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el cid again -> RE: RHS Level I: Aircraft and Map Art Notice (7/22/2016 7:32:16 PM)
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A new update today will include new Japanese Aircraft side art
(cleaned up by Mifune) and important (and final) updates to map
panels 08 & 09)
Panel 09 almost certainly involved the most changes which will
be on any to make the RHS map art reflect the "electronic map"
(the pwhexe.dat file) the computer sees. In addition to the 'new'
stuff below, Panel 9 has the extreme SE portion of the Tea & Horse
Caravan Road now shown in art. More of the SE portion as well
as most of the SW portion of that road is on panel 8.
Although I once added the Yellow River flooded area, I didn't quite
grasp how to make it meaningful in game terms. Studying the map
I figured out how to do that: break the many secondary roads which
make the area useful in economic and military terms. For that
reason, there is a new pwhexe.dat file.
The flooded area is now shown in art. A suggestion made by
Andrew Brown in WIPT days was that it should not really be very
wide - so here it is presented as a line of swamp hexes half
a hex wide, affection only roads on the W, NW, SW and SE
hexsides.
A surprising number of major urban hexes needed to be added -
on the basis that a million people or more justify the designation.
Added are Loyang & Chengchow (on the Yellow River near Kaifeng),
Nanyang (to the West of them), Shau Yang & Hengyang (near
Changsha on the Yangtze), and Liu Chow and Nanning (farther
West along the main RR line). Removed were Hangkow & Wuhan
(see next) and Hangchow (West of Shanghai) - because of a lack
of population and urban development. [Wuhan is presented as a
unique "triple city" in RHS: it is in three adjacent hexes separated
by rivers, all of them minor urban hexes (and all of them ancient
walled cities); they are called Hankow [Wuhan], Wuchang [Wuhan]
and Hengyang [Wuhan]. They are the strategic heart of China,
and the farthest up the Yangtze the very largest ships can sail: ocean
going ships were built there from the 19th century and, when finally
bridged at Nanking, it was designed to permit the Queen Mary to pass -
because the river permits such ships! But important as they are,
none of the three was a major urban hex in the 1940s.]
Two 'rough' hexes were added, both famous: Zhumudian and Tianmen
(both considered as mountains in China). [We did already show
Zhumudian as rough art in RHS; Zhumidian is now addes.
In addition, three of the "Great Lakes of China" are now named.
The main railroad of China is also shown properly for the first time, including
two small branch lines hinted at by stock art, but which don't 'go anywhere.
In RHS they do have proper terminus so players may exploit the branch lines
and also so the economics of both end points works as IRL.
Taken together these changes offer important advantages for players.
Although pressing the 1 key reveals the type of terrain really in the
hex, it is very nice to have it visually obvious.
I have decided the panels are useful enough that the next edition of Level I
will use Level II map panels EXCEPT at the map edge - in particular
panels 8 & 9 are important - while others (e.g. Australia) show minor
additions or deletions to railroads.
The addition of the swamp area, the major urban hexes, and the
rough hexes
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