What is your style?

[Grimus]

My custom games are usually all standard, with none of the extra options checked off.

I used to always play on Huge maps with 18 civs... but I've grown fond of Normal sized maps with the default number of civs. Using the default number also gives you a nice balance of breathing room at the start of the game to expand a little bit.

Usually in those Huge games, I really never even visited some of the other civs' lands, and I knew who I'd be facing every game pretty much. With the smaller sizes, you get a little more personal with each leader, though you have less leaders to take advantage of to get techs. Also, the late game slowdown... even though it isn't as bad on my comp, even the slightest lag or choppiness gets on my nerves. Normal sized maps are pretty stable.

I always play Marathon speed (I just love it, faster speeds just throw me off)

Always continents... I tried Fractal for a short while when I noticed it's popularity and wasn't crazy for it, so I went back to continents. I also tested them all by generating worlds and previewing them in the world editor.

Temperate climate so I can have a little of everything.

Normal sea levels... low adds more land but it also cuts off and makes the north and south ends of the map unpassable sometimes... high stinks and just makes more ocean.

Always ancient era...

Standard resources... I want to adapt to what fate gives me and try my best or take it from others if I have to.

Anybody else prefer smaller maps/less civs to huge ones? What is your style?

[Grimus]

Also... is anybody else really lazy when it comes to transporting units across water, expanding to islands, or waging wars on another continent? I never go thru the trouble it seems... I also never really build up a large force of naval units.

I wish there was more to all the naval units and combat, maybe like raiding trade lines and things like that.

[cthom]

fractal, epic, 8 civs, all default options except 60% of the time i have no barbs... it depends on my mood.

[marioflag]

I'm a man which usually play with same standards.I always have enjoyed to play on earth maps, which while so unbalanced are too fun to play.After warlords and bug in city screen i had to play custom games.
About maps i love to change pangea,fractal,continents.
About other setting i always play with temperate climate, medium sea level, ancient age, marathon.Options enabled no tech trading,aggressive AI, raging barbarians and prince difficulty

[drkodos]

I just only recently switched from marathon to epic length. I became convinced that the marathon was giving me a bit of an advantage.

I usually prefer larger maps packed with as many other opponents/civs as feasible.

I enjoy moonlit walks, talking about walks, movable walkways, and fractal.

[DeafDolphin]

Originally Posted by Grimus

Also... is anybody else really lazy when it comes to transporting units across water, expanding to islands, or waging wars on another continent? I never go thru the trouble it seems... I also never really build up a large force of naval units.

I wish there was more to all the naval units and combat, maybe like raiding trade lines and things like that.

Same here. I'll only do it when I have a tech advantage, like Armor vs. Macemen, that sort of silliness.

At least in Civ 3, you could put bombers on carriers and raid the enemy's shores (And resources!). I find it a little annoying you can't now with bombers. Fighters just don't cut it as far as attacking targets go.

[DeafDolphin]

Standard map and options, and I LOVE Epic. Slows the game down a bit and lets me plan a bit better.

Not to mention, early Axemen rushes to overwhelm my neighbors.

[King Flevance]

12-14 civs

Epic
Huge map
Fractal map
Low sea level
(rest default)

Raging Barbarians
Random Personalities
Require complete kills
(rest unchecked)

No time victory.
(rest checked)

[Arlborn]

I like Standard map with 10 CIVs or so(i like some mess!), Random continents(2 or 3 continnents), random sea level, the speed really depends of my mood..Most of the other options are standard, but most of the times I prefer to play with space race off, ah well I dont like it much :P

Ah and Prince, soon trying to step up to Monarch!

[Grimus]

Random game speeds Arlborn? Wow, that must be quite challenging... when I try faster speeds than Marathon, I'm all thrown off and can't play right.

Something that would take a long time on a quicker speed - I look at it and go for it because I think it's quick and not a lot of time invested.

I may have to try Epic for a little while, maybe once I get acclimated to it, I'll like it more.

[TyranusBonehead]

It varies with me, but I always play with all victory conditions. Map size will vary, I usually play with barbs on. Depending on what I'm trying to do as to whether I'll build a navy and settle off-shore.

[eric_]

I used to go with all standard (size, rules, victories), terra, random leader. Sometimes I'd play continents. Lately, however, I've been playing a lot of pangaea games, all standard, natural coast. I still usually go with random leader, but sometimes I choose Hannibal.

