Favourite SP Game Setup . . .

I'm wondering about how other people set up their single player games . . .
I used to play mainly on huge Terran maps before I tried version 31 d and e and didn't have Beyond the Sword yet . . . And usually I only played with a small number of civilizations . . .

I still prefer Huge maps, but now I prefer having all the civilizations in the game (which makes for 19 players) and I've come to like Hemispheres maps with 5-6 normal or massive continents . . .
But then I haven't tried much else I guess . . .
Which is why I'm looking for cool variations

Creation.py (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=261688)

or
with Fall Further (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=264496)
Creation_ff.py (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=8762)

mostly I use large maps, bigger gets it a bit slow even on a high end computer (don't know, maybe because of vista?).

I sometimes change some mountains to hills in the worldbuilder before I start, but I try to not give me a strategic overview. with large maps it goes fast to forget about the changes I made.

Quick Speed (always)
occ (minimal micromanagement and gives the AI a chance, makes wonders almost worth building)
classic era (can see copper, horses)
advanced start 2500-10k points (allowed 1-3 techs and a complete basic capital to start)
deity (due to settings - though I also play immmortal/deity "play now")
raging
random personalities (causes mad war)
unrestricted leaders (somtimes, must set AI combos)
no tech trading (teneous micromanagement I only do in "play now")
no_ai buildings
wildlands
blessing and balanced resources (to prevent crappy starts and speed up the game)
living world
no_settlers (prevents AI from culturing every single possible last bit of tile and spreading itself too thin)
pangea (naval annoying)
small (1-3 hours per game)
extra 1-2 AI (create friction)

Best AI (I set them when not lazy):
Calabim
Sidar
Kurioates
Clan
Balseraph
Sheaim
Amurites

Normal speed
Small or Standard size - a chance to finish in one sitting
Shuffle, default settings - requires more variety of strategy-on-the-fly
Usually random civ for variety
No AI buildings - the only way the AI has a prayer of keeping up with a human
Permanent Alliance - I don't normally play a strong diplo game, but it's a nice option

Sometimes:
Living world - mostly to try out the various events
An extra 1-2 AI for a more aggressive game


I'm thinking about using the "No Hell Terrain" option as a regular feature just because I find hell terrain so annoying - visually difficult to distinguish and lots of added micromanagement.

I preferred highlands, but now I downloaded Creation mapscript and it is even better.
Large or standard map (as big as my pc can handle without too much lag)
I like long campaigns I can completely merge into.
No AI building requirements makes game much more interesting.
Living world as I love Random Events
No vassal states as I find them rather badly implemented.

I don't understand why people play civ on quick speed. It's like turn-based red alert

I play epic speed using a planet generator map script. The map is significantly larger than huge
35 civs (using Fall Further: all leaders with the exception of Auric, Thessa and Kandros Fir).
I use: No Tribal Villages, Wildlands, Blessings of Amathaon (due to the size of the map), Living World and Compact Enforced (I'm not a fan of the turtling angel/demon civs). Raging barbarians is suicide on maps this large. Often there is a big chunk of empty space where super-armies are spawned with raging barbs

You can play around with lots of cool settings in the planet generator map script, though it can take a short while to actually create the map. It's well worth the wait though

Al

I used to play on quick, but it seems to get quicker with every version.

I actually still play on quick, but only to test modmods in progress. I don't want to wait too long to see if my changes work properly.

Normal size + 1 civ (I would prefer large maps but I hate waiting 20-30 secs between turns at later point in the game)
Marathon speed
No tech brokering
Permanent Alliances
Aggressive AI
Living World
Wildlands
Blessings of Amathoin (sp?)
No AI Building Requirements

Large Archipelago map with extra animals/goodies, no snow, reduced desert/tundra
2 additional AIs
Aggressive AI, No AI Building Requirements,
Raging Barbs, Barb world,
Extra resources, Extra events

Alzara said:

I don't understand why people play civ on quick speed. It's like turn-based red alert Al

Click to expand...

