EPTI know this is my first post, but with the remaster I figured some people may remember (what is my favorite usermap) Diplomacy or War 1939. There were a number of versions, each with a subsequent title of some kind. (Final, NV, SE, BX, etc.) The main thing to keep in mind is that these titles just changes as a different developer takes over chronologically and brings some new dynamic slash directional change/aspect to the gameplay. So, to my knowledge, first came Final which introduces the whole European/1939 theme, being ripped straight and shamelessly from a world war 1 map. (The "Easter Rebellion that happens in 1916 is still in the game--dated in 1939--to this day.). NV2 introduces and is, to this day, the most balance to the games' unit ecosystem. SE introduces the direction that appeals to me: the historical contexts/beginnings of operations, roleplaying, and general ww2 theme of balance. These ideas were continued when the last and most prominent developer took over, Killer2121, in the later 2000s/early 2010s. Killer's main contribution was adding "operations" for minerals which spawned armies of units to attack players/locations. Those ops added flavor to the game.
Some background: I was young at the time, but I entered the scene towards the end of Brood War's natural lifespan. I went by the name DIPL0RWAR1939, because I loved 1939, and I hosted a bunch and eventually came to kinda/sorta knowKiller. (Saying I got to "know" him and TheNightWing are my claims to fame xD). Anyways, with the remaster I knew I had to come back. I finally got my sweaty palms on a copy of the BX3 (Killer's optimal work on 1939, in my humble opinion...). There are some issues wrong with the map and Killer2121 seems to be long gone, so I decided to man up and take over some tweaking duties myself.
I'm posting it here for everyone's nostalgic pleasure (and to make a name for myself, maybe!). The major change I knew I had to make was that I made the map's units spawn when the game starts, even if a player is not there. Before there were huge swaths of empty space on the map if a player slot was empty. Now you can treat it as neutral land. (Not completely fair, given the country's income, but I'd give it a good enough label.) I also went ahead and made a bunch of quality of life changes that were in my flavor. For example- I expanded upon the Spanish Civil war, I added a Polish rebellion, and I streamlined the spawn for the Irish (overall seems/feels significantly harder, but is more or less the same spawn in terms of numbers of marines from basic BX3.)
I fixed Afirca, which had a number of randomly placed bunkers and capital defenses. Seemed redundant since it overly benefited players who knew the routes and which cities they could snipe and punished harshly noobs. I moved the capital city in Central African Republic to Ethopia and made it into a "thing" akin to Finland and/or Greece. This is fitting for a capital, and it seemed wasteful to not utilize such a well-designed area. Finally, I fixed the lobby brief and objective menu to reflect better explanations for the rules/conventions (and differentation of the two) for noobs. It may be a bit on the lengthy side, but at least it covers all the quintessential bases I think--and succinctly too.
Also nerfed British slightly. In addition to the Irish adjustment...Overall I nerfed Battle cruisers around 20 percent. Fear not- the damage and armor and health are all the same. They just take 20 percent longer to make and cost around 20 percent more. Just enough, I think, to reflect the fact the map is bigger and has more expo in Africa (especially for the British) for, ahem, certain players who have learned to turtle to win. I also made the operation that gives the Brits--"Operation Big Bang"--Battlecruisers to cost an upgraded price of 4500 more minerals for a total of 17,500 vs 13,000. Again- nothing huge. I made flack cannons have 50 extra health. (450==>500) Nothing game changing, just a nice little change to help out on the defensive side to be more effective. (I figured 10 flack cannons that was an extra 500 health. It's notable but not decisive: Bombers are still the end game strategy.)
Finally- I buffed France in Africa. It now has a siege, some extra infantry, and--most improtantly--a medium tank in its african possession. Since france has no natural expo except the low countries (which sort of hurts itself to destroy given that its a sort of buffer to Germany) I wanted France to have a little extra humpf in its possibilities for Africa. Now it can't lose it as easy if France is lost and has just enough to be the dominant power down there; which I think is how it should be overall given Italy/Turkey have the balkans and middle east, respectively.
