Knights and Merchants.net Forum

ZOC is an interesting concept and I'm looking forward to testing it, but it poses some issues on compact maps:
- ZOC are computed based on players influence, let's say 15 tiles around each house (except Towers). Now take Valley Of Dangers - First one to build coal mine next to neighbors entrance effectively blocks opponent from getting access to the valley. How do we solve that? I don't know.

Mirroring houses entrance - out of question. Houses lighting and shadows are valid only in one case. Many houses are symmetrical as well.

I looked at the map in the editor - if this map is meant to be played east vs west then the map is "broken" as it is, because you can "block" the coal field by just placing your mines there. With PT=0 you can destroy those (which is what probably the author had in mind) but ZOC doesn't change that - no building - no ZOC. Also ZOC is not meant to be static, it's size is affected by other buildings, so if someone places a building that is 16 tiles from your building, the ZOC for those two is limited to 8 and you can still make your next building next to the "border". Also mentioned before, ZOC is "emitted" by finished buildings, so if both players placed their mines in the "no man's land" there will be allowed to finish those.

Broken ?

It is fine to play it right vs left as it is now, because you're normally able to destroy those blueprints if a troll fills the coal field. It might be a problem but if you play with people who don't troll, you're fine.

No, "broken", there is a difference

Coal rush in the valley is a quite used tactic here, and if the first to build coal can prevent the other to do so (if I understood correctly), then i won't be playable the way it is meant to be.

Also mentioned before, ZOC is "emitted" by finished buildings, so if both players placed their mines in the "no man's land" there will be allowed to finish those.

So if Player A finishes his mine first, does this destroy the construction site of player B?

How would you ensure the 'minimum distance' between two buildings in that case?

You can even push this scenario further: what happenes if for some reason one road tile was not finished (because the laborer was killed or starved or there was one of the famous lags that make you planning skip one tile), the opponent finishes his building - and you have no chance of connecting your building to the road then. Is this the intended behaviour?

The ZOC is per se a good idea as it's implemented in the Civ games, but the situation is a bit different in KaM as you have those mobile troops and much more tiles to sit on.
I think the problem with the laborer-planting-fields can be solved with the simple implementation of a field-destroyer in the way, that your own laborer has to work there, dig a bit, and the field then vanishes (so you can't just destroy the fields inside enemy towns without moving your laborers there).

Also mentioned before, ZOC is "emitted" by finished buildings, so if both players placed their mines in the "no man's land" there will be allowed to finish those.

I think the problem with the laborer-planting-fields can be solved with the simple implementation of a field-destroyer in the way, that your own laborer has to work there, dig a bit, and the field then vanishes (so you can't just destroy the fields inside enemy towns without moving your laborers there).