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GLORY Single-player Map for Dominions 3
Version 3.17_G13 (Apr. 18, 2010)
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DESCRIPTION
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This is a further modification by myself, Globu, of Edi's modified version of
Jason Lutes's excellent Glory map.  Like the original, it has 602 provinces:
480 land, and 122 sea.

I have made the following changes to the map:

[1] Hand-named all provinces with what I hope are thematic and sensible
    names, with nothing silly fru-fru, and using regional naming schemes
    (Northeast Otesia, South Otesia, Otesian Highlands, and so forth).

[2] Revised the map data very carefully, correcting a couple of missing
    province connections and revising many territorial designations (to either
    correct clear errors, or make them more logical or viable).

[3] Added the ManySites flag to provinces that feature things like ruins,
    henges, monoliths, and so forth.

[4] Provided alternate variants of the map (see below).

This archive does *not* include the map image, which you should already have
by default; this is only the .map files.


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VARIANTS AVAILABLE
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The map has four variants available:

[ ] RANDOM STARTS VERSION: Uses the #start command to mark 42 appropriate
    provinces as possible start locations for random placement.

[ ] FIXED STARTS VERSION: A version in which I have hand-placed (what I hope)
    are sensible and thematic start locations for each nation in all three
    eras.

[ ] CUSTOM VERSIONS: As the Fixed Starts version, above, but the two custom
    versions also include a full slate of thematic custom pretenders set up
    for all nations; one is for EA, one is for MA (I have not yet done one for
    LA).

    The custom AI pretenders used are created using the criteria I found in
    the custom gods given in SemiRandom -- in other words, AI pretenders are
    all awake but get 150 bonus points as if they were dormant.  In most
    cases, where nations has their own national pretender(s) available, I have
    used them.  I should note that, since flavor was an important element here,
    the custom pretenders are workable but by no means optimal.  However, all
    are created with a mind to long-run viability, and none are given the
    horrible scales the AI often chooses.


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IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR SETTING UP GAMES USING CUSTOM VERSIONS
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Unless, you're very sure what you're doing, read these instructions carefully,
as it sucks to realize you botched something about your epic game on turn 52.


QUICK INSTRUCTIONS:
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[1] Before starting a new game on a custom map, remove or comment out all
    pretender entries for nations that will be played by a human player or
    that will not be in play at all.

[2] If playing with any custom-modded nations, it is advisable to replace a
    vanilla nation (and, obviously, remove its pretender entry) and assign its
    start location to the mod nation, rather than just add one on, as the map
    is already a pretty tight fit for 23-some nations already.  Also, if you
    are so inclined, make a custom pretender for it (don't forget to change
    the nation numbers in the scale commands).

[3] Turn off cheat detection (and don't cheat, you!).


FULLER INSTRUCTIONS:
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SETTING UP THE MAP FOR USE: To use the Custom map variants, you *must* edit
the .map file (any text editor, like Notepad or UltraEdit, will work) and
either remove or comment out (replace # with -) the entire entries for
gods/nations that are either (1) being played by a human player (else it will
override the player's choices), or (2) that will not be in play at all (else
the game will error out).

CHEAT DETECTION: I am not sure whether Cheat Detection hits AI players, but you may want to
turn it off just in case, as it will detect them as having cheated because of
their 150 bonus points.

USING MOD NATIONS AS AI PLAYERS: If you wish to play using custom nations as
AI players, note that this map is quite tight already for 23-some players, and
you will likely find it preferable to replace a vanilla nation, rather than
just add in the additional mod nations.  Simply delete (or comment out) the
pretender entry for the nation you are replacing, and change it #specstart
entry in the Start Locations section to the mod nation's nation ID.

(If you really would like a game with more than the full slate of nations,
it's probably advisable to use the Random Starts version instead; if you wish
to also use the Custom version pretenders, you can simply copy and paste the
whole pretender gods section into the Random Starts file. Otherwise, Dom3 is
likely to plop the 24th or 25th nation's home province down right next to
another nation's.)

If you want to specify the pretenders for mod nations in the same manner as
done with the vanilla ones, just use the entry for Arcoscephale as a template,
make the pretender in the game's pretender creation tool, and copy the stats
into your template version.  Be *sure* to change the nation number in the
scales as well as the heading of the entry, and remember that scale effects
are negative (unluck, unmagic, etc.), so negative numbers are good.


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RATIONALE, FURTHER NOTES AND HISTORY
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This modification of the v3.17 release of the Glory SP map is designed to
remedy problems with the single-player version of the map, most notably that
the map is mostly unnamed, and in many cases misnamed (land provinces with sea
names and so forth).  There is a corner that was clearly hand-named, but,
aside from that corner and a few other spots, the map was left unfinished.

Normally names would not be such a problem, but in a 600+ province map, this
means that, in addition to the outright misnamed provinces, there will be
many, many name duplications from the random name generator.  Given that these
names are constantly seen anyway from game to game, it makes the map a
confusing jumble.  I prefer to be able to see a province listed in the
Messages and know exactly where it is.

In this version I have fixed that problem, with all provinces given thematic
and appropriate names, including regional naming schemes (North Malnangar,
Southeast Malnangar, and so forth).

It makes, at least in my experience, for much more enjoyable gameplay to be
able to look at the messages and have a more sensible, memorable geography
that doesn't require you to sift through all provinces to figure out where one
is.

As a secondary element, since it was only a step away from what I had done
already, I decided to also add in sensible nation placements for each of the
three eras, and to create a Random Starts version with the best 42 provinces
flagged as possible start locations.  (I did not use the #nostart, since it
interferes with SemiRandom's fiddling).

