This is the final version of MegaRandom which is also going to be used for WCL 7.
Description:
MegaRandom is a rich set of various maps which concentrates on generating a different map every time. It is based on the ideas of its predecessors (Ultrarandom, ES@The_Unknown, 0verkill etc..) but it differs and surpasses them in several crucial ways.
Firstly, unlike ES@The_Unknown or 0verkill which generate land and terrain randomly and therefore often create unfair or uninteresting maps, MegaRandom uses 150 fixed map layouts some of which have been played before. These include Ultrarandom_v3/v4/v5 (maps from all three sets), ES maps (such as Shipwreck, Canals, Metropolis..), MFO maps (such as Rumble, Four Seas, Double Arabia..), basic FR maps (such as Oasis, Highland, Yucatan...), fixed EC maps (from Extreme Challenge Tournament), and other maps with interesting layouts that have been created by various users including myself.
Then, after choosing one of these layouts, MR further randomises it with elevation and connection. For example, if Islands are chosen, all lands may be connected, or just teamlands may be connected or there may be no connections at all. In some cases there is also extra land or slight variety in terrain. For most maps this has a huge impact on the way it is played and adds still more unpredictability.
Next, when it comes to players' starts, almost everything is randomised. They can no longer rely on having exactly 8 sheep, 2 boars, 4 deers etc. They have to work with what they find (of course, all players have the same amount of food). There can be from 2 and up to 12 sheep, 0-4 boars, 2-16 deers etc. Fish density also varies but within playable limits. And it is not different with gold, stone or relics. There can be only 2 blocks or several huge piles. Since gold and stone are randomised seperately, players can also end up having plenty of stone but little gold or vice versa.
Last but not least, there is also great randomness in the way players appear on the map. Although the standard TC, villagers and a scout/eagle is the most frequent start, you can also experience a nomad start (with villagers only), a 2TC/3TC start (such as Double Arabia by MFO, or ES@Metropolis), you can be missing a scout/eagle, you can have 2 scouts/ealges, or you can have 2 horses, a Hunting Wolf, a spearman, a militia, or skirmishers instead. You can start with an extra monk, with extra villagers, or with additional buildings such as houses, towers, bombard towers, outposts, keeps, a castle, a monastery, an archery range or barracks, and you can also start in arena style - surrounded by a stone wall, or alternatively a palisade wall. As always, all these combinations have been made so that there is no unfairness issue.
Unfairness has been the problem of most previous attempts at unpredictable random maps and I believe that MegaRandom has successfully managed to avoid that and can therefore be suitable for all players, including professionals.
Changes to MegaRandom (beta):
- When extra villagers appear, each civilisation only gets 3 of those, so Chinese have 9, Mayans 7, the rest 6.
- Extra stable has been replaced by a monastery since Aztecs and Mayans had no use for it and there was no way to give those civilisations an archery range or barracks instead
- Castle, Bombard Towers, Towers, Walls and Palisade Walls have been given less probability since they tend to reduce variety in playability. It's now down to about 2-4 %
- When maps with random zone appear (such as Archipelago), teams are always connected so they can trade if necessary.
- Gold and Stone piles never appear on the shore (there are a few exceptions such as Scattered Islets, Outward Bound, Pilgrims, Tiny Migration, etc... but it hardly matters in those cases)
- The probability of 4 boars has been reduced to 5%, furthermore, no more than 2 boars can appear if there are a lot of deers. This prevents a ridiculous abundance of food.
- More avian variety added, now there's a possibility of a hawk, macaw, both or the stormy dog. All in low numbers as not to disturb the players.
- The possibility of a nomad start has been reduced from 20% to 8%
- When there is a nomad start, villagers appear much closer to their starting areas so they find all their allotted food but still have the opportunity to position their TC in a strategically advantageous way
- When there is a nomad start, extra sheep appear all over the map so that players do not end up "lost in the dark"
- The order of placing objects has been changed so incidents of missing boars/deers will no longer occur
- When Deathmatch is selected, the map is automatically altered: there are no straggler trees, no sheep, no boars, no deers, no berries and there is a maximum amount of gold and stone.
- Players always get at least 2 starting sheep near their TCs so they don't starve right at the beginning
- When DoubleTC maps are selected, players always have TCs, that is, there is not a possibility of a nomad start.
- CA has been removed and replaced by 2 horses (cannot attack, low LOS but are fast and 2 of them will nicely test players' abilities to scout and control the economy at the same time).
- As alternative scouts, a spearman, skirmisher and a militia have been added (low probability, though: 1% each)
- in addition to Watch Tower and Bombard Tower, a Keep and an Outpost have been added.
- Water elevation can now occur in other map types besides Tsunami, the overall probability of it appearing is about 1%
- Gold, stone, deer and fish variety has been improved
- More than 38 new map types have been added and some not-so-perfect ones have been removed
- some bugs of individual maps have been fixed
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