Hannibals Skull island

[trewqh]

The maps work fine. Han would prefer bigger provinces to be able to make notes on his printouts and some other cosmetic improvements.

[Hannibal]

And preferably not Homelands till amended by trewqh, nor Three Worlds till amended by Vortan.

What needs ammending? While it's possible for trewqh to fix stuff on his map, Vortan can't change his without remaking the whole thing, as he doesn't have database access...


Chris.

Oops, I hope I haven't offended trewqh and Vortan! Hopefully not BOTH of those two in one post! I'd better explain:

I LOVE Trewqh's Homelands map. Trewqh's innovation of that Third Dimension, with 2 provs linked across the middle without touching the prov between them, makes the map special, and adds complexity to the geography and strategy. The reason I'd rather WAIT till he amends it a bit is (as I've said to Trewqh): 60% of the space is Sea, so very many of the provs are tiny, too small to write much in. Yes, I tend to run off a hard copy of the latest map and scribble details and notes on it when planning. I admire those of you like Trewqh who can plan on-screen, but I'm in good company: Egbert also runs off hard copy and says he writes all info on it. It's OK to have the odd small prov, you just write in the sea nearby, but there are lots in Homelands.

Plus (!), too much sea means too much blue ink when printing out; my colour cartridges need replacing twice as fast, cos they run out of blue well before anything else!

So I suggested trewqh stretch and distort the map or whatever, for bigger provs and less sea, for us old pen-and-paper idiots.

Plus, if he's amending it anyway, I think every map should have it's NAME on it/in it, as most do. And the map-designer should put his name on it, if only for interest and due credit.

But no criticism of the Homelands structure itself. I love it. Can't wait to play on it again. Just cosmetic.

Note to map-makers: For pen-and-paper devotees like me and Egbert, pls make your provs reasonably big, sea taking as little space as poss - and sea a LIGHT shade of blue, to conserve print-ink and the planet! TBH, I'll admit, that prov-size was a factor that has put me off signing up to the durrent open Standard, Yond's run by Chris. Of course we can write in the sea, but it's less satisfying ... Chris's poll didn't offer "Provs too small to write in", so I just ticked the other half of my reason - in enough games already.

Plus I'm a map-lover; I'm always more attracted to maps that look like lands to conquer, rather than abstract, like Yond's, or Wheel or Eye etc. Just personal preference on "feel".

H.

[Hannibal]

And preferably not Homelands till amended by trewqh, nor Three Worlds till amended by Vortan.

What needs ammending? While it's possible for trewqh to fix stuff on his map, Vortan can't change his without remaking the whole thing, as he doesn't have database access...


Chris.

I guess I'd better explain on Vortan's Three Worlds Collide as well. The reason is very different.

I love this map. It's an extreme. Its three parts are joined by only one route each, three really heavy pinch-points that you can't go round. TBH, when I tried it (a Duel against Vortan himself), I was expecting to end up saying it needed 2 or 3 more access-avenues between its three parts. But no, it turned out I liked its extreme in that regard. Personally.

No, the "problem" is different: Vortan created it with Prov #18 starting with ZERO pop ... Sure, sounds interesting, extremes of Pop. And OK in Standard WOK so long as no player starts in prov #18! But risky in Duels. Not only might a player or Robo start there, but also it might spoil a Robo passing through #18. When I used Three Worlds map for a Duel I GM'ed, one Robo happened to start in #20. So it's first take was neutral #18, where it gained no Pop and transformed none into armies, and all 5 of its victors moved back to previous prov #20, so it was effectively dead and headless after Turn 1.

A GM could always void any start-up that's too affected by prov #18, but why take the risk if a new Duel GM doesn't know this oddity of Three Worlds? It was easier to ask Yond not to pick it for a Duel.

I really like the map. So, if Vortan can't accessit to amend it (where did Vor go anyway?), then yes, pls, Kor, pls amend prov #18 to have 90 Pop or so in the INI ?

Cheers,
Han

PS: We're a bit short of active debate on the boards, and this is a strange sub-thread to be sharing thoughts on favourite maps. So I'll start a new "General" thread about which maps we all love and hate and why ...

H

[korexus]

Hmm, I vote we rename Hannibal as "Nick" anyone with me?

A few thoughts for you, Han, with varying amounts of my tongue in my cheek.

If you need some more space on the map, use post it notes. They're especially good as you can move them around the map.

If you want to save on blue ink, copy the image into paint and flood fill the sea to white before printing.

There was an option for "I don't like the map". It sounds like you didn't sign up because of a map feature, you could have chosen that and elaborated in the thread...


Chris.

[Tinker]

Speaking as another player who likes to write all over his maps, I agree with Hannibal's comments about map presentation. Large provinces and small, or pale, seas are a definite asset to me when I'm trying to figure out what I've got and where it is. The more space I have to write numbers and draw arrows, the happier I am.

Call it a weakness of mind if you like, but I play games more effectively if I can "see" my pieces. I can't play chess in my head, either; I lose track of where everything is. I need to have something concrete in front of me to plan with.

[Hannibal]

Thanks, Tinker!

H

[Dragonette]

hey i hate the map i mean what a horrible colour of red or so smaller provences. eugh.

korexus pls put another game on i said other people would think it didnt look presentable enough.

dragonette

[korexus]

i said other people would think it didnt look presentable enough.
dragonette

Yes, little dragon, but in the poll I set up, only two people said that the map was putting them off. Unfortunately 2 players won't get the waitinglist full anyway. We need some of the 6 who said they were already in enough games or some new players to become available before the game will fill. - It's easy for me to change the map later if more people start voting for that option...


Chris.

[Aussie Gaz]

Duke

Can you please go and agree to the vote in our duel game please?

I just got a reminder mail that the turn was due in 24 hours.

Gaz

[Hannibal]

Duke

Can you please go and agree to the vote in our duel game please?

I just got a reminder mail that the turn was due in 24 hours.

Gaz

No prob. As GM I'll just assume that Duke votes yes to him winning the Duel, so I'll update it to Finished manually. Done. No need to bother now, Duke.

[korexus]

Hmm, I vote we rename Hannibal as "Nick" anyone with me?

I'd just like to point out, for clarification, that I'm not accusing Han of:
*Stealing VPs for his clan.
*Refusing to listen to people who know better than him
*Abusing his position within the community

I was just reminded of Nick's guide to making maps. - Fantastic resource when you didn't know what you were doing, but more than a little anal retentive. Right down to specifying the "official" WoK colour for water on maps.

Ah, happy days...


Chris.

[trewqh]

Funny. I always remember him as the one who was against standardization. He always opposed a single unified html game page template.

[Hannibal]

Funny. I always remember him as the one who was against standardization. He always opposed a single unified html game page template.

And for clarification: trewqh means Nick, not Han! I hope!

NicK was fairly consistent: he opposed almost anything that anybody ELSE came up with, especially if he might be forced to live by it. Toys 'n' pram. But he helped WOK a lot in its early days before he started blowing fuses all over the place and fell out with Al, calling him illiterate.

Happy days?

[korexus]

and fell out with Al, calling him illiterate.

I think you mean "iliterate". That was part of the joke, don't tell me you missed it!

Happy days?

Oh yes, I sometimes go back and re-read the Nick based arguments. They're always good for a laugh!


korexus.