I haven't played Civ since the good old amiga days, so I'm a bit uncertain about how map sizes plays out on todays game.

I've tried starting a custom game on a terra map, huge map with max no of civs enabled (18 as far as I remember). If you use a huge terra map, is it wise to enable a high number of civilizations, or am I cribling the AI by stacking everyone too close together?

I guess what I want is a semi hectic start where you have some space to build 4-6 cities but have to fight for it if you want to expand further (before you can go explore with ships). But I'm affraid I might weaken the AI if the nations are fighting too much between themselves or don't have enough space to expand on.

I don't know if it affects anything, but game speed is on marathon and difficulty noble

i think the standard numbers work out that way for all sizes actually. i play alot of my games between small and large so i'm just guessing at huge.

AI's do not understand to fight for land so adding civ's hampers them.
They may tech faster due to trading, but knowledge is power once, and land is power land is power land is power three times, as futurehermit says :)
On the other hand, adding civs is adding more captured capitols early on for human player, so it makes game further easier for you.

Adding civs only makes the game easier for you.

Use the standard values (the numbers below include the human player in the civilization total):

Duel - 2 civs
Tiny - 3 civs
Small - 5 civs
Standard - 7 civs
Large - 9 civs
Huge - 11 civs

Thanks for the replies, it was a bit as I had expected then. I've browsed a bit through the maps and mods. I don't think I want to use any mods untill I've messed around with the game a bit - there are quite a few additions from the good ol 90's civilization.

But one thing I might be interrested in is perhaps a custom made map that's large enough to support as many civilizations as possible. Are there any good cutom megasize maps that could be worth giving a shot?

You can jump up a level by warrior rushing an overcrowded map (only works thru Prince). IE, i can play Prince on a Huge 18 civ Terra map but can only do well on a Huge 11 civ terra map on Noble (thus far)

Thanks for the replies, it was a bit as I had expected then. I've browsed a bit through the maps and mods. I don't think I want to use any mods untill I've messed around with the game a bit - there are quite a few additions from the good ol 90's civilization.

But one thing I might be interrested in is perhaps a custom made map that's large enough to support as many civilizations as possible. Are there any good cutom megasize maps that could be worth giving a shot?

Look through the Pre-made Maps subforum.

Welcome to the Forums Ulvinn. :beer: