Challenge of the Big Maps

I think one of our challenges with Supreme Ruler 2010 will be making sure people know that not every map we include will appeal to everybody, and they shouldn't judge the game on a map that they think is too big/small/cluttered/sparse etc. This is made even worse by the different gameplay options - for example, a large map like Europe may be very interesting and challenging in single-player turnbased mode, where it may very well take a few weeks to wrap up, but it will be utterly overwhelming to most players in real-time multiplayer mode. The world will be even worse in this regard. However, a map such as Michigan, Mexico, UK, and even larger areas such as France, US SouthEast and Australia, can make very good Multiplayer games.

I know that large maps such as North America, Europe, and the World will be attractive targets for people to try in Multiplayer mode, so we have to try to cool expectations that these are NOT good beginner/multiplayer maps to try. One of our technical innovations is that we've allowed creation of tactical maps larger and more detailed than any other strategy game, players will need to know that "bigger" does not always mean better gameplay if a large "epic" game is not what you wanted that particular evening...