Any new maps in new FoG?

[the_iron_duke]

The base game has a fair few maps for Digital Army Generator multiplayer games, but, after playing the game for a while, some of the maps can become overly familiar with their tactical aspects well understood.

So I was wondering if some additional maps have been made for the new game?

I think adding more maps would be an easy thing to do from a technical point of view - probably just drag and drop the map files into the relevant map folder.

As for map creation, FoG maps are fairly simple and I can't imagine it would take more than a few minutes to make one, especially an Open terrain map! I'm sure some FoG players would be more than happy to make some additional maps for DAG games, myself included.

[kilroy1]

I remember reading somewhere in the forum that stockwellpete had created some maps and submitted them to Slitherine to be included in the new version of FOG, but I can't remember where.

kilroy

[stockwellpete]

Yes, I submitted about 50 new maps and they have been added to the new game. Lysimachos has also contributed some new maps. I will be writing more in due course. The classification system for the maps into "open", "crowded" etc has changed so there is a shortage of terrain-dense maps at the moment, but that will easily be rectified once we are up and running again.

[the_iron_duke]

I made a couple of medium maps last night. What do people think of them?

I used Google Earth to zoom in to areas about the size of a battlefield and then transcribed the real geographic/topographic features into a FoG map. The first map used a location in Scotland, the second is from the Lake District.

http://oi61.tinypic.com/2j1253a.jpg

http://oi60.tinypic.com/25hhk6e.jpg

[MikeMarchant]

They look great, keep up the good work.


Best Wishes

Mike

[the_iron_duke]

They look great, keep up the good work.


Best Wishes

Mike

Thanks. Those two maps are 99% complete. I'll adjust the odd hex for aesthetic reasons to avoid repeating terrain patterns (e.g. hill edges) and clean up any map edge issues. I'll also check there are enough areas where camps can be placed.

One thing I'm keeping in mind is to try and make sure any tactical advantages in terrain are evenly distributed across maps. For example, I think the player that sets up the game always starts on the South side of a map (although I may be wrong).

Therefore one needs to make sure that the terrain advantages, like hills, aren't always located in the bottom half of maps, for example, so the player who sets up the game doesn't get a terrain advantage bias.

If there was a random rotation applied to maps at the start then it wouldn't be an issue.

[MikeMarchant]

Is it possible to have woods on a hill?

All the maps in the game seem to have woods stop at the bottom of a crest line, which is a little silly.


Best Wishes

Mike

[the_iron_duke]

Is it possible to have woods on a hill?

All the maps in the game seem to have woods stop at the bottom of a crest line, which is a little silly.

It's technically possible. I'm trying to faithfully reproduce what I see on Google Earth so the woods are where they are located in real life.

There are two different "woods" tile styles for each of the two tile sets: green and arid. It's possible to edit the individual map file to change it between using the green and arid tile sets. A wooded area using "woods tile B" from the green tile set may not necessarily look as good when converted to the arid tile set, so that's another thing I'm keeping in mind.

Ultimately, I want the maps to look equally as plausible in both tile sets.

[DarkOmen]

I think the maps look good.....It isn't a matter of looks for me, and to be honest I never thought of using Google Earth...good job!!

However, I like the idea of forest, barren trees, rocks, etc along with the steps and hills. When you have steps only, even with 'craggy' areas...people playing HF armies are NOT coming down and MF are NOT coming up. But if you had forest they could hide in, etc. Me personally, I could care less if they are realistic or not...

NOW you have everyone playing all archer armies so terrain doesn't matter.

I can honestly say if I was a commander in some of those maps...I would just turn and go home or set up somewhere else in real life.

I think your maps are fine...I was just stating what I see in most maps and what I would like to see.