AI War:Map Style

Map Style is the main option to tweak, along with the number of planets, to change how planets are linked together. As map size greatly influence difficulty, the map style too has a great impact on difficulty, depending on Minor Factions and Plots enabled.

Classic

Simple

Connections between planets are simpler and easier to see. This is the recommended mode for new players, but it will result in fewer unique maps.

This map style has the advantage of being often flat, meaning links crossing each other are rather rare, leading to maps easy to read.

Simple - Hubs

Connections between planets are simpler and easier to see, but very plentiful.

Realistic

Connections between planets are much more complex, as real wormhole networks would more likely be. This mode tends to create more interesting maps, but the visual complexity of them can be intimidating to new players.

This map style often create galaxies that can't be flattened. Mentally seeing them as three dimensional networks often help organizing them in sectors and bridges.

Realistic - Hubs

Connections between planets are complex and plentiful.

Lattice

(requires Zenith Remnant)

Planets are in a fairly orderly cell-like pattern, with a massive latticework of connections between them.

The very high number of connections between planets result in smaller distances, as the number of hops required to route from two distant planets is inferior than snake style, for the most extreme example. Moreover, gate raiding seems to be more costly because each planet has many potentially hostile neighbors. Incidentally, whipping boy strategy seems impossible to use on such maps, as chokepoints tend to never form.

Trees

Trees have no loops, so it's always possible to perfectly untangle these maps. They also have in common a bigger length than network-maps, because to reach an end from another, it's often necessary to cross many planets. Players must bear in mind that one AI home world always try to be the furthest from Human home world.

Tree

(requires Zenith Remnant)

Connections between planets are all in long and branching (and sub-branching) strands.

Spokes

(requires Zenith Remnant)

Connections between planets are all centered around a few key central areas.

Snake

(requires Zenith Remnant)

Connections between planets are strung together in a very long line, or series of lines.

Defense is very easy in this sort of map, because each continuous human territory has at most two hostile wormholes. However, when a big AI world block the road, there is no way around. Unless players' home worlds are rather on the middle of the snake (which is only doable on 40 planets or less), both AI home worlds will be on the same side, which mean that one time in the game the roadblocking world will be one of the AI home world, with two core worlds on each side. Moreover, threatfleet and reinforcement tend to heavily concentrate on few AI planets, so it's advised to take few planets and rely on massive usage of transports to move from a planet to another.

Vines

(requires Zenith Remnant)

Connections between planets are strung together in a very long line, with "leaves" sprouting every few junctures.

A sort of mix between snake and tree. While the roadblocking AI planets are still an issue, progression choices are possible and defense is still easier.

Ordered

Grid

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into an orderly grid.

Crosshatch

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into an orderly grid with the angles also filled in.

Honeycomb

(requires Vengeance of the Machine)

Planets are arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Some map seeds leave just a few gaps in the pattern, others have many gaps creating a very different overall effect.

Maze

Maze A

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into a maze-like grid that uses the Recursive Backtracker algorithm on a grid to create the maze.

Maze A Easy

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into a maze-like grid that uses the Recursive Backtracker algorithm on a grid to create the maze, but with random extra links added in various spots.

Maze B

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into a maze-like grid that uses the Recursive Backtracker algorithm on a crosshatch to create the maze.

Maze B Easy

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into a maze-like grid that uses the Recursive Backtracker algorithm on a crosshatch to create the maze, but with random extra links added in various spots.

Maze C

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into a maze-like grid that uses the Prims algorithm on a grid to create the maze.

Maze D

(requires Light of the Spire)

Planets are organized into a maze-like grid that uses the Prims algorithm on a crosshatch to create the maze.

Cluster

Clusters - Simple

(requires Ancient Shadows)

Planets are organized into a small number of clusters, each of which has only a few wormholes that lead to other clusters. Planets within a cluster each have a moderate number of connections to other planets within that cluster.

Clusters - Microcosm

(requires Ancient Shadows)

Planets are organized into a small number of clusters, each of which has only a few wormholes that lead to other clusters. Intra-cluster organization varies from cluster to cluster.

Encapsulated

(requires Destroyer of Worlds)

Planets are arranged in small and large clusters inside an outer rim. Sometimes the clusters all connect to each other, other times you have to traverse the rim to get to the other clusters.

Shape

Theses maps have in common to have a large scale shape. It sometimes end in funny or harder games, but always special ones.

X

(requires Children of Neinzul)

Planets are organized into four distinct groups only connected via a single central planet.

Looks like a tree or spoke, but always with four balanced sectors.

Concentric

(requires Children of Neinzul)

Planets are arranged in concentric rings.

Humans home world can be on the outermost ring or the middle of the map. The goal is to reach the center or the border using the few bridges between rings. Planets are lined, so roadblocks are still an issue, but as this map style forms loops, they sometimes can be avoided.

Wheel

(requires Vengeance of the Machine)

Planets are arranged in a wheel-like shape with a number of spokes and a rim.

"Roads" are large (2 planets wide) and heavy AI planets can often be circumvented, but chokepoints alway need to be paired.