Newbie Slug Fest - Mose Hansen game - ENDED

[Cainehill]

The Panther said:
Cradle description says that players will not start on wasteland, swamp, magic site, or swamp. But there are no #nostart provinces on the list, so they must be hardcoded into the province type. I read somewhere that this does not always work on certain dom Versions. I tested it a small amount and this seemed to work as advertised, but I have not come close to knowing for sure. Anybody know the answer to this for certain?

The problem with nostart being encoded into the province type is that it becomes more likely that some provinces will be mis-coded, especially if any updates are done to the map, and it's much more difficult to verify, since you can't just grep for '#nostart'. Unfortunately the map editor doesn't use '#nostart', which is apparently why most of the maps don't have it.

I haven't heard anything about the hardcoding not working with certain dominions Versions (which doesn't mean it's not possible) but in any case, all your players should be using the same, latest, Version, so that shouldn't be an issue either way.

Personally, I think you can't go wrong with the Cradle map - it's probably my favorite based both on aesthetics and gameplay, while Zen's Europe is also gorgeous and seems perfect for a smaller quicker game. (If y'all want quick and dirty, Europe might be good even without any water nations - it's recommended that you either have both or neither water nation.)

[Grim Knight]

I vote for Cradle.

Grim Knight.

[deccan]

I vote for cradle too. I already have it so I won't need to download another one. Heh. Better clarify which Version of the .map file we will be using though, as there seems to be several...

[Aku]

I am willing to switch to a water race if you want to do Europe map lol. I never used either water race in mp either.

For the map picks I have only played inland and karan. I have no idea what the other maps are so I will just let you guys decide on a map.

[The Panther]

Aku said:
I am willing to switch to a water race if you want to do Europe map lol. I never used either water race in mp either.

Cradle will work quite well for a water race, and probably even ought to have one. There is a nice collection of water provinces on the left side of the map and even a bay deep into the map interior.

[The Panther]

I think we are supposed to do the cradle2 Version, which supposedly fixes some bugs in the allowed start locations from the earlier Versions (1 and 1.4?). All my tests so far have been on Version 2 of the map, and I have yet to find a totally screwball starting spot. That does not mean they ain't there, though.

Grim, you, as the host, are the only one who really needs the map file. Look at the one on the illwinter site labeled 'PhilD's fixed map' and see if it is a later Version than the zencradle14 one.

Everyone else just needs the tga file, I believe.

Zen, if you read this, can you elaborate on your Version 1.4? Is the Version 2 better?

[Grim Knight]

If the Date Modified Stamp in the .zip files is any indication then the zencradle14.map is the most recent.

The cradle2.map has a date modified of 04/24/2004

The zencradle14.map has a date modified of 07/11/2004

This is what I base my assumption of Zen's Version being the most recent.

Grim Knight

[Grim Knight]

The .tga file should be the same for all Versions, as far as the .map file the one that I am refering to is the Version modified by Zen.

zencradlev14.map

This file is kind of difficult to locate as it is not posted on any of the sites that have maps for download, to get it I had to do a search of the Boards to find the Thread in which it was posted.

For ease of access in this instance I will attach the file to this post. The attached file is only the .map file as the .tga is easily found for download from www.illwinter.com

Grim Knight

[Zen]

Zen is stingy with his maozzezz, precious. Precious, it burns us!