A good idea for deserts I had before is to make "desert roads" to fight for contol over, and imo it works very well. Here's an example map:

https://www.warlight.net/Map/20616-Civil-War

Also the idea of lots of -1 bonuses is good, but because larger territories are faster to travel through (one of the major problems of large desert regions) aka like this map:

https://www.warlight.net/Map/18383-Orbis-Veteribus-Notus

I would recommend that if you are making them this size proportionally then you should make them -5 individually income, so the benefits of fast travel are out-weighed.

But I think the first idea works well, you can include main Australian roads, for example :)



Edited 2/2/2016 14:00:26

Australia is HUGE and only has a population of about 20million (tiny!) so you really are going to have to think outside the box with this one, there are similar maps, like the USA for example, but this is more like USA in the 1850s considering the population density.

So maybe keep that in mind, but obviously, the major cities are also modern and very dense, it will need unique solutions to make a good map from this, but will also make a very unique map! Good luck! :D

Edit: A huge amount of mining goes on in Australia, that could be a good way to add "value" to desert regions, there has been a huge boom in Australian mining since around the 2000s as well, so it has a modern significance too.

"Mining in Australia is a significant primary industry and contributor to the Australian economy."



"Adults employed in the mining industry as a percentage of the adult population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census"

Edited 2/2/2016 14:13:49

With the Syria rework done, I will now start work on this... It will commence shortly.

For the strategic map... I estimate about 175 territories... I will use the desert as a main source of bottle-necking, we will see if I do anything with the rivers or dividing range...

And dont worry about the ring issue, lord of turnips. I can exaggerate the boundaries a bit.

Edited 2/10/2016 03:59:45

It does not look like much yet... but it is a start:

https://www.warlight.net/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=53018

May I suggest putting Tasmania in the Area where the Great Australian Bite is?

Just because if you do use cities for the strategic version with them seperate from the map, most of them are on the East Coast and Tasmania could get in the way. Thanks.

Edited 2/10/2016 08:46:35

With the strategic version, I do not think I will do the cities. I want a clear, well defined map, with minimum cause for confusion. However, the diplomatic version will likely include cities to help increase the territory count.

Any thoughts on how I can represent the desert other than a black hole?

Edited 2/10/2016 16:48:40

Did you not like my ideas for the deserts?

For a strategic, map, No. I do not like negative bonuses in a strat map. For the diplo? Maybe. I am just not a fan of negative bonuses in general...

I will be placing zero bonuses for any desert transfer, so that people can put negatives there if they so choose to... they will not be set to a negative, however...

Edited 2/10/2016 17:24:52