It seems that "A Long Way" cannot be completed without an editor. I played until the end, 9 months in, cleared the top and about 40% of the bottom – everything I could reach. The portals in the center of the swamp and in the center of the "snake area" can be controlled, but the problem is that there are two more behind the brown gates, and there is no access to them. Capturing the castles located near them is useless. I've captured them 3 times already, but as soon as I move away, computer-controlled units crawl out of these portals like cockroaches and recapture everything. There was no such nonsense in Alexandretta. There were 3 portals there, which I blocked, and then everything was fine.
But even that is not the worst part. The problem is that I completely don't understand where to go and what to do next. I don't see any passages or places where I could cross the water. Should I look for "Call of the Boat" in the quests? These quests are already annoying enough. Not only are there too many of them, but everywhere they require something that is hard to find at all. There is some portal, but to go through it, they require three different "bags of gold". I have two, but I have no idea where to get the third. I don't see any other options for where to go next. I look at the map and I'm really at a loss.
I'm sorry, but if the map cannot be completed without studying it for half a day in the editor, that's complete nonsense. It seems that I will either have to use the editor or abandon this experiment altogether. I'm tired of going to such lengths. 
scars of reality
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