Continents in random games

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LoudMusic
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Continents in random games

Post by LoudMusic » Tue Jan 06, 2004 12:23 pm

I really like the random maps. I play game after game on random map, random country assignment, and random army placement. It makes for interesting strategy. Though I've gotten into a rut of sorts (:

The issue I've noticed is that generally you'll end up with one gigantic continent and a couple tiny ones. Could a limit be placed on how large the continents can be? Say ... 8 to 12 countries? Just because they have countries that share borders directly doesn't mean it can't be split. Just look at Europe / Asia in the board game. And there are usually islands who's countries are each connected to countries of an adjacent continent.

bongo

Post by bongo » Wed Jan 07, 2004 1:53 pm

I agree. I really like the random maps too, but I find myself skipping through many maps because they only have one or two big continents. I think the game is more fun when there are many continents to conquer.

Nikolas
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Post by Nikolas » Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:22 pm

I like LM's point about big continents that are connected but separate, but, just to point out, you can file through random boards and save off the ones you like (under the menu Board), and then Use Saved Boards (D even made it so you can sort them into folders).

tony nickles

Sir Holo

Continents

Post by Sir Holo » Sun Jan 11, 2004 4:02 am

I agree that the random map generator is definitely Lux's strong point.

I am OK with one big continent and a couple of tiny neighbors. But while we are on the topic,

I wish the map generator would create more interconnected maps. Often, a map that consists of 3 to 5 continents, connected in chain fashion, is created. To win, one needs only to get a continent, and to grow outward in a line. But, it is an interconnected map that makes for a strategic game, not a "chain" map.

For example, take the original Risk board. One continent had only one connection (Australia), one had two (South America), and four had three connections (N America, Africa, Europe, Asia). So the profile for classic Risk was 1104. the average connectivity of a continent in classic Risk was 3.2

The average connectivity of a Lux-generated board is something like 1.9. The result is that there are a lot of "Australias" on Lux-generated maps, often chained with one or two "South Americas," such that the winner of the map is decided by who can get and hold the "Australia." There are too many "South Americas" in Lux-generated maps.

With just a little bit more connectivity between continents, game-play could be enriched significantly. With more connectivity, there would not be one specific continent that would be a game-winner, but perhaps several potential strong positions, depending on the other players' positions. It is this potential richness of game-play upon which Lux can capitalize.

NOTE: Adjustments such as this are probably more appropriate for a Lux 3.xx, and bug fixes (like the info window crash bug) take precedence over improvements such as this.

Holo

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LoudMusic
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Re: Continents

Post by LoudMusic » Mon Jan 12, 2004 4:04 pm

Sir Holo wrote:I agree that the random map generator is definitely Lux's strong point.

I am OK with one big continent and a couple of tiny neighbors. But while we are on the topic,

I wish the map generator would create more interconnected maps. Often, a map that consists of 3 to 5 continents, connected in chain fashion, is created. To win, one needs only to get a continent, and to grow outward in a line. But, it is an interconnected map that makes for a strategic game, not a "chain" map.

For example, take the original Risk board. One continent had only one connection (Australia), one had two (South America), and four had three connections (N America, Africa, Europe, Asia). So the profile for classic Risk was 1104. the average connectivity of a continent in classic Risk was 3.2

The average connectivity of a Lux-generated board is something like 1.9. The result is that there are a lot of "Australias" on Lux-generated maps, often chained with one or two "South Americas," such that the winner of the map is decided by who can get and hold the "Australia." There are too many "South Americas" in Lux-generated maps.

With just a little bit more connectivity between continents, game-play could be enriched significantly. With more connectivity, there would not be one specific continent that would be a game-winner, but perhaps several potential strong positions, depending on the other players' positions. It is this potential richness of game-play upon which Lux can capitalize.

NOTE: Adjustments such as this are probably more appropriate for a Lux 3.xx, and bug fixes (like the info window crash bug) take precedence over improvements such as this.

Holo
Well put! Fewer Australias and South Americas. More Europes and North Americas.

This is no way reflective of my ethnic background (:

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