Switzerland

This is the thread of the Psymon's #5 map: Switzerland!

I present this map with a twist... no land territories, but connections, wanted to do something a bit different. Up to you to see, 42 territories split in 9 regions (including Liechtenstein), connected by railways.

This is my small tribute to the Ticket to Ride franchise, which is a series of games that I've enjoyed (and still enjoy) a lot, and which have inspired me (well maybe even more than that) to start this project. I have added some changes to adapt the map to DXII and the graphics are all mine. Please don't complain too much about the graphics yet, they are awful so you guys focus on the gameplay, and on the concept of the map.

All feedback welcome!

All those rail lines and not a SINGLE train picture?! SHAME on you Psymon

I think the reason people don't like non-territory based maps is that they require a lot more active thought put into how the 'territories' are connected and where the borders are. It's not as intuitive to find paths and figure out how many moves to get somewhere.

I HATE to say this, because it's a pretty map, but I don't think it'd get played much at all. But does that mean it should get vetoed from the start? Probably not.

I think the shading on the borders is a clever way to differentiate the regions. Especially since there aren't the classic territories.

That's a wonderful rail graphic.

It might be inconsistent, but I'd give thought to outlining some of the lakes as well. Zug and Pfaffikon area I think would benefit from it as would the southern lake in Vaud, just complete that dark blue region. Maybe St. Gallen and Kreuzlingen too.

I think on this map that maybe the extended country lines for France/Germany etc aren't needed? Although if you took them out, it might look very bland.

Love the font for the title!

I like it. First thoughts are ATOM (Bishop/aero project) no territory dividers. Hard to know if it will get played much, a change up for regular players is needed tho and it looks intuitive enough from a regular players point of view. I only wondered what those lines were, but I gather now that they are border lines between other countries. I'm unfamiliar with that part of the world but interested therefore would like to know what those countries are, so maybe labelling them might help people like me.

I will do something with the countries plus add a train on the top left corner but please focus on gameplay.

I don't know if it will get played or not but people will not get used to it if we don't provide a variety of maps like this one!

Makes me think of the trails and routes map that Glanru started some time ago.

The idea of the map is nice I think.

Maybe more of a graphical thing than a gameplay thing, but I currently think the map looks very busy with all the tracks. There is a lot of information coming at you all of a sudden, which makes the map slightly less intuitive. I would aim for trying to get the tracks less obtrusive in the overall image.

I think I addressed all the concerns that have been shown to me (except lake bordering, not enough time), and this is the result. I don't like these thinner tracks, they look jagged in some places, but I post them anyway to see if you guys think they are less obtrusive as Cireon said. If it's so, I'll have to work on them.

I think there is a need for variety amongst maps, as long as they are fitting to this site.

My personal opinion is that, connection maps (P2P) remind me of Conquer Club, but as long as we only use a couple of them, we will always have a better overall system aaaand let's also think about the comfort zone of those looking to come over to D12 from CC!!

I like Psymon's alternative map ideas, they can really add to the variety and choice available. It doesn't matter if it gets played in 2 games per month, it doesn't eat or drink and we might be pleasantly surprised to find it very popular.

Please consider the game-play stats & what game type the map would be most suited and make it good for a particular game. Not every map has to suit all game types, that's where choice comes in!

There are some connections that make my brain go FIZZ, such as Neuchatel - Solothurn. After years of playing bordered territory maps, my brain can't work with region jumps without a port and then normally to a sea bordered (outer) territory.

I think the smaller rails DO look more jagged. However, I still prefer them over the wider ones. I think Cireon was right on this. It just looks better with the smaller rails.

Gameplay is solid I think. I can't see any obvious problems. The bonus for Zurich St. Gallen would be better at 4 I think.

Maybe change the connection from Lausanne/Martigay to Lausanne/Sion? And take out a connection line or two in Zurich St. Gallen. I'd remove Zurich/St. Gallen and Schaffhause/Winterthur. Too much going on there.

I too prefer the smaller rails.

About the connection from Interlaken to Luzern do the rails have to go over the water like that? Seems strange.

Ok, new update, lots of small things changed.


Redid the sleepers in order to reduce jaggedness.
Removed the Wintherthur-St.Gallen connection.
Colours added around the lakes.
Moved some connections.

The bonus in Zürich-St.Gallen is set to 3 because it can easily get Liechtenstein for a +1 without increasing border number. The raw bonus is 3.53, and the added bonus would be 4.2. To avoid that 4.2 to become a 5 is why I went with the 3.

Lausanne-Sion would make the map even shorter than it already is (4 steps from Lausanne to Chur). I prefer to stick with Lausanne-Martigny. I removed the Winterthur-St.Gallen connection because Zürich and St. Gallen are quite important cities and I believe they should be connected.

I love you for this, this is soooo awesome, can't have that with bordered maps.
But it will make the map less attractive for newbies. Maybe even advanced.

The regions are not so easy to follow, being just outlines and it looks very bland with the same colour background throughout the country.

Ok, I added some background slight colors to ease the region layout.


Also added a connection, Basel-Solothurn because capital position improvements.

A couple of improvements and the caps. Easier than NZ


Lausanne is not a 6p cap, and 8p and 9p are just done by adding the corresponding numbers to the 7p suggestion.