If you'd like the map: here's a link to Nibbits. Feel free to reach out with suggestions/comments. Whether a nostalgic veteran or noob, I do think 1939 is an underrated diplomacy/ww2 mode that everyone should try a few times.
- Blitzburns4 out.
http://sc.nibbits.com/maps/view/140310/diplomacy-or-war-1939-bx3
http://www.staredit.net/sc1db/file/3864/
Edit: Second link contains a more succint list of changes I made. Please check it out if you want more techy-oriented details, or a more generally well-written post.
Edit 2: Map had some glitches. I reuploaded it. Turkey now has its istanbul location back in its hands. (Forgot to trigger it to switch control.) Germany now spawns with a single less medium tank, but around 11 more infantry. (Six nazi soldiers. Five marines.) Italy's Rome recapture operation now doesnt prompt at beginning of game--as it should. Still playtesting Spain to see if its Civil War is too much. My inclination is that it isn't, for the same rationale that I explained on my Stareddit post. A certain 1939 veteran has foreswarn this update because he thinks Spain is too hard. Which is disappointing. Continuing to playtest and will post updates. Apologies for the inconvenience of having to redownload.
I may update the briefing to make clear that Spain is a very tough nation to play.
Edit 3: Decided Spain was much too brutal. I went ahead and buffed Spain significantly. I moved the strategic points near the northwest onto the capital, as well as stacked an additional bunker on the capital. I stacked three barracks together in a location that is secure. I stacked the armory and three supply depots in the mountain wedge to the northwest. (Looks visually appealing.) I added a stacked pathway to the northwest mountains, and added three flak turrets on the edges of it to prevent early drop invasion and to make the area feel like an integral part of Spain. Quintessentially, I re-positioned both the white and Spanish forces so the game doesn't start confusing for Spain. (Spain's army is positioned well now.) In addition, I added a trigger that announces to the World Spain's beginning Civil War and attack-moves Spain's army down to the first spawn location.
Edit 4: Reuploaded again. Miscellaenous quality of life changes. France recieves an extra 4k minerals instead of 2500 with the early trigger. The Italian Greece Op isn't garbage anymore. Spain is tweaked. Wraiths are buffed by 100 minerals and 10 percent production time. Italy's stacked supply depots are more south to make more room near the capital city. Added six more Nazi soldiers to the Polish attack spawn. See Staredit for full details/commentary.
Edit 5: 11/7/17
Reuploaded because of a game breaking bug where USSR's Poland forces wouldn't spawn. Also changed Spain again. See changes/commentary on Starredit. Apologies for the inconvenience. Fixed another bug where some buildings that were supposed to be white would spawn as player-owned. (Baltics for Russia. Middle East for Turkey.) This had to to with putting white strcutures in a nation location area by accident. (You cannot see location areas while placing units. The two don't overlay.) Turkey base redesigned to be efficient space wise as a QOL change. Cheers!
Edit 6: 11/26/17
.205 Is completely playable. This update in .206 focuses on redirecting the game focus BACK to Europe. Buffs to France, Germany and Russia with changes to the income of African Expansion. (Which is way out of balance.) Also fixed a critical exploit with one of the hero units [Dark Archon] Freezing German advances via exploit. Changed the Magniot line and added a choke from Germany into Switzerland.
Edit 7: 12/4/17
Fixed CCMU finally. Map population is set at 1550/1700 at start of game. (1700 being a hard cap currently for the game engine itself.)
Edit 8: 12/20/17
Updated some triggers for Germany and Spain. Went ahead and buffed Germany's early game a little.
Edit 9: 12/27/17
Did some Balancing now that CCMU is no longer an issue in the game engine.
Edit 10: 3/15/18 Still here folks. Just released a new patch on both websites for download. You can check out my detailed thoughts/patch notes on Starredit.
