Map, Scenario, Campaign design questions

[flakfernrohr]

I am just getting into making maps and my ambition has expanded to make a bigger single player game. These questions may seem redundant to many of the members since they are well versed in making these types of modifications, but I need a little input from you before I make something that would not be practical or workable for a single player.

Here are my questions:

(1) What is the largest single player map recommended in terms of hexes used? I find some of my favorite scenarios are usually about 40X40 or less in the regular game. I would like a bigger map to play for a several reasons.

(2) I would like to be able to have a longer/bigger scenario or campaign that would allow the play of 75 to 125 units (maybe even more?). I could possibly break the map I envision into several segments and make a campaign, but which would be the best? A longer and larger scenario or a campaign made from parts of the map I am thinking about doing? The map I have platted looks as if it would be about 200 X 225 hexes (6.7 kilometers per hex).

(3) If I elected to build either option, how does a person make a map a path to follow from winning or losing to the next scenario or campaign?

(4) Once the map and units have been added/made available for a scenario, the prestige set and the parimeters put into place, is this all that needs to be done for a functioning scenario or campaign? I am familiar with modifications of the equipment enough to be comfortable that it will be done correctly and what needs to be done to build or make a map that functions properly. I just am not sure how big the map can be.

(5) What is the best way to determine the number of days in a turn? What is recommended for larger maps? Is there a rule of thumb to apply to various map sizes?

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, I am making an attempt to become more familiar with custom modifications such as these. If there is something that I am leaving out in this area of custom design, please let me know.


Thanks again for your answers and help. This is a great game!

[El_Condoro]

1) and 2) I haven't tried making larger maps so I'll leave those to someone else.

3) The key file is in the Data folder and is called campaign.pzdat. You can set it to open with Excel to see how it works. Once you see that you can use this great tool to edit it and the briefings: viewtopic.php?t=26898. Basically the Starting Points lead to a scenario and, depending on whether a DV, V or Loss, on to other scenarios. Prestige is set here and also the briefing files, which ar found in Data\Briefings.
I suggest a prefix for all files (e.g. RD_ for all my Red Dawn files) as it keeps them together in each folder.

4) It depends on your definition of 'functional'. It might work but the key is balance and that only comes from testing, testing and more testing.

5) Depends on the sort of scenario. You can have anything, really. A scenario spanning a few days might be 2 or 3 turns per day; a longer scenario might be 2 or 3 days per turn - it's up to you.

Other tips:
use the cheat codes found here when testing: viewtopic.php?t=25990
I find endscn # is great for being able to speedily check through the campaign path and whether briefings are OK.
Be prepared to spend a *lot* of time in campaign design - it is a huge commitment even for a fairly short campaign.