This thread is intended to judge impressions of the various maps in Skytopia for the purposes of the Influence Game. Note, this thread is only about judging the maps from the perspective of the Influence Game.

Now, all players certainly may not have been around for all the maps, but we still appreciate your input. If anything, you can use your existing experience with the current map and look at earlier maps to try and judge them.

In this thread, do feel free to elaborate on which maps you've liked/disliked and why.

Skyrates 2.1 - Ring of Tortuga
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/Skyra ... 2.1map.jpg

Skyrates 2.2 - Rings, 3 Factional Areas
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/Skyra ... 2.2map.gif

Skyrates 2.3 - Hurricane, 3 Factional Areas
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/Skyra ... 2.3map.png

Skyrates 2.4 - Crescents (Current Map), 1 Factional Area
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/Skyra ... ew_map.jpg

I feel that the Tortugan ring and the current layout are rather well designed, the latter especially. Both have two main "core" type areas that allow for some complex action, and further out extremities for slower-paced runners. Last round's placement was nice, but I think having two core groupings adds to the action. With the added factions, adding a few skylands and using three core groupings might actually be an interesting idea.

I agree with Moros, in almost every respect.

The Tortugan ring was fun for trading. I think there was a lot going on with the NW and SE and ways to connect between the two that the simplicity of the design belies.

This current map is win on many levels, but exploring it at the outset was really a thrill. Like the first ring was for me as a total n00b. The multiple paths to everything reminded me of the Doughnut Round.

The best thing the last two rounds had going for them was the built in game of Risk between the three factions. My only suggestion would be to incorporate the terrority feeling of the last round into the arc model from this round. (5 arching spokes sprouting from a central noob core leading to a more spread out ring or all leading to the same cluster of "new air" Skylands?

Noob of this round speaking: Hurricane looks like the most interesting map of the bunch. The spokes effect is like pre-staked out territory to war over. The middle, a total battleground. (This is just a wild guess on my part.)

In this round, the factions picked arbitrary skylands to be "theirs." In previous rounds with factional areas, those skylands weren't so arbitrary. Border skirmishes and spherical spheres of influence would make more sense. Players have made contesting capitals illegal, which is fine, but with this map there's no sense that any capitals have been surrounded and closed in on. There's no line to draw around your capital, and I believe it would be more entertaining if there were. Lay it out a bit like resource fields in an RTS, and I think you'd have a winner.

A minor unrelated gripe is the current distribution of skylands. So many sunny temperate skylands are sitting north of frigid Eltsina.

I concur with the above opinions in that the current "Crescents" map works well and looks like an overview of a spiral galaxy, albeit with just two crescent arc arms radiating out from the "Capitol Corridor".

Perhaps a three, four, or five armed spiral (as Pierce wrote) would entertain a greater flexibility for influence running throughout a more territorial disputed map, as well as increased opportunities for trading play across more proximate arms.

I would like to see the "Capitol Corridor" idea retained. I also like the n00b area remaining off on one arm with it's initial challenge to escape the limited starting area, explore the central corridor, and then the more far-flung realms.

A small aside for Naavy, it seems to me that Skytopia is a world somewhat smaller in size than Earth, and so would not have significant polar/equator temperature extremes. The temperature differences could then be best explained by altitude, rather than latitude, as the warmer Skylands simply float lower in the atmosphere, and the frigid Skylands float at much higher altitudes.

Cheers

Some of the skyland descriptions already reference their latitude, though, so they'd need to be edited if that route is taken.

Seeing some better defined faction territories - defaults, even if the borders can be pushed back and forth through running inf - would, I think, be a neat thing; as it is, they don't feel much like distinct territories.

I kind of miss the Tortuga Rings map, that was good fun.

My one gripe with the current layout is the capital corridor concept. It simply doesn't make sense to me from a socio-political standpoint. your capital goes in the middle of your territory.

Now, if we had, say, 5 radiating arms, and the capitals were at the base of each arm, then the area "behind" each capital becomes obvious territory. I could get behind that.

But overall, I prefer hurricane or Ring of Tortuga.

Personally, I would prefer that faction territories not be so laid out, as an arm layout would create. Feelings of territory should be based on the whims of faction members, and should be able to change over time. It gives more freedom over the kind of interesting diplomatic scenarios that could occur. Having obvious faction skylands would limit variety, I feel.

I like the shape and variety of this round (large crescent shape, two "clusters"), but I miss the territorial-ness of last round of each faction having an area that was theirs, based around their capitals.


Thorne

Although I wasn't in the influence game in 2.3 and I haven't played either 2.1 or 2.2, I do have to say that I liked the 2.3 map better, in general.

I would rather have circular territories. A way that we can change the size of our territories based on the size of our faction. Like if a huge surge to brown occurs (which it won't) Lhasa would be surrounded by Brown skylands. If blue wanted to annoy red, we would take something close to Fuselli.

That's essentially how last round worked. A nice medium between 2.3 and 2.4 would work, with the attractive shape of 2.4 with the more random Skyland placement of 2.3.

I didn't play 2.1 or 2.2 but they don't look very promising for what the game has evolved to be (5 factions); so I would have to vote for Hurricane Map 2.3 simply because I think it would be the easiest to remodel and incorporate extra factions and fuel stops in a more organized fashion than the Crescent (current map).

For instance, the core would have no capitals, and no one gains influence until making a capital (faction) choice. Capitals are along, or at the end, of spiraling arms from the core, much like yo-ho donuts speckled with multi-colored fuel stops.

***I think it was ok to edit this so late since it didn't belong here, I moved it in its entirety to suggestions. Sorry for the Thread Hijacking ***

This is my first round, so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I agree with a lot of this thread's posters that 2.3's map looks quite interesting. Not to say that the current map is bad, of course. The only thing I really dislike about it is how desolate the Capital corridor is. It's quite horrible for influence running (cargo missions suffer because they're half the distance as something between the NW and SE, and combat missions suffer because of the crappy combat levels in the area and at the patrols).

Why isn't SR1 an option? http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/Skyra ... ia1map.png


'Skyrates 2.3 - Hurricane' looks fun, which may be why it has garnered so many votes, but with the addition of Fuel stations, additional Factions and a carefully selected list of what Flight License level unlocks which destinations, 'Skyrates 2.2 - Rings' ( http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/Skyra ... 2.2map.gif ) is clearly superior for the Influence game.

While I enjoyed always knowing which skylands were "ours" last round, It kinda took the fun out of it for me. I didn't feel safe running any kind of major inf. on the other skylands, because they weren't ours. I really enjoy the openness of this round. But that just could be because of the treaty.

Regardless, I really like the expanse of the map this round, it makes everything more challenging.

2.3, hands down. What's the possibility of putting in "Worm-holes"? Say as if there were 5 or 6 of them and if you were to fly into one (intentional only, don't make them a booby-traps) you would be spit out another one but it would be random so you wouldn't be able to plot through to a specific exit?

While fun, these ideas are not for this thread. Do please take them to a Suggestions thread.