[IDEA] Classic Game Play Philippines Map

[Incandenza]

Ooooh, boy, when I first saw the addition of the sulu sea terit I actually waved my arms in the air and said aloud "Danger, Will Robinson!" Then my girlfriend looked at me like I'd lost my mind (which is a fairly common occurrence). But I suppose my point is that it feels pretty extraneous, unless possibly you were going to tweak the gameplay so that the sea terit could attack each other (which I'm not necessarily suggesting).

 

[Shepherd]

The idea of adding the Sulu Sea came about in discussions about the clarity of the layout. The way this map is laid out there is an island which basically cuts the western sea into two, which makes it a bit confusing. Depending on where we show that sea, some ports are going to be bordering a sea that it doesn't really seem to be touching.

As far as gameplay, I also think this is a good change. It makes the trip from the far north to the far south of the map a bit more work, which is as it probably should be. Now you have to leap-frog from ship to island to ship, rather than magically teleporting from the north of the map to south of the map in two moves. In my opinion, the sea route concept shouldn't be about connecting the north end with the south end of the map as much as it should be about eliminating bottlenecks.

Of course, we still have the Pacific speedway from north to south, which I've already lobbied to get rid of. Having even one sea route adds a much needed third route from north to south - one can either follow the islands by land up the Pacific, or the islands up along the Seas, or now take a route even further east. Cagayan and Davao (if that's where we put the seaports) are separated by ten land regions; the Pacific route makes them just one region away.

Also, I think the entire map will look a bit cleaner. Just food for thought.

 

[KungFuDuet]

Personally I think I like having three routes linking the north and the south together, to be able to mix things up a little. And as you said before, the symmetry of the map is always appealing.

 

[WidowMakers]

So how is this playing out?

I think that land is pretty much set correct?
If so then we are just talking about the # of sea regions and the #/location of Ports.

I personally like the 3 sea regions as they are now and am ok with the number of ports.

 

[WidowMakers]

So what is our current point of the GP to discuss?
Are we all satisfied or are there more tweaks needed?

 

[Shepherd]

So what is our current point of the GP to discuss?
Are we all satisfied or are there more tweaks needed?

Seems as if we've talked just about everything out. if there's no traction for losing the Pacific, so be it. In my opinion the gameplay is fairly sound at this point.

 

[WidowMakers]

Seems as if we've talked just about everything out. if there's no traction for losing the Pacific, so be it. In my opinion the gameplay is fairly sound at this point.

OK. So can KFD post the latest GOP version with all proper borders and ports and connections?
Thanks

 

[KungFuDuet]

Final (yay!!!!) version

As Widowmakers had requested, this is the version of the map we have agreed and decided upon.

Map Stats:
# Regions: 51
# Commands: 12

Notes:
- Pacific Ocean, Sulu Sea, South China Sea are not a part of any command.
- Regions marked with dots signifies those regions as ports to their corresponding sea (same color), and borders that sea in the game. Palawan borders Sulu Sea and South China Sea

Map Blank:

Map with bonuses:

Map with Names:

All of the above are png files, which are processable

KFD

 

[Incandenza]

Still think we could lose the northernmost south china sea port, but if everyone else is good with this, then it's not a huge deal.

 

[KungFuDuet]

Still think we could lose the northernmost south china sea port, but if everyone else is good with this, then it's not a huge deal.

I am good with keeping the port. Any resistance?

 

[WidowMakers]

Still think we could lose the northernmost south china sea port, but if everyone else is good with this, then it's not a huge deal.

I think it was said earlier that when we are testing the map it will be very easy to tweak what is and is not a port since they are just border adjustments.
I say leave it for now and when we are ready to test it will be easy to take it out.

 

[Incandenza]

Fair enough.

Now that we've moved into the GFX stage, I'd like to bring up an idea that I broached to a few of you privately. The problem with island-centric maps like this, from a graphics perspective, are all the bloody little lines connecting terits. And I'm wondering if we could figure out a more elegant way of doing things. Ideally, the connection lines could essentially be stashed with the names image, so when the region names are disabled, there are no connection lines, but they pop up when region names are enabled. This might seem confusing for new users, but the info they need is a click away. More to the point, we've got this whole cool highlight system, and I think it's time to see if we can take it to the next level.

Thoughts?

 

[WidowMakers]

I am fine with trying this Inc.

I can add all teh connections to a single region name and it will turn on and off with the names.
Plus I can add connections inside the highlights as well.
That way mouse overs will also show teh way.

 

[Incandenza]

Plus I can add connections inside the highlights as well.
That way mouse overs will also show teh way.

Ooooo, I didn't realize we could do that. Yeah, anything we can go to try and get beyond the connecting lines.

 

[Shepherd]

I'm nervous about not showing the connections at all on the base map. When i play I want to be able to look at the map and quickly take in all play-related info. Toggling on the names should do only that - toggle on the names. Most users won't be looking for connections with the names, since our other maps don't do that and it just doesn't make sense.

I would rather see the attack routes on the base map, though they could be understated and then brought more into view with the use of the highlights.

The last few posts bring us to a point I should have made earlier, but we don't have a system for this yet so I've been putting it off...

This project has undergone a thorough review process in the Map Studios. It meets the standards of this site and has been deemed suitable for play by the MajCom staff. Widowmakers has been assigned to work on the graphics for this map, and will be coordinating with the staff and with the map designer - KungFuDuet - to bring this map to its final form.

I thank FungFuDuet and all those who have contributed to this project, and look forward to playing this map when complete.

 

[Incandenza]

I'm nervous about not showing the connections at all on the base map. When i play I want to be able to look at the map and quickly take in all play-related info. Toggling on the names should do only that - toggle on the names. Most users won't be looking for connections with the names, since our other maps don't do that and it just doesn't make sense.

I would rather see the attack routes on the base map, though they could be understated and then brought more into view with the use of the highlights

I freely admit that the no-island-connxns concept might totally bomb, but IMHO I think it's worth giving it a whirl, especially with wids' idea of having the connxns pop up with the highlights. As a fallback, I think we could more subtly imply connxns between terits with maybe lighter water or a wee atoll chain or something. I'd just like to see us try something other than lines, since we have the capacity to do so.