Boggz'z Mapz (Early Bird V1.1!!!)

posted on June 9th, 2010, 1:02 pm

Oooo....... I'm glad I didn't update..... yet. FLAWS! FLAWS!

posted on June 9th, 2010, 4:23 pm

hahah well done, Myles .

  I've only ever done that kind of editing once for Stardust's maps but it was FUUUUN to play around with paint and stuff .

  Well when I get off work today I will go ahead and do some adjusting.  Looking at your edited picture I can see that you're right.  Dunno what I was doing ... prolly just tired and not really paying the closest attention.

posted on June 9th, 2010, 4:35 pm

paint, the new photoshop 

posted on June 10th, 2010, 1:02 am

i dun like new rain.. can you rename to to rain 2??

posted on June 10th, 2010, 1:15 am

i dun like new rain.. can you rename to to rain 2??

  hmmm ... Well the "old" version never got any play online because the feeling of it was too "stock-ish" in the sense that all the moon pairs were together, the battle-lanes where combat actually happened were too confined (and too far away), and the map itself really lended teching a hand up.

  I decided to spread the moons out to make raids easier and teching harder, while opening up the bases and adjusting WHERE people will be inclined to send ships.
 
  I'm sorry you don't like it, but I'd much rather have THIS map be the version people play as I think it will be much less frustrating .

posted on June 10th, 2010, 4:52 pm

actually boggz i saw rain played several times, i was in several rain games. it felt kinda big, but what was also good is that you never knew where attacks were gonna be. as all players minings were easy to access.

posted on June 10th, 2010, 4:55 pm

Hahha well that was EXACTLY the idea .
 
  Only problem is that the initial resource setup HEAVILY favored attacks by cloaking races.  The natural expansions were really accessible only to a race that could slip by everything else and I did not want to deprive the others of anything.
 
  I am quite confident that separated moon pairs will only be a benefit for the playability of the map. 

P.S.  I'll adjust the moons themselves soon.

posted on June 29th, 2010, 7:37 am

Hey guys!

  I've begun uploading the maps of map-maker 385.  Some of you may be familiar with his maps already and I'm going to be hosting them for him .


  If you have any suggestions or criticisms of his maps, you'll be dealing with the Buggz .  As with any of my maps, response should be constructive and polite if you'd like to be heard out and taken seriously.  That's just the way things go .

posted on August 28th, 2010, 4:38 am

Just put up Duel II for download.

 
  Halfala's Summer Tournament showed a distinct advantage for Borg and Federation on the map "Duel" that saw mostly Borg and fed players advancing very quickly over others.  Klingons and Romulans seemed to have the hardest time of all, sadly.

  However, I paid a lot of attention to what exactly it was that allowed those two races to overcome others so frequently and I came up with a few specific things.  First and foremost was that those two races can make the most with just their initial moon pair while other races MUST expand to keep up.  Part of that is because Borg can field a good-sized fleet with just their initial pair and won't really run dry until the first Sphere is out, while the Feds get the bonus of cheap ships, a fast-moving constructor, and free warpins(!!!) to offset their own reliance on 1 pair.  Dominion faired better due to the speed at which they are able to expand.

    Seeing this, I decided to take Duel and adjust it enough that it's basically a new playing field (hence Duel II) so that there are now more options for expansion!  There are three directions in which you can expand, but each will have a different affect on your gameplay so be prepared.



  Anyway, I haven't tested this map seeing as Duel itself has been tested quite thoroughly.  As issues arise please point them out and I'll take a look.


 

Oh, smaller changes that you may not have notice include:

• Bottom starting position is now equidistant from the edges as the top side is.  Moons are also equal distance away.
  
• A few blocking triggers were moved/adjusted to alter the pathing around the asteroid fields cutting the middle.
  
• The middle moon pair was reduced to a single di moon as it was often becoming the decisive factor in many games.  It should now be a useful pivot point, but not a game-ender.

posted on August 28th, 2010, 4:46 am

Looks very nice!

posted on August 29th, 2010, 4:54 am

Yeah I'm eager to see how the extra moons alter gameplay.

  Oh, and for all those who I've been pissing off regarding the name of the files, this one is entirely new

posted on August 29th, 2010, 2:31 pm

I think this map will have some of the same issues as Funny's Fued (Feud) (and for similar reasons) due to the placement of the close set of moons. Being in that tight "joint" means that your opponent knows exactly where you will be attacking if they have a single scout, as the other two routes to that location are much longer and thus more risk prone. Likewise, they are much much closer to the main base moons, which makes the gamble of having a proxy-yard less dangerous, and also the homefield advantage much stronger.

I think this will quite strongly favor Klingons, Romulans (because both of these cloakers will "force" enemy ships to run like headless chickens to defend their mining when they have gotten half way across the map as the expansions are closer) and Federation (because all three of these factions have an easier time defending because of either turrets and strong well-rounded units, or the opponent not knowing where the fleet will be etc). I know that was your goal, but I predict with two equally competent opponents, that a Klingon, Romulan, or Federation user will not lose a single game on this map.

posted on August 29th, 2010, 4:45 pm

Hmm, so we went from Borg/Fed domination to a predicted Klingon/Romulan domination .


    I was hoping to level it out by simply providing more options for expansion.  Separated moons still exist, but are now slightly closer, while the paired moons are farther away.

  Do you think it will favor cloakers basically due to the distances involved?  The paired expansions I've actually switched in terms of who would normally be going for what.  Top side will most likely now expand east to the moon pair top right OR to the separated pair south and west.  That was my inention. 

  Do you feel that purpose could be adjusted?

posted on August 29th, 2010, 5:04 pm

Nah, we went from even odds to Klingon/Romulan/Fed owning constantly in Fued  (but that's also due to the channelization of the map, side sponsons being too long and thus cutting off alternate routes, lack of moving from sponson to middle, and starbase covering both home moons). For Duel II as far as my experience goes Borg have a fairly severe disadvantage now as it has become very hard for them to harass as well as fall back to protect their expansion (since they will be further away from it). ... And Feds just own really well since they don't even need a proxy-yard to protect the expansion now .

I don't think there's any incentive to expand to the separated pair at all - it's too hard to defend, near a nebula, and closer to an enemy expansion  . In my experience in every patch of FO cloakers are always favored when distances to an expansion are closer to home - it makes it extremely hard for non-cloakers to venture out of a base to attack because they do not know where the cloakers will be, and thus are assured to always lose at least part of their mining.

posted on August 29th, 2010, 5:33 pm

Hmm ... well frankly I'm not so sure what I can do to prevent one group from having the advantage here.

  If the moons are too close, the cloakers dominate, but if the expansions are too far, the Borg/Feds dominate.

    Oh, and the Feds dominate either way so I haven't really given much thought to them .  They will do just fine with close exp or far.

    I'm very open to suggestions as to how to fix it, as always .