Always continents... I tried Fractal for a short while when I noticed it's popularity and wasn't crazy for it, so I went back to continents. I also tested them all by generating worlds and previewing them in the world editor.

What is the difference between the three coastal options for Pangaea? Pressed, Natural, and ???? (can't remember the third option).

[Öjevind Lång]

I used to play on huge maps, marathon, but the fact that everything took so long to build finally drove me nuts. I switched to epic, and recently I have fallen in love with fractal maps instead of standard. Fractal is the closest you can get to the continents in Civ I and II.
I customed one game on a huge map, marathon, raging barbarians and only two other civs. I played as Musa. The very first thing that happened was a message that the Incan civilization had ceased to exist. Huayana Capacs exploring warrior must have opened a goody hut full of angry barbarians near Cuzco. One of my brave warriors found the ruins of his city at the other end of that huge continent. (Of course, the warrior did not make it back home alive; by the time he started his trek home, axe-toting barbarians had begun to turn up everywhere, and he didn't manage to dodge them forever.) After that, it was me against the barbarians until I managed to build the Great Wall. However, research was extremely slow, for obvious reasons. In the 19th century, my explorers finally discovered the other surviving civilization - Shi Huan Di, whose five cities were fighting for their lives against the barbarians. I can assure you that his longbowmen were well promoted. I discovered that I'd never be able to build the UN or dominate the world (which was full of barbarian cities, and by then they had acquired riflemen) before the time ran out, so I decided to put an end to it all by attacking Shi Huan D. By then he ahd, with my help, expanded to eight cities, but it a´was almsot embarrassingly easy to take him out. After I ahd captured five of his cities, he became my vassal and the game was over. Really a very weird game. I somehow felt like the leader of a survivor settlement after a nuclear holocaust.
The barbarians built three Wonders of the world and founded Christianity. However, their religion didn't spread until I conquered the city with it.
That evokes an interesting question: should religion be able to spread to barbarian cities?

Öjevind

[eric_]

That evokes an interesting question: should religion be able to spread to barbarian cities?

I think it should. I think it would be cool if the barbs could be interacted with more. Hired as mercenaries on a city-by-city basis (so you don't hire all the barbs, you hire just one city), etc.

[Casper84]

Mostly Pangea maps, standard with 7 other civs, or huge with all 18 civs.
I'm pretty used to marathon game speed so I play at that speed virtually every game.
No barbs - Random seed on, though I don't reload much
No city flipping from culture, I have this on in most of my games
Noble difficulty, because it's the most fair difficulty and I still haven't gotten round to a domination/conquest win. And also because I want to get some practice in specializing my cities first, including Wonders.
Random civ, unless I get one I've played a few times already.
Medium sealevel, temerature climate
Don't remember whether I have random personalities on or not, I kinda like both options.
All victory conditions checked.
Then the games that I actually play through, not a lot of them

[podraza]

I get thrown off by any speed other than normal. That is the speed I learned to play on and changing now just screws me up, no matter if I'm making it harder on myself, as seems to be the case.

My last game was an epic. Maybe I just need to force myself to play a few in a row and reject the urge to play normal again. Then I'll grow used to it.

[DeafDolphin]

I'd recommend a few games at Epic. It threw me off too at first, but it's great now. Gives you the time to experiment.

[ShaLouZa]

Map : mostly continents, sometimes Terra when I feel like colonizing another continent.

Size : normal. I like bigger maps but I have only 512 MB of RAM and the late-game slowdown makes it unplayable.

Speed : epic. Normal makes everything obsolete too fast, while marathon makes everything take forever to build.

Barbarians always on, everything else standard.

[Kartik]

Fractal, normal, no barbs, HUGE/standard, normal number of civs.

Im like you sort of, too lazy to wage war AND make an economy, thats why im making this scenario for warlords.

[caramac]

Archipelago (archipelago not snaky continents etc.), Tropical, Low water, Normal difficulty, Epic, Usually have barbs, Normal number of civs.

I'm loving archipelago at the moment. Everyone plants cities right on everyone else's islands and creates tension. Even the AI seems to be more aggressive than usual. At one point I had everyone in some sort of war!