Lux Forums

[Kartofile]

CHINA SEA PIRATES!!!

Map description:

This map is for demonstrating the new army graphics available in Lux 5.6. Just perform the upgrade and turn on your army graphics. Then start the game and watch your armies move from land to sea... Wow!

Story: Rival bands of 14th century Wokou pirates are fighting for control over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, to use as a secret base where they can hide out, stash their loot, sing pirate songs and drink lots of booze.

If the geography is hard to understand, try the starting scenario or click the Bonuses button, which makes it easier to see. There are six bases on three main islands; armies can move between land and sea at any of the 10 beaches. Good luck!

MFG mateys, please take a moment to play a game and post some comments here.

(Comments from others are definitely welcome as well!)

The map has already been OK'd by the Map LAB so it should be up soon. Thanks!

[octobclrnts]

Ok, sorry it took me so long to get around to playing the map and writing the review, but here it goes....

The graphics are pretty sweet. I especially love the beaches, I think it is a nice touch

The pathing is a little hard to follow everything, but I'm just not used to playing hex maps, so that's just me. But I didn't even see the dotted arrow in the upper left for the first few rounds (and I owned that). Maybe you could make it stand out more?

I think this would make an excellent map for 6 humans to play, however it seems like it would last a long time. Still, I would like to see it as a MOTW.

Overall: 8.5/10 - great map!

(Again, especially impressed with the graphics!)

[my wife hates me]

Graphics are good, not great but i do like the detail. The walled compounds and the beaches are definately cool.

I'm gonna divide my game play comments in 2...

1. the islands are awesome. The North East island is obviously the one to grab if possible and the bots were very tough to fend off the few times I was able to secure it. The "North Sand Bar" and the cross over north of "Long Dau" are great "blitzing" points.

2. I don't know if I like the ocean layout though. On one side, it was hard to create borders / choke points and with all the dots, the screen became very busy (espcially with the army graphics which are very cool by the way). But at the same time, the oceans being so open is very realistic and without a bonus for them, you've presented an awesome "lost at sea" feel. I found myself fighting to stay grounded while in the back of my mind I knew I had to keep water ways open for attacks on other islands.

Maybe my dislike of the 2nd item comes with the fact that this is probably the toughest map I've played since pod wars. And for that I give you complete and utmost props.

7/10 (perfect 10 for toughness)

[Kartofile]

Thanks for the comments! Maybe MFG is working...

[SunTzu]

Graphics
The overground looks great. I really like how you created beaches!

Map Size
The size of this map is fine.

Map Description
The description is great! You give a decent story background to the map and clearly explain how the map works.

My only suggestion would be to point out the two paths. (see Usability section below for more details)

Names
The names are fantastic! They really help create the right atmosphere.

I don't like the numbers after the various China Sea countries, but that's just an opinion.

Usability
All of the countries are very easy to click, even the sea!

The connection between North Sandbar and Brave Mountain is very unintuitive for two reasons: it's the only connection between the sea and land that doesn't use a beach, and the black arrow path is hard to see. I would recommend making the arrow white, like the other connection near Long Dao Island.

Also, the North Sandbar looks more like scenery than a country. I wouldn't change it for this map, but keep that in mind for future maps.

The first time I played this map I couldn't figure out why I didn't win yet, and kept wondering where in the hell that last bot was hiding!

Starting Scenario
The starting scenarioa is well balanced.

Gameplay
I absolutely love the concept of fighting for the islands, then venturing over the water to other islands.

I think Hu Dao Island should have a bonus of 6 instead of 5 because it has 3 connections to the sea. Ma Dao Island has a bonus of 5, but it only has 2 connections to the sea.

Overall
I think this map is well laid out, and it definitely has potential for network play.

Great map Kartofile!

[blackj3sus]

i really hate to say anything about this map because
- it may sound like i'm casting a negative light on it (because u admitedly threw it together to show off the cool new boats ). not that theres anything wrong with that
-and because i've seen your other maps


the layout is confusing... although it does look nice, once you begin to play it distracts from the enjoyment level because your trying to figure out what can attack where?
what i'd change:
-smaller hexes for land areas just to make them more seperate
-keep the sea hexes large but have the color fill the hex more instead of a dot
-more consistency in the direction arrows on the map jpg (all the same color)
-make the beaches the only land areas that can connect to sea (not including specially marked territories or paths)
-make the beaches stand out more somehow

[my wife hates me]

Sorry to go off topic, but I just felt it important to mention, don't be sorry Black. You are being honest and your suggestions are thoughtfull and have merit. I feel these first couple MFG threads are right on the mark with cunstructive ideas the way they should be presented. If we keep this up, I think all involved will find a lot of usefullness in the threads.

An interesting side effect will also be the fact that you can read these threads when starting a new map and fix problems before a release. Just from the points made in the Pac Lux thread, I can learn that countries close together with little space is a turnoff to most players and I'll try to avoid that in the planning stage.

Good job so far to everyone taking the time to participate.

[Sylocat]

Not usually a fan of hex maps, but I do like this one.

The graphics are nice. The mountain and tree pattern is simple and consistent. However, the bumpiness of the graphics sometimes makes it hard to see where you can go on the islands. However, this is true of almost every themed hex map I've played, so I won't hold that against you. I like the new-concrete pattern of the sea, as well.
However, the dots to represent the sea spaces could be a little bigger (a criticism that you recently gave me on a certain recent map of mine... j/k )

The layout of the islands is good enough, but the sea layout is wonderful. It's nice that for once the seas are truly OPEN seas, without the customary lines of dots telling you which sea routes you may take to which beach from where.
The one problem with the layout is that route represented by black dots. Your map description explains it nicely, but it's still a bit disingenuous.

The little sprinkling of the triple-hex "camps" are a nice touch as well, annd having only one entrance to each is a nice touch, allowing opportunities for shafting.

Overall, this is a nice-looking map that opens itself up to several different types of strategy. I'd give it 8/10 easy.

[Kartofile]