One feature a day series #3 : The Map
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:39 pm
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The map, in all strategy games, has a paramount importance, as it regulates the flow of the game. This is especially true in CW2, as some avenues of passages were favored by the protagonists, while others areas were much more quiet. One of the difficulty we had to face since ACW1 was to represent in an appropriate way, the short distance between the two enemy capitals (Washington D.C to Richmond are only 150 kms away) while keeping the game playable anywhere else, like along the shores of the Mississippi or the vast expenses of the Atlantic Ocean.
These issues, were solved in part by a careful designing of the regions shapes, so that the game favors operations in historical manners. We also have terrains of various practicability, with subtleties like cavalry being generally faster, except in mountains, or anything horse-drawn literally hating swamps or marshes/bayous (we have a lot of different terrains!). Finally, we have this concept coming from boardgames (yes, we are talking of these games made of paper and cardboard!): off-map boxes. An off-map box is like a very big region on the map, that units can enter the usual way, except it represents a whole US State sometime or hundreds of kilometers of ocean. This helps us abstracts a lot of otherwise problematic events, like commerce raiders vs Union shipping, or the French intervention against Mexico (yes, that's a feature) .
That said, the map is still huge, even bigger than the ACW1 map! Some will say: bigger is better! Well, sometime yes, but for CW2 this was not our motive really. We extended the map in all directions. To the north, the map allows the British troops in Canada to be properly displayed, because as you know, they can intervene against the Union (for those not up to date on that, check the 'Trent Affair' in your favorite browser). To the south Mexico is here and the Caribbean islands (admittedly mostly reserved for 'future use', depending of your enjoyment of the game). To the west, the great plains lie, with their (sometime) hostile Natives and precious gold mines (a West campaign is already available with Sibley's Campaign starting in Texas). To the east, the map display much more space, almost to Nova Scotia, allowing a better representation of the northern states of the Union (in the previous game they were abstracted).
What about the graphical aspect of the map. It has changed a lot compared to ACW1. In ACW1, the map had a hand-drawn aspect, because this was the technique used by the artist of the time. This technique is really nice and we like it, but it was almost impossible to achieve on a map as big as CW2. On the other hand, the CW2 map is very clear on aspects that were a bit fuzzy in ACW1, like the terrain of each region, with colors clearly showing where you are stepping into. Anyway you'll still get all the features of ACW1 from the CW2 map, including the navigable rivers, so important during the Civil War, where ironclads, gunboats and emplaced artilleries exchanged countless blows.
[ATTACH]24221[/ATTACH]
The map, in all strategy games, has a paramount importance, as it regulates the flow of the game. This is especially true in CW2, as some avenues of passages were favored by the protagonists, while others areas were much more quiet. One of the difficulty we had to face since ACW1 was to represent in an appropriate way, the short distance between the two enemy capitals (Washington D.C to Richmond are only 150 kms away) while keeping the game playable anywhere else, like along the shores of the Mississippi or the vast expenses of the Atlantic Ocean.
These issues, were solved in part by a careful designing of the regions shapes, so that the game favors operations in historical manners. We also have terrains of various practicability, with subtleties like cavalry being generally faster, except in mountains, or anything horse-drawn literally hating swamps or marshes/bayous (we have a lot of different terrains!). Finally, we have this concept coming from boardgames (yes, we are talking of these games made of paper and cardboard!): off-map boxes. An off-map box is like a very big region on the map, that units can enter the usual way, except it represents a whole US State sometime or hundreds of kilometers of ocean. This helps us abstracts a lot of otherwise problematic events, like commerce raiders vs Union shipping, or the French intervention against Mexico (yes, that's a feature) .
That said, the map is still huge, even bigger than the ACW1 map! Some will say: bigger is better! Well, sometime yes, but for CW2 this was not our motive really. We extended the map in all directions. To the north, the map allows the British troops in Canada to be properly displayed, because as you know, they can intervene against the Union (for those not up to date on that, check the 'Trent Affair' in your favorite browser). To the south Mexico is here and the Caribbean islands (admittedly mostly reserved for 'future use', depending of your enjoyment of the game). To the west, the great plains lie, with their (sometime) hostile Natives and precious gold mines (a West campaign is already available with Sibley's Campaign starting in Texas). To the east, the map display much more space, almost to Nova Scotia, allowing a better representation of the northern states of the Union (in the previous game they were abstracted).
What about the graphical aspect of the map. It has changed a lot compared to ACW1. In ACW1, the map had a hand-drawn aspect, because this was the technique used by the artist of the time. This technique is really nice and we like it, but it was almost impossible to achieve on a map as big as CW2. On the other hand, the CW2 map is very clear on aspects that were a bit fuzzy in ACW1, like the terrain of each region, with colors clearly showing where you are stepping into. Anyway you'll still get all the features of ACW1 from the CW2 map, including the navigable rivers, so important during the Civil War, where ironclads, gunboats and emplaced artilleries exchanged countless blows.
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