Board Game Arena

Hi all,

There's a new arena season coming up and I've been told we are currently looking at the same format yet again. In order to keep arena seasons fresh and dynamic, I think it's essential that we have an option for random map selection. The current suggestion for this (https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=150841) has plenty of support already, but unfortunately no confirmation has been given so far.

Overall, it should be trivial to implement, but there are some practical details that need to be decided upon. I see 3 main options here:

Option 1: fully random
Include all maps, choose randomly.

Option 2: exclude Amazonis Planitia
Exclude Amazonis, since it fundamentally changes the game and forces engine games.

Option 3: custom selection
Allow users to create a set of at least 2 maps and choose randomly among those. More fidgety, but ultimately more freedom.

Any thoughts on which of these seems most practical or competitive to you, especially from the long term Steam players who may have more experience with this topic?

There‘s probably even an older random map suggestion that I posted, which caused the dev to ask me whether I meant a randomized map layout or, what you suggest here, just randomize the choice between the existing maps.

I can see the following options:

(1) Fully random

(2) Random from the original maps (Tharsis, Hellas, Elysium)

(3) Random from all maps but Amazonis (anticipating we get Terra Cimmeria und Uptopia Planitia at some point too).

Colonies plz

foxracing13 wrote: ↑25 June 2025, 18:43 Colonies plz

That's a separate issue.
At the moment, Colonies exists, and can be voted on for the next arena season.

But, regarding maps, our only option is to pick one specific map to vote on. Because, there is no option for "random map" when creating a game.

So, the question being debated here is, "should we press for an option to have the game map be randomized form among the existing four standard maps (excluding Amazonia)"?

If that is implemented, then the gurus can vote on both issues simultaneously, such as:

1) Voting for random maps and no colonies
2) Random maps; and, colonies
3) Picking one map and colonies
4) Picking one map and no colonies.

Acerbic wrote: ↑25 June 2025, 18:12Option 2: exclude Amazonis Planitia
Exclude Amazonis, since it fundamentally changes the game and forces engine games.

This would be amazing for the next Arena season, but I'm guessing there's no way BGA devs could get it done in time. Random between Tharsis/Hellas/Elysium is a very good option and makes the Arena gameplay a lot more dynamic.

100% support this, but not getting my hopes up.

rambling_coherently wrote: ↑25 June 2025, 19:37

Acerbic wrote: ↑25 June 2025, 18:12Option 2: exclude Amazonis Planitia
Exclude Amazonis, since it fundamentally changes the game and forces engine games.

This would be amazing for the next Arena season, but I'm guessing there's no way BGA devs could get it done in time. Random between Tharsis/Hellas/Elysium is a very good option and makes the Arena gameplay a lot more dynamic.

100% support this, but not getting my hopes up.

I think it can be done in time. I don't think it would be a complex block of code.

Assign a number 1-3 to each of the 3 maps. Write a random number generator that will pick a number from 1 through 3, and that will be the map for that particular game.

TFM already has RNG code for the hundreds of cards, so that would be trivial. Just change the allowable values of the RNG to [1,2,3].
That's the back-end side of things.

On the front end, it would require what I assume is a small amount of code to add one additional option to the "map selection" drop down menu, for "random from Tharsis, Hellas, Elysium".

is colonies even good on 2p? maybe even on 3p? would love random map

jovial-cat492 wrote: ↑26 June 2025, 00:02 is colonies even good on 2p? maybe even on 3p? would love random map

Depends what you mean by "good".

It's "fun", but usually absurdly imbalanced. Every card that improves trading is ridiculous. Warp Drive is ridiculous. Corona extractor. Etc. All the cards are insane.

Okay, I'm seeing a lot of support for random map.
Fingers crossed

FrankJones wrote: ↑25 June 2025, 19:42 I think it can be done in time. I don't think it would be a complex block of code.

Assign a number 1-3 to each of the 3 maps. Write a random number generator that will pick a number from 1 through 3, and that will be the map for that particular game.

TFM already has RNG code for the hundreds of cards, so that would be trivial. Just change the allowable values of the RNG to [1,2,3].
That's the back-end side of things.

On the front end, it would require what I assume is a small amount of code to add one additional option to the "map selection" drop down menu, for "random from Tharsis, Hellas, Elysium".

There's prior art on BGA. Heat: Pedal to the Metal has choosing randomly from among the maps as an option when hosting the game, for instance.