I am ready for service.

Yes feline Juggernaut, I'm sorry for leaving the missing connections out and not sorting them out but I will right now, this time I promise, it just gets a but tedious sometimes. :D

EDIT: also Iran should be finished today if all goes to plan

Edited 3/20/2016 15:33:12

feel free to invite me for testing.

Also, if you haven't started with Turkey already, here's a base map: http://obrazky.superia.cz/1600/mapa_turecka.png

Feel free to split or combine regions to your likings, ask me in PM if you need help.

EDIT: It would be REALLY nice if you could also add Caucaus countries(Georgia,Armenia,Azerbaijan) too, especially the latter two, as there's known conflict between them. Russian Caucaus is optional.

Edited 3/20/2016 16:12:27

I'm in too

sure.

feel free to invite me for testing.

Also, if you haven't started with Turkey already, here's a base map: http://obrazky.superia.cz/1600/mapa_turecka.png

Feel free to split or combine regions to your likings, ask me in PM if you need help.

EDIT: It would be REALLY nice if you could also add Caucaus countries(Georgia,Armenia,Azerbaijan) too, especially the latter two, as there's known conflict between them. Russian Caucaus is optional.

Thank you very much for that base map, I'll make as much use of it as I can and I will PM you if I need anything.
Now as for the Caucasus, I don't think I will be including it in this Middle East map as the Caucasus is a part of the greater middle east not the original middle east. However it will be included in another map that I'll make which will be of the greater Middle east which you may not have noticed as it's much earlier in this post.

I know I'm late to the party, but Id like to try out this map too

Some things to say...when Iran is complete Egypt will have a complete rework with multiple new territories added and borders changed to be more accurate as well as changes in bonuses as the country as a whole has too few territories and the bonuses are in some cases too high in order to try to balance it out, so Egypt is going to be redone so that it fits in the map in a more balanced and equal manner.

I am really exited to see some diplos set in modern middle east so I am keen to test!

for connections, Saudi Arabia and Egypt should connect to each other via Red Sea(possibly from Sinai Peninsula).

I want to test

I wanna test

The connection will be added, Just after I've redone Egypt. Also as for cyprus I think it might actually be a very important Ally and country in a diplomacy, why? Because being allied with Cyprus allows for transport through the Levant so for example from Egypt to south Turkey or Turkey To Lebanon

I'm happy to say that Iran is complete, finally...
So now I'm moving on to the renovation of Egypt and trying to balance it more.
As for connections, I think I've put them all in but again feel free to point them out and I'll be sure to put them in.
Thanks
Also what do you think of Iran?

Iran is nice, maybe a bit too large in territory numbers, but I don't mind that as long as it's balanced, which we'll see in tests.

for connections, I also suggest cutting off all connections between two sides of Suez Canal expect for "Suez" territory itself(which has lands on both sides) - or shortly, make Suez the chokepoint bridge between Sinai territory and Egypt proper. Some may not like this idea, but it certainly will show the value Suez Canal, and make it easier for Egypt to defend against Israel if they occupy Sinai...again.

Same may also apply through Bosphorus once Turkey's done.

Either way, this is certainly going to be my fav diplo map :P

Thank you Stewie, I think I will do what you have said with the suez canal but as for the bosphorus, I don't think it's long enough to put in the same thing. As for Iran and its Territory numbers, I realise that they are very high but hopefully they will be balanced. It's actually what lead to me deciding to redo Egypt as I felt that Egypt was very undervalued and had too few territories to truly be realistic and for the map to represent the large level of power that Egypt has in the middle east.

Edited 3/24/2016 21:31:10

Territory number in Egypt has now been doubled which in my opinion makes the map a lot more aesthetically pleasing as well as more balanced and more fun to play as well as making war in Egypt a lot more realistic as territories along the nile are much more valuable than the rest of Egypt making them prime targets, especially the Delta, and without it the Egyptian state would collapse. This in my opinion is a lot more realistic and more adaptable.

Now as for Red Sea connections, multiple have been added to allow for Egypt to not only get to Saudi Arabia but also as far as Yemen, which is realistic in terms of the coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen in the current day.

You might have also noticed a colour change for Egypt. I just didn't like Iran and Egypt being the same colour just for aesthetic reasons.

So in general, Egypt has been completely revamped and I hope you all like it. I will be begin the process of making Turkey as soon as possible and hopefully we will breeze through the testing phase (still need more testers, feel free to join) and then the map will be available for everyone to play on.

Also, The West Bank has now been split into two, In a proper diplomacy game I feel that the the state of Palestine is rather important and can be the centrepoint of many wars such as an Israel v Egypt or Jordan war in order to instate a Palestinian state. And I would like for Palestine to be more important than just a small nation that can't really do much for itself at the start with ISIS near which in a diplo game could spell the End of palestine rather fast.

Cyprus now connects to Syria as well to allow for mare transport through the Mediterranean Sea.

Naval connections in the Persian Gulf have also been revamped and increased. The new connections allow for travel between Saudi Arabia and Iran in two territories. This allows for a realistic battle for the dominance of the Persian Gulf between the nations surrounding it, especially Iran and Saudi Arabia. It also allows for a growing tension between the two countries which is realistic and very applicable to current times. As well as that Oman also connects to Iran to allow for an allied attack on Iran from the Arabian peninsula or another way for Iran to cement themselves into the Arabian Peninsula and secure power over the region.

I've also planned the trade route which will go from Istanbul all the way over to Kuwait stopping off at multiple territories along the way,what this will mean is that the Middle East becomes far more realistically navigable and allows for (in a lack of appropriate terms) 'bunny hopping' from the Mediterranean all the way over to the Persian gulf.

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to update you on everything that is going on so finally, I am considering giving Saudi Arabia a territory bump if it doesn't balance up as a major power in the testing phase.

Israel has also been beefed up with two territories added...the gaza strip has now got a connection to cyprus which will allow for more involvement for palestine in a diplomacy game. Cyprus will also probably get a few more territories but the bonus value for Cyprus as a whole will not increase, I don't want to make cyprus overpowered.

Edited 3/25/2016 18:13:28

Al Quaim does not connect to Tulaya.

perfect update, I love how Egypt is reworked, great job there.

I gotta say thought that Cyprus is really scary right now with two ports in each territory...it really shows the value of the island(hence the reason for Turkish invasion), but I'm not sure if it would be overpowered, maybe splitting it further may do a better work.

Here's the divisional map of Cyprus to help you get with it: http://www.rainews.it/dl/img/2014/11/0x768_1415133480171_Cyprus_districts_named_autore_golbez_wikipedia.png

"Trade route" is a good idea, but since we are talking about geographic stuff, I'd recommend adding the two major rivers in Mesopotamia - Euphrates and Tigris:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Tigr-euph.png

they are actually a bigger deal than they look, especially Euphrates; a major crisis happened some years before Syrian Civil War when Turkey built a dam in Euphrates and had cutten off a lot of water stream to Syria.

I'm not even starting with the military part of rivers - I'm sure you are familiar with it already :P

Stewie, I admit, the idea of adding in rivers is very appealing, but at this stage I don't feel like I would be able to implement it in aesthetic and useful way, unfortunately.

Now as for Cyprus, I will indeed be dividing it a bit.
Also, thank you all very much for your support, it really does help. Hopefully the map will impress when complete.

Edited 3/25/2016 19:10:22