Haven - Revision history

Poobaloo at 13:05, 22 July 2014

2014-07-22T13:05:45Z

Poobaloo at 13:04, 22 July 2014

2014-07-22T13:04:37Z

Poobaloo at 20:14, 25 August 2011

2011-08-25T20:14:25Z

Poobaloo: /* Province Names */

2011-08-25T20:01:18Z

Province Names

Poobaloo: /* Province Names */

2011-08-25T20:01:04Z

Province Names

Poobaloo at 20:00, 25 August 2011

2011-08-25T20:00:20Z

Poobaloo at 19:58, 25 August 2011

2011-08-25T19:58:42Z

Poobaloo at 19:52, 25 August 2011

2011-08-25T19:52:56Z

Poobaloo at 18:44, 23 February 2010

2010-02-23T18:44:55Z

Poobaloo: /* The Making of The Haven */

2010-02-17T21:10:01Z

The Making of The Haven

@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 Land spaces adjacent to rivers are considered coastal.  That is, fleets may move there, but a fleet on such a space cannot order a convoy.  Only a fleet in a sea zone (blue) may order a convoy.
-===Province Names===
+==Province Names==
 The names are taken from over 75 fantasy books, movies, shows, games, songs, places, mythologies, fairytales, folklore, and a few of them completely made up.  The more you can relate to, the more you were probly a fantasy geek growing up!

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:04, 22 July 2014
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	As typically happens in games like [[World War IV]], it is usually very difficult to obtain a victory with a majority of supply centers. As nations grow large, it becomes tougher and tougher to keep expanding, and too easy to force a stalemate. The Haven map was designed to change all that, by circumventing normal stalemate lines:		As typically happens in games like [[World War IV]], it is usually very difficult to obtain a victory with a majority of supply centers. As nations grow large, it becomes tougher and tougher to keep expanding, and too easy to force a stalemate. The Haven map was designed to change all that, by circumventing normal stalemate lines:
		+
		+	===East-West Wrap===
		+
		+	The Haven map is a sphere, and so it wraps around from side to side. Several spaces are drawn on both sides of the map purely to make the adjacencies more apparent. A unit will only be shown in one of the two sides so be aware the unit also exists on the other side. See for example The High Seas, which exists as a space toward the left edge of the map, but is drawn for reference on the right side as well.

	===The Underworld===		===The Underworld===

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:14, 25 August 2011
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	I hope you have as much fun playing it as I did designing it, and if this map ever gets played outside of [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com Diplomaticcorp], please let me know how it goes! Feel free to add any comments to this page.		I hope you have as much fun playing it as I did designing it, and if this map ever gets played outside of [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com Diplomaticcorp], please let me know how it goes! Feel free to add any comments to this page.
		+
		+	==Change Log for Haven 1.2==
		+
		+	by Michael Sims
		+	August 16, 2011
		+
		+	I don't take changing variants lightly or after only a playtest or two, since you don't get enough of a feel for the map to draw definite conclusions about the map itself. It is tough to discern what happened in a game of Diplomacy due to the players vs because of a map feature. After four playings tho, the time has come to make a few tweaks.
		+
		+	What to change? I didn't want to change things just for the sake of change. The variant is fun, people seem to love playing it (thank you!) and it's even been copied to other sites... of course the ultimate compliment. But I think it needs a few things.
		+
		+	What I changed, was...
		+
		+	* Nomads start on 4 centers and units. One common request I got is that the Nomads were just too weak. They start split up across the map with little hope of uniting their empire. Now the Nomads get a 4th life, perhaps a center to trade away in one region for help in another.
		+
		+	* Land of Sweets is no longer a supply center - it is moved to Fionavar, and belongs to the Nomads. The Faeries were a bit too strong, starting with an average of 2.5 builds (2/2/3/3) in the first 4 games. Now they may start +2, but finding that next dot will be a challenge.
		+
		+	* Northeast Corner revisited. All those dark gray non-playable barriers in the Haven 1 map made it difficult for powers to cross from one side of the board to the other. The changes around Sleepy Hollow tear down some walls, and give particularly the Barbarians a few more opening options.
		+
		+	* More Eternal Build Centers! Another one of the most requested enhancements. Players love getting a forward build point, and now there's 33% more of them to choose from. Icereach (North Pole), Devils Canyon (South Pole) and Neverpeak Mountain (East) are all EBCs.
		+
		+	* Fewer stalemate lines at the poles. We have seen many alliances develop around the poles and work from there. I don't know if this is psychological or a real edge, since you can turn the globe any way you want and have a new pole. Still it seemed to create some continental divides, so now the North and South Poles have a direct connection to the Underworld. Maintaining a continental stalemate will now require an additional two units to block the extra Underworld passage.
		+
		+	* Rivers, rivers rivers. Come on we all love them. They bring life, happiness, and... fleets! We were still seeing breakdowns at being able to cross from one continent to another - players either get too many fleets then can't invade, or get too many armies and get landlocked. Now you should be able to use fleets more effectively on land, as the rivers twist and turn thru the larger land masses.
		+
		+	* Several of the EBCs now border Rivers - making them even more valueable. Icereach, Neverpeak Mountain, and Whoville are all capable of producing fleets.
		+
		+	* Southern continent overhaul. That area looked ugly in Haven 1 and was admitted one of the last regions I had drawn... It had too much white space, and that made it too convenient for southern powers to arrange DMZs. Now players are drawn into heated conflict right from the start with the EBCs being reachable in the first turn. Additional rivers here make moving around the southern continent a breeze.
		+
		+	* Smaller map. 5 spaces were removed: Gollerus (by the Leprechauns), Adder (Wizards), Brandywine (Hobbits), Eridu (Barbarians) and Hall of Echoes (Underworld) are completely gone, taking this variant from 238 to 233 zones.
		+
		+	* Domino effect... The domino effect was carefully considered here. i.e. in slightly moving one center, like the Wizard starting home center from Faerun to the City of Splendors, puts them slightly further from the center of the map, which will have repurcussions of a slightly stronger Dwarf and Nomad - altering their opening moves, which then affects the Archers and Pirates, and so on.
		+
		+	Hopefully those effects created by these changes produce a more fluid game where each power has a good chance of winning, and multiple paths to go about doing so. Comments welcome!

