Dendra

24X24 128MB Desert/Lush Map
TA:CC Required
TAMEC v10.0 or higher required

System Requirements

VERY IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ!

This map requires a minimum of 128MB to run. If you don't have 128MB, go and get it - 64MB SIMMs cost next to nothing these days (relatively speaking of course). The irony is that I created this map on system with only 128MB when it should have required more - go figure...

Anyway, I ran several tests with a Celeron 400, Pentium II 300 and 450 and the map played well in most games with maximum units set at 250 each.  I would not recommend anything slower than 266MHz with 128MB, not unless you have more memory. Turning off the visual features on slower systems also helps, and does not really take away from game play. Listed below is breakdown of recommended (and tested) system requirements. 

Pentium II 300 		128MB		1-4 players
Pentium II/Celeron 400	128MB 		1-6 players
Pentium II/Celeron 400 	160MB and up	1-8 players
Pentium II 450		384MB		1-8 players (500 units per side - unbelievable!)

All configurations tested at 800X600 resolution and on a 10 Base-T LAN

Keep in mind that systems with even 128MB should have plenty of disk cache available. Using the specs above, load times will be kept under 1-2 minutes. Also, I would not recommend hosting a game with anything less than a Pentium II/Celeron 300 system and 128MB. AMD K6-2 systems perform on par with Pentium II equivalents with the Cavedog patch. If you are lucky enough to own a 500MHz or 550MHz system with over 128MB, you're in for a real treat! Remember though, memory more than processing speed is what really runs TA.


Map Design

Now that all the technical stuff is outta the way, here is a little something about the map itself...

First off, I must say that I was hoping to introduce a much larger version of this map. At 40X40, however, a 'Greater Dendra' map, if you will, would have easily exceeded 30MB (compressed) assuming that I ever finished it. The memory total for a map of that size far exceeds TAMEC's 18MB upload limit of course. Too bad, the larger map would have completed the upper ocean circuit and would have included some very nice new sections. The reason for the submitted map's large file size, however, is due to the large scale use of unique tile sections from both the Lush and Enhanced Desert tilesets. If TAMEC will host it, and if there is a demand, I will complete and submit 'Greater Dendra' in all its 30+Mb glory... Regardless, however, 'Lesser Dendra' stands on it's own and is quite playable. Enjoy!

This is my fourth map submitted to TAMEC and probably my last. I have a few other maps in mothballs, but Dendra has nearly drained my desire to finish these maps and make more (at least for publication). It usually takes two or three months for me to complete a map and a lot of effort - this map is no exception. TA Kingdoms may offer inspiration, but we'll have to see. Incidentally, my previous maps have enjoyed modest success at TAMEC and are available for download. All of these maps are graphically and mechanically sound, and have received high scores at TAMEC, so I would encourage you to try them out if you enjoy Dendra. 


This map was actually fairly easy to make at first, as most of the effort was completed before the map was even begun. The lush to desert transitions were borrowed from General Jason's 'Jungle Assault 4' map submitted to Tamec a few months ago.  This was the first map to my knowledge that included such transitions on a large scale. However, 'Jungle Assault 4' did not make use of any desert sections, such as hills or mesas. This inspired me to create a map that would incorporate both desert and lush sections. Because lush and desert seem to blend well (think tropics, ala Africa or India), I thought this would make for truly beautiful maps that would evoke images of ancient Egypt and India. I hope this map is convincing enough for all of you.

Using desert sections within a lush setting meant raising the base level of the desert tileset to the same level as Cavedog's lush tileset. Offsetting the desert tile heights from the set available at Tamec was easy enough, but the heights also became misaligned in the process. These were fixed and along the way, I came across desert sections never used before. In time, I decided to create a new desert tileset which is now known as 'Enhanced Desert'. This set is available at TAMEC under the Resources section.

With General Jason's lush/desert transitions and the Enhanced Desert tileset in hand, the map sections were completed in just three weeks. The process was also speeded up because I used a simple technique to lay out all of the coastal tiles quickly and flawlessly. If you haven't tried this technique before, you will wish you had.

When using Annihilator to lay down your map's coastline, set the gridlines option to 512X512 and enable the function. This will display a grid spaced every 512 pixels. 512X512 also happens to correspond with your map size because one 512X512 square is equal to one 'screen' on your map. If you create a 20X20 map, you'll have 400 512X512 squares. Most tilesets (and all Cavedog tilesets) utilize 512X512 tiles for shores and rivers. When creating a coastline, simply build it by placing the tiles within the 512X512 grid. No matter how large your map is, you'll always have perfect coastlines if you follow this most elementary procedure.  Surprisingly, not to many folks do this, and do what I did on all my previous maps - just put the tiles down and hope they all fit when your finished. I once spent three weeks fixing one map's shores alone! 

The last step to completing my map meant laying down all of the unique sections and features, which include rocks, trees, steam vents and so on. 


Dry River Bed

This section was originally added to the Enhanced Desert Tileset from one of the Cavedog CD missions.  Under normal circumstances it would be impossible to use this section in conjunction with any water-based tiles because units would appear to submerge when entering the gorge. Using some sleight of hand, however, I have managed to the impossible! Can you figure out how I did it? All I will say is that the area immediately surrounding the river bed offers a tactical advantage...

Sea Cliffs

Actually these are just modifications using the river cliffs tiles in the Lush set with one side removed - pretty clever, eh?


Lava Spires

I don't know if anyone has done this before, but these sure do mesh well with the lush tileset...

Other Unique Sections

There are many here that have not been used before on 3rd party maps. This is probably because these sections often have to be modified in order for them to be properly employed. This is usually quite a chore and takes a lot of effort - I hope you find them worthwhile.

There are countless thousands of features on this map, mostly in the form of trees and foliage. Every single feature, believe it or not, was individually placed! This is a task that I will never undertake again on a map of this size! Unfortunately (for me anyway), this had to be done due to the relatively narrow strips of fertile land that wind through the barren desert and along the coasts. Random placement of features would have ...


Map Strategies.

Dendra is perfectly playable with two players, but really excels with four or more human opponents. When playing two players, avoid overdoing it with your navy, especially if you start in the upper right corner. Allocating to much of your time and resources to the sea could cost you dearly on land. Anyway, have fun!


-Wotan





