Watering Hole

Watering Hole is a slightly above-average savannah map whose curved water bodies divide approaches without creating a fishing economy. Each base sits on broad player land connected toward a central raised area. Hunt, large Gold mines, settlements, and relics reward moving through that network early.

Food is the defining resource and the main source of uncertainty. Two player-side hunt layers, one outer layer, and three central layers roll independently across gazelles, zebra, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, elephants, water buffalo, and giraffes. One seed can be merely adequate; another can be exceptionally rich.

Use water as a flank guard, not as a reason to stay home. The strongest long-term food and Gold can sit beyond the player land areas, and the outer settlement pair does not secure the middle by itself.

The map begins as watering-hole water, then raises one central land area and one large area beneath each player. At Standard size, the player areas stay 15 meters from the center and one another before raised land connections are added across the separating water.

Every connection is configured at 20 meters wide and uses the same savannah ground. Normal 1v1 adds both a default connection set and a second wrap-style set whose intermediate route stays 80 meters from the player cores. The resulting causeways keep the main economy on land while water bends direct attack lines.

Player land, central resources, and water corridors · Standard 1v1 example Click to enlarge

The overhead shows one accepted network, not a universal diagram. A visible river curve, narrow opening, or causeway position in this seed should not be treated as a fixed route in the next game.

A successful normal Standard 1v1 layout contains 20,600–48,300 initial finite land food, with about 30,533 expected. Pigs enter at their initial value, predators remain separate dangerous food, and the water contains no fish.

Opening and close food

The close hunt is inside tower vision at 30–50 meters two thirds of the time. The other third sits outside tower vision at 50–70 meters on the player's land. Species and safety roll separately, so a rich hippopotamus group is not guaranteed to be the protected one.

Player-side and outer layers

The first two rows roll independently, so mixed zebra-and-gazelle outcomes are normal. All three layers avoid water, the central area, tower vision, settlement space, and other food, and their groups remain 50 meters apart.

Three central hunt layers

Three more independent layers sit off the player land areas and at least 50 meters from every start. Each can roll elephants, rhinoceroses, water buffalo with optional zebra, hippopotamuses, zebra with optional giraffes, or gazelles. Together they add 7,200–24,000 food, with 12,100 expected, and remain 30 meters apart.

Pigs and predators

Two to four owned pigs start at the bases, and four to six more appear at 50–70 meters, six to ten across the map. They hold 300–500 food initially or 1,800–3,000 when fully fattened.

Player-side lions or hyenas plus four water-edge crocodiles add 1,500–1,750 predator food, about 1,562.5 expected. Crocodiles stay on land within 4 meters of water; they are not fish or a renewable shoreline resource.

Watering Hole can attempt thirty 50–70-tile savannah forest areas. Three symmetric forests per player form the starting layer, followed by twelve more on each player's side. Starting stragglers and ten scattered savannah trees supplement them.

Forests stay 25 meters apart, at least 4 meters from water, and outside Town Centers and farm-capable settlement space. Later forests also avoid the player's main paths, helping preserve causeway access while spreading replacement wood across several camps.

Forest areas vary in accepted size and tree density, so no fixed tree or wood total is defensible.

A complete successful layout contains 42,000–66,000 Gold, with 56,000 expected. Two medium starting mines contribute 6,000. The other six to ten large mines are split between mirrored player-side pairs and central bonus Gold.

Later mines remain 50 meters apart and avoid water, edges, tower vision, and settlement space. Player-side mines also avoid 40-meter corner zones and stay 20 meters from the central area. Long-term Gold therefore pulls control both along the player approaches and into the middle.

Watering Hole attempts two symmetric expansion sites per player. The backward pair sits 60–80 meters from the starts; the aggressive pair sits 70–120 meters away. Up to four expansion settlements join the two starting Town Centers.

Both tiers avoid water, edges, tower vision, 40-meter corner zones, and siege-ship range. The aggressive sites also stay off the player land areas and away from King of the Hill, pushing their control value toward the shared network.

The backward settlement can stabilize a base-side causeway, but the aggressive pair is better positioned to contest central hunt, bonus Gold, and relic routes. Water can protect a flank without protecting the resources beyond it.

Watering Hole attempts two relic layers of one per player, up to four relics. Both begin at 50 meters with no exposed maximum, remain 80 meters apart, and avoid water, edges, tower vision, and settlement space.

The first layer stays outside the central land area. The second stays at least 15 meters from player land, making the outer connections and middle approaches the important search space rather than either protected base core.