The gfx effects

Most maps during that time, and even currently, didn't use many graphic effects. The PLAY FX Events allow you to use a huge range of effects!

I used an older version of this map by Deo Go to aid me in finding the best effects.
http://aow2.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=641

What I did, using that map, was to write every effect down on paper and make a little impressionistic drawing of what it did, next to an objective and subjective description of what the event did!
For example,
Objective: This event lasts 3 seconds. Big range. No sound effect.
Subjective: This would be great for picking up mighty swords!
This little archive greatly helped me select events and reduced testing time.

By combining multiple of such events, and putting them in a certain order, the effects can be really impressive. I have tested the GFX's to death until I thought they were perfect!

The GFX's are used throughout the map, but are mostly associated with the Aesthir.
The Aesthir are three powerful crystals and can unleash havoc upon the Emperor, because the God Orditan is locked into them by Emperor Purius and very angry at him. The Aesthir can be found in difficult to reach locations on the map (more on them in a different post). When they are picked up, one of the outer larger cities of the Emperor will be destroyed by a really nice effect. The grand finale is when ALL THREE Aesthir are combined at the altar of large Ergos Temple. Then you will see the full wrath of Orditan unleashed!

Another place where I like the events is with the legendary Draconian smithies at mount Sisay. Here you can create incredibly powerful items that can change the course of the game, by combining certain special basic ones to be found in random places all over the map.

So, this was one way in which DoD was quite progressive as a map.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 04-27-2008 @ 10:45 PM).]

Hero descriptions

Most of the hero descriptions were done by me, but I also had some help. For example, one of the best descriptions were made by Wonderbeast (Lady Bane).

I tried only to write when I felt like it. There were few occasions when I had to force myself to make up something, and if I did, it probably shows (short and boring).

Finding inspiration actually wasn't that hard. These are some sources of inspiration:

- Location bound heroes.
When I do locations, stories unfold in my mind about the terrain and what happened. It is not hard to find ideas for heroes there. For example, a dungeon located in the desert could hold a princess (Djinna).

- History
In another installment, I'll talk about the timeline, but DoD is plays in the world of the River Arne (e.g., Dod has Findarin in his younger years), Fight for Light (e.g., Dalviana), and Waikiti island (e.g., Lord Haradar). So, a lot of the heroes were taken from other maps of mine (even Ofir, from Goldrush mountains).
Making a description to how these heroes have ended up in Aedora was fun and easy to do!

- PBEM Games
Some heroes were taken from maps by King David (e.g., Ghengis Frost, Don Sata. Lady Bane) and where we have had great games on with epic stories. Because these games and characters were in my mind, it was easy making a description.

- People/members I know.
I was a teacher back in Holland and so I know a lot of people. Children are especially expressive and really easy, with some imagination to form into heroes. A lot of my friends and family suffered the same fate.
A lot of forum members made it in as well (Draco, Roger, etc...).


Here is a list of heroes and where their inspiration came from (perhaps some interesting tidbits):

* Marijke: my mom
* Princes Sarah: was my girlfriend
* Bram Pieterman: my little brother!
* Awkward Aerjan: this was based on one of my good friends, Arjan, with whom I founded a board gaming club with (once every week - we were even on national tv!).
* Vaug Han: Was based on JamieJME's ego. At the time we were both making a map and working together on lots of things. Unfortunately, he never released his'. The name of the Vaugh Han was based on Jamie's last name. Jamie also wrote the hero description.
* Thyan Lighhawk: based on Kris (from the forums).
* Jolly Jorgen: based on our forum member, Erupted, who lived in the residence! The picture looks a lot like him! Qi, King Job, maarten, etc... were other resident friends that made it in! Some descriptions are scarily close to their true personality! I read most of the description to them, and they were all 'approved'.
* The Whelan: sometimes I was scouting the internet for images I could use for Wizards and heroes. I literally fell 'in love' with the image of the 'white'-whelan and I HAD to get them in. She looked elvish and with the manga-style illustration, the story flowed naturally. These were elite elvish warriors. At that time, I remembered this old martial arts movie about a fallen samoerai, betraying his 'school', and killing all but a few which could escape. I integrated this into their background story, and so the Whelan were born, two of them!
* Fergusson: at the time, my girlfriends mother had a cat. This cat was about 30 pounds (not kidding!) and very good natured, to the point where children could poke at his whiskers and it would still not movie or bite. The local vet, pointing at scratchmarks on the ceiling, said he'd never encountered such a calm cat who was purring during the entire visit.
The description, thus, is a bit of a parody...
* Ghengis Frost, Don Sata, Lady Bane, Pearlman: These characters were inspired on the Wizards from King David's masterpiece: Race to Death. See this game for more details on how the characters developed. Supposedly, DoD takes place before the RtD, and so we can find the young Ghenghis in his study somewhere in the north.
* Captain Steadler: This actually is Waterfly's last name. He is one of the best players I know, and I have always payed attention to what he said as a player, and how he beat me in games. So, as the description goes, kindof like my teacher!

- more may follow later

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 04-30-2008 @ 06:51 PM).]

This is a great thread, Swolte!

THANKS for it!

Awesome Swolte!

By very far my favorite map. I just started a new (PBeM) game on it.

There are many great things about it, but the feature that I prefer is the fact that all wizards are very different in many aspects, but the (multi-player) is very finely balanced. The experience of the game will be very different based on which wizard is chosen.

[This message has been edited by fromage67 (edited 04-28-2008 @ 01:46 PM).]

DOD (single player version) is one of the few maps I've played more than once.

The first time that I played humans, I triggered the destruction of one of the emperor's cities. That was nice work!

The second time that I played humans, I took (Mab?)goblins out fairly early by building parties of machines and herbalists to pass through the permanent pestilence barrier.

I haven't yet really played the other wizards very much.

You've hatched an excellent plan, Swolte, with the "making of" series on the process(es) of creative design.

[This message has been edited by flyguy (edited 04-28-2008 @ 11:03 PM).]

Thanks guys!

I hope many more people will start, the making of's. What would be even cooler if it was on maps that are actually in development!

Anyway, your comment, Fromage67, is spot on and so I'll make a little tidbit about it below.

Balance Design I: Wizard differentiation

Before I started DoD, I not only wanted a multiplayer map that would be very diverse and asymmetrical in terms of terrain, but also in terms of how the different Wizards would play. Not only would your game be different every time you play the same Wizard (due to the enormous amount of strategic choices and quick interactions with other players) but even more different playing different Wizards!

At first sight, DoD looks like a mess in terms of balance (Balance roughly being defined as each player having about an equal opportunity in the end to win the game, assuming there is one winner). Omah seems to have only one city and the emperor starts out with an enormous force. How is it possible that such a map can play coherently? I can imagine people wondering if I thought about balance at all!

Nothing was farther from the truth. In fact, the aspect of the map I am most proud of is not the terrain, nor the storyline, or scripts, but the balance and the way the map plays. So, I cannot explain this in one post, so I'll just start with the first one of balance about the Wizards playing differently. I'll tackle them one by one and explain their most important factors.

========

Emperor Purius
The emperor definitely starts out with the largest force, has the possibility of building level 4 units in Eregion, and has multiple powerful cities in a realm (Eregia) which is greatly connected by an intricate road system, and watchtower network, which allows for quick troop response and good scouting. Take one look at Eregion and you'll know that this player plays a central and important role.

So, what makes this balanced? A few points.
Firstly, story wise, players KNOW that this force must be curbed. If they wait to long, they will ALL die against this player. This, in fact, is the Emperors largest disadvantage and will be fought mostly with diplomatic and cooperative skills. It also almost forces other players to cooperate and creates interesting tensions.
His central location allows this player to threaten a lot of lands, but also to be threatened from lots of areas. As the emperors realms becomes bigger, it becomes increasingly harder to defend.
Secondly, the emperor is a purist and this means that non-archon races will have very bad morale under his rule. As a consequence, the emperor doesn't benefit as strongly from the multiple recruitment sites around the map. Also, every city that is being captured must be migrated. This works greatly from a balance perspective and integrates with the storyline and conceptual idea of Purius. The farther the emperor is from home, the more difficult it gets for this player. He risks stretching his armies and becoming vulnerable.

So, playing emperor is actually quite the challenge. You will need to be an expert in diplomacy and timing. Also, if you are too reckless and greedy, you will be punished. Getting overconfident is deadly in this role.

Players have won with the emperor!

Prince Stefanus
Usually the most skilled player ends up taking this role, and rightfully so. Stefanus has the most potential of all Wizards, but is very hard to play. If you are not a seasoned multiplayer gamer and used to be good at adapting strategies and playing under pressure, forget it. The emphasis is here on quick adaptation and dealing with players!

From the get-go, this player is under enormous pressure and lots of difficult decisions will have to be made. Hurting the emperors progress, or saving your own troops? You also should be able to let go, and not attach to anything! A lot of new players have the tendency to hold on and turtle until you're strong enough to explore - and if something has been taken from you, take it back!
This is idea is not applicable to Stefanus at all, you need to be mobile and moving constantly! The key word is BE PRO-ACTIVE and explore! This also fits conceptually, where Stefanus is a banished son on a pirate island, without a home. Lots of action for this player, and indeed, very different in terms of playing from the Emperor.

Omah Krimhogde
This player, I feel, is the hardest to play of all, and I have been thinking mostly of upping her a bit (in the latest version she has been).

Omah is relatively isolated from all the action, and starts out quite weak. However this player is balanced on a knife's edge with an important factor being called the Vaugh Han. The Vaug Han is a hero unlike any other to start with. At a low level, but with tons of skills and enhancements, this hero will grow like crazy if taken good care of. With the right type of items, he can take on armies!
On the other hand, losing this hero will be an enormous blow... being largely dependent on one hero is tricky in the beginning!
Because Omah is the most isolated of all players, the sense of urgency can be missing from this player.

Lady Godiva
This player is quite diverse. Lady Godiva is quite protected but still involved in the action. Through her unique seeing pools she can provide crucial (mis)information to various players. This can give her power and the possibility to manipulate, something that also fits this Wizard conceptually.
Her two sisters, Dalviana and Lady Bane are very powerful and in almost every game they grow out to powers to be reckoned with.
All her armies are quite spread across the world, and close to dangerous places, so she does have to remain on her toes.

