Hey all!
It has been a hell of a ride for me! I started working on this America map 20 months ago. Initially my plan was to draw only the map, which was the most fun part for me. All the rest - terrain, countries, units, balancing and etc. I had hopes that other people will do it but alas, I was the one mostly pushing things forward, so instead of going live 10 months ago, the map is "ready" now
Nonetheless I had helpers and without them I would've been nowhere right now:
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Myth - Without this hero I had no real chances of completing anything. He created for me several helpful tools; changed a small detail in a certain mechanic of the game, after I whined it needed it; was always here helping me with hints. His contribution is huge, so thank you buddy!
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Nubby - When you see a new icon out there, it's all Nubby (I think). He has been silently adding or editing icons after our every change. And there's no way I would've done something like that, ever
. Yes, I can manually draw a map, but no way I can draw hats, guns and etc. Special thanks to you Nubby!
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Dr_Pyro - He researched quite a lot of historical data. Thus, helped with naming cities (There's one city on the map, which is all foleor's, you will know when you find it - it is/was a real city btw) and countries. Also helped me with terrain, initial unit ideas and item ideas. In general, was a good support throughout the development of the map!
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Quickstrike and Vaael - these two are responsible for item stats and partially country bonuses, considering that I had no clue what to do with them
So thanks
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Frans and Monacle - Two of the people who actually tried to help with balancing unit stats, but couldn't contribute a lot of time to it. Still, you know who to blame for the stats - me
- There are a lot of other people who came to help, then life caught up with them and needed to step aside. We are talking about all parts of the
development and
testing as well. mentioning all of them is useless, so I'm just going to say: thank you all! Even though your contribution is 0.01%
It is nonetheless appreciated.
- Lastly, Nuvelle & Co - thank you for giving me the green light to make this happen. I always wanted to create this map, so that people can have more fun
A few words for the map in general:
1. The most completed parts, which probably I won't allow to be changed, are: The map itself, terrain, city names, countries. So, all the basic stuff.
2. The parts that are completed partially, but due to lack of testers, might be broken are those directly connected with balancing pvp and training.
Currently, the balance is not like on any map. There are a lot of hard-counter pvp units, a lot of unique units that can do well versus unexpected opponents, some units that can be perfect in ranking but are more than terrible in pvp, so go out there and experiment - give me that data I really need!
And in relation to the new PvP balance, there is also a new training balance ... and I mean it - it's entirely new. Ofcourse, you won't feel it in any way - you still click the same buttons, but the numbers behind it are different. So, I
want to apologize beforehand if you find some broken units out there. I will try to finetune them before age start, but testing takes all my time.
Lastly, please don't rage at me too much if you don't like something. Keep in mind I invested in this map a very large part of my free time, which I could've used for my personal life. And I mean it - hours, days and months have been wasted in drawing, researching and testing the balance. Imagine some days, after 8 to 10 hours of work, I came home and continued working on the map 4 to 6 hours more. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, because I wanted to see this map done
And I do not regret my decision to do this. Maybe if I decide to create a new map next time ... I will just draw it and use existing units xD.
I hope you will have fun!
Of course, all balance related comments will be appreciated (check the other part of the forum with balance suggestions), however if you propose something - I will likely ask you to come test that something with me before we actually change it. Changing something solely based on calculations, without backing up that with tests - will never happen (if I actually decide to take part in the post-production balancing process).
