Here is an old age of empires map that i found in my projects folder and recently finished. This is the balance version because i've only played it by myself so there may be some issues that occur from more than one person being in the game. Also the units are unbalanced as their current stats and my first input with no tinkering.

Whats unique about the map:
[Multiple origional resource collection methods]
-Building mills next to forage bushes to be able to collect from them
-Building supply depots to spawn mineral patches which serve as farms
-Building lumber camps next to lumber areas to be able to collect wood
-Using fishing boats to collect fish from fishing reefs
-Random gold and animal spawns

[Upgrade system]
-Age up by having two buildings from current age + money sum
-Unit upgrades once you age up are not automatic...they are manually done at the bottom of the map. Therefore you can focus completely on barracks or stable units, etc. or try to have an all around decent army by upgrading everything.
-Multiple commerce upgrades that increase farm production and lumber income

[Races]
-10 unique races each with 1-2 unique units and a specific economical bonus such as increase farm output, half cost of certain researches, higher lumber incomes, etc.


**What i would like to have happen is to find 5 interested players to help me play the map a few times a day and use this thread to discuss balances changes. I think it would be best done in the thread so we can each read what the others feel needs to be changed and express our input on those changes...rather than working 1 on 1 and potentially messing something up.

I think the map is quite enjoyable and the pace is really fun. It requires you to pay attention to many different things such as keeping your lumber harvesting, makign farms, scouting for enemy players (random start locations) as well as capturable animals, and upgrading your troops/ages. I feel it will be very popular among the diplomacy/civilization crowds.

Post has been edited 15 time(s), last time on Nov 15 2009, 5:22 am by PearS.

Do you still have that Warcraft II -> Starcraft conversion map you worked on a few years ago?

I sure do bro. whats your bnet name i'll give it to you. I was thinking of porting it to a different tileset and changing the terrain and stuff around...because honestly that terrain is terrible! actually i'll just attach it to this post. i had thought i put it in the dldb but none of my maps are there anymore. sadface

<- Kept_Wheat

I remember days ago when u were first making that map. I was active. Good times.

well can you post some screenshots?

oh dang man whats up! i was looking at that map and the credits and i was like good ole kept wheat lol. dude whats your name we should play some stuff.

also about screenshots. bro its just like a ums kinda thing but i'll see what i can do. maybe i can get some good battle pictures where the players have different upgrades and stuff to kinda show how much customization there is and how you can play whatever way you want to. check back tonight some time.

Your name is so strikingly familiar... I can't quite remember where I've seen your name from, did you perhaps work on some old RPGs or Civilization maps? I remember you made or were working on some very high quality maps, maybe you should post them all up on the DLDB.

ya man i was active here a while back. i was working on a couple rpgs. one where the intro was the guy in the boat and then the weather got back and it had the storm sounds and the rain effect and he got washed up on a beach. best map i ever did w/ the barter system and item combonations and wahtnot. i released the preview map but then i joined the military and it was forgotten =[. the civilization map was completed though. its not really liked by many. it needs some changing and terrain revamp but w/es. this is my new project =].

Saying hi Pear, I have lots of ideas pumping that I'll try to feedback to you. Well after I wake up
Some of the top issues, concerns of the map:
-air units
-farm productivity
-terrain and field placement
-map target (2vs2, 3vs3, 1vs1, etc)
-walls and gates!! ;D

Updates:
-Multiple unit stats for balance
-auto make scarabs
-Garrison upgraded
-Enabled stacking for better wall making (to include gate)
-Removed viking special air unit, viking longboat
-Added viking racial trait, kills for cash
-Added random civilization beacon
-Added in game tutorial
-Adding Castle garrison triggering (still working on it atm)
-Added wall "Bastion" upgrade

I gotta go car shopping with the missus so i'll finish these edits and post them some time in a few hours.

Thanks for the help milk man. Too bad you hacked the mainframe and i cant whisper you on bnet ><

Hey PearS I think you should post up your old Civ map and the incomplete RPG. They are good memories for me, and it would be nice if I could play them again

What car you getting?

The map is awesome. I'll post some more when I get a better look at it for balance feedback.

iono she is looking at Tacomas. Apparantly she has always wanted one.

Hey man it would be great if you could play with us on bnet. some serious matches to find the real flaws.

Anyways! a new version is up with the above changes made. Also here are a few screenshots. Kinda boring; i always forget when the fun stuff is happening.

Some new screens from a fun battle last night. Got to play around with the new wall stacking and bastion additions. Also found out that keeps are entirely too strong so they got a nerf.

Screen 4: First attack on blue from the walled fortress i built to the north of him.
Screen 5: Getting pounded by the keep
Screen 6: Battle continues as I get enough money to purchase the champion upgrade. Me being an age ahead of my opponent is the only thing making this attack so dangerous
Screen 7: Figure i'll go back in with some siege weaponsahead of my opponent is the only thing making this attack so dangerous
Screen 8: Battering rams didn't work so i went back in with trebuchets. Also the spies upgrade was purchased which turned the tide of the battle.
Screen 9: Using my advantage from spies i attack blues flank where he has no keeps or guard towers. WIN! =]

its a well designed map and really does a good job emulating the feeling of playing AOE. The only thing that bugged me out was that farming requires way to much microing to be worthwile.

Ya i wish i could make it so you can build more than one at a time but i dont see a way without changing things a lot. I really dont ahve a problem with it. As long as you have a villager making farms ahead of the workers i never run out. Also with the horse collar, heavy plow, and crop rotation upgrades at the mill, the farms last longer so the problem is minimized even more. Also the chinese civilization has a bonus to all farms so maybe you should choose them =]. they are good at rushing. Also i fixed that flag thing. That sucks that black cant be a player color just because of a stupid little flag.

Updated version. Minor balance changes. Major addition is the Ability for castles to have garrisons so they are more realistic. build corsair to activate defenses. Thanks to everyone who is helping out!

I've come to find out that with lots of players this map lags a lot so i'm working on redoing a lot of the triggers to make them lag friendly. This may take a while so i won't be seeing yall on bnet. I'm gonna do my best to have it done by tommorow night. I don't know how map night goes now but it used to be a good way to play new maps w/ smart SEN folks. Hopefully i'll see yall there.

yea set aside from the terrible lag its an awesome game. This map really makes me feel like im playing AOE2 again lol. I just had another gg tonight, a win for me and panzer. Keep up the good work and ill see if i can help see which triggers can be fixed.

Also here are 2 things that should be tweaked
-Farms are completely useless atm, i have yet to see a player use farms past the 5th minute of gameplay simply because lumber is so much more efficient. perhaps altering the ratio of the 3 levels of farms to 300,400,500?
-Also ive noticed some special units like mayan plume archer is weaker than the elite skirmisher, which is awkward

ya i lowered the building time of the farm to a third of what it was. I can kick the values up some more to make it more worth while.