PvP Scenario Review Thread
-
Yes this map is quite "fragile", we had structured the bid such as we did because if the bid went instead to Imperials, that would simply mean they could take the capital even earlier. I think what would have to happen is a bid for Thorwall getting balanced by a bid for Borbarad as well so that they can reinforce their capital. Or perhaps simply changing the production amount of their capital to more than 2.
Or as you say, simply stipulate that the bid cannot be placed in the south so that AlAnsa can take it turn 1.
-
@mattbarnes yeah I think it's one of my favorites.
I think the AI Indian, and Pirates also help the map from being scripted but that's meAnyway if your reviewing Steampunk Advance, I could help play if you need more people
-
Can I tempt you PvP-ers to comment on our new map, initial impressions or even a PVP game?
1941 Global Command Decision
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3326/1941-global-command-decision-official-threadI know its a big ask as its still in development, but the changes are slowing down, honest
-
My problem is the people I play with are very slow. But also not very adventurous. We haven't done any maps with complicated rules. So I doubt we can jump into this one, though it does look interesting.
-
@thedog Hi, I'm happy to take a look. I see it's not built-in to the usual map downloader, unfortunately. I tried to manually download from your link but can't get it to work. Is it as simple as your file being "YML" and the game expecting "XML"?? Note I'm on v2.5 of the game; is that what you expect?
-
In your downloads folder, copy the zip file to the usual place, typically for Windows its;
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\triplea\downloadedMapsand unzip the zip file there.
You can leave it zipped but I find there are less errors if it is unzipped.
ps. ask you need more help
-
@thedog that’s exactly what I did but the game said it couldn’t find the map XML. Which game version are you designing for? Can you maybe paste a screenshot of Windows Explorer showing the right files in the right places?
-
Only for 2.5.22294 as 2.6 crashes with not enough detail to fix.
.
.
.
-
@thedog Thanks. I am also on v2.5. I have the same files. A subtle difference is my folder name ends “-30” (which was part of the Zipped file name). Have I got an older or newer version of the map than you? I’m going to just edit the folder name to see if that solves it.
-
Seems to be working now. Thanks for your help. I’ll explore more later or at weekend.
Any reason it’s not in the automated Downloader?
-
30 is the current release, so all is good.
In future if you open the zip and just drag & drop the folder name that also works.
The TripleA automated loader for 2.5 is too fickle, I have wasted so many hours trying to get it to work and as time is precious, better to code than mess with the loader.
2.6 loader is a lot easier, but not without its problems.
As the releases are about 1 a week and google drive just works 100% of the time, its a lot easier and less frustrating for me, but a bit of work for you to put it in the right place.
When the changes really slow down I will upload it hopefully to 2.6 if a dev can fix this maps current crashing issue.
-
Alagaesia (4 player)
This is a nicely rendered map, available as 2 player or 4 player (but still 2 factions). We played the latter, imagining it offered a little more depth.
The context seems to be drawn from a series of books called the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, and also spawned the film Eragon about a teenager who learns to ride a dragon and becomes embroiled in a continental conflict with fantasy races alike to Lord of the Rings. I felt however little immersion in that realm from playing this map.
This map was reasonably fun, but we won't play it a lot more.
The game lacks the Tech, National Objectives and Terrain-modifiers seen in some of the more sophisticated maps. The nature of the map also makes the naval side quite minimal.
There are two "dragon riders" in each faction which are super-powerful aerial units and the Empire player can also produce a bomber-type of creature-unit. The dragon riders are limited in number and cannot be produced (unless you change the map option) which makes sense but the consequence is to give the Empire a significant air supremacy advantage: the combination of bombers and cheap infantry allows attritional 'strafing' each turn which ultimate dominates. The elves and dwarves only have high-value units so cannot compete.
The map geography with swaths of impassable desert and mountains keeps the non-Empire races separate and difficult to co-ordinate, while also reducing strategic options. Essentially the north produces a static frontline between Elves and Empire, making the Elves boring to play. In the south, Surda is easily overrun by the Empire until the Dwarves can arrive to aid Surda try to hold any small remnant. However, the Empire probably has more income by this point so will eventually overwhlem. The Dwarves could only really advance on one axis, so their choices did not feel highly meaningful.
Certainly, we found the Empire won the games that had no Bid, so players may wish to adjust for this to seek balance.
The dragon-riders and a number of other units are labelled as high- or low-level "casters" and the game notes imply there is some sort of magic mechanic. I can indeed see in some battles that the unit values vary unexpectedly when casters are present. However, I could never pin-down exactly how it worked, I could only rely on the Battle Calculator to guide me.
Oddly, the 2-move units cannot blitz, which seems like an omission that could have balanced the game a little, eg if Surda could 'can-open' a gap in Empire lines for the Dwarves to blitz through.
-
@mattbarnes Alagesia works well as PvAI.
-
@mattbarnes and others
Any more reviews?
