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Random map auditing


real_tabasco_sauce
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Hello random map players,

There are new some random maps in the works, but we want to avoid cluttering the random maps menu with too many maps. So the idea is we should add good maps but also remove some of the very worst maps.

I think we should have pretty substantial agreement to fully remove a random map.

Lastly, I'd like to float the idea of adding a new random map category where players can find some of the more crazy random maps that are overlooked but loved by few. I think an example of this would be snowflake sea rocks. Perhaps the name could be "Random Map Experiences", or something like that.

So, please comment a random map or two, maybe with a screenshot and a couple arguments why you don't like it.

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May I suggest we find that one thread where someone made a cool chart ranking all the maps on various criteria. Then perhaps agree on a "top 20" list of maps we will definitely keep and improve, then the next 20, and maybe have a max of 50 total we will bother putting effort into improving. The rest can be moved to an official maps mod. 

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well, we have 80-something random maps, so with better organization, the clutter won't be such a big issue. I'd rather do that first than have to delete any maps.

This way we don't any players in this situation:

image.png.3ed5fe3a7db306f3dde12ac3377acbda.png

Currently, we have these options as "filters"

image.png.861f3e834b5eab66aff78b807761d2e3.png

how about this set of categories:

  • Favorites (replaces default with a larger selection of the "Best for MP" maps.)
  • Water Maps (naval maps + water/land hybrid maps)
  • Dynamic Maps (Player vs enemy maps (Trigger maps) + evolution maps like Extinct Volcano)
  • All Maps
  • Demo Maps (maybe we should eventually just group all the demo/testing maps regardless of whether they are random or skirmish or scenario)

Some other ideas could be "open maps", "closed maps", and "Madness Maps" with only the really crazy ones.

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Thoughts. If you disagree with any I can explain. There's a pretty strong association between maps being based on a real place and the map being unenjoyable. 

  • Great
    • Ambush
    • Archipelago 
    • Continent 
    • Hyraccian Shores
    • Mainland
    • Cross
    • Foothills
    • Frontier
    • Slopes
    • Stronghold
    • Unknown
    • Wrench
  • Fun
    • African Plains
    • Alpine Lakes
    • Alpine Mountains (but basically the same as alpine valley)
    • Alpine Valley (but basically the same as alpine mountains)
    • Ardennes Forest
    • Atlas Mountains
    • Corinthian Isthmus (I personally hate it but others like it)
    • Deep Forest 
    • Flood
    • Gear
    • Guadalquivir River
    • Gulf of Bohemia 
    • Harbor
    • Hell's Pass
    • Lake (basically the same as Harbor, though. I would make these consolidated the way that Gulf of Bohemia is for frozen lake)
    • Latium (I personally hate this map but others like it)
    • Lorraine Plain
    • Ngorongo (a bit unbalanced, though)
    • Oasis (I personally hate this map but others like it)
    • Persian Highlands (could use more wood, though. If it had more wood it would be a better version of Ngorongo)
    • Pyrienne Sierra
    • Ratumacus
    • Rhine Marshlands
    • Saharian Oasis (I personally hate this map but others like it)
    • Schwarzwald (very similar to deep forest)
  • Meh
    • Arctic Winter
    • Brittanic Road
    • Cantabrian Highlands
    • Canyon
    • Kerela (just a worse version of Hyrancian Shores)
    • Lion's Den
    • Marmara
    • Migration 
    • Neareastern Badlands
    • Phoencian Levant (Just a much, much worse version of Hyrancian Shores)
    • Rivers (basically Harbor but more ship focused)
    • Sahel Watering Holes
    • Syria (getting close to feeling the pain)
    • Nile
  • Feeling the pain
    • Belgian Uplands (borderline painful but would be fun if wood wasn't awful)
    • Botswana Haven (borderline painful but would be fun if wood wasn't awful)
    • Caledeonian Meadows
    • Fields of Meroe (the spam spot positioning on this are nonsense but if that was fixed it could be fun) 
    • Hellas (the spam spot positioning on this are nonsense but fixing that still won't make it fun) 
    • India (could be fun if wood wasn't awful)
    • Lower Nubia (the spam spot positioning on this are nonsense but fixing that still won't make it fun) 
    • River Archipelago 
    • Sythian Rivulet
    • Wild Lake (basically the same as other good maps except it throws AI units in to make it a bad map)
  • Painful
    • Anatolian Plateau 
    • Northern Lights 
    • Pompeii
    • Snowflake Searocks
    • Volanic Land (also basically the same as Pompeii)
  • AI Maps
    • Danubius 
    • Jebel Barkal
    • Survival of the Fittest
  • Gimmick Maps
    • Empire
    • Extinct Volcano
    • Fortress
    • Polar Sea (but really belongs in the painful category)
    • Sahel (it's a trade map)
    •  
  • "Atlas" Maps
    • Mediterranean (the spam spot positioning on this map are nonsense and make balancing impossible)
    • Red Sea (the spam spot positioning on this map are nonsense and make balancing impossible)
  • "Creator" Maps
    • RMS Test
    • Wall Demo
  • Naval (unplayable right now because of issues with ships but still deserving of their own category and shouldn't be deleted because hopefully ships become playable in the future) 
    • Aegean Sea
    • Bahrain
    • Corsica vs Sardinia
    • Cycladic Archipeliago 
    • Dodecanese
    • Elephantine
    • English Channel
    • Island Stronghold
    • Islands
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3 hours ago, chrstgtr said:

