Matrix Games Forums

Originally posted by Kid
I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I don't see the dot your taliking about. Is it on this map?

Hi Kid, thanks for getting back. Strange, the two green dots were there on the Alpha Strategic map, but obviously not on the Darwin one. I'm thinking that they were just examples for that map.

Would it make sense to link the size of the 'flag' icons to the actual base size, i.e. the more developed the base the bigger the icon? I think three sets of icons (small, medium, large) would do it. Could facilitate the orientation on a map with so many bases.

Kid,

This might be considered nit-picking and very minor and not worth the effort to correct but I figured was worth a mention.

On Sakhalin Island (north of Hokkaido) the southern port city is labled as Toyohara, Given the 60 miles per hex in WITP Toyohara would be located in this hex but it was 20 - 25 miles inland the actual port city was called Odomari.

Toyohara (present day Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)
Odomari (present day Korsakov)

Originally posted by LargeSlowTarget
Would it make sense to link the size of the 'flag' icons to the actual base size, i.e. the more developed the base the bigger the icon? I think three sets of icons (small, medium, large) would do it. Could facilitate the orientation on a map with so many bases.

Added to the wish list.

Here are several observations/suggestions/nitpicks for the Philippines map, philippines.jpg:

--The Palawan city/base "Puerto Principessa" is incorrect. It should be: "Puerto Princesa." (This has been discussed ad nauseam in earlier message posts.)

--Tuguegarao (or just the label?) is too far south. Its label should be moved one hex to the northeast.

--The Aparri label is too far east (on the northeast tip of Luzon). It should be moved to the north of city/base, at the mouth of the Cagayan River.

--If they aren't already, the hexes along Luzon's northeast coast should be mountainous, representing the Sierra Madre range. The Sierra Madre range is about as elevated and rugged as the Cordillera Central, in the center of northern Luzon (and where Baquio is located).

--From the label style, Catanduanes appears to designate a city/base. Catanduanes is in fact an island/province. I suggest that the label be removed entirely.

--There should a label, "Legazpi," to designate the city/base at the southern tip of Luzon. (Substitute "Legazpi" for "Catanduanes"?)

--MAJOR GAFFE: Samar is actually northeast of Leyte. The labels should be reversed!

--Ormoc should be moved northward, to designate the city/base at the north of Leyte. Note that Tacloban is actually due east of Ormoc. I suggest: the "Tacloban" label should be where "Ormoc" is now, and "Ormoc" should be moved one hex to the west of where "Tacloban" is now.

--You should add the label "Cebu" to designate the city/base south of Iloilo and north of Mindanao. Cebu is/was the Philippines second largest city (and native speakers of Cebuano nearly equal the native speakers of Tagalog).

--Note that Davao is a seaport on the Davao Gulf, on Mindanao's south/southeastern coast, not on the Moro Gulf, on Mindanao's southwestern coast. The "Davao" label is correctly placed; it's the icon locations that I question.

--Arguably, you could add labels for Cagayan de Oro (the city/base on the Mindanao north coast) and Cotabato (on Mindanao's southwest coast, on the Moro Gulf) and remove the Butuan label (if the map is otherwise too cluttered).

Although I can see city/base icons, I can't open a dialog box to view how the city/base icons are internally designated. I can only trust that these are named (and located) properly.

Gosh, the closer I look, the more I can find to nitpick. The map makers face a tough job, indeed. Still, these geographical details matter as much (at least to me) as whether the Yamato had X guns or the Corsair could fly Y miles per hour. Equal priority should be given to getting the geographical details right (or nearly so).

I dote on the Philippines map because I've lived there for six years (two three-year stints). I might critique other maps if I can find the time.

Thanks again for the opportunity to provide map feedback in this forum.

City to the east of Vladivostok is called Uglaharmensk, I’ve never heard about this city, and I can’t find it on real maps. Sounds very fictional. Btw I see both cities were taken by Viet-Kong, according to the flag.

One more wish, please, redo the map in 30miles/hex scale, it would be far better.

Originally posted by Subchaser
One more wish, please, redo the map in 30miles/hex scale, it would be far better.

Lol I don't think there is a chance of this. Look at the attached graphic. I printed out the map (at 1/3 scale) and mounted it. Look how large it is. I can't imagine how huge it wold be at 30nm scale.

Looks great, I’ll defiantly print it also, it’s ideal for strategic planning.

btw what’s with wonderful city of Uglaharmensk? :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Subchaser
btw what’s with wonderful city of Uglaharmensk? :rolleyes:

Good Question.

Kid,

Its not as large as the map for 'Fire in the East' so i think you should go to 30 mile hexes cause then you could claim the 'biggest map in a game' title!

