Thank you,
Robert_E_Lee! I think I had a bit of tunnel vision and your post snapped me out of it.
The very first version of GT is something I created about 15 years ago. It was definitely much clunkier and had differences, but similar in concept. At that time, the map was 80x60 sectors.
When I moved from that early prototype to the GT you guys know, I really liked the idea of making large scale. I guess I’ve mostly been stuck on that concept since.
I was thinking that I’d create a user map system in GT2 where the worlds would be limited to smaller worlds. Rather than waiting, though, I’ve decided to take a completely different course of action.
I’m going to create a GT 1.5 that works almost entirely using the existing infrastructure. The game itself will operate the same, but the world management is going to change.
- There will be two categories of worlds: official and user. They’ll probably be broken down into two separate tabs on the GT site.
- Official maps will be the ones I add to the game and will still be large-scale (anywhere from 512x256 to 8192x4096). Official maps will end automatically based on victory conditions.
- User maps will be limited in size, probably having options for 64x32, 128x64, and 256x128. Users will be able to choose any of the usual game settings (start date, alliances, treaties, income, starting cash, lottery, country funding, etc.). They’ll also be able to set player limits, world passwords (so your world can be available only to friends, for example), run times, and victory conditions.
- The map itself will be created via an image upload, where the user uploads a graphic for the map and another for the raw materials. The script will treat any pixel under 50% brightness as water, and any pixel at or above 50% as land. The raw materials level will be based on pixel brightness.
- Run times will be up to every half hour. I could set it up so times can be completely customizable, but I’m not sure if that would get confusing to users. If anyone has thoughts on picking completely custom times versus just having frequency options (every half hour, hour, two hours, four hours, 24 hours, etc.), please let me know!
- Victory conditions will always be based on sector ownership. Either the map will automatically end when a player/alliance controls a certain percent of the map, or it will end on specific date and the largest player/alliance wins.
I currently do some custom work on each world, which includes the custom trophy graphic. In order to migrate all of it to one uniform system (official worlds will essentially be the same as user worlds, except that I create them and can flag them as official), I’m going to change all of that to something automated. The profile may just have a graphic of the map rather than an actual trophy. Profile stats will also record official and user world wins separately.
GT itself could certainly use a refresh (new interface, tablet support, etc.), so I’ll still have GT 2 in mind for the future. In the meantime, though, it’ll be good to see if smaller user worlds help expand the game’s reach and participation. If it works out well, all the more justification for an updated version.