Painful

  • Anatolian Plateau 
  • Northern Lights 
  • Pompeii
  • Snowflake Searocks
  • Volanic Land (also basically the same as Pompeii)

 

This group, they are definitely the worst.

Latium was not far from this group.

Volcanic maps would need new ideas and mechanics.

Anatolian plains is very boring, is a empty map, almost a demo map.

Northern Lights needs more concentrated resources( closer together).Maybe more fishing and hunting.

Maps with little wood can be improved by creating groves with lots of wood and perhaps having them regenerate.

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5 hours ago, chrstgtr said:
  • Great
    • Ambush

I usually don't play it; not a fan of that restricted basin, the paths to useful terrain are often painful.

 

5 hours ago, chrstgtr said:
  • Fun
    • Hell's Pass

Meh. Both positions can be painful. Sometimes there's no wood for miles, sometimes the back position is extremely limited by a body of water.

 

5 hours ago, chrstgtr said:
  • Meh
    • Kerela (just a worse version of Hyrancian Shores)
    • Marmara
    • Neareastern Badlands

I actually like those, except the ~Istanbul spawn points; just the other day I re-rolled for another spawn point and then played Marmara.

 

5 hours ago, chrstgtr said:
  • Feeling the pain
    • Fields of Meroe (the spam spot positioning on this are nonsense but if that was fixed it could be fun) 
    • Hellas (the spam spot positioning on this are nonsense but fixing that still won't make it fun) 
    • Sythian Rivulet
    • Wild Lake (basically the same as other good maps except it throws AI units in to make it a bad map)

I like Fields of Meroe and Wild Lake. (I assume "spam spot" is supposed to be "spawn point"?) I don't see the problem with FoM. Hellas I look at the map and then decide if I want to play it (~50/50); sometimes I think the terrain is just BS, not a fan of that one Gaia siege unit. Scythian Rivulet I also look at the map and count trees, access to wood is very unbalanced; same goes for Volcanic Lands.

I like Mediterranean (although it has issues) and Red Sea, never felt like the later had an issue.

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@Gurken Khan your dislike for a lot of maps is your dislike of the strategy involved, which is what make them fun (generally a need to expand if the game lasts longer than one push). 
 

The spawn spots are issues because the spots are so different from each other with some much, much better than others. Also, the positioning doesn’t have teammates aren’t next to each other (could be good or bad, but def not balanced). 

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16 minutes ago, chrstgtr said:

your dislike for a lot of maps is your dislike of the strategy involved, which is what make them fun (generally a need to expand if the game lasts longer than one push). 

I almost always expand; map's gotta be tight from the beginning if I don't.

Spoiler

Doing only SP and the AI being pretty predictable it creates a nice "welcome center" where fighting is advantageous for me and shields my Hinterland; and since I like to capture fortifications and infrastructure it's best when my territory already pushes on theirs.

What I really don't like is scarce or no wood, it's soo sluggish; but I felt it was unnecessary to explicitly agree when you didn't rank those maps high.

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