Really!

You know youy want to!

Mike

Ps. Or 'Atlantic Wall' jeez i played that when i was 16 or so and my mom would not let me set it up anywhere but my bedroom; lets just say that there was little extra room for a path from my bed to the door!

Seeing these maps puts Gary Grigsby's interview in good perspective, is easy to see how massive this project is.

But he will go down as the Guru of Wargames with this one (including the rest of the dev team), I think he will be untouchable. Sure there are more popular games out there but they hardly rate on the same level...

Originally posted by Mogami

I still can’t see Uglaharmensk on this map. Although Uglekamensk is there.

This just modifies my question. Uglekamensk can’t be on the map also. This tiny village received name Uglekamensk only in 1961, it was called Severny Suchan before. That’s why I couldn’t find it on the maps of that era. Its population during the war was less than 700 men, (now it’s slightly over 8000), there were 3 coal mines and nothing else over there, no bases, no airfields, no warehouses. Why this village is on the map while incomparably more important places like Nakhodka are not.

One thing which would help a lot in judging the maps that
have been presented is a "legend" giving what each type of
"road" is supposed to represent. I believe the system only
allows land movement along some type of road---so what they
really are is a representation ofjust how difficult it is to get from
one hex to another. A guideline of what each represents in terms
of game movement capibilities would make testing and comment-
ing on the maps a lot easier.

Originally posted by Mike Scholl
One thing which would help a lot in judging the maps that
have been presented is a "legend" giving what each type of
"road" is supposed to represent. I believe the system only
allows land movement along some type of road---so what they
really are is a representation ofjust how difficult it is to get from
one hex to another. A guideline of what each represents in terms
of game movement capibilities would make testing and comment-
ing on the maps a lot easier.

Below is the information you requested. There are three types of roads: trails, roads and "rail" (which actually represents rail or major roads). You can move off road but it is very slow, and supplies won't be able to move far off road. In China, you may notice the field terrain, which represents trails going in all directions. The chart below shows the number of points (miles)that are accumulated each day by a totally fresh unit moving on the terrain type shown. Once 60 miles is accumulated the unit moves to the next hex. So on a rail hex, all units would move slightly more than one hex per day, while on a trail it would take an infantry unit 12 days to go one hex. Hope this helps. I'm not positive that this is the speed each day or speed every 12 hours, but I think it is the daily speed. I ran some tests and have to admit it doesn't appear to be working as it should, so either these numbers are out of date or the code needs some adjusting. Assume these are daily travel distances.


requires 60 move points to enter new hex

i32_t roadSpd[5][4]= (none / trail / road / rail)
{
{0,0,0,0},
{0,3,15,70}, // static
{0,4,20,70}, // art
{0,5,25,70}, // inf
{0,6,40,70}, // mech
};
i32_t marchSpd[5][6]=
{
{0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,3,2,1,3,1}, // atoll,clear,woods,mountain,desert,swamp (static)
{0,4,3,2,4,2}, // atoll,clear,woods,mountain,desert,swamp (art)
{0,5,4,3,5,3}, // atoll,clear,woods,mountain,desert,swamp (inf)
{0,6,3,2,6,2}, // atoll,clear,woods,mountain,desert,swamp (mech)
};

terrain defense multiple
atoll 1
clear 1
woods 2
mountain 3
desert 1
swamp 3

One thing that would help a lot is having the possibility to see the malaria value and terrain type in a specific hex, just as it is the airfield and port values.Sometimes is not easy to see if the terrain is swamp, jungle or mountain, if it has road or a railroad, ... I think that in UV you could only see i f there was a BEACH or not.Or perhaps am I wrong (usually bases are on beaches and are the most likely combat zones)?

Hello,

the National Geographic Society has all the maps it ever produced in a CD-ROM set available at good map stores or direct from them or Amazon.com for around $120. Why not get those as a reference set for your map guys?

Originally posted by caine
One thing that would help a lot is having the possibility to see the malaria value and terrain type in a specific hex, just as it is the airfield and port values.Sometimes is not easy to see if the terrain is swamp, jungle or mountain, if it has road or a railroad, ... I think that in UV you could only see i f there was a BEACH or not.Or perhaps am I wrong (usually bases are on beaches and are the most likely combat zones)?

We have a hot key for terrain right now. We will see about the Malaria.

Originally posted by Pascal
Hello,

the National Geographic Society has all the maps it ever produced in a CD-ROM set available at good map stores or direct from them or Amazon.com for around $120. Why not get those as a reference set for your map guys?

Can you get 1939 maps?