Hey everyone!

I'm almost finished working on the Alpha version for this http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=23676 (all I have left to do is connect the territories and properly set up the "Bonus" borders)

I was hoping to get a group of people together to test the gampeplay/concept later this afternoon and to-morrow around 2pm EST.

The Beta version will have a whole slew of aesthetic enhancements including Map Borders, Rivers/streams and Walls to visually divide the (six) sections of the map, completely redone and 3-dimensionalized burrows/temple/swamp/treehouse/tunnels/cornucopia/cave, map texturization, and actual bonus link icons (Although the bonuses are only there for visual effect)

The Beta version should be finished within the next week and for Beta Testing I will focus on testing balance and teamplay.

I have a few roleplaying/game settings in mind, so if you join a game I'll let you know whats going on.

If you want to be invited to a game just let me know, I'm also probably going to set up a multi-day game just so I can get a bunch of people involved.

This map is intended to be a standalone precursor to a larger and more complicated recreation of the Hunger Games arena as seen in the movie.

Thank you,
~Endymion

here is some specific feedback on this map, purely based on some quick observations, please take them with a grain of salt:

1) shouldnt the district starting platforms be in the area immeditaly surrounding the cornucopia? that is the original concept of the hunger games starting positions, to force people to choose to either go for the bloodbath or hide and get stronger in the periphery.

2) the idea with mountain/forest/plains/city is nice, and you have some specific elements there (tree house, caves, mines) but you should try to make sure they are somewhat evenly balanced in terms of income. plains including the center makes it different, also the city is a lot smaller then the others. if you're looking for clear unbalance that's fine, but i would assume you would prefer to have the larger bonuses more balanced somehow to possibly include a variant of the game with 4 starting positions for FFA. also, there is no city part on the arena described in the book/movie, so if you want to be faithful you should probably drop that and make it a 3 territory types spread instead of 4...

3) without smaller bonus areas its hard to determine the balance of the map.

4) the limits of the map should probably have higher number of territories per area and include in each of them a negative bonus area. this would force players to either avoid them or once they have them defend them well (to avoid the negative). somehow correlating to the book/movie where going too outside would get the game master set deadly traps on you to force you back in to confrontation.


did you read the whole hunger games trilogy? the clockwork arena would make a more interesting warlight map imho.

Hey, Thanks for the quick view :)

1) shouldnt the district starting platforms be in the area immeditaly surrounding the cornucopia? that is the original concept of the hunger games starting positions, to force people to choose to either go for the bloodbath or hide and get stronger in the periphery.

My main reason for putting the starting positions on the outskirts was so that I could make the map as small as possible while still giving the players options to move in different directions without dying in the very first turn (they are supposed to die on turn 3 or 4 in this setup). I also figured that although there was always a Cornucopia Bloodbath, it could also be likely that the Game Masters had once designed a variation in which the starting platforms were much farther from cornucopia (which would be how they learned that the audience would find it boring if there wasn't enough action at the start.

2) the idea with mountain/forest/plains/city is nice, and you have some specific elements there (tree house, caves, mines) but you should try to make sure they are somewhat evenly balanced in terms of income. plains including the center makes it different, also the city is a lot smaller then the others. if you're looking for clear unbalance that's fine, but i would assume you would prefer to have the larger bonuses more balanced somehow to possibly include a variant of the game with 4 starting positions for FFA.

I wasn't planning on assigning any income to the bonuses, I have them there solely for aesthetics and chat coordination.

My idea for the gameplay of the map was to have no territory bonuses (except potentially the cornucopia) and a limited income of one or two armies per turn and no neutrals, essentially creating a battle royale type situation, and forcing players to fight each other until they died to achieve victory.
Now that you mention it though I'll probably put in some normal bonuses so that other people can have more versatility in what they want to do with the game. (I hadn't actually thought of using this map with traditional settings, although I guess that it could work)

also, there is no city part on the arena described in the book/movie, so if you want to be faithful you should probably drop that and make it a 3 territory types spread instead of 4...

This map is just A hunger games arena, not THE Hunger Games arena. This is just supposed to somewhat resemble an arena that might have happened in the past in the fictional hunger games world. (e.g the 42nd Hunger Games)

I am, however, planning on building THE Hunger Games arena somewhat accurately once I'm done with this map. It will be much larger (2 or 4 times) and a lot more complicated than this one is.

3) without smaller bonus areas its hard to determine the balance of the map.

