scenario writing -- a few tips and balance advice for smaller maps?
I realize that scenario writing is at best an imprecise science but I wanted to give it a whirl as it seems the most efficient way for me to customize my games at this point as I'm hoping the next patch expands the modding tools and possibly even offers a UI for it -- I know that's asking a lot but I'll keep my fingers crossed until then. As for mapbuilding, GIMP intimidates me, so I'm waiting until school's out to give it a try.
All that said, as mentioned before, I've become fond of Zen's Europe map and was thinking about putting together a scenario for that. Now, to me that seems a bit tricky as there are only 133 provinces which, for 17 nations, might be a bit small. I'm thinking of starting each nation out with 3 provinces as that'll leave the majority of the map open to exploration -- whereas 5 leaves 48 and if you aren't playing water or assigning water spaces to land races, that means instant war.
What sort of balancing advice can anyone experienced in scenario editing offer in regards to working with smaller maps?
As a side question, if you edit a land to start with certain features under someone else's ownership, do those features just not disappear if said individual isn't a game participant? I'm not so much asking about capital structures but other provinces that are sometimes given magic sites and assigned as subsidiaries to a starting kingdom.
Also, can anyone point to any tips for making indeps stronger (aside from basic rating) opponents initially? Is there any way to assign them/make them populate forts in certain squares?
[ March 26, 2004, 14:05: Message edited by: Miguel Duran ]
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