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Author |
File Description |
misterxman |
Posted on 02/25/02 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Build and Destroy |
Number of players: |
8 |
This is a real world map of North America. As all the real world maps I did, it is extremely accurate. It\'s an 8 player map but best played with 4-6 players. You start in a transport ship with 3 villagers and 1 scout. One relic, can you find it again? It includes some cool things like the Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty, and cool fishing spots for the eskimo players who like to fish in ice holes. While you are killing your ennemies you might wanna consider taking a visite at Hawaii for a short vacation, did I mention a volcano kills anything when it erupts in Hawaii? And what is a palm tree doing in the middle of Alaska. The cool thing about this map is that are coming in boats from Europe to discover and colonize the New World, so most likely you\'ll hit the USA first (If you really want to play in the USA just play my United States map). This map was made by misterxman, any questions or comments just log on the zone. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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four hundred babies (id: Lord_Fadawah) |
Posted on 08/29/04 @ 12:00 AM
PLAYABILITY
A good multiplayer scenarios, and the faults I can find in it are mostly just nitpicking. In case it isn't obvious by now, North America by misterxman is a B&D map that takes place on the good ol' US of A. It was designed for eight players, but it's possible to play it with any number. All players start off in a transport ship with four villagers and a scout, and they must choose where to land and build a town center.
Here some problems arise. All transport ships start right next to each other, so it's possible to follow a player and attack him with your starting units. There are many annoying things that can happen, from the annoying "douching" tactic of building a town center next to your enemy, to dropping several barrackses and attacking with militia (with your ample starting resources this is a deadly strategy), to the not-so-fun game of villager wars. It's possible the game will be decided before the feudal age. Ideally, all players should have had their starting transport ships in different places. Another issue is that there are too many resources -- both in terms of starting stockpile and resources on the map. If the game doesn't disentegrate into dark age battles, it will just become a race to get to imperial. North America is loaded with resources, there is really no need to fight over them. And on a map this big, they will likely never run out. The resources are spread evenly, so it doesn't matter where you land. It would have been nice to have resources spread geographically. For instance, lots of turkeys in Mexico, and lots of gold in Klondike. You also could have added an anachronistic Panama Canal, just so people can access the western side of the continent more easily.
By far the most worrying of the game's problems is its size. It lags considerably. Even a 1vs1 I had with a friend five kilometers away was difficult to play. We both OK pings, and our computers both satisfy specs for a Direct IP or Modem to Modem game, but the command lag was about 800ms at the beginning. As the game progressed, it grew to almost three seconds. I dread to think what it would be like with eight players. Oh yes, and I use a 56k. So shoot me. It's impossible to get anything better out here. The lag is caused by too many objects, and too large a map. A Normal sized map would be ideal, even if it means cutting back on the number of players allowed. You could also try getting rid of a lot of the deer and birds. They will wander about freely, and their movements all have to be tracked. That can cause lag. Try cutting back on the amount of gold and stone, as well. 4
BALANCE
As said, everyone starts in the same place, and resources are spread evenly. The issues of drushing aside, things are pretty balanced. Civilization choices don't matter much, and although I think the Chinese, Aztecs, and Mayans have a slight edge over the others, it isn't an unbalancing factor. There is no real strategy best on this map, it all depends on how close your enemy is. Overall a well-rounded scenario. 5
CREATIVITY
North America doesn't really add anything new, and doesn't attempt to. I think it may have been the author's intention to create a whole new set of Real World maps. Rabid RM players may be disappointed by this scenario's stark lack of innovation. The only "easter egg" novelty features are a shipwreck with a relic to collect and a volcano somewhere in Hawaii. Both are old hat for any seasoned B&D player, and seem to be added more as an afterthought then with any intent to affect gameplay. This scenario, while a lot of fun to play, isn't as good as the Real World maps that come packaged with the game, and even other maps found on the Zone such as Europe. There was nothing on this map that made me say "wow! That's impressive!" 2
MAP DESIGN
North America is (reasonably) geographic accurate, although I find it a bit odd that you end up in Idaho by following the Mississippi river. Visually, though, it is excellent. Eye-candy and terrain blending make it an eye-pleasing map indeed. Sadly, it also adds to the lag. North America is a hilly map, even more so then Arabia. I don't dispute that it's fun to build a castle and some towers on a hilltop and re-enact the battle of Bunker Hill, but finding a spot to build a town center is a bit irritating, especially if you decide to land in Mexico. The large amount of forest makes your expanding pretty crowded. Apart from these two small technical faults, there is nothing really to criticise. 5
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS
There is no story at all, a few generic hints, and a history section that consists of "you are discovering the New World, will the nations be the same as they are in the real world?" While I appreciate the realities of multiplayer designing, having no story whatsoever was disappointing. For inspiration on how a story can be implemented in a campaign, download RoboPaul88's Colonisation scenario (used for the MCSN). It isn't really practical to have something on the scale of Ulio, but it at least salvages you some points. 2
SUMMARY
While its faults sour an otherwise great experience, this scenario is definately recommendable. You might also like Europe, Australia, Africa, and Eurasia by the same author. Truly an excellent addition to the ranks of custom-made Real World maps. Unfortunately, this is a MP scenario that requires low latency to run smoothly (or in other words, prepare to be lagged to death if you have an eight-player game with dial-up). |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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3.6 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.0 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 2.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 2.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 1,492 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 38.96 KB |
Added: | 02/25/02 |
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