The map is symmetric in 3 zones (1. Mountains 2. Forest 3. Plains and City without the 6 central plains) and all platforms are equidistant from one chokepoint (the exceptions being district 1, 3, and 5 platforms which may choose from 2 equidistant chokepoints)

For the team based distributions the game is not balanced due to the geometric distributions of the teams. I ranked each district by it's "allying" strength and likelihood to survive giving the "highest" ratings to the districts in ascending order. (If District 1&2 are allied they will probably win)

4) the limits of the map should probably have higher number of territories per area and include in each of them a negative bonus area. this would force players to either avoid them or once they have them defend them well (to avoid the negative). somehow correlating to the book/movie where going too outside would get the game master set deadly traps on you to force you back in to confrontation.

I was planning on doing this for the next map already :)

did you read the whole hunger games trilogy? the clockwork arena would make a more interesting warlight map imho.

I didn't actually read the books, but I have seen maps of the clockwork arena and I was planning on making it for the third map. I just don't have as many gameplay ideas for that map yet.

count me in

from a quick view :
The circular map will be nice strategically and fits in with the barrier explained in the books that marks the border of all arenas. An arena from the past is a very nice idea , could easily be expanded upon ( say , map of Panem simulating the Great War ? they have maps of Panem on the internet ). Biomes are certainly interesting , as explained in testing it'll be nice seeing all the " Plains of Traintown 7, City of Pushover 3 , etc. " be given proper names.
As far as aesthetics and symettry and the ability to catch the eye out of the simple ecstasy of a circle , 8/10 ! Testing will be bring on the true results , as that is merely what I think it'll be.

The map looks really good. I actually thought about doing this myself

i do however agree with ps the starting spots should be near the middle although i do understand why you have done it this way.

i also think the map should be bigger. with 24 people playing there wont be much room to move about on a 150 territory map

ill be quite interested to see how the tests go but unfortunately im away this week so cant participate myself

This is not the Hunger Games arena from the book , though he is making that one , will be bigger.

Beta Version is ready: http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer.aspx?PreviewMap=23769

I'll start running some more tests on this version so long as I don't receive any strong negative comments regarding the aesthetic updates. (I may have gotten a bit carried away, so outside critiques are very welcomed.

~Thank you,
Endymion

Looks good thanks for making this

It looks lovely, except for the plains areas. Can you choose a slightly darker color to better distinguish the territories?

I'll be willing to test this. Perhaps playing it complete fog or heavy fog will simulate the need to hide from your enemies?

The map is now Public! http://warlight.net/Map?ID=10279

Thank you to all the testers and previewers.

A few general notes that I couldn't fit into the map description

Map Balance:
For the most part this map is symmetrical across 3 axises with the exception of the District Starting Platforms. Although each starting point is equidistant from it's male/female counterpart the spacing of district platform bonuses between one another gives a slight advantage to the lower district numbers (1,2,3, e.t.c). Especially in team based game-play this can provide a greater advantage to career districts which ally with one another, and also a greater disadvantage if they choose to fight each other. The rest of the map has been designed with this in mind and the locations of the hiding spots and traps (representing different playstyles) have been matched to create equalized play.

Suggested game settings:
Anywhere from light to dense fog
Small starting armies
Cards if doing roleplay
One of the 3 distribution modes
Any of the other settings you like

Suggested roleplay:
Each "army" represents a player's health and power (H/PP). During each of their turns players will have rested and regained some H/PP Which they can use to attack other players, scout through other areas, or to build up their own encampments. The fact that all players must leave behind an army of 1 represents that they leave a trail wherever they walk which other players can follow. Players can also leave behind armies to create traps and bases which can be used to weaken other players.

Recieving a card represents a random event which was triggered by the GameMakers.
Reinforcement Card: You have found a weapon or food which will increase you HP/P
Spy Card: Recieve intel about another players movements
Reconnaissance Card: Set up equipment to watch movements across a territory
Surveilance Card: Use mockingjays or other creatures to listen to movements throughout a biome.
Gift Card: Allow other players to cross through your territories to increase diplomatic relationships or lure their forces into a trap.
Abandon Card: Cover up your tracks and leave no trace behind you.
Blockade Card: Leave behind a trap to slow down your opponents.

When a player surrenders they have killed themselves, leaving others to go through their abandoned, trap filled, territories.
When a player is booted the Gamemakers got bored with the inaction and triggered a mind-controlling device which takes over the actions of the player.
When players vote to end the game there is a dragon hidden somewhere on the map which will awake and devour all of the tributes.