The military component of the game will include naval forces, so nations will be able to maintain a fleet of warships and deploy them on the international theater. In order to model the physical location of these fleets, the game’s maps will include sea zones. This post describes what these sea zones will look like and how they’re createdby the map generator.
A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.Theodore Roosevelt
Initially, I just tried to use the same algorithm as the land territories used, tough perhaps with larger cells. It turns out this looks very unattractive, because land borders look noisy and organic and that just doesn’t make sense for sea zones that should stretch for hundreds of kilometers without being constrained by mountains, rivers or the whims of history.
So for inspiration I looked at board games with a global war theme, such as Axis & Allies, and noticed they have sea zones with simple shapes and straight lines.
Axis & Allies
Creating that “boxy” look is not easy, and in fact not even desirable, because we’re working with coordinates on a spherical globe. A flat projection like that means you stretch at the poles, and sea zones at the edges (the international date line, so to speak) should touch or overlap. This means it really doesn’t make sense to strive for zones that have right angles throughout.
So I went for a much simpler approach, using the tools already available to me: the spherical Voronoi mesh.
Voronoi mesh generated and rendered on a 3D sphere
This geometric subdivision of a sphere is ideal because it employs straight lines (geodesics, actually), generates cells which are approximately the same size, and still has a random look to it. Contrary to the land territory algorithm, which uses 500,000 cells, the naval zones use just 300.
The next step is to subtract the geometry of the land territories from the sea zone cells (using the amazing Java Topology Suite library). This will in many cases result in the splitting or even complete removal of a sea zone. This also tends to leave tiny sea zones here and there, so an extra pass merges zones that are too small with one of their larger neighbors. The result is a simple, fast algorithm that creates attractive sea zones for the game’s navies!
Sea Zones — The blue shape is a highlighted nation
Sea Zones — The red shape is a highlighted territory
Here’s an example of a small sea zone which has been merged with a larger adjacent zone. The bay at the tip of the continent is part of the larger sea zone which also includes the archipelago. The tiny lakes you see on the map will also be distinct sea zones, but of course it doesn’t make much sense to maintain a navy there.
Sea zone detail
Looking at the map is there a possibility of having something akin to the Arctic and Antarctica?
Good question, I think I will need a third separate algorithm because the poles are release a special case.
I love this concept! I’ve been hoping for a new version of Particracy for a long time now.
When is the ETA for the full release of the game?
Sorry, I can’t promise a release date at this point. Won’t be too long though.
2 months later: Still have no release date? 😉
2 months later: can you promise one now? 😉
Not quite. Once the economy & governance simulation is up and running I’ll be able to make a better estimate.
Keep it UP !
If you need donations pls open a patreon account !!!
That looks gorgeous! I’ve been popping by every now and again, but this is the first time I’ve seen a map. That is mind blowing! Good job! I very much look forward to your new simulator.
Thanks! I’ll try and write a post soon with some fancier maps.
Quick question: is this still a multiplayer game like the current particracy?
Absolutely!
I’m looking forward to this. Particracy classic’s been a lot of fun, so I can only imagine how cool this version is going to be. Keep up the good work!
Thanks!
A belated question on the Systems of Government article…
Would there be modelisation of executive decision making, as well as variability of the topology of executives (e.g. Swiss Bundesrat), and its respective reflection on decision making?
Both in the parliamentary action and governance realms.
Serge
There will be executive “policies” to enact and modify, as well as legislative topics. The executive ones will have real impact on the budget and society/economy.
The government structure is quite typical for now, something like Switzerland is not possible right now.
Are there yet any pictures you can show us of the new content?
Excited to play the new version!
I’ll try to get some screenshots up soon.
Awesome! When can we play it? or is it just a concept for 2030 or something?
I estimate a couple more months of development.
I asume you get this question several times a day for a very long time now and I understand it’s probably driving you crazy, but I think that those who are waiting for Particracy II are very curious if you could be a little more concrete about when the release date will be? Have you yet targeted a month for it? Or do you know it exactly already?
I’m really excited to play the new game and I appreciate all your efforts!
Thanks! I plan to start an alpha test before the end of the year. It will be announced on the mailing list, and on our Discord (possibly there earlier).