the same as the ones on the land?

Here's what it would look like without the arrows. I think it should be pretty clear now, and I'd like to keep the blue line on the water, which I think goes better than the brown lines I have on the land. If there is still a need to fix it I can try making the blue dashes the same size as the brown, and although they would be different colors they would be more "uniform". That is if the posted example doesn't work, which I think it does.

Click image to enlarge.

[koontz1973]

Much better. But yes, try to get them the same size.

[agentcom]

Yeah, I like this better, although I can see why from an aesthetics standpoint you might prefer the embellishment provided by the "arrows" (I didn't realize that's what they were until just now). Overall, though, I think the cost in aesthetics is outweighed by the clarity provided.

And like Koontz, I wasn't really thinking about the color of the lines but more their "texture" so I think I agree with at least trying out the same border style as the land territs.

[Seamus76]

CURRENT UPDATE INFO - 2013-12-14:
- Removed the Dead Sea directional attack arrows, and changed the large dashes to the same smaller dots as on the land.

- Didn't realize changing some of the names in the xml would be a domino effect on some other errors, which I had to fix. Although I did not get any errors from the xml wizard, I can't say I'm 100% confident this will ultimately work correctly. If not just let me know.

*Please update Graphics and XML from this posting.

CURRENT MAP VERSION:

v16.1 - Large (840x800)

Click image to enlarge.

v16.1 - Small (630x600)

Click image to enlarge.

[agentcom]

Looks good to me

[Gilligan]

Updated!

[sundance123]

Just joined another game on this map 1v1. Last started with with 14 territories.


Now it starts with 33!

[Gilligan]

Just joined another game on this map 1v1. Last started with with 14 territories.


Now it starts with 33!

I just closed the map, just in case.

Seamus must have updated an old XML on it, I'll take a look.

[sundance123]

Just joined another game on this map 1v1. Last started with with 14 territories.


Now it starts with 33!

I just closed the map, just in case.

Seamus must have updated an old XML on it, I'll take a look.

That was quick. here is the offending game

Game 14121596

[Gilligan]

Just joined another game on this map 1v1. Last started with with 14 territories.


Now it starts with 33!

I just closed the map, just in case.

Seamus must have updated an old XML on it, I'll take a look.

That was quick. here is the offending game

Game 14121596

Thank you for your report, the issue was fixed. Somehow the max positions got removed between updates.

[sundance123]

I love this map for 1v1 play - the bonuses are evenly balanced and allow a good fighting chance to the second person to move.
There are two things I dislike and so i suggest these changes.

Replace "God's prophecy" with "biblical prophesy"
I have not read the bible from cover to cover - I assume there is something in it that caused you to refer to God's prophesy but I don't recall God writing down any prophecies. Although there are many prophecies in the bible these are usually attributed to various people, that includes those relaying the "word of god".

Change how the Manessah no bonus is displayed I would suggest change the shading of the two war zones to solid blue. The blue shading at the border suggests they are no different to the other bonus regions. The bonus list is not at all clear that there are two war zones that off no bonus. Perhaps you could also change the word Maneesah to "west and east war zones" with a clear visual link (e.g solid shading). It too complicated to have a separate box explaining that Manessah refers to two regions on the map,

I have play this a good bit on the phone -those on PCs may not see the need.

[josko.ri]

I found this map interesting. In general, I like maps where one territory can attack multiple others around, like it is in this map and in the other Tribal War map.

One thing I like about the map: Principle of many LeviteCities or Refugees which start with 2 neutrals but are worth +1 auto deploy. In such an open map where all attacks are coming to play very quickly, going for some +1 bonuses which are inside our outside the center zone can be one sneaky strategic move. In fact, I have almost lost my game which was kind of secured win because my opponent took those regions and started having bigger troop yield than me. It is especially interesting with Nuclear spoils, and with unlimited reinforcements. In addition to this, the SS and SW bonuses greatly increase strategic level of the map. If is huge risk to spend troops to kill 3 neutrals, but trying that and succeeding to hold it can turn around lost game into winning game.

One thing I dislike about the map: Two center zones with many regions (Eastern and Western War Zone) have no bonus value by itself, so owning any region there (excluding those where neutrals need to be killed) cannot have bonus impact. It would be better to include 3-4 remote regions (one from Eastern War Zone, one from Western War Zone and one from Judah and/or Gad) to make some additional bonus, so someone may think about sneaky move to aim to own that bonus. I think similar bonus principle is used in other Tribal War map, and I like that very much on the other map.

[Gilligan]

Quenching

---The Beta period has concluded for the Tribal War - Ancient Israel Map. All objections have had their time. The Foundry and I hereby brand this map with the Foundry Brand. Let it be known that this map is now ready to be released into live play.

Congratulations Seamus76 and V.J., your shiny new medals are well-earned


Conquer Club, enjoy!

Gilligan

[Seamus76]

Quenching

---The Beta period has concluded for the Tribal War - Ancient Israel Map. All objections have had their time. The Foundry and I hereby brand this map with the Foundry Brand. Let it be known that this map is now ready to be released into live play.

Congratulations Seamus76 and V.J., your shiny new medals are well-earned


Conquer Club, enjoy!

Gilligan

Thanks!!

And thanks for all of your help through out the process.

[Dukasaur]

Congratulations!