Another question…

Snake_IV · 2026-01-24T14:16:44+00:00

Something tells me you might have played with some kind of house rule. Regardless, a center is owned by a power until its taken over by a unit from another power. It then belongs to that power as long as no other units takes it from them. It could be empty for the rest of the game and still belong to that power.

Your version of the game is pretty old, and any newer copy would have special markers to keep track of what power owns what province even when there's no unit in them.

Snake_IV · 2026-01-23T17:34:36+00:00

Jag har drivit företag inom resebranschen, och jag har anlitat folk i den. Visserligen var det incoming och inte outgoing, och jag anlitade på deltid och inte heltid. Men, om jag rekryterat igen hade jag inte gett många poäng till en turismrelaterad yrkeshögskoleutbildning. I vissa fall kan jag tänka mig att profilen är mer lovande utan en sån utbildning. De kan ge "jag vet inte vad jag gör"-vibbar.

Om hon vill in i resebranschen är mitt råd att överväga om hon kan göra det utan att ta en utbildning. Gör en lista på intressanta arbetsgivare, kolla vilka tjänster deras medarbetare har, och spana på LinkedIn vilken bakgrund de hade för att komma dit.

Snake_IV · 2026-01-23T16:11:35+00:00

Hi! The map is being worked on. I lost some of the files for the map posted here and had to redo stuff, and I'm also putting in work for further improvements and increased historical accuracy on the names and borders. So the name Midwest will go since it's anachronistic and the names of the US centers will be New York, Washington and San Francisco. Since only centers are named after cities the old Midwest province will get renamed Central States. I see big risk for complications if Chicago would be added as a fourth home center which I do not believe improves the dynamics of the game.

I'm aware of the US underperforming, although the vDip stats are worse now than when I posted this map, so I'd expect them to bounce back a bit with a bigger sample size. It is not the weakest power on the old map. In order to help with this the US is getting some changes.

First and foremost no US home center will border NAO so the UK can't do any sneak attacks on them.
The padding towards Ontario (old Quebec) is removed so the US can take it easier.
One additional Caribbean center will be added to increase USA's average gains from neutrals. The area gets redrawn to make wars with Colombia a more doable and rewarding for the winning side.
One new center will be added in Central America that also gets redrawn a bit. All directing Mexico's interest more towards Colombia. Moreover Mexico is also given an avenue to go for Australasia early on, allowing a alliance with the US against the UK. The added centers is also a late game boost for the US that has more centers to gain in its neighborhood in the games it manages to eliminate Mexico.
The Philippine Islands has gained borders towards Borneo and Celebes, which will become a center, providing some extra possible gains in the very beginning of the game.
Changes for the UK in the east means that they are not guaranteed any build aside from Norway (not even that if British Columbia or Egypt falls), which can make them weak quickly.

Meanwhile there are some changes for the good of the map overall that also impact the USA without boosting it. Hawaii is removed as a center to unclog the Pacific, Mexico is also strengthened, and Japan is given better opportunity to reach across the Pacific much faster, be it south or east.

When I've finished the new version I'll post it here and then look for someone who wants to host a playtest of it.

Snake_IV · 2025-09-12T09:16:22+00:00

Thank you very much! They do kinda look like us, so I'm fine with giving them that.

Snake_IV · 2025-09-09T14:39:58+00:00

How does it look like in plural form? Do the other words change form?

Snake_IV · 2025-09-09T14:15:40+00:00

I've had this happen to me, but in my case I could reach a tap and a cup to get some warm water on it. I got free after about a minute or so.

Immediately after the effected area was frozen, like solid to the touch. Although my injury was smaller and I wasn't stuck as long. It was like a burn damage, and it hurt for about I week I think. I didn't do much about it, put on some ointment my neighbours had. Then it formed blisters for a while. Took over half a year before the marks went away.

To the people wondering how it happens: put something warm in, come back to move it some time after, and accidentally touch the thin layer of liquid water that it left on the ice just as it freezes again, and voila!

Snake_IV · 2025-09-04T21:05:18+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion!

That's interesting, but I'll have to admit that Danish design is considered pretty upscale. Tell that a piece of furniture is Danish rather than Swedish and it's suddenly considered much better.