Obryn
This player would fit a defensive style. Obryn's keep is easy to defend and players who want to play defensively, might actually be able to. Unless the emperor decides otherwise...
King Shankar is a strong hero King, who will cause a rebellion amongst the Draconian when he dies. Obryn does have a strong hero, but must very careful.

Both Dragatus, and Obryns keep require different styles of to play.

========

Phew, that was long!

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 04-28-2008 @ 10:36 PM).]

If there's one map that makes me wish I had more experience with PBEM(and had been more reliable in the few games I took part in), it's this one. Actually, there is one map that makes me wish that stuff more than any other, and it IS this one.


And if there's one thing missing from AOWH, it was other mapmakers dissecting their work for my-I mean our-viewing pleasure!
I would love to hear more about your inspiration behind the heroes descriptions(maybe wizards too, eventually?)

Thanks!!

I have added some more background info in for the heroes section in the above post. I'll talk a bit about the background for choosing the Wizards here from a more conceptual point of view.

Here is the oldest backup I could find in my email of Drums of Death in development. I'll be refering to this file throughout!
DoD in development

Conceptual work/descriptions: Wizards

The conceptual work for the Wizards is actually not that interesting, I think, because the design of the Wizards mainly served playability. This needs a bit of explanation, so I am going to start with a seemingly tangential introduction.

When I started designing DoD, I definitely had playability as a priority. After Fight for Light, a successful co-op map, I wanted to try something else, but not too different (I liked the cooperation element, and the fact that some players are more feared than others).
I wanted that strong player to be feared and respected, and have the disadvantage of not getting along with other races (see balance installment I). This was a concept I liked VERY early on, and which guided this decision.
For this, either undead or Archons would suit. I didn't want to pick Undead because I already did those in FFL and they would have reapers which would ruin the lands with their Path of Decay. I also didn't like Reapers floating which would make most strategic terrain obsolete (to make a long story short: Reapers are too powerful on this map).

So, I went with Archons, and the very first thing I did was make Eregion, the big white city. I was so excited about this city, and it looked so good (the waterfall, etc...) that Eregia started to come naturally. I couldn't stop!! Heavily inspired by roman culture, Eregia was done in a very short but intensely creative period of mapmaking. You can see in the old file that it is almost completely done!

Now, what to with the Wizards? Their conceptual work really almost came like an afterthought. On the one hand, I wanted players to identify with the characters and their backgrounds, and make great stories and logs. On the other hand, I didn't want the Wizard descriptions to constrain players too much.

Emperor Purius
I generally dislike the 'black and white' view of good versus evil (although with undead it is more applicable) and so I wanted to give this character some motivations. People are generally going to think about this map as an alliance against the suppressing, evil Archon. If you look at the Wizard description of Purius, you can kinda see that he has a past and ideals which might be born out of fear for the ShadowGod at first sight. Fear does bad things to people.

So the name Purius, of course, is not highly original. He's a purist, so I thought Purius the XI (one of those temporary names you never end up changing... ). I wanted to show that he is part of long, traditional lineage which was used to ruling. The image makes a lot of sense as well.

In the very early beginning I wrote this on the BTOOIC forums in 2004:
Story: still under heavy construction and I am all but sure of the names and all.. the main good player will be a runaway son that rebelled against his mother, the empress (Archon). The emperess has showed little respect for the lower races (elves, dwarves etc..) and taxes and law have become harder and harder for her wars to supress the last evil and fear of a prophecy. Her son wanting to marry an elven princess caused a friction and differences of opinion to enlarge. He was banned from the Archon rule and fled to the seas.. cities rebelling under the Emperess bear the banner of her son that was different in opinion.
Meanwhile, with this 'civil' war going on, evil smells its chance. The races have been suppressed for ages and led a poor life.. Stories of legendary items and prophecies of those that will liberate are roaming the undergrounds like roaches.

So, at first it was an Empress called Ariade and her son. I decided to go with a male, since it seemed more believable for a man to exile his son for his own pride.

Stefanus
Well, at the time I made DoD I had a boardgaming club and one of the games we played was called werewolves. In this game, players assume a role and act those out (often in secret). Some roles tied players together (like: you are in love w player A, you may never accuse him/her and if he dies, you die). This created a sense of connection and would lead to very fun role playing situations.

So, I thought long and hard. Love story couldn't work, but what about family bonds!! And so, since I only had Purius thought out, he had a son. Well, if you had an oppressive father, it is likely that you will rebel (I was in psychology, so these things come very naturally...). It was close to talk-like-a-pirate day on the forums, so he fled to a pirate island. From there, the story just came and came... I called this Wizard Stefanus (after me: Steven), gave him an non-archon girlfriend (Sarah) his father opposed to seeing which made it even more personal. Again, these areas were made with a lot of joy and early in development (see the file).

One forummer suggested that I have a father complex. My dad is indeed a reverend, but he is a wonderful, open man and absolutely not over-controlling. I did have a Hindu girlfriend, but I hardly ever experienced the pressures of different religions in person. If I were to become hindu, he would even be proud (if I did it cause I truly gained faith, etc...).

Stefanus1 - I strongly considered this image but I found it didn't look like a rebel enough.

When I found this image, it was a no brainer to me: Stefanus + start
The image does't really look like me (I have brown eyes, and I am not blonde!), and most of the background description has very few references to my own life.
You can see how the image actually scarily resembled the terrain that I already had! This image represented youth and idealism. He also looked a bit like a rebel. Perfect!

Obryn
As you can see on the old file, most of the other Wizards weren't as well developed. From a balance perspective, I wanted Dwarves and to compensate for their lack of speed, give them Draconians as well.
I also wanted a character who was very old, and had a lot of wisdom.

I was extremely jealous of the name Bokwit (King David, I believe used it). It had everything I wanted at that time. It sounded old and stubborn, yet 'good'-aligned. I could use a little bit of humor.
I failed to find a better name and went with a more generic one: Obryn. I had trouble finding a good image. Here are some that I considered, but didn't make it in:
Obryn 1 - After a while, the image started to scare me. It also looked too human, and fragile. I wanted something more timeless.
Obryn 2 - This later became a hero, prof Pickleburt. I didn't find this wizard looked strong enough. It did have the sort of humor I liked.

The current image of Obryn is a biblical image painted by Rembrant, the famous dutch painter. His name inspired one of Obryns closest heroes, Rembant.
Obryn final
I am not crazy about this image, though. If there is one I could change, it would be this one.

Conceptually, the old and wise Obryn would also contrast nicely with the young and spirited Stefanus.

Lady Godiva
I needed a female... Up till now, they were all males!

So, from that need came the uber-female first called lady beauvelles. I wanted someone with style and elegance, but an extreme underlying lust.
Ideally, I wanted to take Lady Bane (see section on hero-descriptions), but this was already a Wizard in King Davids map and that would conflict too much. I also liked the Darkelves and their female focus and I enhanced this even more by adding two sisters, lady Bane and Dalviana. Both extremely strong female personalities.

I was making the starting area and I really liked it. This terrain actually began to guide what I was looking for as an image and even personality of the Wizard.

I had great trouble finding the image. Here were some considerations I have had:
Beau 1 - possible, but not seductive and female enough.
Beau 2 - not bad, but almost too powerful. I wanted my Wizard to convey some sort of playfulness as well. To be manipulative, almost like a child. To be able to fool people.
Beau 3 - This one didn't fit the terrain I already had. Also looked too stern. It did look like a stylish lady called Beauvelles.

Then, I literally had a shock when I found this image. It was almost EXACTLY what I was looking for, conceptually.
(WARNING: if you find nude images offensive, or you are under-aged you are urged not to click -> Lady Godiva)
The image was soo powerful, that it actually began to guide how I thought about this Wizard. You can see where Jardins (means 'garden' in French), one of the main heroes of Godiva came from...

Since the character was initially inspired on Wonderbeast(s interpretation of Lady Bane *cough*), I asked her a lot for advice during the process of designing the Dark Elves. At some point she mentioned the name lady Godiva (I believe she was going to a play - english folklore) and I thought it sounded perfect.


Omah Krimhogde
Well, this Wizard underwent a last minute change. I had thought of a male character called Lord Volrath but I wasn't entirely pleased with him.
I considered this one:
Lord Volrath
I liked this image, but I also wanted a character which was more light, and humorous. My entire story felt so heavy handed!

JamieJME actually helped me with this character and found this image for me after a while and was very enthousiastic about it. Jamie even photo-shopped the image.
Lord Volrath- Jamie

However, a few days after I accepted this image, I stumbled upon an image during my searches for hero portrait images. I was instantly IN LOVE.
Omah

Jamie instantly hated this image and couldn't believe I wanted it in what was going to be my masterpiece (his maps are all 'serious' - check his Battle of Creations), but I was determined... THIS IS IT!!

I wanted a funny name, and came up with Omah Krimhogde, after Kriemhilde. This was a female character from medieval mythology and apparently she had a dream about two birds, Wonderbeast told me (hence the two zephyrs).
By that time, however, Jamie said that he couldn't take my map seriously anymore.

So, to ease his mind, I came up with the legend of the Vaug Han (with false prophets like in The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan) based on Jamies last name (Ei'Maj in reverse also reads Jamie - see description). This was a serious character to compensate for this terrible thing I did. To overcome his grief, I made this hero so powerful that it became a very unique balancing factor and allowed for a unique playstyle for the Omah player, something I was looking for anyway. It would also make a nice contrast with the beautiful looking Lady Godiva.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-19-2008 @ 10:51 PM).]

It's interesting how the portraits influenced the way you made your wizards. But i don't like using custom portraits because I can not seem to find a place to properly credit the artists.

So tell me Swolte, do you feel that you properly credited the artists?

You could always add a small notepad document (readme) and zip it with the map. I completely agree this would be the right thing to do. This list can get very long in certain maps, though...

In the beginning, I did email artists but I never got replies back. I also felt like I was bothering them. Most portraits only display a small part of the original image, and it was for a non-profit, fan made map for this relatively unknown game very few people ever heard of which had a small group of fans. At the time you had the 'fair use' doctrine which Draco (HG-lawyer) said it was probably ok.

Anyway, I do agree that giving credit would have been the least and best thing to do!

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 04-29-2008 @ 11:39 PM).]

What I did, using that map, was to write every effect down on paper and make a little impressionistic drawing of what it did, next to an objective and subjective description of what the event did!