	==Player Comments==		==Player Comments==

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-'''**** All the rules below this point do not apply to  [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc394, games currently in play].**** '''
+'''**** All the rules below this point do not apply to  [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc394 games currently in play].**** '''
 ----

@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 ----
-'''**** All the rules below this point do not apply to  [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc394, as currently in play].**** '''
+'''**** All the rules below this point do not apply to  [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc394, games currently in play].**** '''
 ----

@@ Line 177: / Line 177: @@
 [[Realworld]] adjudicator files for The Haven can be found in the [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com/variants Variant Library].
 ==The Making of The Haven==
@@ Line 198: / Line 204: @@
 <div style='clear:left;'>
 Also key in the initial design was the placement of the Nomad civilization.  In concept they are the scattered warriors that exist in small tribes, but in game play they fill a very key role - that is, a single player that ties together all the 3 major continents.  No longer can you diplome with only the powers local to you, for the results on another continent may result in changes to your own.  Akin to Germany in a standard game, a Nomad player must interact with nearly every civilization on the map in order to survive.  But done well, can lead to control in many theaters.
 At this early stage of the design, many of my large-variant concerns had been addressed, but still there was the problem that nations in the middle had very little chance compared to nations that started along the edges.  Thus I started looking at early ways to wrap the world.  I decided to wrap the world somewhat diagonal due to how the oceans had been laid out, and eventually tipped the map by about 50 degrees and redrew everything to get to the map as we have it today.  For finishing touches, I created a fresh icon set using images from my favorite stories and games, and wrapped the world with some imagery to enhance the fantasy feel to the game.
 I hope you have as much fun playing it as I did designing it, and if this map ever gets played outside of [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com Diplomaticcorp], please let me know how it goes!  Feel free to add any comments to this page.
 ==Player Comments==

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 The Haven was created to be the greatest [[Fog of War]] game of all time.  It ran in the spring of 2008, in [[Once Within a Fog so Dreary]].
-The Haven was played again in 2009 in dc224 - [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc224 Slaughter at Storytime]
+The Haven was played again in 2009 in dc224 - [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc224 Slaughter at Storytime].  It ended in a 6-Way Draw.
-The Haven is running again in 2010 in dc303 - [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc303 Furry Little Woodland Creatures ]
+The Haven was run in 2010 in dc303 - [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc303 Furry Little Woodland Creatures].  It ended in a 3-Way Draw.
 [[Image:Haven12.gif]]

