WANTED: Large (140x140) Earth map

[ajbera]

Howdy. I'm looking for a large-sized (140x140) Earth map, similar to the high-quality ones that are currently in circulation, but a tad smaller. The only maps around now seem to be huge, and while playing 16 civs on a huge map is quite cool, the game slows down to a c-r-a-w-l in later stages. Popular opinion is that the slowdown is caused by recalculation of the trade network/national boundaries/etc. for several hundred cities on a huge map. Perhaps later games will move a bit faster if the available space is limited just a bit.

So, if any intrepid mappers are searching for a project, my request is: a 140x140 Earth map, accurate with geography and resources (with the exception of a slightly larger England, as I don't want to handicap them by severely limiting their initial room - this convention has been adopted in most maps already.) Also, the bottom-most row should be tundra (simulating Antarctica) - this is needed to change starting locations so as to make them accurate (read the SaveGame Tool thread in the Files forum.)

I really want a large Earth map, and am willing to throw a few dollars at anyone who makes one. My maps always seem sucky to me, and while I also enjoy playing on random worlds, the ability to play on my home planet (with accurate starting locations) is very enjoyable.

Alright...get to work.

[OmniGod]

140x140 is a nice size but you will loose a lot in game play by reducing the size.. Europe become very small and from a realist point of view that is unbearable... what I suggest is you take one of the large maps and just cut back the civs to 8 or 10 and try it... it's easy to do.. just go into the editor and click on the scenario properties and set the civs to a smaller amount. Should keep the same map but cut back on civs... while this won't solve your problem exactly it will make game play a lot longer and hopefully you can rule the world before any probs take over...

I personally love the huge maps and may dabble in the smaller maps, but not in ones that I think won't turn out as well as they could... suggestion! Give mapmaking a try... it's not bad and if you do good work then the world praises you... if not... at least you have the map you want

[Elucidus]

Take it from Omnigod, he speaks from experience...vast experience.


Ooops, Omnigod, now I made you sound old.

[OmniGod]

You following me El And old... yeah dang nabbit... respect your elders... hehe.

[Elucidus]

Me follow you...what ever could you mean?

[ajbera]

I guess I'll have to try to make my own map then. Perhaps I can create something and then post it for review and revision. I'll make Europe a little bit oversized - enough so as not to severely handicap players starting there.

While I understand your points about playing on larger or smaller maps, I have something specific I wish to test. I want to see if at what map size a city-filled world with all civs becomes nearly unplayable due to the long wait time between turns. My system is pretty good (dual P3-700s, 256 RAM, GeForce DDR, Win2k), but wait times in the Industrial era, huge map and 16 civs, is 1 - 2 minutes. General opinion is this is caused by recalculations performed whenever a change is made somewhere in the massive network of cities - a trade route is created or lost, or boundaries have to be readjusted. A slightly smaller map (i.e. large) would have somewhat fewer cities, so the wait time bewteen turns should be shorter. I want to test this and see if it is so.

I could (and probably will) just play on a random large map, but playing on Earth, with accurate starting locations, is my preferred way to play (actually, this way vs. random map - 50/50, so not preferred, but very important.) And, since many others like playing on Earth maps, with accurate starting locations, and 16 civs, my investigation may benefit others as well. I was just hoping to dodge the map-making effort by recruiting an eager cartographer, but luck is not with me, it seems.

Of course, now that the patch's near-completion has been announced, I may postpone my efforts until I see what new editing tools have been unleashed.

Thanks for the info, Omni and Elucidus.

[Zeb_Fisher]

I am currently making a 100 x 100 map for the reasons you stated ... I want a map that plays a faster game. You can see my screen shots of the progress so far at:

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/zeb_fisher/lst?&.dir=/Civilization+III/Earth+Map+(standard)&.src=bc&.view=t&.begin=1&.order=&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/zeb_fisher/lst%3f%26.dir=/Civilization%2bIII/Earth%2bMap%2b(standard)%26.src=bc%26.view=t

Zeb Fisher