Oh MAN is that a lot of work! I can see how it would be a timesaver in the long run, and very useful, but what an ambitious project...

This is truly one of the masterpiece maps for any of the AoW games. The level of detail, history (which does not limit a players imagination), and the non-symetrical balancing are all top-notch and amazing. One of my favorite maps, if not, the favorite. And I like my own maps quite a bit!

Yes, I think it's the best map ever made for AoWSM

Thanks for the compliments, all! I am still hoping to see a Greenmonster map coming up in the distant future. Your maps are amongst my favourites!

I'll cover some locations and their backgrounds in this post.
In DoD, I wanted to have every part of the map to look unique and memorable, but of course, if everything looks important and special, nothing will stand out!
This was a very important realization, as the last thing I wanted to happen in Dod was to overstimulate players. It was also something I learned from teaching about painters and psychology - we notice contrast. Furthermore, there was criticism, especially by Alex Mars at the time, to please keep things more modest and simple. In a sense, I tried to do that... To keep it simple, for the sake of having areas that need it look very powerful and memorable.

So, there is the terrain (which I also tried to give a certain atmosphere) which makes the backdrop on which certain locations pop out! This terrain doesn't have to be boring, but it is important that it is predictable. For example, Eregion wouldn't look so important, if I had a whole circus of cities and roads, fountains and other crazy stuff around it.

I will discuss locations and areas! Let me know if there are any request. I notice I love doing this stuff, its almost therapeutic...


Locations: Eregion

BEHOLD EREGION
Before you, an amazing sight! The mighty city of Eregion, the capitol of Eregia! Home of Emperor Purius XI!
~ from event



High tolls, trade embargos and several restrictions were imposed upon the 'impure' races travelling through Eregia, as the empire was called. It started with the Tigrans and soon involved humans, dwarves and elves too. Enforced by a great military might, no one dared to stand up to the Emperor.

And so the wondrous city of Eregion towered high above all others, it's white shining spires almost reaching to the Gods above.
~ from the intro

Eregion was central to the story, and the playability, and so a lot of attention went into designing this city. It should be the most impressive structure on the map, located right in the middle, and it should elicit a feeling of awe. Forget what I just said, this location should not be modest at all! Players who play this map blind say... "WoW, we need to stop this Emperor, or I am going to flee and die!"
And this is perfect. Those who lay eye on its might should indeed feel urged to find comrades and allies to battle this foe. This is something I don't need to explicitely spell out in the map. I was asked very often how to play this map (who vs who??), and I felt forced to say 2v2v1, however, I really shouldn't have to! It makes the most sense for Stefanus to team with Obryn, storywise and strategically - both are in relative close contact. It usually just happens automatically and this is often the best and most interesting.

I also wanted the one who plays emperor and inhabit Eregion to almost become arrogant, and to look down upon the other races who lived between branches or in dirty caves. To feel superior, something that would fit the Emperor conceptually. Also, since Eregia is so orderly, the farther you would explore Aedore, the more alien it would look from 'home'. I mean, there will be monsters and lots of strange, uncultivated areas which are very different from Eregia.

For Eregion, the capitol, I wanted an image that was etched deeply into players brains. A strong, powerful city that would symbolize Eregia. The emperor and Eregia only fall when Eregion falls.
I loved one pbem game I was in where the emperor got chased away and Eregion became filled with spawn, and migrated to dirty Goblins, Orcs and Darkelves. A wonderful symbol of the new Wizard in power and a curse to the way things were. That sort of symbolic power should the city hold as well.

In designing Eregion from a mapmaking perspective I used a technique which I think I was the first to use in FFL - that of combining cities. If you make the terrain snow, you can place cities next to each other, much closer than the game normally allows. Then, you can repaint the terrain with any type you like and the city will stay. I am glad to see more mapmakers using this technique lately, because it is also interesting from a playability point of view.
To enhance its strength I made it close to the Eregion falls, one of the two powerful waterfalls in the map (technique explained other time). I just imagined living in Eregion and looking at those magnificent waterfalls and heavenly towers.
As the story goes, this structure should almost literally reach to the heavens, rivaling the Gods. In order to enhance this effect, I added two extra Wizard towers (no practical effect, only decorative) and put a shadow 'glow' on Eregion. This looks great ingame! Of course, no wood should be visible, and all was made of stone.

From a tactical point of view, the center city is the only one able to make a champions guild and level-4 creatures. There are only a handful of cities on the entire map that have this capacity, and so this gives Eregion even more tactical strength. It should urge enemies to take over, before Titans will roam in large numbers.
The bridges are placed in a way that they can be easily defended from attacks. For example, if an attack is only by land, up to 4 imperial stacks could defend against one enemy. The towers give it a wide range of view. Anything about this city should say that this is a highly-structured and powerful society! One that can even impose or establish order and progress (much like the roman empire).

Finding the name wasn't easy. Its probably going to be the most remembered name on the map. I wanted something that sounded very powerful, with perhaps a bit of a roman ring to it. A name like Athendore, for example, would have been perfect.
Eventually, the name was derived from the Belgarion series by David Eddings which I read a long time ago (I just start rhyming to find a name sometimes). I think its perfect now, although not everyone was happy with it during development.
Jamie made the comment that it sounded weird, which I guess it does if you're British... Hmmm, how to pronounce?? Let me know what you think?

Sometimes I wish I could have played this map blind. There are few mapmakers who I trust with multiplayer playability and interesting terrain. This is one of the reasons I am always longing for maps by King David, and Greenmonster, and glad to see people like Needles advancing, for example!

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-01-2008 @ 04:15 PM).]

Great articles Swolte!

The one location I've been wondering myself is the vast desert in north west. Playing as the Emperor as well as other wizards, I often do not dare to get lost in that immense location.

Areas: The Great Azrac Desert

A general principle that I have had in mapmaking is to keep areas engaging. On average there are permanently valuable resources to be found (like a mine, village, etc...) in an imaginary triangle of 10 hexes. These resources are guarded with various strengths so that in the later game, with bigger armies, there is still stuff to explore. On such a large map this keeps turns and areas interesting.

Now, a good player understands that plotting out a course that will guide an army along the most resource rich are is key to success. This is mostly true for any pbem game. An army is worth its upkeep if it can 'pay itself back' conquering lairs or valuable income resources. An army which is just moving is not being effective from an economical point of view, although it might be from a strategic point of view (e.g., scaring opponent, or gaining advantage by surprise). Ideally, you want your armies' travels to be economically AND strategically viable!
This is a very important principle to keep in mind when designing (and this is why it helps when mapmakers are also fervent players!).

The great Azrac desert, of course, is not an area of economical strength! It is barren and desolate, and armies traveling through such an area may actually suffer from the consequences described above. It almost forms a barrier by its sheer size and relative lack of resources. What is there to hold, attack, or defend?

From a playability point of view, such a desert can also kill a map. Can you image having your one army travel through almost nothing but the blazing sun and sand for 6 PBEM turns (often taking more than a month on 5 player map...)? Only for the real epic loving die-hards gamers, perhaps? Realistically it would be boring, in practice, for most.
The reason I went ahead is because Dod has multiple parties and areas of action per player from the start (more on that in different installment). This is why I figured it could work from a playability point of view and become a memorable area contributing to the epic feel. As Naec0 mentions, one desert to fear, like people should fear deserts...



The Azrac desert contains almost a quarter of the surface map and is designed that way on purpose. I wasn't bored or uninspired when I made it, as the picture might suggest. In fact, it was directly inspired by the Dune series by Frank Herbert which implanted these immense images in my head about vasts amounts of sand and epic travels. The Sandworm in v1.4 is a direct consequence of this and would have made it into the design somehow, I bet, had I had v1.4 at the time.

Conceptually, I had images of armies traveling through this (mostly) desolate area and for days seeing nothing but bright sand (what a surprise to find Dragatus and be underground suddenly, or find yourself in Eregia!). It would make for great pbem logs, I thought, of troops being left behind of starvation and sand entering soldiers boots.

As with every area in a map, you want players to use them! Why else travel to this area? I made it almost necessary to travel through the desert to reach Dragatus, a key city of Obrynn. Through the underground would take even longer, especially for the emperor. Traveling along the sides of the desert would be slower, but one would at least encounter some resources...

The design of the desert is pretty simple. I made dunes using the elevations and placed, of course, a few oases here and there, and one large city (which for some reason always seems to get captured late in the game).
The following is going to sounds strange, but the desert is also a place of concealment. A place where you could surprise your opponent from? Hide, you ask? HOW? Well... behind its sheer vastness and idea that no one is foolish enough to cross it. This is also the reason I did not want any watchtowers in this area (there is one heavily defended one - for a reason). In a some games I have played, I have actually been able to use its strategic advantage and surprise other unsuspecting Wizards.

An important part of areas are their transitions to other areas. In the world of Aedora, I didn't want them to look artificial (unless there is a reason!). I wanted a more natural feel, and so I tried to blend them nicely. I am quite proud of some of the transitions of the great Azrac desert with other areas - especially those to the Northeast where there is the lava land and dark pinewood forest. These were some of my favourite transitions to do!



I am not too satisfied with all of the desert, though. In retrospect, I think I have used too many different types of mountains surrounding the Azrac desert. Furthermore, I also not too happy with the southern transition. The river to the south doesn't work seamlessly, imo. The transition with Eregia, however, is very natural (steppe blends nicely with the desert).

Another issue where I think I could have improved in this area is its history. There is almost none in any of the locations within this desert. Surely there are some loose stories in hero descriptions and sites, but its not as coherent as the area of Eregion. I think I could have improved on that and give it a more legendary feel.

If I were to ever do a big desert again, I would look strongly at how Morgull666 did it in his map. I love how the oases and villages are nicely clustered there. I tried something similar in the Azrac desert, but v1.4 opens up a lot more!

So, just like with Eregion, I hope you can see how this areas' design nicely combines the conceptual idea of a desert with its playability.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-02-2008 @ 01:57 AM).]

What a great and intersting thread.

DoD is my favorite map but it has broken my heart because for some odd reason my computer is unable to open the map at a certain point between turns 25-45. This has put the 'kabosh' on a at least 6 long running attempts to play this map. DRATS! Actually they were the most fun I had in pbem until I couldn't continue. Each time was unique and engaging. Actually I have only had the opportunity to play Purius, Stephanus and Obrynn.

