Vortex Wars

I think it'd be interesting to have maps where some tiles start with neutral armies. I imagine this wouldn't be too difficult to add in, considering that when players leave, it essentially does the same thing. This would allow you to have a map that changes dynamically as the game goes on. A strong defensive position at the game start may melt away once people start getting 8's. This would be particularly dramatic in random reinforcement games, as you could have neutral armies of varying strengths that can, on average, only be defeated after a certain stage of the game. It gives people defended spawn points, but could avoid scenarios where a draw is forced by having too few entrances.

Adding them to the map editor would be pretty cool. I can already see people making bomberman... And terrible maps with 8 spawn points, and neutral 8's everywhere else. But I'm sure there'd be plenty of cool stuff...

That would actually be quite a great idea. Bravo to you for thinking of that. I caqn definately agree with the frist part, that would definately be something that would work to add even more strategy to map. To have something that could only be passed later on... That would be nice. Are you suggesting it as something someone would choose to add when they can choose hardcore or no race bonus or whatever? It could be weird having maps where they are all in exactly the same place each time. People might end up making maps that a=were just too... weird (could be tough for anyone who wanted to play without this. But other than that this is definately a great idea!

Do you mean neutral armies like some kind of bots?

I think he means non-moving spaces that are occupied by a set army. It won't move, essentially it will act as if a player took that spot, and then quit. They will do nothing but will still be road blocks. It is a good idea.

I think aggressive neutral land would also be a neat idea. Sort of like the suggestion a while back about surrendered players' lands staying active, the territories would receive borders-mode reinforcements and randomly attack adjacent territories. They would not expand or move.

AI's would be fun to (I think Lopdo is planning on adding AI's in the future right???)

Another side effect of this addition would be the ability to create maps with a set number of spawn points. You could fill all but 8 spaces with 1's, which would give enforced spawn points, and only slightly slow down the game. You could even use it as a lazy way to add spawn points by having neutral 0's.

yup

Also, you could allow these neutral races to be stacked higher than 8. That would make it unlikely for anyone to attack them unless the game would otherwise be a draw, allowing for maps to be designed to make stalemates less prevalent without changing earlier game dynamics. You could have a neutral 10 that you could defeat to open a new point of attack, or a higher value in attrition that you would whittle away at to gain a nice land reserve, or something like that.

Basically, this opens up a lot of possibilities, is easy to implement, doesn't effect game balance at all, and would be entirely optional based on map choice.

sounds fun! i would try it out