Faerun - Pending Update, Need Opinions

Edi · #1 March 13th, 2005, 03:29 PM

Thank you for the praise, Armagein.

However, I must disagree with you about the lack of land bridge being a problem for Vanheim, as it drastically limits their available strategies (because the dwarven smiths cannot cross oceans without the sea provinces around the islands being conquered first and then rings of water breathing. Given the already crappy province sizes in the islands which severely limit gold income (very important for Vanheim due to expensive units), and one huge obstacle province right in the middle of the Moonshaes, it made Vanheim very weak. Not a problemin SP, but it sucks arse in MP, as I had cause to find out in one game. I trailed behind everyone right from the get-go in almost every category, and the first time I got attacked, it was game over for me. Not immediately, I gave back pretty good at first, but I was killed by attrition and lack of money. The map was intended also for MP, and the bad design in that part of the map made Vanheim virtually unplayable. That has now been fixed, along with some other more minor things (such as adding land access to all the islands and hardcoding poptypes for inland seas so that troops from any province can be made useful somewhere on the map).

As for new projects, I do not have any new huge map projects underway. The reason is that there are no suitable ready graphics available to base a map on that I would actually get passionate enough about to do, I have serious time constraints due to my studies and I have several other interests on my free time (several other things that related to Dom2 alone, and then everything else on top of that). But if something comes up that catches my fancy, I might do a new map.

Edi

NTJedi · #2 March 13th, 2005, 03:54 PM

When will the updated Faerun Map be ready??

Edi · #3 March 13th, 2005, 03:58 PM

Umm, did you read the thread, NT? Arryn has already posted the map files on her site. The targas were updated months ago, the map files just today.

Edi

NTJedi · #4 March 14th, 2005, 02:03 PM

Of course I have the ones which were updated months ago. With so many recent new postings I figured a new updated map was on its way.
I believed the point of people listing their likes and dislikes about the map indicated another update was coming.

BigDaddy · #5 March 14th, 2005, 02:12 PM

This is a Really Great Map, and I've played many games on it. We play with random start locations. The biggest problems occur:

1)Because it takes forever to get to a plain State from the jungles of Chult - maybe these should be no starts.

2)The Anaurock is far too easy to take. Normally, in a game you can get a waste or two, and yes they are easily taken, but on this map you can have 15 wastes and 3 or more swamps with a minimally strong starting army. The gem income is rather staggering. I'm not sure exactly how to fix this, but either stronger/special defenses, or more difficult movement through the area could help. . . And don't get me wrong I LIKE the Anaurock, but maybe it just needs toned down a little.

tinkthank · #6 March 16th, 2005, 02:37 PM

OK, once again sorry for having posted feedback on an out-of-date version.
I tried some more on your New and Improved Version, and it really is MUCH BETTER.
"However..."

I think I can put my finger on why it is still not my map of choice, under one caveat: You should not take this personally, and I believe very strongly that the two reasons I will give are purely a matter of completely subjective, highly contingent taste, and have no bearing whatsoever on your skills as an excellent map maker. In fact, I think most people will disagree with me, which is of course just fine. So this is just my humble opinion:

1. It is too big. I think I really don't come clear with anything over half its size.
2. It is too "busy". By this I mean there is too much "shiny stuff" which, because it looks like information but is not, detracts from my (admittedly: instrumental-functional) finding what I want in an unambiguous manner. Examples of these are the many lines (streets, I think? or other forms of borders?), points (representing, I think, cities), and words. I really like the "pretty bits" (things that look like mountains, or little islands, or rivers), however.

Well, I hope you will accept this honest bit of feedback for what it is, and thanks very much for all your efforts!

Edi · #7 March 16th, 2005, 05:11 PM

Thanks for the comments.

No, I'm not taking your criticisms personally. To each his own, and if you like maps about half the size of the Faerun maps, there is nothing wrong with that.

The reason there are those roads (major trade routes, really), cities, region names and so forth is that the map is a scan of the FR role playing game map, not something really made with a strategy game in mind. The graphics are nice enough on the map, better than on the old 2nd Edition maps, but those had a charm all their own, though. Personally I like the region names and country names being on the graphic itself, because I much dislike the province name filter in Dom2, it is too unaesthetic for my tastes.

I have the Waterdeep and Kara-Tur trail maps, and I would have made the map with those if there was any way to do it without mangling them beyond all recognition. But you would need one big-*** scanner (as in 1.5 meters by 2.5 meters) for that.

Edi