Someday in the not too distnt future I'll have a new computer nd I'll give your masterpiece another spin.

One thing that I appreciate on this map for the pbem experience is that each player has multiple parties exploring different areas simultaneously. This is something that I would suggest as an important factor for other map makers to consider when making a map that is intended for PBEM. When your turn might not come around but once a week, that turn better be engaging. I know that I have easily spent an hour + on my DOD turns on a regular basis because so many things were going on and the planning and exploring for optimization on multiple fronts with multiple parties was engaging. Also, if one group was just exploring or healing, chances are that another group had some monumental battle to fight. This makes PBEM better.

In my two maps I have submitted and the one I am working (slowly) on now, this is a factor that I employ because that is the type of pbem game I like to play.

I look forward to your next creation. I'm guessing it will be something attached to the 1.5 UPatch. Will it be in the same world that you have been building on?

Areas: Wilnis Falls

One of the things I attempted in DoD is to have every area be unique and leave a certain impression.

The Wilnis Falls is one of my favourite areas and so I'll discuss it here. This area took quite the amount of dedication!



The village north of the falls is called Wilnis and was actually named after the little village I grew up in. I was born in Amsterdam, but Wilnis is basically where I remember my childhood to be.

I wanted to create a sort of fall season-like atmosphere for this area. In the north there was snow, and to the south there was the elven area which was filled with all sorts of trees. So, fall seemed to fit right in the middle.

Technically, what you see here, was quite new at the time. You have to remember that v1.4 was not out, and so there were no tiles to do:
- The leaves on the ground
- Riverbank rocks
- Large trees
- cemetery (in this picture, retouched with v14)

At the time, there was a special trick to copy TC-map structures. You can still use this trick if you want REALLY large structures in your map but its mostly been made obsolete by the v1.4 patch. Here is how it works:
Step 1: Open up another editor
Step 2: Go to: file -> open
Step 3: Now navigate to TCmaps, this is a folder in the main directory
Step 4: It won't show anything interesting, but if you type a letter in the 'File Name' menu, for example, the letter 'd', than you can see lists coming up. Load any one of these.
Step 5: You can place structures and trees on the TC map and copy them (even using your mouse). Then simply copy them from the TC map into the Worldmap of your real map.

This trick doesn't always go well, and I remember some bugs with it, but we were learning at the time. If you plan on using this trick, please make sure that you thoroughly test the map.

DoD was among one of the first maps to heavily use the TC trick, so players would sometimes see things they wouldn't even think were possible on the Worldmap! I always like to immerse and surprise players with new and interesting terrain and this was one of those areas!
All the trees are manually selected as well. This cost me quite some time. It involved using the tree tile until I had the right combination of tree-colors. Then I would copy this and keep it separate until I had about 10 tiles which had the fall colors. Then I started copying them and manually pasted them into the terrain until I was satisfied, and it didn't look artificial! To finish it off, I added some dead trees.

A neat trick are the falls themselves as well. I have been to the Niagara falls and so I am used to the commercialism surrounding those. The sign on the cemetery is a bit of a parody on that.
Wilnis Cemetary
This popular burial site is right next to the majestic Wilnis Falls, and has been the resting place of many famous inhabitant. Experience the overwhelming sounds and scenic area's of the Falls, even when your fall has come!


Strategically the area is not of large importance. There aren't any big powerful locations to hold, but perhaps the Goblin villages of Trollshaw (a bit to the south) and Slotor (on the border to the west) which are able to make level-3 units which is uncommon in DoD. There are some very nice recruitment sites, though... one in which we can find Meriadoc, one of the Wizards from Fight for Light.
But I would call the area mainly a travel/buffer area between the more crucial locations. To the north lives the Lady Godiva, to the south is Pannovar, the elven capitol, and the emperor can appear from the east. It is one of the more crucial areas that Wizards need to cross to attack key areas. The cave-area in the image above also leads to some of those connecting areas.

Hope this part was interesting!

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-03-2008 @ 12:00 PM).]

Nice tip about filtering those trees into a special palate, Swolte. Ditto on that TC thing (that I did'nt follow so well). (I hope someone is collecting all of these helpful tips somewhere).

I wonder how you planned the layout of the connections between surface to underground. (I like the way this map plays).

Do you layout the underground entrances right away when you design a map or do you just decide their location as you go along?

[This message has been edited by flyguy (edited 05-02-2008 @ 11:56 PM).]

Thanks Flyguy, I have updated the previous post and added a section that should be interesting... It has been such a while using the TC-trick that I couldn't remember exactly how it was done when I wrote it. I figured it out again, though, last night. I wish I could credit the one who invented it but I honestly can't remember.

Quoted from Fubarno:

I look forward to your next creation. I'm guessing it will be something attached to the 1.5 UPatch. Will it be in the same world that you have been building on?

Yes, the Key of Kharzul is a strong hint to the next map "Return of the ShadowGod", which is planned to be epic. It will be in the same world and probably feature many of the same characters. I have already started a bit. It probably won't be shipped with v1.5 (which will suck up most of my time on other things) but will be a good one to do with v1.5.

Interesting question, Flyguy, and very difficult to explain so it may require some work (in a way that is useful) but I'll try at a later time for sure! I had this location in mind first:

Locations: Arachnia

As Fubarno explained, one theme in DoD is that each Wizard has multiple starting parties. The Wizards also (mostly) do not depend on one single Wizard tower.

When designing Lady Godiva and her strong female emphasis, I knew wanted Lady Bane as a sister. One day, I was looking for inspiration from Fight for Light (FFL) and decided that I had to add Dalviana! She was a powerful CPU-character in FFL and because of her spidery feel, I could probably make an interesting area.

And so it happened that Dalviana, defeated from the FFL, became the third sister (see her hero description for background). The location of Arachnia was determined along the principle that I wanted different strarting parties of the Wizards to be far apart. I had nothing to the bottom right yet of the emperor, or even another potential interesting interaction with Obrynn, and so the placement was quite easy.



Conceptually, I wanted the Godiva player to be manipulative, deceptive, and controlling. This is not a player who would bravely crawl from the caves in broad daylight and march straight towards Eregion (only when she is certain and on her terms). Arachnia sort of resembles that, it is very hard to reach if you are not a spider (or have 'webs' as an ability). The location is inspired on the Funnel web spider.
A former Wizard queen resides in there, Dalviana, and so I wanted the area to look powerful, hence the Wizard tower.

Technically, the area is very unique. Of course, I used the spider cave tiles to make the tunnels The trick is to use shadow world terrain, and combine it with webs. Lots of webs!! You can even copy webs on top of each other! This allows spiders to be VERY FAST in this area. Unfortunately, floaters and flyers (I wish I made a big deal at TS to have webs block those too!) benefit from this as well. It also works really well esthetically, as the blueish glow looks very cool! I put some mana in for initial enhancing effects.
I have to give big credit to Jamie for inventing this trick and allowing me to use it in my map. He used it in his', however, he never published his masterpiece. I remember he had those pathways in deep dark forest which I thought was a very cool idea.

Strategically, the shadowland/web trick allows a safe haven for Dalviana and her spiders and allowed for a great offensive (ambush) capacity. Along with the funnel trap idea, the tunnel arms reach far and out to various areas in the map, and a strong spiderparty can surprise many travelers with their immense speed! Arachnia has low production values, but is able to make Spider Queens from the start. This is quite powerful.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-03-2008 @ 03:03 PM).]

Areas: waikiti Island

Waikiti Island is located in the Nurn Sea, east of Spadinor Island. Conceptually it gives a bit of the Caribbean feel to the map. I did want to dramatize the pirate idea from Stefanus' troops a bit more, of course... Arr, matey!



Some people may not know this, but this island is simply copied from a older map of mine called: Waikiti Island. Its a great little map and I always wondered why not more people play it.
(perhaps the one good review with the bad score? )!

The island does have a strong history, and it is born from one of best pbem games in my memory. You can read about it here: Turn logs.

Some of the great turn logs can be found literally in descriptions of heroes. Captain Grieps, for example, is featured in DoD as well. Here is a piece by King David on Haradar (who actually escaped and now guards the great Tigran city of Shai'ah in DoD).

"..as Haradar readied his blade for another attack, a Mole caught his beast from beneath the breast and proved to those present that the legend was made of blood and flesh just as are all mortal creatures, and though this Mole was also cut down by the wrath of Tigram's creation, this knowledge did give strength to the other warriors, and some of the rocks began to find their mark, and as Haradar cursed in his horrible language, an arrow flew from the bow of a Dwarf and cut straight through the chest of the legend and protruded clear to the other side. This bowman was also cut down, yet it was the last swing of Haradar's sword that did him in. For then one of the Holland brothers stood forward and let fly a rock that found its mark between Haradar's two evil eyes, and the hero fell from his beast and the beast, upon seeing his master fall without life to the ground, let out a roar of anguish and likewise did lay down to die.".

DoD takes place after the Wizard Tigram was killed by his own people on Waikiti. His tormented spirit still roams the island in the form of a powerful, and invisible hero set on Beserk.

Technically, the island was fun to do. I imagined it would be very cool for players playing DoD blind to recognize the island!! I already knew exactly how it should look, so it was merely a translation from one of my favourite pbem maps. I made heavy use of the TC-tricks, as now explained in post 18. The elevation trick is used as well. It might be interesting to take a look at the - DoD in development - file in post 8 to check the first phase of the Waikiti island designing. It is very important with elevations to start off with cities, and then make the elevations. Placing another city will throw all elevations off. Working with extreme elevations is tricky and so to get the result you see now took me about 20 tries.

Strategically, the island doesn't seem very powerful with only Fort Kanari, however, there are some advantages:
- It is close to the Eregia and an ideal base to launch naval and aerial attacks from on the coasts.
- Fort Kanari is able to make lvl3 units and a siege workshop. This means that it can make an ideal Wyvern factory probably making one every turn which is quite rare in DoD.
- Those that have played Waikiti know about the large city in the underground called Jurgol. And indeed, it is still there, with a tower and the capacity to make high level troops as well (and upgrade to town!). It is razed, though... This would make the ideal hide out, and who would look?!

Quoted from fromage:

I wonder how you planned the layout of the connections between surface to underground

I'll tackle this one today! Please let me know whether it is clear and readable. I not only enjoy sharing this stuff, but I also like to slowly improve my writing skills. Especially when things get conceptually complex.

