Design of Canals PUD

Since I got lots of positive feedback on my first PUD movie, Land and Sea, I have created another one for Canals. Canals is quite different, being a geometric design, and uses a couple of techniques not shown in the previous movie.

The idea for canals grew out of an email I was writing to someone who submitted a sea PUD that looked like most other eight player sea PUDs. In the email, I made a list of ideas for a sea pud that would be unique and not just another '8 players on islands' type map. After finishing the letter I thought, "hmmm ... that sounds like a good idea - why don't I just do that myself". So, I never sent the email, but used my list to make a new pud and the result is Canals. Canals is really a hybrid of several maps, combining some of the best features of each:

• Spiral - The only mines are on the main islands and expansion mines are vulnerable to direct sea attack.
• Water Maze - Using a geometric design and the general look and feel.
• Bayou - Has channels which make ships vulnerable to attack from land.

MugWump (aka Bill Wright)

	Since this is a geometric map, I start with a PUD file with a fine grid of walls which allows me to precisely lay out the channels and islands. Before beginning the actual creation of the PUD, I went through numerous iterations on graph paper using a 16x16 grid which matches the grid in the grid PUD file.
	I want a complete channel around the perimeter, so I draw that first.
	Now, using the drawing on graph paper as a basis, I place a 3x3 water block at each node along the desired channels. These blocks are centered on the node points.
	Next, I connect the water blocks to make continuous channels and widen the channels to 4 tiles wide. Since I am done using the grid, I erase all the walls.
	On island sea maps, building area is usually critical. This is because the area is limited to start with, plus the smaller the area, the more buildings must be built right next to shore and are vulnerable to direct sea attack. To assure that all islands are equal, I perform an 'area test' by filling all the islands with buildings and calculating the total area of each. Using PUD Broswer, which displays how many buildings of each type each player has, simplifies this process. A more detailed description of an area test may be found on the PUD Making Guidelines page.
	Based on the area test, I make some adjustments in the island sizes. Now I place the gold mines, oil patches, and starting positions. I want the main mines to be protected from sea attack but the expansion mines vulnerable to direct sea attack.
	Now I add trees - attempting to use the positions of the trees to direct players to the proper coast to build a shipyard which is near an oil patch. As you will see below, this was not entirely successful.
	I do a chop test (see PUD Making Guidelines page) and make any necessary adjustments in the tree formations. The only remaining task is to add a town hall, a farm and a peon as default units. I intentionally place the farm in the direction of the closest oil patch as a hint as to where to build a shipyard.
	Play testing revealed a flaw: The distribution of the oil patches is such that if black builds a shipyard on the wrong coast, he won't have an oil patch available anywhere close. To better balance the oil patches I moved one of the center patches and one of the upper right patches to different positions and adjusted the coastlines of the adjoining islands accordingly. This problem has now been fixed.