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The Making of a Classic

In his recent GDRant (edition 32 of 2nd November 1998), Brett Todd rightly lamented the absence of `great open-ended titles' such as the venerable Civilization II and the domination of strictly linear, mission-based games based on the all-to-popular Command & Conquer format. Few of us who have wasted away our nights trying to conquer that last Zulu city would disagree with Brett's observation; yet I think there is at least one other outstanding quality to the Sid Meier classic beside its unique `suspense of disbelief'.

True, Civilization lets you build an empire and conquer a world. But how much fun would it be to build the exact same empire, and conquer the exact same world over and over again? Soon you would learn the best places for your cities and the preferred routes of attack of all your enemies, and the classic game would be reduced to a turn-based C&C scenario, only with worse graphics and more micro-management.


Civilization II - with random maps every game is different.

There must be something else that keeps games like Civilization on our hard drives for years while the latest hype products come and go with hardly a notice. Of course I'm talking about the random map generator, the wonderful algorithm that creates a new and different world awaiting exploration every time we start a new game.

Random Map Generation

Of all the elements of computer strategy gaming, random map generation is their only true innovation. Dice and rules, units and maps (or at least boards divided into squares) have all been known since some cavemen first thought up a strategy game as a pleasant diversion from the daily chore of mammooth hunting and flint-stone sharpening; but unless you were willing to hire a map creator and a game master there was no way to have a new map for every game, nor to have it gradually uncovered as the game proceeds.

Random maps have been a feature of many games fondly remembered by strategy gaming veterans: both versions of Civilization and Master of Orion, Master of Magic, Imperialism, Seven Kingdoms, the Warlords series. But the outlook is dire. True, SSG's Warlords series is alive and prospering, Imperalism II is under development, and Civilization returns with Firaxis' Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Activision's Civilization: Call to Power. But most new releases (examples include Caesar III, People's General and the forthcoming Age of Wonders and Heroes of Might and Magic III) shun random maps in favour of canned scenarios, later to be enhanced by add-on packs (for a price, of course) and maybe user-created scenarios (if an editor is available).


Age of Empires - one of few RTS games with random maps.

The only notable exception to this rule is Ensemble's very successful Age of Empires. Not only did Ensemble include a random map generator in their first release, they even enhanced it (with randomised cultures, cliffs forming natural barriers, larger maps, and a selection of predefined topologies) for their add-on pack Rise of Rome. Likewise, SSG's Warlords III: Darklords Rising adds new terrain styles, a larger selection of army sets, and a number of new game types and victory conditions for random map games. As it happens, both games are permanently installed on my hard drive and consume a far too large amount of my time - spent on playing random maps exclusively.

The Case For and Against

So why should game developers include random map generators in their games, and why are most deciding against it anyway? As we shall see, the interests of producers and consumers are opposed to each other in this issue, and the answers to the first question (why would consumers like random maps?) are exactly the reasons why producers won't provide them.

The first advantage is the most obvious. Only random map generators let us play on a new map any time we want, as many times as we want. Having a brand-new map for each and every game is especially important for games where gradual exploration of the map is a big part of the fun, and it is also beneficial to multiplayer games because it ensures that no player can study the map before the game commences. Not even the plethora of user-designed maps available on the Internet for the most popular games can quite match the convenience (not to mention the infinite number) of randomly generated maps.


Warlords DLR - King of the Hill on a random map with fog of war.

Sadly, it is equally obvious that the possibility to generate a new map at the press of a button is detrimental to the sale of add-on packs and similar compilations of canned campaigns and scenarios. Likewise, it might deter gamers from buying an all-new version of the game which they otherwise might have considered, if only for the sake of getting a collection of new maps. Usenet provides the evidence: as each version of Warlords III had been announced, comments by owners of an older version could be seen stating that they were still having too much fun with their copy to consider an update - unless it was all but given away to them.

The second advantage may be seen as a matter of taste. Clearly, random maps cannot convey the atmosphere of a well-written story as a string of scripted missions can. But random maps can do something else. They mercilessly expose the quality of the game system and, in the case of single-player games, of the AI opponents. Now is the time to prove how well-balanced all those units and facilities really are, without the aid of artificial conditions to enforce a particular strategy. And now we can see if the computer-controlled armies skilfully negotiate the terrain and adapt their actions to their enemies' situation... or if they wander about cluelessly, a helpless victim to all but the weakest human player.

Playing random maps also conveys a special satisfaction to the victor: you did not win because you learned the map hex by hex, or because you happened to guess the solutions to the map designer's puzzles, but because you mastered the game system and skilfully commanded your troops. Others may prefer a more puzzle-oriented gameplay but for me, playing a random map on an equal footing with my opponents is the most enjoyable, truly `strategic' way to play a strategy game.


Caesar III - fun, but as released the same maps every time around.

As Tim Chown pointed out in his latest Strategy Camp (6th November), this is where Warlords III really shines; and I would like to add that Age of Empires equally stands out among real-time games. The drawback from a publisher's viewpoint is obvious: creating a well-balanced game system and a challenging AI capable of handling random maps consumes a lot of resources for no apparent gain. If a set of scenarios is going to be designed anway then it makes no economic sense to not cover up any shortcomings by clever scenario design rather than by enhancing the game engine.

The Customer Is Not Always Right

Most games are written to earn a living for their designers so special features such as random map generators will only be part of future releases if they can be expected to increase the number of sales. Surprisingly enough, this means that all of us who want random maps with our games will have to actually buy such games, and refuse to buy games without this feature. This forces us to adopt a somewhat paradoxical behaviour: One advantage of random maps is their endless replayability but if we consequently decide that our existing version of Warlords or Age of Empires never needs to be updated then we will eventually force the creators of such games out of business!

So unless a sequel or add-on pack to one of our beloved random-map games is truly horrible and bug-ridden (and none that I know of is), we should adopt a more farsighted attitude and support the creators of these games by actually buying their products. Consider the purchase of a successor product as an annual fee for the many hours of enjoyment you would have missed if the designers had stuck with economic reason and not included random map generation, and you will see that in the end you made a good deal.

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