Your civilization has reached a place in the thick forests which shows signs of human presence. Your starting area is paved, but surrounded by forest. The only way of reaching the outer world is by using one of the narrow canals that lead through the forest. Rock cover the shores, so no foot unit can walk there safely, you will need to rely on your navy to leave the cramped opening and expand. Your scout is almost useless early on, as there is no way to reach your opponents until you build a dock and a transport. Or a strong attacking navy?
So, Canals is my new map. Each player has a small opening in the vast, unpassable forest, plus some canals leading to every other player (although some canals are not connected to others, sometimes you need to manage your navy between 2 different canal paths. Rocks are all the way along the shores, the only openings are at your base, where you can make a dock, and the enemy can land (I suggest walling it off soemwhat). The canals are made by water connections, but they dont go all the way to the base of the TC, only to the edge of the bases. The characteristics of this map allow for easy defense, and generally the player with the best navy can win the game. The only openings in the forest are the ones occupied by the players, so resources run out fast and you need to rely on sea commerce and trading wood. Im not sure how siege onagers would work here, but might cause some chaos if they should cut all the way through the forest to the enemy.
hey, i think the idea of this map is GREAT, but there are some bugs on it, like once i was playing and the whole forest disappeared! also, one player is always connected (by direct land connection) to another play on the right side of the map. please fix these, it would be great.