Introducing, S-islands.
- s islands 4v4.v00020.large.png (107.46 KiB) Viewed 2961 times
This is now at a near-final state.
Islands are made, resource spots fixed.
Based on the original concept of Navy first, you have just enough power to get a decent navy/tech going.
The main sources of mass are near the middle. And at first glance, again, there is a lot.
Good luck holding it.
The nearer islands are easy enough to grab, with fewer expansion mexes (remember each is shared) than is actually needed for a full-on naval map.
The middle island? easy to bombard.
The side middle islands? You can go with a transport, but then yield the other expansion island.
OR go with your commandeR? And risk getting cut off and dying far away from home.
Based on the idea that Seton's is known as a great naval map, this map has a few subtle influences.
1) IT is easier to access the expansions in a horizontal fashion than vertical. I wanted to mimic the small advantage that rock position gives Setons, with one side having a small edge that with proper planning and commitment can be overcome.
2) Wide, open spaces: islands with resources shoved out of the way to the sides, or are close to the big islands. This maximises room for maneuver that is so crucial to naval warfare.
3) There is enough time to eco before a fight breaks out that you can further economise or go aggressive.
4) Given the size of the map, and the ecos involved, wreck fields become new objectives to contest.
5) Fighting for map control is important, because if you don't, someone else on your team gets screwed,
and they get more mass.
Original ideas:
1) Naval first. There isn't a popular map which does this afaik.
2) Air can go f*** itself. It is important to begin with to secure islands, but then takes a back seat for a long time.
3) Air will always become dominant - just in this case, i've made it so that there is a very long delay before it happens. No need to get ASF at 13 minutes or die, for example.
4) Naval everywhere, for everyone.
Things to consider:
NAval maps... aren't all about navy.
Air is needed.
And that land experimental that no one expects is more devastating than on a land map X)
Feedback welcome/wanted.
S-islands change log:
v10: Readjusted mex spots on transport-only expansion islands.
v11:
Adjusted plateaus to make distance building air factory impossible.
v12:
Adjusted hydros to make air/land factory unable to be built in ebginning of the game.
V13:
Adjusted Mex spots in middle to half. Removed non-harassable ones.
Reclustered mex spots on expansion islands to make it more obvious who gets what.
Discrepency in tertiary mex expansions noted: 3/5 players would have obvious 4 extra mexes, 2/5 didn't.
- the 2/5 players had ad advantage in getting air sooner, and getting to the quaternary expansion points (i.e, air-accessed) faster. However, not sure if this is enough in most situations. Added 2 mexes, one for each player, in the usual "no real safe-mexes" fashion. WIll keep an eye on balance.
Fixed bug spots.
v14:
Retexturing/strataring.
Removed some spikes as although i wished to limit build space, it was :
a) getting in the way of enjoyment.
b) The quaternary/air expansions were mass-rich enough to warrant fighting over them anyway.
Thsi is what it currently looks like:
v15:
Retextured the ocean floor so it looked a bit more water-y.
I dunno, blame blodir. I might change this back.
v22:
Addedf salem wrecks to mid.
Added more mass to mid.
Right now mid is a warzone of constant flux, and the lack of ringable land mexes for the mid player makes them fall off in the late game.
WIll keep an eye on this,
v24:
Changed stratum colouring so its more obvious where you can build and where you cannot.
Lowered height of corner most islands so artillery can fire onto the higher plateaus.
v33: MAJOR CHANGES.
Eco retuned - More emphasis on the expansion islands across mid.
Removed starting land mexes.
Shifted first expansion land mexes around - some now under water.
TLDR: Eco-whoring nerfed by around 50%, getting the side islands or at least fighting around them to prevent teching now (or at least, the aim is that it should be) mandatory.