Hmmm, I actually revised it and made it a lot more simpler. I thought it was boring.

Strategic Design: Gates and entrances

Designing a map is mostly about connecting neighboring areas to each other and this, of course, can be done in multiple interesting ways. A cave entrance is the ultimate choke point because a single hexagon can separate two areas from each other. This has very large strategical implications, and so gates should always be placed with some consideration, especially when there are few in a large area.
There are two major guidelines that I kept in mind:

1) Closed and open design

One way to think about mapdesign is the distinction between a closed and open design.

CLOSED DESIGN: A closed design is a design which basically leaves little choice for the player. This is often used in story driven, single player maps because it allows for strong control by the mapmaker. The player can pretty much follow a predetermined path. There would be no valid reason to return to areas which have already been conquered with your main armies. For example, area A leads to area B, which leads to area C, that will ultimately lead to F, where the enemy Wizard is located.

OPEN DESIGN: An open design is more common in multi player maps. This type of design allows for more choice from players and creates more strategically complex situations. Each individual area is mostly reachable by multiple pathways. Area D can be accessed from Area C and E, but also by area F, and perhaps, though some tunneling, by area G. Connect, connect, connect...

The point of this 'lecture' is that I tried to keep an open design in Dod, and this meant that I liked areas to be accessible from multiple directions. You can see this if you open the map and pick a random area that you will usually find more than two ways of entering them (or escaping...). Some easy, and some hard to very hard, and some for certain types of units. I believe this keeps the flow of the game, and can keep maps interesting even when played longer that 100 days. It allows for surprise (attacks, or escapes) and generally increases the strategic depth of a map.

So, since gates are such choke points, its important to have other means of getting to these areas as well to keep the design open. Or, I place them where I want a choke point and keep it more closed.

1) Gates are high strategic importance areas (which are high frequency visit areas)

Now, a cave is an ugly thing, and I am glad that in v1.4 we added some nicer looker ones, although v1.5 should really give a mapmaker some neat choice!
I sometimes almost feel resistant to use the v14 sinkholes for the 'important' gates between two crucial areas because they don't look important enough. The Venema Gates, as shown below here, are a nice example of a strategically important gate. These gates, btw, were named after the school I was teaching at in Holland.



I think that most people who have played DoD remember this name. Why?
Because its a high frequency location! Its the place where Stefanus might feel safer from imperial influence. Its the place that Obrynn might first pop his Dwarves out on the surface to see Eregia with his own eyes. Its the place the emperor sends his men to darker lands and stronger enemies.
Most importantly, its THE most important area that separates Obrynn from the Emperor. So, this gate becomes a hugely strategic and memorable spot. Now, from a design point of view, it is VERY interesting...
Why?
Firstly, because it allows you to change the entire concept of the game. Normally strategic points are cities. AoW is about conquering cities and defend or attack them because they are key to missions. However, what I attempted with DoD was to make non-city structures, like this gate at least as important as cities. The battle for this gate could decide the course of the game and players would better keep an eye on it! For example, if the Dwarves have it, they can use it as a base to launch mountaineering attacks on Eregia, a hugely effective tactic. A smart player who plays Obrynn realizes this and ignores the riches that lie buried in the east, and secures these gates... If the Emperor keeps a hold of these gates, they can control a lot of the underground! When imperial troops hold, Obrynn can be strained and even trapped in his own keep for days without help. Not to mention that the Venema Gates are also in the area of an important 4 way underground passageway...
Secondly, one needs locations of high importance to keep your map interesting. Usually, again, these locations are cities. The usual thinking goes as follows... "Hmmm, I have nothing in this part of the map. Lets place a city, so players will go there on a regular basis, and this area will be used". However, gates provide a more unique way to make areas interesting. You can see from the placement of the Venema Gates that it is far away from other important locations (Eregion, Obrynns Keep, Neapolis, Averni, etc...), so important areas are nicely distributed in DoD (see also teleporter network in later installment).
Thirdly, gates are strategically interesting because combat rules are unique. This gives certain strategic depth. For example, in a cave...
- two armies can stand next to each other, without being able to see each others strength to assess to attack. Often we need to sacrifice a scout in pbem to see whether the other party is bluffing.
- There is no (wizard) casting in gates.
- A gate battle is always one stack against another. So, numbers do not matter when space is narrow. This is quite realistic and also makes for strategic considerations.

High strategic areas are high frequency areas and so its important to make these locations memorable. With the Venema Gates, I tried this by placing two of the large type gates next to each other.

So, with all this behind us I can answer the initial question by fromage...

What I do in the first phase is place the most important gates where I think the main connections are between the Wizard and certain larger areas that I have pre-planned (this is usually all over the map). I think of these usually beforehand, sometimes even in a paper sketch and some placements can even be story-motivated instead of strategically. These gates I try to make look special because they are usually high frequency locations. Its very unlikely that I change the location of these gates, as they form anchor points to make other areas. Then, the SECOND gate placing phase is later in mapmaking. Then gates are placed more strategically if I feel areas become too excluded. Just to keep an open design.

Good map design info Swolte. It's interesting to see the depth for which you plan your maps and to read about your thought process.

Are you going to talk more about the idea behind the imprisoned deity? This is an aspect of the map that I wasn't too familiar with. One of the times I played the map I had one of my imperial cities destroyed. Another time I was planning to release this power against the emperor while playing as Stephanus. Unfortunately both times I couldn't continue my game.

This adds another layer to the strategy that isn't found in the average map and many might not have discovered it in DoD. Have you played or followed a game where the trapped deity was released to wreak havoc on the emperor? How does it play out or will I just have to wait and see for myself. I was thinking that it could cause problems for the other players too.

Thanks, good point, Fubarno. I sometimes wonder if I should have made the Aesthir story clearer in the map using events. I was working on the topic below, but thats a good one to do next!


Location: The seeing pools of Mercia

When I lived in Holland, I was the cofounder of a boardgaming club. The intention was basically to meet people and have a relaxed time trying out different board/cardgames. Some people would even bring their own designed games! One of the games, which was truly addictive (even if you think board/roleplaying games are geeky - like me ), had a roleplaying element which I had always hoped to use in a map. The game was called Werewolves (see Mafia) and involves some of the players assuming roles which are determined by randomly divided and secret cards (you can skip the following paragraph if you know the game).

In the Werewolf game you are given roles by a narrator player. You can have a 'Werewolf'-role, and kill other villagers during the night-phase of the game when every one is asleep (has eyes closed). Some of the roles give a player more information than others. For example, the 'Innocent girl'-role is one that allows a player to cheat and peek during the phase when the werewolves are killing, and so the 'Innocent Girl' knows who is a werewolf! When the day-phase begins, the villagers determine together, by votes, who they are going to kill. Now, the 'Innocent girl' player can tell that he/she is the 'innocent girl' and say that this player is a 'werewolf' and thus should be hanged! However, it is not that simple, because if you reveal your power you might end up getting killed by (the remaiming) werewolves in the next round. More interestingly, any player could claim to be the 'innocent girl', and how then do you argue that you are the real one?! This ALWAYS leads to extreme lively conversation/role play and even more in combination with other roles, the roleplaying can lead to complex and interesting situations of manipulation, treason, and powergames.

In sum, by using the setting, and just the SIMPLE knowledge of your role and the rules of the game, very interesting play and story would EMERGE. Its important that it is not pre-described - every game is different! This concept, to me, was almost the ultimate way to experience a story. Something I believe PBEM is all about: experiencing a story.

So, you are probably wondering what this has to do with Mercia or the seeing pools. I have been trying to implement this concept in DoD, but largely failed in my initial attempts because people would know what each players role was when they would open the map and study it (I couldn't give players secrets motives, powers, or assignments which would guide their character.



However, I did succeed somewhat with the Seeing pools of Mercia. These pools especially give lady Godiva the opportunity to see large locations of the map and gather unique information. Godiva will receive a large view, for one day, of large and interesting areas in Aedora. For example, one pool lets you see almost all the large cities of Eregia. This information then can be played out in ANY way that this player likes. This gives Godiva more up-to-date information than others Wizards, and can have huge diplomatic and strategic impact. If you are a mapmaker and not so much an expert player, please do not underestimate the power of seeing pools or information and place them with care. In my experience, some games I have won as a player because I had more information than my opponent, or that I used credible information regarding army position and strength diplomatically. So, this gives the player special and unique knowledge and provides a large manipulation component to the game without me as a mapmaker predetermining how it would play out. The beauty was that it also fitted extremely well with the Godiva Wizard, conceptually.

The technical design of the pools is as follows. The pools are 'Seeing water' structures but they are not functional (I gave them non-overlapping channel numbers, and so they actually don't work). They DO work using scripts, using the 'Watch Area' and 'Center View' events, under the [Enter Area] trigger condition that it is Lady Godiva who enters the hex ([Unit in Area]- condition). Upon entering the hex, there is also a cool fx effect.

Information IS power and thus there should be a trade off. This is done as follows:
- Practically, only the Lady Godiva is able to see things in the pools. This means not all 4 pools can be used at the same time or at least a powerful unit must be standing there*.
- Lady Godiva must leave her tower and this means no domain. There are Webs placed on the pools to hold her at least for a turn. Since information is best used before moving armies, a player can be without domain for his/her own turn, and certainly be without domain during enemies' turns.
- The next turn, the pools stop working unless Godiva steps on them again (and being webbed). She cannot reach pool to pool, so, this means being able check a different pool once every 2 turns.

Mercia itself was the home of Lady Godiva so I wanted the area to be beautiful, ladylike, yet evil as well. It should also look powerful, especially in magical way. The shadowland peakes gave it that impression and it also gave it a bit of spooky, otherworldly glow. The area was mainly inspired on the darkelf area in my Fight for Light map and is one of my favourite types of landscape. I found that green, with the darker background (pavement tile, and black underbrush) gave it an eerie appearance. This also contrasted nicely with the soothing hanging trees, bright red flowers and waterlilies, which gave it that 'dangerous', passionate and ladylike feel.
Although I wanted something 'wild' and passionate about the area, I also didn't want it to look like a jungle... This is done by the symmetrical design and careful placement of the small pinetree. All of this is well kept by a certain dedicated gardener, of course...


