RFC Faerun (various versions) & Other Maps

[Edi]

All right, people. Edi wants some feedback so that you all can get better Faerun experiences for Dom3. I see the old Dom2 versions used in several MP games and frankly, in light of the new map editor options in Dom3, they suck.

Faerun 283 is going to get ported. I took a look at the large and small Faeruns (424 & 324) and those two are officially going to be history. I'll make a new large Faerun that will be closer to the original large Faerun than to the smaller versions and this time it's going to be done with all the mistakes I made on the first two taken into consideration.

Now, the feedback part:

1) Faerun 283

This map is probably not going to have any special starts enabled, except for the underwater nations. That map doesn't really accommodate more than two water nations, one in the Sea of Fallen Stars and the other in the western ocean. Vanheim comes to its own in the Moonshaes, where it also fits thematically. For everything else, there is too little space. The map was originally designed to play with 17 nations, 15 on land and 2 underwater and fixed starts, but in Dom3, there are too many nations. Both early and middle era have 21, with more to come as Tir Nan Og gets added in the next patch, and they just do not fit unless all specials are taken out and very poorly even then due to Anauroch taking up so much space. Therefore it's easier to leave special starts out and let people choose what nations they pick and get random locations.

Late era only has 18 nations and more possibilities for special starts, especially since there is only one UW nation and two amphibian nations (Mictlan and Atlantis), though the thematics are going all to hell with Jomon. Oh, well...

Special locations are going to get cut down some and probably also changed a bit. So, a common map file for EA & MA, a separate file for LA and a NoSpec file that can be used with any era.


2) Larger Faerun

Will probably have special starts for all eras. Will also get completely redrawn borders and provinces. Suggestions on map size and other things are welcome.


3) Toril (possibly in the works, no promises)

I'm going to seriously look into this one. The Waterdeep & Kara-Tur Trail Maps together give me everything but Maztica for the Forgotten Realms (Toril) so if I can get these into a workable image file, I can create a map of the whole world and the thematics are going to be something else entirely. I might even be able to give Twan a run for his money WRT Oeridia.

So, which should I prioritize? Faerun 283 is the first one anyway, since all it needs is the special provinces and then it's ready.

[jutetrea]

Any thoughts on a limited random approach? Key out thematic areas of the map (forest critters for forests, ice critters for icelands, etc) - and then use random pick lists for actually pulling the units and commanders. For instance, you might get some centaur hierophants in a forest one game, but will get woodsmen or dryads the next. Instead of facing the same old indy's you'll be hitting summons', national troops, etc along with the indy's.

Keeps the map fresh

One other small thing (and kind of a lame request)- any chance of upping the item quality on the specials? If playing indy 7+ the specials (very cool btw) usually sit till late in the game. I usually do a find/replace and add in some rings of wizardry, sorcery and robes of wiz/sorc so if I or the AI actually takes the effort to kill them there is a worthwhile reward - and not even guarenteed. I think I place about 30 in the specials and might get 1 or maybe 2 if I'm lucky in a SP game. Buggers usually rout before I get em.

Not a big fan of spec start locations in general, and to your actual question - Toril please. With sugar.

I pretty much play SP soley on Faerun - love it. Randomize the heck out of it and play with mighty AI. For SP i'd actually rather see more specials than less, for MP not sure.

[Dedas]

It would be really nice if the names of the provinces (turned on) would actually be in a color that is visible.
It is really an excellent map, kudos!