The custom pretenders were pretty much an afterthought -- these are what I use
in my own games to avoid nonsensical AI pretenders with terrible scales.

----

In terms of my naming process, I tried to keep with the spirit of the game as
the developers have made it, though I was not particularly dogmatic one way or
another.  For inspiration, I drew upon actual mythological and archaic names
as well as names from various RPG resources: Talislanta, I.C.E.'s Shadow
World, Earthdawn (in keeping with the game authors' inspiration from the
game), and other sources.  My intent is that none of it should be silly or
fluffy, and that it will make for an immersive MP game (though there are a
couple that might be seen as pedantically humorous -- where would the mother
of Beowulf's nemesis had lived, assuming he had moved out of the house and
asserted his own monstrous independence from mum?  Where do the devils of
Abysia play when they are young?).

As a final note, I originally did this for my own sake, as I found this map to
be beautiful and enjoyable, but incomplete to the point of souring my
enjoyment of it.  I have given the .map file something of an overhaul, so I
hope it does justice to Jason Lutes's excellent work and that others find my
modified version of it enjoyable as well.


Cheers!
Globu


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VERSION HISTORY
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v3.17_G13: Corrected errors in LA start locations in the Fixed Starts map.
(Thanks to RookieRookie for pointing these out.)  Swapped the locations of
Marignon and Man in the MA start locations. Corrected text color (white is
very nonvisible on this map).

v3.17_G12: Fixed some gaffes in the custom pretenders, and completely revised
the readme and .map descriptive text.

v3.17_G11: Removed all NoStart territorial designations once and for all. All
provinces are now open season for SemiRandom. Also modified a few of the gods
in the custom maps to make for more diversity.

v3.17_G10: Added Custom versions. Substantial changes to NE corner region of
map, which not only had an erroneous forest designation in a waste province
(541, now named East Palastu), but started Hinnom/Ashdod/Gath in an overly
advantageous spot and Yomi in an overly disadvantaged spot. Adjusted territory
in the region to improve balance.  Specifically:

   * Moved the Palastu region (and hence Hinnom's start loc) to the east.
   * Many adjustments to territorial designations in that area, as well as
   central northern region (Yomi/Shinuyama's start) and southwest waste region
   (Abysia's start) to make them less disadvantageous (both had punitively low
   incomes in those provinces, making for a significant early disadvantage for
   those nations).  They should be more viable now, though still definitely
   below-average (if they remain significantly worse, it may be worthwhile, if
   a bit heavy-handed, to manually plant a gold mine in one or both home
   provinces for balance).

v3.17_G9: Fixed missing connection between South Shadowlands (394) and Gjoll
River (402) to its east.

v3.17_G8: Changed Havahdra Hills (427) from mountain to border mountain.
Leading space removed from name string for North Kaila Mountains.

v3.17_G7: Switched start locs of MA Man and MA Marignon.  Fixed Shinuyama's
start loc so it does not conflict with Machaka's. Changed 286 to border
mountain.

v3.17_G6: Adjusted many terrains.  In particular, adjusted Fomoria's and
Agartha's adjacent provinces to improve resource yield (to mitigate below-
average home province resource availability for these two nations which need
good production for high-production-cost cap-only units).  Removed all NoStart
provinces except for those in special provinces, as they interfere with
SemiRanDom and are not needed with the use of the #start command.

v3.17_G5: Changed default zoom.  Added second version of map for random start
placement using the #start flag on the 42 best provinces.  For fixed placement
version, adjusted several placement balance issues, in particular the SE
corner spread that Ulm enjoyed.  Ulm, Tien Ch'i, Ermor, Caelum (again)
switched places, and several of their start locs were moved.  Moved Caelum to
the SE corner region (Ulm's former spot).  Moved Tien Ch'i to north section of
map (Caelum's former spot).  Moved Ermor to Tien Ch'i's former spot (moved one
province SE).  Moved Ulm to the forested region W of Ermor's former spot (to
give C'tis more breathing room).  Moved C'tis one province NW.  Renamed
provinces as necessary.

v3.17_G4: Fixed erroneous placement of Tir na n'Og/Eriu in West Eriu. Fixed
typo in Lanka's specstart. Adjusted some more inappropriate terrain flags.

v3.17_G3: Removed the swamp flag from Sauromatia's home provinces.  Changed
approximately 20 to 30 other provinces' terrain feature flags to make for less
movement-impedance.  No changes to start locations.

v3.17_G2: Moved Fomoria, Arcoscephale and Caelum to put Fomoria on central
island to accommodate its requirement for sea access from its starting
location.  Arcoscephale is now in the northwest, and Caelum is inland.
Provinces renamed accordingly.

v3.17_G1: Initial release.


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PERMISSIONS
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These modifications to the .map files are free for any use whatsoever. If my
modified version is found worthwhile, please do feel free to appropriate it
and use it (or implement it into the game package), with or without credit, in
original or modified form, as you see fit.


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CREDITS
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Obvious and foremost credit is to Jason Lutes for the map itself, in all
its... Glory.

Secondary credit is to Edi for the fixed version, on which this version is
based.  Edi's version can be found here:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=41374

For the custom pretender gods, I used the custom pretenders provided by
Ballbarian and (I believe) other contributors in the SemiRandom package as
templates. I don't think I have retained any in their original form, but it's
not impossible, and I at least relied upon the SemiRandom templates.