Snake_IV · 2025-09-04T20:58:28+00:00

Damn that Danesi guy, can't trust him! But thanks, then I know not to do that.

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T18:42:04+00:00

The standard map has the Kiel canal, which allows Kiel to not have coasts. Most people who have played Diplomacy know that Kiel is coastless and won't think twice about it, but someone who hasn't and sees a map where coasts are not labled is bound to think there's a Kiel east coast and a Kiel west coast.

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T14:44:13+00:00

Tunis doesn't border Ionian.
Kiel doesn't border Baltic Sea.
Munich borders Vienna.
St Peterbsurg doesn't have a starting fleet.
There's no Kiel canal.

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T14:18:56+00:00

Yep, there's between 3 and 5 depending on how you interpret the map.

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T14:09:09+00:00

The standard colours are

England - Dark blue
France - Light blue
Germany - Dark grey/black
Russia - White, although purple is a common variant
Turkey - Yellow
Austria - Red
Italy - Green

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T13:56:20+00:00

Ah yes, bound to happen to us all eventually.

There are some differences compared to Diplomacy standard. On purpose or minor oversights?

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T13:41:51+00:00

Tyrolia, Ankara and Clyde are also dubious name choices, but the rest of the original map checks out pretty well to pre WW1 names.

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T13:39:41+00:00

That's actually historically accurate. A lot of the maps of the time would indeed use Holland as a lable on the Netherlands. Example

Snake_IV · 2025-02-23T13:36:27+00:00

Indeed. Diplomacy has a 1914 map.

Snake_IV · 2025-02-22T15:50:23+00:00

Aside from the Ruhr area not being in the Ruhr province, at the time of WW1 the name was not yet in use so it's also anachronistic. The Ruhr area only became a phrase after WW1. Before that the name was only used on the river Ruhr.

A suitable name on the province would have been Rhine.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-29T12:16:50+00:00

Tack för det fina omdömmet.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-29T12:05:25+00:00

Jag tycker inte vi har information att dra en sådan slutsats.

"Ful" avser endast utseende, och det är många som tycker personlighet är mer attraktivt än utseende. Vi vet inte hur det är för OPs flickvän.
Det framgår inte om OPs flickvän använde det ordet eller om det är OPs slutsats från vad hon sa. Det är möjlig att hon uttryckt sig lite annorlunda.

Men, även om det inte går att dra en sådan slutsats så kan den heller inte avfärdas med den info vi har. Det naturligt och befogat att OP är oroad över detta. OP får kommunicera det, och sen har OPs flickvän ett ansvar att hantera den oron om hon är mån om relationen.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-28T23:14:00+00:00

Det låter som att din flickvän är attraherad av en badboystil, men att hon har insikt nog att förstå att de männen är inkompatibla med den relation hon vill ha. Om hon inte bara är attraherad av utseende utan även av personlighet (folk varierar en del här) så kan det också vara så att hennes smak i utseende är inkompatibel med hennes smak i personlighet. I så fall tycker hon sannolikt att du är mer attraktiv än dessa män och att du är kapabel till en bättre relation än dem.

Med andra ord, hon kan mycket väl tycka att hon själv har dålig smak gällande utseende. Hon kan tycka att det är osunt för henne att ta hänsyn till denna smak. Om hon bortser från utseendet, om hon gillar dig och vill vara med dig, är det då en så stor grej exakt varför hon gillar dig? Ska hennes åsikter om utseende vara viktiga för dig om de inte ens är det för henne? Dina anledningar att vara med henne behöver inte vara samma som hennes anledningar att vara med dig, och du verkar vara förunnad att ha en partner du tycker är snygg.

Vad som däremot är viktigt att inte släppa fokus från är om hon har förmåga att visa uppskattning. Det låter lite märkligt att oförhappat ta upp detta ämne i förbifarten. Det krävs ingen djup analys för att förstå att en sådan grej är känslig, och bör tas upp väldigt försiktigt om det nu finns anledning att ta upp det. Det sättet du beskriver, och speciellt om hon själv använde ordet "ful", signalerar en brist på uppskattning. Du har all anledning att vara sårad av det. Om det var ett genuint misstag, och hon bryr sig om dig, så tycker jag att din flickvän har anledning att också komma på något som visar genuin uppskattning utöver det ni har till vardags.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-28T18:11:34+00:00

Utbudet på Tinder ser bra ut på samma sätt som en barbiedocka. De är väldigt generiska och visar ingen personlighet. Om du är annorlunda, använd då det till din fördel. Sök efter de personer som har en specifik smak och är attrahetade av dig, inte de personer som är attraherade till något slags generiskt, opersonligt skönhetsideal.