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The Haven is running again in 2010 in dc303 - [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc303 Furry Little Woodland Creatures ]
-[[Image:Haven.gif]]
+[[Image:Haven12.gif]]
 ==Civilizations==
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 There are 102 supply centers:
-* 57 starting home centers
+* 58 Starting home centers
-* 36 neutral centers
+* 44 Neutral centers (32 Regular, 12 Eternal Build)
 centers are required for a solo victory.
 ==Map Features==
@@ Line 50: / Line 53: @@
 ===The Underworld===
-The Haven is played both above and below ground.  The underground passages are connected to the overworld at 5 points - one in each corner, and one in the center.  The crossover spaces are:
+The Haven is played both above and below ground.  The underground passages are connected to the overworld at 8 points.  These crossover spaces are:
 * Mount Nimro (center)
 * Cave of Ordeals (northwest)
 * Dragons Teeth Mountains (northeast)
 * Hoarluk (southwest)
 * Nowwhat (southeast)
@@ Line 62: / Line 68: @@
 ===The Eternal Build Centers===
-There are 9 special centers on the board, designed to create hot spots and extremely desireable centers to capture.  This is because any power may build in one of the 9 eternal build centers!  There is no delay in the holding of such a center before it is buildable.  If you capture one, you may build there as soon as it becomes vacant in a winter turn.  The 9 eternal build centers are:
+There are 12 special centers on the board, designed to create hot spots and extremely desireable centers to capture.  This is because any power may build in one of the 12 eternal build centers!  There is no delay in the holding of such a center before it is buildable.  If you capture one, you may build there as soon as it becomes vacant in a winter turn.  The 9 eternal build centers are:
 * Telmar (northwest)
 * Spiral Castle (northeast)
 * Dargaard Keep (west)
 * The Julianthes (central / island)
 * Myth Drannor (central / island)
-* Never Never Land (east)
+* Never Never Land (central / east)
 * Whoville (southwest)
 * Krikkit (southeast)
 * Spirit Pond (underworld)
@@ Line 77: / Line 86: @@
 Rivers are marked by blue lines on the map, and function like the standard game canals in Constantinople and Kiel.  A fleet may move into a space that contains or is along a river, and may cross thru that space provided it moves to an adjacent space also connected to the river.
 ===Province Names===
@@ Line 84: / Line 95: @@
 ----
-'''**** All the rules below this point do not apply to the [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=re003 game currently open].**** '''
+'''**** All the rules below this point do not apply to  [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com?game=dc394, as currently in play].**** '''
 ----
@@ Line 189: / Line 200: @@
 I hope you have as much fun playing it as I did designing it, and if this map ever gets played outside of [http://www.diplomaticcorp.com Diplomaticcorp], please let me know how it goes!  Feel free to add any comments to this page.
 ==Player Comments==

@@ Line 179: / Line 179: @@
 So from it's earliest stage of development, I set out to create a large game that would be fluid.  The initial map (seen at right) was rectangular with closed edges.  Key to this initial design tho, was two new concepts:  The Eternal Build centers, and the Underworld.
-[[Image:Haven_Making_B.gif|thumb|400px|left]]
+[[Image:Haven_Making_B.gif|thumb|300px|left]]
 * The Eternal Build centers (8 of them) were on the initial draft of the map, albeit in slightly different locations.  These special centers could be built in by any power.  Not to be confused with [[Chaos Builds]], the Eternal Build centers are very powerful and are coveted by every civilization for that lucrative ability to build at a forward point.  This draws players into conflict over these centers where players might otherwise be content to demilitarize.  How can you allow somoene to own a center, after all, if it allows them to bulid right in your back yard?
 * The Underworld (very early rendition, left) was created for a mechanism by which units could quickly cross the entire world.  You could enter the caves at one corner, and within 3-4 spaces, exit the caves on a completely different continent.  This 3-dimensional aspect to the game was first tested with the bridge concept in [[Pleasantview]] and was expanded to a separate map off to the right of the primary map for The Haven.  The Underworld was later enhanced by making it the Dwarf starting location, with access to the Mirianic Ocean, and of course - an Eternal Build center making so that anyone who controls the Underworld will have influence all over the map.
 Also key in the initial design was the placement of the Nomad civilization.  In concept they are the scattered warriors that exist in small tribes, but in game play they fill a very key role - that is, a single player that ties together all the 3 major continents.  No longer can you diplome with only the powers local to you, for the results on another continent may result in changes to your own.  Akin to Germany in a standard game, a Nomad player must interact with nearly every civilization on the map in order to survive.  But done well, can lead to control in many theaters.