Cygnus - Uneven starting positions

from AshesoftheSingularity Forums

On the map Cygnus, which is used in ranked multiplayer, the starting positions are not even.  In this case, I am specifically referring to the difficulty of initial expansion.  From the upper right starting position, it is easy (~5 seconds to spare) to cap both a radioactive and a metal region prior to creeps appearing.  From the lower left starting position, I honestly believed it was not possible until my opponent managed to do so in a match last night.

With the recent adjustments to creep strength, along with the archer nerf some time ago, failing to accomplish the initial double-expansion puts you at a significant disadvantage.

7,141 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

This has been brought upa couple of times before.

 

https://forums.ashesofthesingularity.com/476915/page/1/#3631679

Quoting Moomo, reply 6

Cygnus is my favourite map, and I don't mind which starting point I get. The lack of symmetry gives the map character.

...

With the way the map generation works, there is never going to be perfectly equal distances between nodes.

If there is too much imbalance in Cygnus which is leading to an unfair advantage, then it might need to be removed from ranked play.

 

Pros to bottom position:

The bottom position has 1 less node to travel to the central node.

The bottom position has 30% less distance to the central node.

(The central area is metal rich, which can be very beneficial to get control of it.)

 

Cons to bottom position:

The bottom position has 20-60% greater distances to travel for the starting 3 nodes.

The bottom position has 3-10% greater distance to the Computronium (Turinium) generators.

End of Moomo's quote

Reply #2 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Even the position in the mid is imbalanced. The bottom position has a disadvantage in mid and endgame.

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

I'll take a look. That may be the oldest map in the game. lol

Reply #4 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

The map has the same problem after your changes look at this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxix-BtEJe4

 

Reply #5 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Well something has changed because I can't anymore double cap the top position as you do. I guess there is no tester as fast as you at Stardock.