Map: New Map - AomOrc

[Ballbarian]

-- Title and image file
#dom2title AomOrc - (260 provinces for Dom2).
#imagefile AomOrc.tga
#domversion 175

#defaultmapzoom .75
#description "My second map with base image created in the Age of Mythology editor and some additions and modifications in GIMP.

260 provinces, 228 of these are land and 32 are under water.
Suitable for up to 17 players.
Map Version: 1.00"

If you find any missing neighbors or mislabeled provinces, please let me know. Enjoy.

UPDATE: Version 1.01 Critical Update .
Changes include:
Fixed buggered water start.
Recommended players now up to 10 land & 2 water.
10 land starts defined and 2 water starts.
Renamed "Deadlands" swamp to "Bugmud". (It just bothered me.)

One of the start positions can be a rough one, but for the right nation can give easy access to potential gem power and strategic location.

[Ballbarian]

Here is a thumb:

I had a version where I had added extensive graphics to spice up the black corners, but it increased the file size too much to justify it.

[Daynarr]

Nice.

[Nerfix]

Excelent!

[Gandalf Parker]

Another great example of using another program to make a map.
Good job.

[Ballbarian]

Thank you for the positive feedback!
I hope to eventually add some alternative map files to provide for game types with fixed starting locations and special thematic creatures and sites. Maybe even support for victory points, but at this point I have not given it much thought. (Although I would be tickled pink if someone else wanted to tackle that project. )

I did take a little time to rename a few provinces before I uploaded it: Smoulderwood, Ash Pits, Blisterbough, Oozing Hills, Bubbling Rot, etc.

One disappointment with the AoM screen capture was that it doesn't retain the special effects in the image. It is just an image of the map minus the elaborate animated features. Would have looked pretty awesome if it would have retained that part of it in the final image. Of course that could be overdone, but in small doses, it could have really enhanced the flavor of the final map. Smoulderwood and Blisterbough just aren't the same without the fire and smoke.

You may have noticed the large grouping of swamp provinces. This is an experiment that I have wanted to try for some time. I am hoping that when playing Ctis or Pythium in particular that I can exploit swamp survival a little. I have been playing most of my games with difficult research, low site frequency and world richness high so that I tend to rely on recruited units more. Never felt like I was getting a lot of value from swamp survival. Sounds like that may well change in Dom3. It would be nice to see more terrain dependent effects upon units in future Dom3 patches.