I find myself contemplating and usually flipping coins to decide what map I pick before each game type.
Whats your favorite and why?

Continents, because it requires a good balance of naval versus land supremacy (except for the occasional oddball where you're alone on a continent).

Occasionally I'm in the mood for lots of tiny islands, just so I can say "the sun never sets on the Malinese empire."

Pangea tends to be my favorite in the series, although getting stuck on your own tiny continent with only one other nation in Civ IV until you get deep ocean travel isn't nearly as bad as it happening in Civ III. :(

It'd be nice if the game let you choose which map types to randomly pick from; I hate playing tiny islands...

Pangea or Terra for me.

The computer just doesn't wage war when you're on another landmass effectively.

fractal, because it is random

I play fractal or terra maps, almost exclusively.
Huge, marathon.

Ever since I figured out how to download scenarios a couple years ago, I only play the scenarios, pretty much. he only game maps I ever actually start from at 4000 BC are the Earth 18/24 civs maps.

shuffle, i like random

I play Pangea a whole lot. I simply hate doing the navy thing. Secondly I like Terra. It can be fun trying to get a foothold someplace that the barbs already have developed.

Carnage

Usually I go for Fractal or Terra, but sometimes Archipelago. I find the Continents map type too repetitive. I like maps with a few continents, a few islands, large oceans, smaller oceans... in general, a good mix.

O/T is there a standard sized Earth map which allows you to play as any civ (and with random start locations)?

I play Pangea a whole lot. I simply hate doing the navy thing. Secondly I like Terra. It can be fun trying to get a foothold someplace that the barbs already have developed.

Carnage

I'm more or less the same. Don't care too much for building navies. I also enjoy Fractal a lot because it always holds a bit of a surprise.

Terra can be interesting with Insane Barbarians Mod. To colonize the land, you have to prepare a army just to survive against so many barbarians.

Although I typically play continent, I will put my 2 cents on Highlands, which is an interesting game to play. It requires a bit of forethought when founding cities. Not only do you have consider empty tiles, but it is also important to consider how the natural terrain can aid in defending your empire. Talk about Thermopylae: building a fort on the one-tile mountain pass and defending it to the end can be great fun.

i play Balanced, it's great

continents or techonics

Tectonics or fractal. I like large land masses, but prefer those with chokepoints, especially isthmuses that enable a properly placed city to link two oceans or seas.

Continents or Pangaea. If I'm playing a Large or Huge map, it's Continents. If the map is Small or Tiny, it's Pangaea. If it's Standard, it could be either.

Fractal - random yet natural looking, and offering anything in between (accidental) continents or pangaea. Best on large.

Hope they expand the mapscripts in bts.

J.

Almost always fractal, because it looks natural, and fractal games seems to be more interesting.

I started playing Pangea recently, since when I play continents I can't be bothered to conquer the other continent anyway.

I also like Inland Sea with high sealevel (with normal sealevel the map is way bigger then pangea and continents), although the resource balancing is a bit weird at times. I like it because it resembles the Mediteranian (sp?) Sea, and I usually choose historical civs like Greece, Rome, Carthago for it.

I guess I should try Fractal soon, it sounded to mathematical for me, but when the result is usually natural, I'll try it.

I have been stuck on playing huge Earth maps. I know it isn't making me a better player, but I like playing the real earth.

I like Ring or Wheel.

I've played too many pangaea and inland seas online...

Would anyone say that any particular map is "Easier" to win at that any other? For instance, are you better off playing a non pangea map to give yourself a chance to build yourself up without being surrounded by 4 or 5 other civs? Would some type of isolated map be easier to win a cultural victory or anything? In other words, if you would like to try a cultural victory, do you try to make it so your civ can be as isolated as possible?

I like the uncertainty of Fractal.
I enjoy the enormity of Huge Pangea.
I frequently need to vent on the natives with Terra.


Would anyone say that any particular map is "Easier" to win at that any other? For instance, are you better off playing a non pangea map to give yourself a chance to build yourself up without being surrounded by 4 or 5 other civs?

I find the Terra maps unrealistically easier because of the a priori knowledge that there is a huge continent of resources (and amoral natives!) out there in the dark waiting to be exploited/abused. Makes all the tech bee-lines easy to choose (As Sid Barret said: Astronomy Domine!).

Pangaea or lakes... because i don't like war, so i don't care naval.