Random maps included?

[Guest Stryder]

Hi,

 

I'm going to get the game in 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile I'd like to know what the different random maps included with the game are. Could someone pleast tell me the names of each map and a discription of each...?

 

Thanks in advance

[Eets]

They're not really maps. When you select Random Map from the options, it places different resources and objects randomly around the default terrain.

[RF_Gandalf]

There are 40 different random maps included in the game, I think.

The terrains, forests all look different, but the map setups will mostly look familiar.

 

The maps are almost all clones of AOKTC otherwise. The space maps are from Coastal, Continental, Islands or Team Islands, and have water replaced by space, traversable by air units.

 

Desert, Hoth, Tatooine and Zaloriis=Arabia with different terrains, minimal differences otherwise.

Kessel=almost Arabia

Endor's Moon, Krant, Kashyyyk=Black Forest

Yavin=almost Black Forest

Landmass=Continental

Dagobah, Swamp=Salt Marsh

Sea=Baltic

LargeSea=Med

Shoreline, Reytha=Coastal

Mother Lode=Oasis

Forced Deployment=Migration

Raiders=Nomad

Tundra=Scandinavia

Hanoon=Scandinavia in space

Spacemass=Continental in space

Satellites=Islands in space with connections

and so on

 

Ony the scripts for Savannah, Naboo, Forest (and to a lesser degree Yavin and Kessel) are really new in their construction from the maps in AOKTC.

 

All of the maps use a randomization to vary the amounts of food resources, a little like ES@Capricious did in AOKTC. The space maps are somewhat deficient in food compared to the others - no forage, no sheep equivalents.

For the non-space maps, it is possible to have a map that is high (or low or missing) in any or all of the following: berries, sheep(bantha etc), deer(eopie etc), boar(falumpaset etc).

[Chessack]

Originally posted by Stryder

Hi,

 

I'm going to get the game in 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile I'd like to know what the different random maps included with the game are. Could someone pleast tell me the names of each map and a discription of each...?

 

Thanks in advance

 

There are two types of "random maps" included in the game:

 

1. Regular AoE/AoK style random maps (Forest, Coastal, etc). I haven't really used these and only glanced at them so I'm not sure what they call them, but it's safe to assume all your favorite AoE/K types are there, though possibly slightly modified or slightly re-named. I do know there are a LOT of them.

 

2. Star Wars Places random maps. Basically, random maps based on the worlds/locations of Star Wars. There is an Endor random map, which is highly forested. There is a Tatooine map, which is a desert. There is a Naboo map, which is forests/oceans. Etc. There are about 20 Star Wars places maps, in addition to the regular set of random maps.

 

So, the answer is, there are a LOT. You will not lack for variety of maps.

[Influenza]

The only problem I have with the whole random-map feature (which seems to be the new craze in strat games) is that random maps will never play better than well-designed static maps. Just my opinion...

[Chessack]

Originally posted by Influenza

The only problem I have with the whole random-map feature (which seems to be the new craze in strat games) is that random maps will never play better than well-designed static maps. Just my opinion...

 

What exactly do you mean by "play better?" Easier, harder, more interesting?

 

Just curious what you mean. I actually prefer the random maps, as the "designed" maps usually have some sort of "purpose" (at least in a campaign game), and often that sends the game off in a single direction -- I rather have the completely open-ended nature of the random map.

 

My only complaint, and this is true of both AoE 1 and 2, is that there's never enough stone/ore for my liking on a random map. I like building lots of walls, gates, and towers, and there just never seems to be enough on the map for my taste (except in the old AoE 1 scenarios "passes" and "come and get me", which always had plenty.)

 

For a future version, it'd be nice if you could pre-select the relative amount of random resources. For instance, a map with high food but low carbon. Or a map with high ore but low nova crystals. Or high everything, if that's your game. It would add more flexibility -- and let me get more ore, my favorite resource!

[Influenza]

Hard to explain, really. Everyone has a favorite map for their favorite RTS game, like StarCraft or Total Annihilation. And why is it their favorite? Because it plays well. It encourages certain types of battles that the person enjoys, whether they be lengthy arms-buildup, nonstop-action, strategic-maneuvering, or whatever. Certain maps lay out resources and terrain in a way that promotes these styles of play, and thus make spectacular maps for those styles.

 

It's all personal preference, of course. And I understand liking maps that don't encourage a specific play style, which random maps tend to do. But well-made maps again can be completely neutral (well, not *completely*) to specific tactics, and I've always found those maps most enjoyable.

[Chessack]

Originally posted by Influenza

Hard to explain, really. Everyone has a favorite map for their favorite RTS game, like StarCraft or Total Annihilation. And why is it their favorite? Because it plays well. It encourages certain types of battles that the person enjoys, whether they be lengthy arms-buildup, nonstop-action, strategic-maneuvering, or whatever. Certain maps lay out resources and terrain in a way that promotes these styles of play, and thus make spectacular maps for those styles.

 

It's all personal preference, of course. And I understand liking maps that don't encourage a specific play style, which random maps tend to do. But well-made maps again can be completely neutral (well, not *completely*) to specific tactics, and I've always found those maps most enjoyable.

 

Ah, I see what you mean. I then agree with you. One thing AoK and GB do not have, that the original version of AoE had, is the "Pre made scenario" option. That is, rather than a random map, you had a pre-set map designed for certain things. "Come and Get Me", for instance, had a forest with gold in the middle, and ridgelines along the edges, that provided for a very nice "high attrition" game. "Passes" was similar. "Crossroads" gave lots of easy movement options and led to running battles and that type of thing.

 

It would be nice if they had continued that tradition in both AoK and GB. The planetary Star Wars maps, while interesting, are all random, so you're right -- you can't say, "I'm in the mood for a war of attrition today, I will pick this pre-determined map." Since it is all random.

 

Of course, there are campaigns, but those have not just predefined maps, but also specific plots, and generally are not of the "start with 3 workers and a scout and build till you win," variety, but rather are more along the lines of "Build an army and go obtain this Holocron from the enemy." Which is fun, but not the same as a regular "standard" operation.

 

May the Force be with you.

[Guest IdLe_WorkeR]

to create the exact map you desire.

[Chessack]

Originally posted by IdLe_WorkeR

to create the exact map you desire.

 

True, except for 2 slight problems:

 

1. If I create the map, then I already know the intimate details of it, and even the Hardest computer level is going to be hard pressed to give me a run for my money. It's kind of like making up a module for D&D, then giving it to another DM and playing in it, and looking for things like secret doors and hidden treasure. How hard is it to find if you already know where it is?

 

2. It takes a darn long time to make a nice, balanced map. I rather spend those hours playing the game than building a map. Lazy? Perhaps.

 

My main point was, I agree that having permanently built maps sometimes is a nice thing. Not so you can play them over and over again, but so you can play them once, and get a specific "flavor" from them, like "war of attrition" -- without the annoyances of having to go through campaigns and go through specific goals.

[Compa_Mighty]

Is there a RMS guide included with the game?

 

I designed 4 Aok maps, but I suppose this is different....

[RF_Gandalf]

There was no guide included, unfortunately.

 

The rules are identical to AOK except for one command: match_player_civ which is used to give each civ their own style of speeder bike (scout). The terrains and objects are different, a list is posted at the Heaven SWGB Scenario Design forum.

 

You should be able to do usable scripts with your AOK RMS guide and this info.

 

The SWGB standard scripts use a very different method of allocating food resources by randomization than the standard fixed resources in so many ES AOK scripts.