Greetings, all!

While I am eager to start my very first map, I come to idea if we can add more juice in the territory distribution.

I would like to have option to use same "pre-start" wastelands as option, so they are always on the same positions on the map (if included as option when game/template starts). Currently we only have Randomly Add Wasteland button, so, we can only check it and say how much wastelands should be in map and what will be their value.

Let's say we have some sea connections and we would like to limit their use (at least in start). Currently we can only limit use by posting wastelands there in custom scenario. Or, we can have mountains, which should be hard to pass.

If map creator defines such areas as optional wastelands, game creator should be able to click optional wasteland button and ALL such lands will have the same start value (that can even be zero!).

This option would give more diversity in some maps, and probably even expand current connections (like in Small Earth Map where there are no connection between South America and Australia, or South Africa and Malaysia as example).

Such optional wasteland should also have option not to be included in any bonus (or just zeroed in bonus list) and, I think, there should be several levels of such bouses:

1. Sea connections point (probably highest level, 3x normal neutral value)
2. Mountains (probably medium level, 2x normal neutral value)
3. Fortresses, citadels, hills, etc (lowest level, 1.5 normal neutral value rounded up)

Had also idea that One Army Must Stand Guard (OAMSG) option should increase, too, on such areas - if, after the capture, one have 5 armies in Sea connection point, and defalut value for OAMSG got such territory is 4, he may only use 1 army to attack next land, and 4 cannot be use as they are OAMSG. But, if after attack he only have 1 unit there, he doesn't need to reinforce the territory if he chooses to.

Different approach to this problem should be that connections between different normal/wasteland or wasteland/wasteland territories can be penalized giving advantage to defender (like when someone is dug and should have defensive bonus). However, don't think if it is possible to implement in future variations of game engine (don't know if it is possible in mods).

Such option should include attack against mountains that would increase defensive bonus and decrease offensive bonus for some percentage, as example.

Custom scenario?

Some interesting ideas. If I understand you correctly, the reason that you want an alternative approach to wastelands is that you want to be able to create a dead zone between regions on a map, which is possible but costly to break through?

At present, I would say that a map-maker who wants to achieve this can use one or both of two basic approaches:

1) Join the two regions with a series of territories which are unlikely to yield income, because they are either:

(a) not part of any bonus (Hawaii and Japan on the 1v1 ladder map is an example of this); or
(b) part of a bonus that is too poor value to be worth taking (e.g. Germany and France on the 3v3 ladder map); or
(c) part of a bonus that is good value, but so large and difficult to hold that taking it is usually a bad idea (e.g. Poland on the 3v3 ladder map).

2) Create chokepoints which are 1-territory bonuses giving negative income (e.g. the pirate bays on https://www.warzone.com/Map/18769-World-Earthsea)

Are there reasons why neither of these approaches would achieve your goal?

Having the same set of wastelands every game is easily done in the mapmaking process, by making a simple distribution (some lands are open to be picked, others will automatically become wastelands). If you make a game with that distribution, simply set the wasteland armies as high as you want.
It can only be done by the creator of the map, but if that's you, that shouldn't be a problem.

All the other options sound like very fundamental changes in the way territories work, and would be an elaborate mod. I think you need to be a member to do mods (and really know what you're doing), so that's your only option.

Custom scenario?

Custom scenario may be an option, but that depends of game creator, not of map creator. Also, you cannot depend on randomness when map is created (wastelands are fixed, even those that should be random) - so you can't have random warlord distribution.

Some interesting ideas. If I understand you correctly, the reason that you want an alternative approach to wastelands is that you want to be able to create a dead zone between regions on a map, which is possible but costly to break through?

That is only part of the idea. Like random wasteland, predefined wasteland areas (if used) will also make more or less toxic some bonuses. Let's say on the map https://www.warzone.com/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=24843 i.e. Fall of Jerusalem - The Crusades, we want to put random wastelands, but also to protect citadels and fortresses from being taken initially as picks. Random wastelands may or not exclude player picks, but intentional wastelands would surely exclude them from picks. They may even have normal value, or increased value to make things tougher, or to put them to zero value.

On Small Earth map, we could have Peru, Western United State, East Africa, S. Europe mountainous (so excluded from picks, but also, with some start value), Western Australia, North Africa and Middle East as deserts (the same, possibly different value), Brasil, Congo, Indonesia and New Guinea as jungles, as example.

I didn't mean to shrink options in Small Earth map, but, as wasteland make things different on ladder games, predefined set of wastelands (by game creator) could also bring more diversity in future games.

Similar approach (as outcome, not as in map design) comes with maps like Biomes of America or Elitist Africa where some areas are more desirable than others due to increased values or penalties.