| “ | Nestled between protective mountains and blessed with bountiful resources, civilizations have time to both construct impressive fortification and prepare massive armies to overcome those of their foes. Let the battles begin! | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
Turtle Ridge is a closed, defensive, land random map in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. Impassable mountain ridges separate players' bases from each other, connecting only in the center of the map through narrow passes.
Features[]
Turtle Ridge is a map designed for a single purpose - building up an economy within the safe confines of the starting area, using it to build up a large army, and then clashing them in the center of the map when ready. Each player starts in their own enclosed area with only a narrow pass hidden by Stealth Forest connecting it to the center, where all the Relics are located. This pass is easily defendable with walls and defensive buildings, and encourages a 'no-rush' style gameplay. The maps normally has only a single division per player, except in 1 vs 1 games, where there are four divisions for only two players, and each division can enclose either a corner and edge of a map. In 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4, the corners of the map are blocked off with impassable mountain terrain to prevent some players from having extra forest. The lack of Sacred Sites and Trade Posts remove the possibility of sacred victories and reduce the ability to generate large amounts of gold in the late game.
Resources[]
Every player starts with a fixed amount of resources in their starting section. This includes three large Gold Mines and Stone Outcroppings, one large Deer pack, one large and one medium Berry Bush patch, one Boar and six neutral Sheep (divided in one group of four and two stragglers). Other than one small circular woodline within the range of the Capital Town Center and the Stealth Forest surrounding the center area, all of the wood is in the forest lining the edge of the map at the back of the players' bases. In 1 vs 1 games, the unoccupied quadrants also have the same amount of resources, allowing players to expand to a second base if needed.
Gallery[]