* It is true that other Wizards can use the pools, as well as certain heroes (like Sarah, Tulia, Vaugh Han, etc...) but in general the pools will not work when a unit is placed in them other than Godiva. Conceptually, the pools have special powers, but to unlock them, you need to have certain magical powers.

Nice read, Swolte. Good idea of the making of...thread, I get all sorts of tips and inspiration from all of them!

Kind regards,

Low

Thanks Low_K!


Areas: around chuckleberr

The making of DoD was not a lonely process (more in later installment), especially JamieJME, who was making his map at the same time was of great support. We'd often jokingly make cracks about each others maps, poking fun at the others' incompetencies and the worthlessness of the map. We were also very free with criticism, which worked well.
However, I remember there was one area in DoD where he was in awe - the Chuckleberr area!



This area was also one of my favourites, especially from a aesthetic point of view. I knew I wanted to use the elevation trick a lot in DoD, because I think it looks great. The elevation trick was known but wasn't used to great extent, and usually covered only few hexes. This was the area where I was just going nuts with it.

The technique was not easy. If you are interested in learning it, there is a great description here by Talonthorn:
Elevation trick explained

However, there are still a couple of things you should know:
Firstly, in order to have cities, in these areas you should make a plateau. Make it as high or low as you like, place your city and determine its size and then make sure you surround it by large bodies of water. Now, take the 3-hex wide brush with the cave-tile and play around with it on the 'shores'. This will allow you some more control and create a nice effect (see also: Spadinor Island).
These areas aren't easy to do. Sometimes it takes 20+ tries to find something useful. I think I was quite lucky with this one, and it didn't take me long (as compared to Spadinor Island - which took hours!).

Secondly, the elevation trick has a large downside as it can have hexes 'disappear', or make it hard to click on certain locations. AI, or a human player ending up on those hexes can cause a nasty bug causing armies to be stuck (I don't think it is fixable, except by replaying the turn, and choosing a different path). It can also make the interface seem buggy (not able to click on where you want the unit to go).
The solution: if you open up DoD, and you check the Events list, you can see that there is a section at the top called "Path Correction".
What this does is change these hexes to shadowvoid (and thus unaccessible). You can check DoD in the editor and compare the hexes in the scripts with the ones in the terrain and you'll see what I mean.

Strategically, the Chuckleberr area is not of great importance and this is perhaps a little bit of a shame (adhering to the idea of making areas of high importance/frequency also the prettiest). It does connect the starting Orc realm to that of Godiva, however, no direct tensions are to be expected between these Wizards. The tension lines for the Orc area (where the real Vaugh Han starts) lie more to the west towards Obryn's Draconians, whereas Godiva's lie more south and in the underground. However, later in the game, when lands are being conquered, Chuckleberr city might become quite crucial because of its position. The only (safe) land route from the northeast to the northwest is past Chuckleberr...

I have tried to make the transitions are seamless, there is a large Algonquin lake to the south (named after a park in Ontario), which makes a lot of sense because the water is coming from the mountains surrounding it. To the west there is the Orc area which contains more volcanic activity and a lava lake, and to the east there is more of a 'mountain' transition with snow.

Some interesting tidbits in the area is the Restless Inn (see left bottom of image), where once in the game any player (except emperor) has a 50% chance of recruiting companions when stepping on the door; usually a hero and some units. The idea was that it may spark some cool logs (about troops left behind to recruit) but it is also an area to keep defending against other Wizards who want to enlarge their armies. By using Control Flag events, I made sure that a player can only step on the hex once a day (so, moving back and forth on the same turn has no effect).

Also note the dump at the top left!


Areas: Spadinor Island

Part of the motivation in making a map is preparing all sorts of surprises by doing things that no one has done before. Spadinor Island, named after a street I lived at, was one of the first areas I made, and so I was very eager to show the world my map with these elevations and rocks which perfectly simulated some cool coastline. It looked rough, and that was exactly what I needed, conceptually, for an exiled prince.

Click here for large image + Stefanus picture

The island forces naval action, of course, and this adds to the variety of experiences and types of play the map offers. It is possible to travel to the Goblin area underground, but the area guard defenders of the passageway are strong and the road is poisonous. The Nurn sea is huge and I wanted Stefanus to experience the vastness of it. Especially when people are playing the map blind, it might be very cool to sail for a couple of days and encounter nothing but water. The same strategic considerations apply with the desert (see previous article). The sea makes Spadinor Island a relatively safe haven for Stefanus to operate from, especially since the emperor won't have as many means to travel on sea in the beginning. This is one of the reasons Rivan is so important. It is key to a successful naval attack on Eregia but the emperor could also get a hold of it and build boats.

Technically, as the previous part describes, this area took a lot of time to get right! Once I got the two steep elevations where the boats will sail through, I was happy. To make the template for the island took over 20 tries using the elevation trick. The rocks you see are actually cave-tile stones (remember that patch was not released at the time). A great trick to make them look dense is to simply copy them on top of each other.

As you can see in the image, I was very happy with the picture I found of Stefanus as it fits perfectly with the background and general feel.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-16-2008 @ 11:44 PM).]

It really amazes me how you use the elevation trick in this map. The water fall, the cliff,... There're many areas having this effect, yet it does not give the feeling that author's using this effect too much.
Each time I play the Emperor, I really enjoying watching the cliffs on both sides of the river flowing to the cap.

If you did not (typo) write this article, I wouldn't find TalonThorn's article in the library.

[This message has been edited by naecO (edited 05-17-2008 @ 05:34 PM).]

I have updated the previous post, and now there are whole new sections!

Thanks Naeco, its hope more people will use the technique. It takes some time to master, but it's worth it!

I've been against the use of the elevation trick because most of the time it does create problem areas where the game will lock up or units can not be moved correctly. The addition of shadowvoid tiles is pretty ingenious though, if you can figure out which hex you need to get rid of.

Another great read Swolte!

Oh, reguarding the imprisoned god...
In one game, I had recovered 1 crystal, and almost another (when the game died ).
While I think it is a brilliant idea, I think that they will seldom, if ever, come fully into play. They are quite spread out, guarded well, and its hard to justify what it would take to recover them all, when you have a bunch of other wizards to worry about at the same time. If you ARE in posistion to claim them all (and don't you have to bring them to a well guarded temple near the emperors main city?), then most likely you are also in posistion to just plain out defeat the other wizards the old fashioned way.
I could be wrong though, as I've only played on this map 3 times, and in each, the game was cut short due to players disappearing, etc... VERY frustrating when each turn can take so long to play.

from Greenmonster:
Oh, reguarding the imprisoned god...
In one game, I had recovered 1 crystal, and almost another (when the game died ).
While I think it is a brilliant idea, I think that they will seldom, if ever, come fully into play. They are quite spread out, guarded well, and its hard to justify what it would take to recover them all, when you have a bunch of other wizards to worry about at the same time. If you ARE in posistion to claim them all (and don't you have to bring them to a well guarded temple near the emperors main city?), then most likely you are also in posistion to just plain out defeat the other wizards the old fashioned way.
I could be wrong though, as I've only played on this map 3 times, and in each, the game was cut short due to players disappearing, etc... VERY frustrating when each turn can take so long to play.

In one game I was playing as Omah, the forces were evenly balanced between Purius, Stefanus, Godiva and Omah. (Obrynn had been defeated earlier.) I managed to gather all 3 Aesthir. It was hard work, and it was actually 3 different heroes who managed it. It did help that my ally Lady Godiva was played by Swolte. Fubarno was playing the Emperor and he was surprised to see some major cities destroyed. Great fun! But later in the game, Torso playing Stefanus had captured some of the Emperor's cities, so the last Aesthir capture did not trigger this event.

Unfortunately, Fubarno started having issues with the loading of this map and he couldn't continue the game. I suspect he just quit out of fear. This was doubly frustrating as I had succeeded in regrouping all 3 Aesthir in the hands of the hasted, floating, incredibly tough Vaug Han and was quite ready to make a rush to the central temple at that time. Grrrr!

@Swolte: Great, great thread. I am working on a map, and I got a lot of ideas from this thread. I was out of inspiration for one area and the elevation trick gives me loads of ideas.

[This message has been edited by fromage67 (edited 05-17-2008 @ 06:15 AM).]

@ GM, yes, those were my concerns as well. If you hover the cursor in the editor, you can see how the coordinate numbers change. Sometimes the numbers are messed up, or even not visible, those are the ones you have to Shadowvoid. The AI pathfinding then won't get 'locked up'.

The Aesthir will release Orditan, His wrath, but also His gratefulness. So, when combining the three Aesthir at the temple, not only will you destroy Eregion (when it is owned by the Emperor), but you shall receive some very powerful allies as well.
I'll do a section on the Aesthir design next!

@ Fromage, happy to read this stuff is inspiring ideas! We should try and get a sub and get some of those games moving. I have more time these days.

Quests: the Aesthir

Dod has a number of quests (in the broader sense) that players can set out to accomplish. Since I wanted players to have large free choice when playing this map, these quests are optional and in no way crucial to the objective of the game. Players who wish so and pay attention to the background story may find some compelling opportunities that may add some depth to the game.

(this version may be slightly different but is more true)
So, as the story goes, Orditan is the God of Order and took issue with the Archons taking over his role. Upon destroying Archillios (see the razed city in the swamp), the Emperor performed a terrible ritual which attempted to imprison the force of Orditan in an Aesthir crystal. Not everything went according to plan. Not only did his beloved wife die in the process (angering their son for his father's wishes), but the crystal also broke into three pieces and still emanated an angry force towards Archons. Over time, the crystals proved detrimental to Archon health in Eregia and there was a panic amongst the population. University sholars suggested the pieces be spread separately and far from Eregia and at places no one was able to find, or dared to go. And so, in deep secret, quests were set out to hide the Aesthir (although as we learn, lady Godiva has been spying...). The crystals can be combined and its divine essence released at the mount Ergos temple to free Orditan. This temple was therefore heavily guarded, though recently the guard has taken more of a ritualistic function.

Design wise and as per story, I made these locations quite hard to reach and distant from imperial influence. This last point is important as you want to prevent the emperor player from easily getting a hold of the Aesthir and thereby easily preventing a large catastrophe and obstructing the main quest (although this scenario might also be cool). There is no bonus for the emperor concerning the Aesthir, so an emperor question for them would be far from home and do it from a defensive stance.
The Aesthir locations also became of strategic importance (non-permanent, though) and so they gave certain areas some flair and were inspiring to make. Some locations even have a bit of background.

