New Map: The Dark Ages (MFG)

Lux maps won't make themselves.
Post Reply
User avatar
SunTzu
Lux Cartographer
Posts: 1586
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:48 am
Location: Maryland

New Map: The Dark Ages (MFG)

Post by SunTzu » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:24 am

The Dark Ages

Image

32 Continents, 58 Cities, 119 Countries

"My fate is to live among varied and confusing storms. But for you perhaps, if as I hope and wish you will live long after me, there will follow a better age. When the darkness has been dispersed, our descendants can come again in the former pure radiance." - Petrarch

"Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own." - Georg C. Lichtenberg


This map is HUGE, so be sure to go to File > Preferences, then go to the Prefs tab. Uncheck "auto-shrink maps" and you'll be able to view this map in full 1541 x 1269 glory.
Last edited by SunTzu on Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
blackj3sus
Lux Messiah
Posts: 3223
Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 12:27 pm
Location: sillysoft.net/roman-battles
Contact:

Post by blackj3sus » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:56 am

finally....! :D
check your pm

Cancer
Lux Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:23 pm
Location: CoMo

Well done!

Post by Cancer » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:44 pm

I have been playing for some time (not online), I have been eagerly waiting for you to finish this series and place them together. Thank you!!!

User avatar
Kartofile
Luxer
Posts: 255
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:30 am

Re: New Map: The Dark Ages (MFG)

Post by Kartofile » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:44 pm

SunTzu wrote:"Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own." - Georg C. Lichtenberg
That's a great quote. A great quote and a great map.

Sun, I think this map is excellent.

It's beautiful. It's crystal clear. It's highly detailed. There are lots of good places to start out. There are tons of different strategies to pursue. I really like the shields representing the different cities. My favorite part of all is the little dragon in the North Sea. :D

What would I change?
  • - I'd add MORE DRAGONS! (Mermaids, Sea Monsters, Ships being Attacked by Giant Squid, Etc...) ;)

    - I'd put the "Irish Sea" in its proper place. It should be between Great Britain and Ireland. (Unless it was different back then?)

    - For some reason I kept thinking that South Wales connected to Wessex. Perhaps being blocked by the narrow Bristol Channel, after you've just crossed a much wider section of the English Channel, might be a bit counterintuitive. So I might add a connection there.

    - Scrolling around can get tiring if you're not used to it. In fact, at one point I realized that I was planning my strategy so that I wouldn't have to scroll so much (e.g. conquer what's on this screen first, before moving on to another quadrant of the map). Solution: for my second game I turned army graphics off and shrank the map to fit the screen. It actually worked fine and was much better than the scrolling.

    - So far I've played three games (against my usual assortment of random bots) and I've won all three times. Winning once makes me happy. Winning all three times makes me a little bit suspicious... Is the map challenging enough for others? ;)

    - If you ever want to experiment with the map, it might be interesting to add some mountains, breaking up the central and eastern regions a bit more... the Alps and Carpathians might be fun, for example.
Seriously though, this is a superb map. Thanks so much! :D

User avatar
octobclrnts
Luxer
Posts: 409
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:51 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA - where Lux winners are born

Post by octobclrnts » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:02 am

As Karofile said, this map is excellent.

I would say the biggest downside is its size. Also, I tend to like the maps that do the cities with two borders instead of being contained in one country. It just makes pathing easier.

Nice graphics. The brown theme gives it an authentic 'old' feel.

Just to reassure you Karofile, I lost the first time I played (although it went on for many rounds).

Overall: very nice

User avatar
Sylocat
Lux Veteran
Posts: 1404
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:59 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:

Post by Sylocat » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:29 pm

I certainly wasn't expecting the last "Dark Ages" map to be the other 6 put together! Great job, SunTzu, you never cease to amaze.

User avatar
blackj3sus
Lux Messiah
Posts: 3223
Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 12:27 pm
Location: sillysoft.net/roman-battles
Contact:

Post by blackj3sus » Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:21 pm

kart set the bots to teaming with each other and see if u win... :wink: :lol:

User avatar
Kartofile
Luxer
Posts: 255
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:30 am

Post by Kartofile » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:51 pm

That would be a good solution if I didn't mind losing every single game! :oops: You know, I don't think I could win any map if I let those crafty bots team up against me...!

User avatar
my wife hates me
Lux Elder
Posts: 2664
Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:45 am
Location: I TOOK MY BED BACK
Contact:

Post by my wife hates me » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:57 am

Awesome Job (the whole series included). A+ on everything except...

The size on the combined map. I don't fault it too much because of the intent. Plus, I have a large monitor and size issues don't tend to bother me as much.

The "castles" or "capitals" (however you refer to them) are a nice touch throughout the maps but there a few that are close to the border and can be a little confusing in that some are on borders and some are locked by one country. So any that are close to borders can cause a little confusion.

Personally, I do not mind poetic license in moving borders or countries from there actual location as long as it's done to amplify game play.

Top notch and I second the motion to add a dark ages tournament to the agenda.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 67 guests