Age of Realms: Mayhem [Quenched]

[Herakilla]

i would hate to start in sanctuary, sure you bombard the thing at fear of "reprisals" but what reprisal? you can bombard all the bloodwaters, bring the guy to 3 troop deployment and not lose any troops, this will happen a lot and there will be complaining.

i would say get rid of the decay (more room on legend) make 2 or 3 of the waters docks and go from there

[TheShiningSun]

santuary has a good starting positoin though, each turn they get more and more deploy every turn and all the blood waters are only one space away from sanctuary while the other bonuses are more difficult

[DiM]

i would hate to start in sanctuary, sure you bombard the thing at fear of "reprisals" but what reprisal? you can bombard all the bloodwaters, bring the guy to 3 troop deployment and not lose any troops, this will happen a lot and there will be complaining.

i would say get rid of the decay (more room on legend) make 2 or 3 of the waters docks and go from there

actually you should be afraid of the reprisals because if a guy has the sanctuary he only has to defend in 1 spot (the sanctuary terit) and thus he can get a lot of troops there. compared to another player that has to defend 2-3 or more access points. so the sanctuary guy will always have a bigger army stationed that he can use to rampage the attacker. to be honest if i was playing fog i would even mention in chat i have a huge pile and i will crush any offender

also the blood waters are very easy to take from the sanctuary while remaining invisible. i think it offers a lot of tactical options to surprise the enemy.

[gimil]

A few points:

1.Bourn and XI look like they sit on top of the water rather than become submerged under the sea.

2. The blood water could use another good smudge, the presence of blood in water would generally have a bit more of a gradient feel to it.

3. Perhaps some icebergs around Mua? For a little more realsim.

4. I still dont buy the XI landscape its not as beleiveable as the others are. The castle doesnt sit nicely and it jsut feels like another texture than part of the landscape.

6. I still dont see that terr name gim'il

[Herakilla]

INVISIBLE?! one play takes ONE dock and they can see all the waters. as it is standing now, most people will go for docks until they realize that there isnt a bonus with docks anymore

[DiM]

INVISIBLE?! one play takes ONE dock and they can see all the waters. as it is standing now, most people will go for docks until they realize that there isnt a bonus with docks anymore

yes you can see all the waters but you have no idea what lies on the sanctuary. let's say each player has 100 troops total and you have the fygie castle and i have the sanctuary. most likely your troops will be split in voigth, sler, perhaps a few terits inside the continent and of course the castle. so your 100 troops will be split in 4-5 places each army no bigger than 20.
as i said i also have 100 troops but the main difference is i will have 10 terits with 1 army and 90 stationed in the sanctuary. now do you really want to attack my blood waters knowing that my 90 army can shatter al your defences?

[DiM]

A few points:

1.Bourn and XI look like they sit on top of the water rather than become submerged under the sea.

2. The blood water could use another good smudge, the presence of blood in water would generally have a bit more of a gradient feel to it.

3. Perhaps some icebergs around Mua? For a little more realsim.

4. I still dont buy the XI landscape its not as beleiveable as the others are. The castle doesnt sit nicely and it jsut feels like another texture than part of the landscape.

6. I still dont see that terr name gim'il

1. what???
2. i'll see what else i can do
3. will do
4. grrrr
5. where's 5???
6. will do.

[gimil]

1. What I mean is there no landscaping in the area to suggested the land goes under the water at the coastlines like the other areas.

[oaktown]

what has been appealing about the previous Age maps is that everybody starts on exactly the same footing. If this were a six-player map like the previous Age maps, you maintain that element of a universally fair opening. But if Sanctuary, as it is represented now, is a starting position for a seventh player, you've put the Sanctuary player in a completely different tactical situation from the other players. We can debate for hours whether the Sanct. player has the advantage or is at a disadvantage, but either way it is different.

When I first looked at the map I assumed Sanctuary was NOT a starting position, based on the previous maps, and I really liked what's happening there - gives the other players something to fight over while still defending their own turf.

Also, it might be nice if there were some kind of visual clue in the legend to suggest what the "blood water" territories are, since they aren't marked as such on the map itself. Sure, one can fairly confidently figure out what you mean, but limited-English speaking players and the less mentally gifted may stumble over this.

[DiM]

1. What I mean is there no landscaping in the area to suggested the land goes under the water at the coastlines like the other areas.

ah ok true. i will solve it

[DiM]

what has been appealing about the previous Age maps is that everybody starts on exactly the same footing. If this were a six-player map like the previous Age maps, you maintain that element of a universally fair opening. But if Sanctuary, as it is represented now, is a starting position for a seventh player, you've put the Sanctuary player in a completely different tactical situation from the other players. We can debate for hours whether the Sanct. player has the advantage or is at a disadvantage, but either way it is different.

When I first looked at the map I assumed Sanctuary was NOT a starting position, based on the previous maps, and I really liked what's happening there - gives the other players something to fight over while still defending their own turf.

i don't see adding the 7th player as a problem regardless of the fact it is a different thing. in fact all the castles have suffered modifications and each will need a different strategy to win. so far each starting point was roughly the same and defending and expanding was kinda identical for each castle. now you need different tactics for each starting location (including the sanctuary) and i think that's a good thing because it adds diversity. so not just the sanctuary guy is in a new tactical position, everybody is.

