New map: Dark Water Wasteland - 1v1, 2v2, FFA

[BrainDamage]

First of all, sorry if the map's quality is not very good, it's my first map.

This is a 10*10 map targeting 1v1, 2v2, FFA games ( up to to 14 players )

Tested the map with BA, XTA, EE

Gameplay:

The map is formed by small flat islands with mild metal output, and tiny islands scattered around with much higher output.

The water is slightly acidic ( 2 damage/sec, can be changed in the map options to fit mods with bigger/smaller HP than *A mods ), and a special gadget creates a thin layer on the water surface that damages anything floating/hovering the surface too ( eg hovers )

The energy economy is quite limited on the land: there is little to no space for farming and the win output is very low, this is intended to keep air start not very viable and force players to constantly hop between islands to expand their economy, the tidal value is pretty high because ships can only paritially access the island mexes and the mex being submerged in water would degrade anyway or require constant maintenance.

Underwater there are many roads and lanes that allow land-based troops to walk from an island to another while staying underwater, while they get damaged, they won't appear on radars until they are pretty close to emerging.

The underwater terrain roughness makes land-based torpedo launchers in BA quite ineffective.

Thanks To:

• Beherith for handing me some texture tiles and some tips about mapconv
• Tobi for helping me to playtest
• Smoth for the skybox and examples for map options

Screenshots: ( map best viewed with water 3 ( reflective + refractive ), shadows, advshading ( reflective units ) )




Download

[Beherith]

Good concept, I really like the high metal density and the artwork. Ill have to see how it plays though.
Damn, Satirik upped it a few seconds before me :D
http://www.springfiles.com/show_file.php?id=2322

[Forboding Angel]

http://www.springinfo.info/?p=1042

Also, BD, could you register with springinfo (just a username and an email needed) so that I can set you as the author of posts like this?

Thanks!
http://www.springinfo.info/wp-login.php?action=register

[BrainDamage]

Also, BD, could you register with springinfo (just a username and an email needed) so that I can set you as the author of posts like this?

done, registered as "BrainDamage" but got no email so far

[TradeMark]

dont try to make your own map format, minimap is meant to be read from .smf file, unless you use sm3 map format.

[Beherith]

Wrong tab?

[Forboding Angel]

Also, BD, could you register with springinfo (just a username and an email needed) so that I can set you as the author of posts like this?

done, registered as "BrainDamage" but got no email so far

Might wanna check your spam box, jsut in case. I got an email abvout 1.2 hrs ago saying you registered, and I set you as the author thx

[Neddie]

I wonder if I can get some 1v1 or 2v2 CA going on it.

[1v0ry_k1ng]

this looks ballin

[Neddie]

I did get an excellent 1v1 in it but crashed out due to system instability. You should have packaged some CA terraform lockout widget, terraforming rather spoils the map a little bit. Also I had some issues getting constructors around to the metal spots on lone islands... particularly that one in the upper right. Otherwise, this is an excellent 1v1 map, can't wait to play 2v2 on it.

[CarRepairer]

I did get an excellent 1v1 in it but crashed out due to system instability. You should have packaged some CA terraform lockout widget, terraforming rather spoils the map a little bit. Also I had some issues getting constructors around to the metal spots on lone islands... particularly that one in the upper right. Otherwise, this is an excellent 1v1 map, can't wait to play 2v2 on it.

There's a mod option to disable terraforming.

[Neddie]

I'd rather it not be left to the all too fallible discretion of the end user in this case.

[Pxtl]

Seriously, what's wrong with terraforming on this map? It's expensive, and CA doesn't have the geometric econ growth to make ever be cheap. A map where players really have to terraform some bridges, raise sunken metal, etc. seems fun to me.

[Neddie]

It was designed with full knowledge of the option and connected limitations of terraforming and yet without terraforming in the intended play options, as the designer has said.

[CarRepairer]

Seriously, what's wrong with terraforming on this map? It's expensive, and CA doesn't have the geometric econ growth to make ever be cheap. A map where players really have to terraform some bridges, raise sunken metal, etc. seems fun to me.

It was designed with full knowledge of the option and connected limitations of terraforming and yet without terraforming in the intended play options, as the designer has said.

Neddie, recommend you split this thread off as it is going back to the maps designed with certain mods in mind and how much power mods should have in overriding maps argument.

Here's a quote from the map maker which illustrates a vital point in the wind debate:

The energy economy is quite limited on the land: there is little to no space for farming and the win output is very low, this is intended to keep air start not very viable

His wind values only apply to mods whose air units have a high energy cost. As you see this has nothing to do with CA's overriding of wind but rather everything to do with the balance of air units and the resource costs in CA.

So the age old question returns, should a mod override the wind value if that wind value was designed with a different mod in mind, if only to allow the map to be played? Again, my answer is yes since the mapmaker has spent a lot of time designing a work of art and his map should not be locked out of an entire group of games over such a small piece of data (2 wind numbers) when the true meat of the map is in the map's height, texture and metal. I assure you that DSD and Comet are still hugely popular in CA.

CA's terraforming was also designed with the current set of maps in mind, which are mainly designed for AA/BA. Maps are still playable.

[Google_Frog]

How does terraform ruin this map? It looks deeper and more spread out than Hundred Isles, Terraform does not make land super viable on Hundred Isles so I doubt it will be a problem here. Terraform is quite expensive and I think it adds an extra dimension to maps.

I'd be more worried about CA's mod-side sea balance making this map unplayable.

[Neddie]

The water depths make sea difficult to use, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Car, I did not come here to debate wind with you. I expressed my fully informed opinion on a particular design decision here, with this map, where terraform drastically impacts the intentional play of the map. Do not delude yourself into thinking you are somehow under attack, and stop misrepresenting my position out of context. I object to the arbitrary replacement of value, not the scaling thereof, and the two are very different.

[Otherside]

to much CA talk dereailing from the map discussion >_>.

Does it honestly matter if the map was made to work with CA if the creator cba to make a anti terraform lua (to go out of his way to make it more playable in CA) he doesnt have to nor do we need to spam the thread about it.

Tbh im tired of CA being debated in like every map or mod thread (and thats alot coming from me)

so could we please just discuss the map regardless of the mod which is played on it.

I am downloading it later to try it out.

[Gota]

Otherside,can we see your picture again?

[Saktoth]

A map designed so specifically is bound to not work on a whole heap of mods, s44, IW, PURE, KP etc. Why should it work with CA just because it works with BA? They're quite different games. This not only uses acidic water but extra widgets too.

The completely different air setup in CA means air will be a viable start here, since energy is all 1-1-1, and you have two different air factories to start, one offering transports and raiders, the other fighters and bombers.

However, really, i bet this map is probably even more fun to play with terraform than without. Essentially constructing your own routes of attack and expansion. Terraform partly exists to make maps that would otherwise be unplayable with CA playable, much like the mexmult, communism and wind override.