Map Suggestions?

[Thufir]

I'm looking to startup another newbie/intermediate game in the next day or two, and I'd like some suggestions on which map to use. To date, I've started playing in 2 mp games on Karan, which seems good, but I'd like to run on something larger. Orania is perfectly acceptable, but it bugs me a little to play on a donut - are there any maps out there that have just horizontal wraparound?

Cradle of Dominions or Zen's Cradle seem like good candidates - does anyone have any opinions on one vs. the other? Are there any other large maps that have been extensively tested for MP?

I'm interested in supporting 10+ players, and I'd like to err on the side of having too much space between players, rather than too little - so any comments on how many players a given map can handle would be appreciated.


TIA,

Thufir

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Thufir said:
I'm looking to startup another newbie/intermediate game in the next day or two, and I'd like some suggestions on which map to use.

My advice is to not pick large or huge maps for newbie games. You tend to learn the basics faster on smaller maps, and that's what new players need. Besides, the amount of MM you'll have to cope with after 30-40 turns tends to increase exponentially with the map size, and heavy MM is what turns newbies away from Dominions before anything else - so avoid it at all costs.

Orania is perfectly acceptable, but it bugs me a little to play on a donut

Make a copy of orania.map as orania_nowrap.map, edit orania_nowrap.map, remove the #wraparound line, and change the map title to something meaningful, eg:

#dom2title Orania (no wraparound)

are there any maps out there that have just horizontal wraparound?

Ringwold. You can also edit the Orania map file and remove the #neighbours clauses that connect North to South.

Are there any other large maps that have been extensively tested for MP?

Inland seems popular for advanced/expert games - not too big, even playing field for everyone because of the wraparound and rather uniform layout. Although it's not really suited if both Atlantis and R'lyeh are in.

[Thufir]

Thanks for the info Mr. Fel, this helps!

Nagot Gick Fel said:

My advice is to not pick large or huge maps for newbie games. You tend to learn the basics faster on smaller maps, and that's what new players need. Besides, the amount of MM you'll have to cope with after 30-40 turns tends to increase exponentially with the map size, and heavy MM is what turns newbies away from Dominions before anything else - so avoid it at all costs.

Maybe you're right - I guess I just love huge, complex games, and have always been willing to put up with the MM, even when first learning a game. But then again, maybe I am not a representative newbie.

The thing I was thinking was to setup a 14+ player game, and by map description, it seemed that Orania and Zen's Cradle were the likely candidates.

Inland seems popular for advanced/expert games - not too big, even playing field for everyone because of the wraparound and rather uniform layout. Although it's not really suited if both Atlantis and R'lyeh are in.

Is there any reason Inland would be unsuitable for newbies?
In the ingame description Inland says it'll handle 10-15 players - does it still provide a good game at 14/15 players? Also, with 5 water provinces it would seem advisable not to include either Atlantis or R'lyeh - do players actually go for either of those on Inland?

You can also edit the Orania map file and remove the #neighbours clauses that connect North to South.

Thanks for the tip - I'll try this out on Orania, sp.

[Agrajag]

Thufir said:
Thanks for the info Mr. Fel, this helps!

Is there any reason Inland would be unsuitable for newbies?
In the ingame description Inland says it'll handle 10-15 players - does it still provide a good game at 14/15 players? Also, with 5 water provinces it would seem advisable not to include either Atlantis or R'lyeh - do players actually go for either of those on Inland?

Well, on Hard_Slog one player picked R`lyeh, he even got what I'd consider a not-too-bad starting position (in the bigger sea, with a double VP province in it), he went AI though =P
Also, if you plan on a newbie game, make sure to keep a slot for me

[Thufir]

Agrajag said:

Also, if you plan on a newbie game, make sure to keep a slot for me

By all means! We're now open for business, and you're certainly welcome to join us - here's the thread:
http://forum.shrapnegames.com/showth...b=5&o=&fpart=1

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Thufir said:

Is there any reason Inland would be unsuitable for newbies?

None that I can see.

In the ingame description Inland says it'll handle 10-15 players - does it still provide a good game at 14/15 players?

Yes. 15 players on Inland means you can expect the closest enemy capital to be ~3 provinces from yours, while still being guaranteed some room to expand because of the way provinces are laid out (~10 provinces, say). IMO that's the 'ideal' setting to teach a newbie the basics: possible early confrontation with another nation while magic is still underdevelopped, and so on.

Also, with 5 water provinces it would seem advisable not to include either Atlantis or R'lyeh - do players actually go for either of those on Inland?

Inland is OK for 0 or 1 underwater nation. Better pick another map if you have both R'lyeh and Atlantis.

[Chazar]

Thufir said:
Orania is perfectly acceptable, but it bugs me a little to play on a donut - are there any maps out there that have just horizontal wraparound?

Just to be nitpicky: Orania is a ball(sphere), where a horziontal-only wraparound map yields a donut (torus)...

EDIT: I am wrong in what I have written above and I damn well knew it! Orania and other wrap-around maps can be projetced on a torus. Consider a straight horizontal line like earth equator (which in fact is circle): If you move it upwards, that line decreases in length until it reduces to a point at the north pole. This is not what we encounter on a torus and neither on orania. A great circle on orania does not change its length when shifting it upwards or downwards.

[Stossel]

Ringworld is nice, would definitely give new players lessons in strategic placement of castles/temples, trying to gain choke points, cutting off those pesky bolts in which nations can come in from far away.

[Thufir]

FM_Surrigon said:
Ringworld is nice, would definitely give new players lessons in strategic placement of castles/temples, trying to gain choke points, cutting off those pesky bolts in which nations can come in from far away.

That sounds interesting - has anyone played Ringworld in MP? I'd hate to be first to try it out in MP, this being a newbie game and all.

How many players will Ringworld accomodate?

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Chazar said:
Just to be nitpicky: Orania is a ball(sphere), where a horziontal-only wraparound map yields a donut (torus)...

Sorry, but you're wrong. A flat map that connects its West to its East and its North to its South is topologically equivalent to a torus, not a sphere.