Also, it might be nice if there were some kind of visual clue in the legend to suggest what the "blood water" territories are, since they aren't marked as such on the map itself. Sure, one can fairly confidently figure out what you mean, but limited-English speaking players and the less mentally gifted may stumble over this.

there will be, the legend still needs work.

[oaktown]

i don't see adding the 7th player as a problem regardless of the fact it is a different thing. in fact all the castles have suffered modifications and each will need a different strategy to win. so far each starting point was roughly the same and defending and expanding was kinda identical for each castle. now you need different tactics for each starting location (including the sanctuary) and i think that's a good thing because it adds diversity. so not just the sanctuary guy is in a new tactical position, everybody is.

I agree with you there. For the most part I trust your judgment on your maps, since you generally go into them with a pretty solid vision of what you want to create. I'll keep an eye on it.

[DiM]

i don't see adding the 7th player as a problem regardless of the fact it is a different thing. in fact all the castles have suffered modifications and each will need a different strategy to win. so far each starting point was roughly the same and defending and expanding was kinda identical for each castle. now you need different tactics for each starting location (including the sanctuary) and i think that's a good thing because it adds diversity. so not just the sanctuary guy is in a new tactical position, everybody is.

I agree with you there. For the most part I trust your judgment on your maps, since you generally go into them with a pretty solid vision of what you want to create. I'll keep an eye on it.

thanks for the trust.

[DiM]

v8
done:
*made blood waters more flowy
*tweaked the Xi landscape
*made borun and xi continents to intersect better with the water
*added a few icebergs around mua
*changed the legend explanations regarding the blood waters
*added custom shields for blood waters for easy recognition.

[FreeMan10]

I assume that the only way for a continent to attack another is via docs and bridges, however, that's not really spelled out well in the legend. The border between Borun & Ghyr seems impassible where the volcano is, but it's not 100% clear that this is the case. Same for the Figye / Xi border near Rock Rune 1 and Forest Rune 2.

The graphics are awesome DiM, just awesome! I love how the water gets darker as it gets deeper traveling away from the shore lines. Would it be possible/reasonable to have the blood water and the regular water blend a bit at their border instead of having such a sharp line?

One last question - D'im and Gimi'l, but there's no Yetic? What's up with that? Doesn't he deserve space in the Mua continent?

[DiM]

I assume that the only way for a continent to attack another is via docs and bridges, however, that's not really spelled out well in the legend. The border between Borun & Ghyr seems impassible where the volcano is, but it's not 100% clear that this is the case. Same for the Figye / Xi border near Rock Rune 1 and Forest Rune 2.

not just docks and bridges. the forest rune 2 and rock rune 2 connect. there's nothing impassable between them so why shouldn't they connect?

as for the volcano, well it is a mountain and mountains are commonly known as impassable. same as oceans or rivers. i don't think there's the need to put in the legend that water or mountains are impassable.

The graphics are awesome DiM, just awesome! I love how the water gets darker as it gets deeper traveling away from the shore lines. Would it be possible/reasonable to have the blood water and the regular water blend a bit at their border instead of having such a sharp line?

the blood waters have been tweaked almost at every update. but i guess i can work on it and try even more.

One last question - D'im and Gimi'l, but there's no Yetic? What's up with that? Doesn't he deserve space in the Mua continent?

yeti didn't ask. if he asks i'll add him. it's his incentive to drop by and give me some feedback

[Sir. Ricco]

It is looking good. My only problem is the blood water. It doesn't realyy look like blood water.

[oaktown]

maybe I'm missing something, but if the docks can only bombard the blood waters and since there's no dock on the Sanctuary island, there's no way for the island to be attacked?

"No terit bonus other than those specified above" - this means no bonus for holding 12 territories? i think this will need to be spelled out even more specifically, since players assume it when they play CC.

[DiM]

maybe I'm missing something, but if the docks can only bombard the blood waters and since there's no dock on the Sanctuary island, there's no way for the island to be attacked?

yeah i forgot to add the dock in ur'l i removed it in v7 and was supposed to put it back in v8 but forgot it.

"No terit bonus other than those specified above" - this means no bonus for holding 12 territories? i think this will need to be spelled out even more specifically, since players assume it when they play CC.

how else can i spell it? you get nothing other than what you see on the legend.
i'm open to suggestions.

[DiM]

anything else?? should i start the small?

[hecter]

Well, I find that when the lava just kinda stops at the water, it looks weird... Maybe if you found a way to merge the two, maybe add some steam, y'know...

Also, with the lava, maybe if you were even able to incorperate it somehow so that the lava is the border markers.

Then again, maybe neither will work. But hey, you asked...

[yeti_c]

One last question - D'im and Gimi'l, but there's no Yetic? What's up with that? Doesn't he deserve space in the Mua continent?

If DiM & gimil want themselves to be conquered so easily - then so be it... I'm quite happy to leave my ass intact.

C.

[mibi]

DiM,

I think the colors are too bright and cheery for an 'age of mayhem'. I think you should unify the your pallet with some darker hues. here are some suggestions.

darker

darkest


I also don't like the tears in the legend background, as the text does not conform to them so it stands out as inauthentic.

[bryguy]

i like the darkest!!!! it looks great for mayhem!

[lord voldemort]

i like the lighter of the 2
its gives a better effect with the blood water