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Topic: [WIP] Europe map

Holloweye
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Joined: 2013-01-26, 18:10
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Pry about Widelands
Posted at: 2014-11-09, 20:47

Started working on Europe map. It's 512x512 in size.

Playable countries:
- Russia
- Sweden
- England
- Spain
- France
- Poland
- Italy
- Turkey

What I made so far:

I have a question about mapping for Widelands:
- Maps will not break when new versions come out right?
If so is it easy to upgrade them to latest version?

- Is large maps like 512x512 playable in multiplayer without any mayor lag?

Edited: 2014-11-10, 21:13

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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
Posts: 495
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Location: Germany
Posted at: 2014-11-09, 21:48

We have already a Europe map (https://wl.widelands.org/maps/europe/) - which should of course not stop you from making another one.

  • Map compatibility: There has been a big change after build 18, but the old maps are still loadable. I think we try to keep them compatible as long as possible because otherwise, they all would have to be redesigned (Widelands can hardly be played without maps). So good chances for you. By the way, an explicit update is not necessary - you can open maps also with a build some numbers higher.
  • Lag: I have played the Europe map linked above once against the AI. Playing was fine at low speed (<5.0), but (auto)saving took a while (about 30s). I do not know how such big maps perform in multiplayer.
  • A general note on big maps: While they are great for very detailed work, playing on them is not that much fun (my personal opinion). Besides the effects mentioned above, one can expand for hours without finding an enemy. While in general I like to expand and to build up an economy, it took too long until something happened. There surely are other opinions and you can do whatever you want, just consider this when creating a new map face-smile.png

"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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Holloweye
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Joined: 2013-01-26, 18:10
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Pry about Widelands
Posted at: 2014-11-10, 12:03

I'm having a little different approach to the style. Also my version will contain no bridges so that it's possible to colonize ex Iceland. The other Europe map seem to have resources distributed evenly across the map while mine will be more geographically accurate. Which might be little unbalanced but I'm fine with that, I think it will be interesting as weapons and tools might need to travel larges distances to support the front lines.

Thanks for clarifying about my concerns. The length of play does not concern me. Although the RAM issues does a little. People saying it can take up to 6 GB to run after 24 hours. Although I will continue creating the map and release it when finished if people are interested face-smile.png


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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
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Posted at: 2014-11-10, 18:41

Of course, more maps with different focuses are always desirable. Other players have other interests, and so your map will surely be played often.

The bridges in the other map were made because expeditions have not yet been possible at that time.


"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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dershrimp

Joined: 2012-05-11, 15:43
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Pry about Widelands
Posted at: 2014-11-10, 21:08

wl-zocker, I would be interested if you played this old europe map with an actual version. I also played it long time ago and I agree, it took too long until one could meet someone. The problem was, that at the point of first encounter I was already very much too strong for the AI. But I heard that some changes were made on the AI. Would the AI develop now stronger on a large map? I still hadn't the possibility to test a newer version than build 18.


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Holloweye
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Pry about Widelands
Posted at: 2014-11-10, 21:12

Updated: Worked on Spain and Italy


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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
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Posted at: 2014-11-10, 21:51

@dershrimp: I have only played it once, and that was some time ago. I think I got bored in the meantime and therefore I did not even finish that game. I had to wait for my soldiers to arrive, which took hours (literally), and I could not speed the game up much. These are the reasons why I will probably never again play on such a large map.
You are of course invited to find out how well the improved AI performs. You can read how to get the latest version here. Tibor (the developer who has improved the AI) currently tries to implement seafaring in the AI - until now, it cannot build ships. When you have a map that depends that much on seafaring, authentic results are only obtained after this improvement.

@Holloweye: Your maps looks very nice so far.


"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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Holloweye
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Joined: 2013-01-26, 18:10
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Pry about Widelands
Posted at: 2014-11-11, 20:50

Updated: Worked on turkey


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Tibor

Joined: 2009-03-23, 23:24
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Location: Slovakia
Posted at: 2014-11-11, 21:02

Hey, the map looks very good (those parts that are done), but I just noticed - where is Great Britain?


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Holloweye
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Joined: 2013-01-26, 18:10
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Pry about Widelands
Posted at: 2014-11-11, 21:30

Tibor wrote:

Hey, the map looks very good (those parts that are done), but I just noticed - where is Great Britain?

It sunk into the deep sea.... no but I did not forget about it. I will be adding it soon probably face-smile.png


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