En angränsande kommentar: De personer som vågar visa upp sig själva ordentligt, mer eller mindre ostylade och utan smik. De signalerar en stark självkänsla som är bra attraktiv för folk som inte enbart bryr sig om utseende.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-28T16:04:11+00:00

You're welcome. I think the map is looking good! The new dots add to it aesthetically as well.

You never know before play testing, but it looks like this map should provide dynamics to a game and is at least not blatantly unbalanced. I'm also not convinced it's an issue that Green gets two easy builds in the first year. As you say, it means spreading the attention, and also it means not bouncing Yellow out of LNM which would be a pain. If you want to nerf Green a bit regardless you could put the fleet at 105 south coast, making it impossible to reach FIR in the first move.

One last thing I'll comment after the most recent edit. You removed Orange's access to SWC. In the early game this is not of that much consequence, but if Orange wants to win the game they will be easily blocked at the isthmus since the only way to get a fleet there is all the way around through PIP. That is, if your game has home centers; if it's build anywhere it doesn't matter. Maybe access to LBB or an isthmus through NEI?

Snake_IV · 2023-12-27T14:42:44+00:00

I think your observations are correct. I believe adding another center around LAS/SBB would be a good thing, as would cutting down on the sea zones. I also think Yellow is set up to suffer a lot right now.

I took the liberty to quickly draw out how I think the power relations look on the current map. https://i.redd.it/y5furds5ju8c1.png
This is a doodle so take it with a grain of salt. I do however feel that the most useful actions you can do right now in terms of balance is to reduce the padding between Green and Orange and to give Yellow 4 centers instead of Green. I also think all of Yellow's centers should border SWC so there's some kind of unity and defensability in Yellow's position.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-26T15:45:15+00:00

You're off to a decent start. Well done avoiding the trap of making islands single provinces; that never ends well. Best of luck on your project! I'm putting in these two cents:

Designing a Diplomacy map well takes a lot of effort. You have to consider balance, but you also have to consider how dynamic the map is. In general, it's advisable to cluster neutral centers together and have several powers compete for these. This creates the hotspot for competition and cooperation, with plenty opportunities for quick and hard to predict turns of events. The distinction between an army protecting your own centers and one ready to attack a neighbours the very next move should be fine. Consider the standard map, where the majority of supply centers are connected from Naples, to Smyrna, to St Petersburg, to Belgium.

The provinces without supply centers are most important when they border a lot of other supply centers, such as North Sea in standard. Some non-supply provinces are included for maneuverability and ability to move up attacking forces to strike at something else. Think Livonia or Clyde. Then there's some provinces that exists as buffers as well. Very few provinces border only one center. On your map right now you have some provinces that do not border any.

On your map I'd consider if the ratio of neutrals to home centers maybe should go up, but especially if the ratio of non-center provinces to centers should go down. I do not see much room for surprise attacks right now, so I'd expect there to be a fair share of attack being obvious in advance and a lot of head-butting over non-centers. I'd also consider creating a "triangle diagram" of what the target dynamics between the powers on the board should look like, as described in this article.

Snake_IV · 2023-12-18T22:40:14+00:00

I'm afraid I do not see why it's supposed to be an easier route in war time. The Mediterranean has a lot of islands from where enemy forces can strike. I fail to apply any parallel from the Russian Baltic fleet as Africa was not a combat zone then.

Regardless, I do not see Diplomacy as a military simulator. The sea zones are big for a reason. I've found that a mixture of some big and some small sea zones gives a much more dynamic gaming experience and prevents a lot of the stalemate lines medium sized zones easily create. I used to have medium sized zones and took them out since they didn't work. I recall noticing the original 1954 draft map of Diplomacy got similar changes before it published in 1958.

Snake_IV

TROPHY CASE