A game with 8 players.

Awesome! I think this needs to be tested; it's definitely more interesting than 8xM. Portals to an ally – that's an interesting idea. But it would probably be better if there was an external portal in each zone by default, and if you could use it to reach the cities of your allies. Is that possible?

Thanks!
Actually, yes... we can make the external portal guaranteed. However, it will always be on rough terrain. And the portals can also be placed on roads.

There are also portals here that lead to the center via rough terrain, with the option of "portal repulsion," meaning they will spawn at the edges. I'm not sure if they will be useful for anything, though.