One important consideration with everything you place on your map is the feasibility. If the balance of the quest is not worth the effort, all your work as a mapmaker is for nothing! Being an experienced player as a mapmaker helps to determine which custom made quests or sites are worth visiting.

So, is it feasible?
1) the Aesthir quests really should be seen as a huge operation. Some planning and strategy might be necessary to make it doable (some aid in transports).
2) the map offers a lot of exploration sites along traveling routes to make questing worthwhile. If it doesn't work out, there are lots of other interesting locations nearby that would make the traveling worthwhile. The fact that DoD is a map designed for having lots of different war parties across the map also allows for easier allocation manpower to questing.
3) don't forget that you are not the only Wizard! You might be able to capture a crystal from an enemy, or cooperate with an ally. Especially when the Emperor gets really powerful, the other Wizards tend to cooperate.
4) building on the previous last point. Eregion will be destroyed if it is owned by the Emperor and engulfed in fire (quite the sight) when all three are combined at the Ergos temple. When individual crystals are first picked up, the outer cities are destroyed. Each of those can form a huge strategical and psychological blow.
5) there are quite strong rewards involved for releasing the individual Aesthir from their binding locations, and an even stronger reward for combining all three. Each individual Aesthir being picked up will grant a player (except Emperor, of course) a lvl 4 Basilisk. When all crystals are combined at the Ergos temple, Orditan will grant his liberator four mighty dragons. Note that level 4 units, especially flying ones, are quite rare on the map.
6) The Aesthir itself grants Casting Specialist.

I have seen this quest happen in a couple of maps and I think its quite doable to collect the Aesthir. You have to make it a serious mission, though. Although each Wizard has the opportunity, Godiva and Omah (especially her) are somewhat better positioned to take on these quests.

On top of Hornblower mountain

The Hornblower Mountain lies in the jungle area. It is surrounded by harsh winds and extreme cold. The pathways are also guarded by Yeti's. The name was taken from a Dungeons and Dragons game I once played ages ago.

The site itself is defended by Aor'shu who lives in the mists:
Few have ever dared to challenge Aor'shu's might and strength! Arrows fail, and conventional weapons remain useless when trying to hurt this being.
Being the Lord of the Hornblower, Aor'shu has also been regarded a God. Tigran tradition dictates a yearly sacrifice at the foot of the Hornblower to ask favourable weather and protection in battle!
He now guards one of the Aesthir crystals.



Aor'shu is unique in that he has abilities like physical immunity, block, haste, static shield, and flying. This is quite fearsome and also quite novel since the SEM-mod which could give such abilities to heroes wasn't officially released yet. Armies should come prepared or might need to return to come back with proper weapons to fight this foe. It is placed on a Air Node and this adds protective spells.

Technically, the area was quite innovative as well, although I fear few people actually noticed the following detail: with v1.4 it is now possible to place shadowwater on the surface, however, this was not the case when DoD was made, and so 'change terrain'-events were used to give the water a brighter shadow water color!

Do note the teleporter. They are razed, but can really make a difference transporting armies. This teleporter is the endpoint of one near Vaugh Han's starting location.

Picking this Aesthir up will destroy Cirta.

Underground Island

Only to be reached by ships. As with most of the locations, a large gfx was placed to give it a great effect (again, easy to do with v1.4, but quite intricate when DoD came out).



It is guarded by large snakes and wyrms and since it is placed on an earth node it contains protective spells which will shake the ground. Will destroy Neopolis.

I should probably have given this area some more background and history. If I do a map again, I will definitely make sure to have some more events or signs to spice things up even more.

Shangrila Maze

Deep within the terrible maze of Shangrila (see later installment) is the last of the Aesthir. Again, take note that there is a teleporter nearby (not in picture) which allows for some efficient planning. The crystal is placed in a Magic Vault, and thus additional spells will target your troops.



Picking up this Aesthir will destroy Averni.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-18-2008 @ 09:01 PM).]

Quoted from fromage67:

Unfortunately, Fubarno started having issues with the loading of this map and he couldn't continue the game. I suspect he just quit out of fear. This was doubly frustrating as I had succeeded in regrouping all 3 Aesthir in the hands of the hasted, floating, incredibly tough Vaug Han and was quite ready to make a rush to the central temple at that time. Grrrr!

LOL! This was one of the games that broke my heart when I couldn't continue. Believe me I would never have quit and would look forward to seeing you attempt to unite the Aesthir crystals and release the fury of the Orditan.

Methinks that your chances would be very slim though . If I recall you did have some power and uber heroes, but had I not captured your main city and surrounding areas? Hadn't I also already dispatched The dwarf wiz and migrated his cities? I had power!!!

Also, before I gave the game over to a sub I still had control of Eregion with a huge protective force led by 4 titans, more on the way, and four or five angels, more on the way, plus heroes and many level one and two units to form maybe 6 full stacks. Facing me was Torso's Stephanus force which was equally fearsome. I was on the defensive, using the bridge choke-points to maintain a defensive advantage, a standoff.

Swolte's Dalviana was equally alarmed at the power of Stephanus and we had a secret alliance. Unfortunately the sub gave up the goose on his first turn and lost the farm, sallying forth to confront Stephanus forces and getting clobbered. I must partially take blame for this as I didn't give my sub a report on my plans and situation when he took over. Torso had cast enchanted roads and was probably out of site but still within striking distance, using his heroes to advance his force over magically smoothed out highway systems that surround Eregion.

IIRC, also had a secret mission dispatched to release Titian, the retired archon uber hero and cardinal. Other grand forces too around the map. That was fun up until the point I couldn't open up the game. Turns were 1-2 hour affairs, just the way I like it.

Swolte, there are so many interesting areas and side stories on this map, reafirming this as still my favorite multiplayer experience. One of the coolest things is seeing characters that make appearances as heroes in this map, later to be wizards or heroes in other maps, and story lines that cross back and forth from map to map. As far as I know, only yourself and King David have made their maps relate to each other. (Maybe others too, but I don't know.)

Added an interesting bit to post 8 that I had forgotten myself.

This next quote inspired me to do the next section:

One of the coolest things is seeing characters that make appearances as heroes in this map, later to be wizards or heroes in other maps, and story lines that cross back and forth from map to map. As far as I know, only yourself and King David have made their maps relate to each other. (Maybe others too, but I don't know.)

Timeline

My father is a preacher man in Holland and so books in our family have a special meaning. When I was young, there was one book my dad told me he read more than the bible, and it was called the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. It made a large impression on me, and so, as a young boy, I set out to read the hobbit first and then found myself addicted to the famous trilogy. One thing that has always fascinated me was the amount of detail and history in these books. This, above all, made LOTR stand out from other stories I had read. It made the characters more believable and the the story more realistic in a way.

So, I wanted DoD to have depth in that way as well. To have characters and certain areas have a real history! So, very early on I made a time line. I'll plot it her and will go over it after in more detail.


- Waikiti Island (by me)

** Second age of Evil **
- Fight for Light (FFL) (by me)

** Interlude **
- Drums of Death (by me) -> present
- Key of Kharzul (by me)

** Third age of Evil **
- Race to Death (by King David)
- Return of the ShadowGod (in production)

** Interlude **
- Goldrush Mountains (by me)
- River Arne (by me) -> future


Waikiti Island
Takes place a bit before FFL. Heroes you can see return in DoD are Haradar and Tigram (well, his spirit). The location, of course, can still be found in DoD (see previous installment for more details).

The Fight for Light
DoD builds very strongly on the Fight for Light. FFL describes the God returning from a dark past to growing strength. He was never seen by a mortal, but all felt His presence as a cold creeping shadow. So He was called the ShadowGod. You may not realize this, but the true main overarching story in DoD really revolves around the ShadowGod. DoD is only but an interlude...

Ok, so why would Swolte say that?
The very fact that Purius rose to such power is because of the ShadowGods (preliminary) defeat in the FFL. It upset 'the balance' and Purius' filled this void when all other races are weakened from their battle. His over-controlling nature is truly born out of fear for the ShadowGod's return. If you read on Emperor Purius' background, you will understand that he feels guilt and shame for the Archons losing Aberon (the great white city in FFL). The fact that a ragtag bunch of Halflings, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves were (just barely) able to fend off the Shadowgod was humiliating to Purius, but also posed a large risk. Had they failed, the ShadowGod would have truly grown to power and even Eregia would have stood no chance. This explains Purius' blind fear and strong will to control everything, EVERYTHING!

So, storywise, DoD follows after the FFL, however, it is in a completely different realm. Whereas the FFL took place in Ertria, DoD takes place in Aedora. They are geographically linked, though. For example, you can see that the great Tigran city of Shai'ah Khan can be found in both maps. I wonder who noticed this?! (yes, same jungle!!)

So, as Fubarno indicated, a lot of characters from FFL (and other maps) play a role in DoD. The ShadowGod is present in stories as a looming threat (Hero description of Sadness, for example) or as a shadow in the background story and other characters' motivations. Meriadoc and Dalviana are Wizards in FFL who make an appearance as powerful Heroes in DoD. Influential heroes in FFL return to DoD as well: General Bofur, Lennohind, and Sir Torsten are famous heroes.
Another very important hero is Da'zuul. He is one of the 5 Demons of the ShadowGod from FFL and has made a home for himself in DoD as well.

Key of Kharzul (by me)

This takes place just after (and some can even argue during...) DoD. Just like DoD, the Key of Kharzul (KoK) takes place in an interlude period. The threat of the ShadowGod, however, has now become more realistic. The Key to the God's prison is at steak because the demon Da'zuul (a Wizard in this map) has discovered its location...

Race to Death (by King David)
Walker can be seen as the ShadowGod, or an incarnation of Evil on the rise. They are not the same, but perhaps they are in a more spiritual sense...
Anyway, KD's maps are great and I have my best pbem's on them. The characters I got to develop and meet, mean a lot to me and so I wanted the young Lady Bane, young professor Frost, Don Sata, young Pearlman, etc... they can all be found as heroes in DoD!

The Return of the ShadowGod

This is a map in production and will probably be finished years from now (with v1.5). As the title suggests, the ShadowGod will announce a third age of Evil. The map is going to be huge. Here is the very first (and very rough preliminary) screenshot.



It will probably feature Purius as well. Let me know if you have any characters that you really liked in any of my (or KD's) maps and I can start thinking about them. The earlier the better (no guarantees!).

Goldrush Mountains
You can see some of the Wizards being young heroes in DoD... Amon, for exampe. In a way, the area would be represented all north (where there is a place called Goldrush mountains in DoD). A few sandstorms later would have made this area look like the Goldrush Mountains look now...


The River Arne
Few people may have actually played this map, but it was one of my first ones. I remember Rorschach asking me if the Findarin that was seen in DoD was indeed the same one as seen in River Arne. So, yes! All that have played River Arne know about Findarin and that he got corrupted to evil. In DoD, he is a Elf, but reading his description, and looking at his stats should give you a good hint of his future development.
He is probably going to be a Wizard in Return of the ShadowGod (giving the elves a bit of a power twist).
Takes place in different realm, though.

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-20-2008 @ 00:45 AM).]

Uh, was there a First Age of Evil?

What about Race to Death: Rise of Evil? (by KD)

Are you updating River Arne?

Could the maps you and King David have made possibly become a singleplayer campaign? That's not really my interest as I prefer PBEM, but just wondering.

[This message has been edited by Fubarno (edited 05-23-2008 @ 00:57 AM).]

I've enjoyed reading this thread. This is a great idea to bring the inner workings of a mapmaker's mind out into the open.

I was among the first batch to play this map blind when it came out and I remember I was playing Godiva. The first look at Stefanus' start position and Shaiah'Kan via the seeing pools was really amazing. The Tigran jungle, obviously, took a lot more effort - its a shame that it doesn't play a more central role in many games, partly due to it being on the southeast corner (which is understandable, considering it was in the northwest corner in FFL).
Another great area are the Tigran lands immediately to the north of Shaiah'Kan. The wheat fields were a novel concept then (since this was before 1.4)

You should also (if you want to, that is) post a link to the 'developer diary' in the wizardsofcreation website (or was it some other site?). That really gives a great perspective on the map-development at different stages - atleast thats what I thought when I read through it

It will probably feature Purius as well. Let me know if you have any characters that you really liked in any of my (or KD's) maps and I can start thinking about them.

It all depends on how the Return will be portrayed as. Will DoD's outcome play a pivotal part? If so, what outcome was chosen?

If the Prophesy really comes to fruition, I would like to see Vaug Han as a wizard of Orcs - he can serve as the perfect inspiration for the brutal Orcs.

If Purius crushes the rebellion, I'd like to see Sergius as a wizard with Purius as his advisor (a hero, yes, but physically weak with strong magical abilities and also one who cannot leave the immediate confines of the kingdom)

If the rebellion prevails, I'd obviously like to see Stefanus/Sarah as a wizard couple, with Sergius exiled and plotting revenge with his trusted friends, Severus and Titiaan.

If Godiva manages to manipulate and gain the upper hand, I'd like to see Sadness as a more central figure - honored for her early warning about the coming evil and one who has researched and worked on a solution when no one around believed her.

Or, in the conflct between father and son, the desert lands proclaimed independence under Princess D'jinna?

I certainly hope Shaiah'Kan and Haradar play a more pivotal role in this instalment

I think thats enough for now

[This message has been edited by Timelord (edited 05-22-2008 @ 05:47 PM).]

What about Race to Death: Rise of Evil? (by KD)

I never really sat down with KD and tuned each others maps although that would be a cool idea. Maybe he's reading this and thinking I am stealing his mythology!

Just like in LotR the rise of a dark lord, or God, empowered many of the evil races in many realms. This Shadowgod has many forms and names and can manifest itself in multiple ways and in in multiple realms.
I believe RoE took place before RtD and so it would make sense as a prelude to the second age of evil.

Combing our maps into a campaign. Hmmm, might even be doable with the campaign editor planned for v15. Campaigns do not have my interest as much, though.

Are you updating River Arne?

I don't even have it on my HD.

I'll download it. Maybe something to do tonight after a long day today.
EDIT: just took a look and my brain hurt trying to suck it all up! Not today!

I was among the first batch to play this map blind when it came out and I remember I was playing Godiva. The first look at Stefanus' start position and Shaiah'Kan via the seeing pools was really amazing.

Thanks for your feedback! I was hoping for that!!! What about seeing Eregion!?

The Tigran jungle, obviously, took a lot more effort - its a shame that it doesn't play a more central role in many games, partly due to it being on the southeast corner (which is understandable, considering it was in the northwest corner in FFL).

Yes, I actually wanted to write a piece about this exact point as the most badly designed part of DoD. If there was an area I'd do differently, it would be this one!

One of the reasons is that there are no main tension lines in the entire south eastern region. Tension lines are imaginary pathways between two or more Wizards (or crucial locations). For example, the imaginary line through the Venema Gates from Obrynn to the emperor is a big tension line. You know that these areas will be in play a lot!

Another principle in the game is that smart players usually want to produce their troops in cities which are close to the action. There is usually not too much action going on in the southeast area. Shaiah'Kan is a mighty city, capable of level 3's and with a tower, but too isolated from most of the action.

It's nice to have some more 'exploratory' areas, but since it is also quite a cumbersome area to go through, it is usually not worth sending a large army to if there are large pressures from other Wizards. There are lots of forests, and the underground is even less welcoming.
Now, unless you use the area to flee toward and regain strength (interestingly, I just realize the city had that function in FFL too).

You should also (if you want to, that is) post a link to the 'developer diary' in the wizardsofcreation website (or was it some other site?). That really gives a great perspective on the map-development at different stages - atleast thats what I thought when I read through it

I have one from DoD on the BTOOIC forums but there is so much porn spam on there (haven't been there in years) that I dare not link...

It all depends on how the Return will be portrayed as. Will DoD's outcome play a pivotal part? If so, what outcome was chosen?

What I currently think is to have no real ending to DoD. So, when the races are fighting, in another realm nearby the ShadowGod is rising. Then, Purius, xxx and xxx would drop their arms and move up to this place. I made this scenario possible already in KoK which in theory could take place during the war taking place in Aedora.

If the Prophesy really comes to fruition, I would like to see Vaug Han as a wizard of Orcs - he can serve as the perfect inspiration for the brutal Orcs.

Haven't even thought of this!

If Purius crushes the rebellion, I'd like to see Sergius as a wizard with Purius as his advisor (a hero, yes, but physically weak with strong magical abilities and also one who cannot leave the immediate confines of the kingdom)

Interesting... I guess if it isn't Purius, he could come as a hero. Wouldn't directly work with the above. He definitely should play a big role since he is such an iconic figure.

If the rebellion prevails, I'd obviously like to see Stefanus/Sarah as a wizard couple, with Sergius exiled and plotting revenge with his trusted friends, Severus and Titiaan.

I likes, Purius may even be imprisoned by Stefanus... he could not bear to kill his own father. His jealous sons are then indeed plotting revenge and ready to rescue their father. I can image father sending them messages every so often (I can have some fun with this!)

If Godiva manages to manipulate and gain the upper hand, I'd like to see Sadness as a more central figure - honored for her early warning about the coming evil and one who has researched and worked on a solution when no one around believed her.

I think the other scenario is more interesting, but this can certainly be weaved in.

Or, in the conflict between father and son, the desert lands proclaimed independence under Princess D'jinna?

I am definitely having big Desert plans! (and a crush on Djinna)

I certainly hope Shaiah'Kan and Haradar play a more pivotal role in this instalment

Haradar will be playable from the start again, I think!

Thanks, had some great ideas because of this! Curse you too, cause we should be doing patch first!

[This message has been edited by Swolte (edited 05-22-2008 @ 10:47 PM).]

I've an idea for The Tigran Jungle...

What about adding a razed teleporter near the mighty city of Shaiah'Kan that goes to another razed teleporter in the great northwestern desert near (?)Haradar.

This might make the tension flow more lively.

Hmmm, maybe the teleporter to the Hornblower mountain can go closer to the large city? Although, it would still not be a real necessary tension line. Both Obryn and Omah have other, stronger concerns. There is no real necessity, hmmm.

I guess, maybe clean up the underground somewhat and have Omah start in that area as well where the (useless) undead village eis now (she could use a boost, anyway). This could engage the area some more, just like Obrynns starting area in the north underground. Modest, but with potential when invested in. Stefanus then also has a tough choice as he can not simply ignore the south because the longer he waits, the stronger Omah can build up.

For RoS I am also thinking of a combo city with (two or) three Wizards (the 'proposed' alliance) really close to each other within the same walls. This large city would then really have to coordinate their defenses and attacks together. Should force interesting diplomacy...

Quoted from Swolte:

Yes, I actually wanted to write a piece about this exact point as the most badly designed part of DoD. If there was an area I'd do differently, it would be this one!

I think you are being to hard on yourself here Swolte, as the area has a purpose, linking another map, and you could not change the area around, or it couldn't serve that purpose well.

If this were a small or medium map, yeah, it would need to be revised, and probably made as 'adjacent' to another map, rather then an overlap, but you can get away with it on a well designed large or XL map.

In an epic like this, it is not important for the WHOLE map to be integral and important.
In fact, IMHO, it would make the lands more unrealistic, and not as believable. Show me 1 war where the battles didn't fall naturally into some specific areas, and the distant areas were as important. Since you mentioned it, take LotR for example. The story is about all of these fierce battles in main areas, but little to nothing is mentioned about the battles surely being fought elsewhere, like the northlands (where the video game has concentrated its efforts under this same premise). The fact that these areas are there, and offer extra possible stratagies is what is important.

For example, in the game I was in as Omah, I was actually sweeping down thru the tigran lands, while laying low and staying defensive along the rest of my borders. It was my idea that I could use any army I built there to possibly snag the god-jewel in the snowy mountains, or to start building forces up there to stage an assault that my enemies would have never seen coming. I also used alot of the gold I made from that area to fund the wars on my other borders.

In another game, when I was Stephanus, I was fighting the emperor to a standstill on the coastline past the emperor's highway, and doing some exploration in the NW. However, I spent the bulk of my effort actually trying to work my way thru the swamps into the Tigran lands, again, letting me fund my campaign, and giving me a place to fall back to and regroup if the war with the emperor went sour.