1) Games only last 2-4 hours, with 6-8 civs.
a) People like to finish SP games in one sitting.
b) People like to finish MP games in one sitting.

2) Slower speed gives advantage to aggression.
a) Movement is not scaled, thus armies cross continants before the defender can build much of a defense. On quick speed, rushing units (via cash, units, or working hammer tiles) is much more significant against an advancing army.
b) Rolling the AI on slow speed is too easy, even deity.

If I were playing a peaceful game and wanted to be caught with minimum defense and a near inability to create an army quickly to save myself, I might play a slow speed. But as long as I'm going for conquest, it's too much of an advantage. Lastly, if I want to play a 10 hour game, I will try for tier 5 in quick instead of draging out the early game in slow speed.

Even my "play now" games are quick speed. It's much more difficult to win a quick than normal speed game. In fact, normal makes it way too easy (and long to play). Epic+ seems silly to me.

Small pangea solid temperate deity quick 'play now!' are my "normal" settings. Immortal is almost a gaurenteed win, with any civ. Diety is not 1/10 wins (excepting dov, clan and hippus/quecha rushes), yet...

I don't understand builders




.02

It's good to see you debate more than chastize/argue Eco And you present a good view. Though personally I disagree, but I've never fit in as "Most People"


I like my games to take a week, with 2 or 3 hours a night. It helps my day to be able to think about my next couple dozen turns. That's why I am fond of larger maps (to scale the movement manually) and slower speeds.

Hehe you make a fair case Eco, but quick speed is not for me. I love diplomacy and large maps, which fit in well with epic speed.

Although I may have an advantage over much of the AI, I play hotseat a lot with my friends, using maps MUCH larger than huge size (using planet generator 0.68), with a full complement of 35 civs.

Although I may become powerful, my human opponents will also become strong, and be able to challenge me in epic, cross-continental warfare. It's so much fun to have long games against your friends, where you literally build a world up from scratch with civs containing real personality.

Also, because of the sheer number of civs that can challenge you (i.e. when you declare war on a neighbour), diplomacy becomes much more of an issue. It's a good idea to keep your local civs in good relations, and the large trade capacities means that the AI may often keep up with you just because of trading capabilities.

I'm a bit of an empire builder myself, so I guess this kind of play isn't suited to all. It is funniest, however when two human players start close to one-another. The game almost becomes an elaborate game of chess when the inevitable war takes place (seeing as, in a hotseat game, all players can see each others turns).

I understand the appeal to quick games, but I just feel that the game lacks many of the elements it could utilise. Diplomacy, culture and trade should be a major part of any civ-building games in my opinion.

I agree to disagree We all have our preferred playing styles

Al

My most recent huge map with 19 civilizations on Epic speed died after turn 470
Alzara, how can you play maps MUCH larger than huge size? I can't even play huge size . . . I do have Vista and DirectX 10, but then my PC is completely new AND has 4GB of Ram!
Anyways, I'm back to large size, still with 19 civilizations . . .

standard map, balanced or pangäa, normal speed, deity, ai no building reqs, no tech trading, living world

creation (best modmod/mapscript ever!), huge, normal speed, more resources, more events, no building reqs, aggressive ai, last days (increase in ac), and possibly wildlands.

Can somebody explain why "ai no building reqs" is so popular? Does it make the game easier or harder? Although I can beat the AI on Emperor with every race, immortal just kicks my arse (90% of the time)

My normal game is SP, Pangea, Small, No tech brokering, normal speed, Emperor, Barbarian, extra animals, extra events...

Willgar said:

Can somebody explain why "ai no building reqs" is so popular? Does it make the game easier or harder? Although I can beat the AI on Emperor with every race, immortal just kicks my arse (90% of the time)

My normal game is SP, Pangea, Small, No tech brokering, normal speed, Emperor, Barbarian, extra animals, extra events...

Click to expand...

ai no building reqs makes the game harder, it is probably so popular because the ai rarely build the buildings required for later game units so they have armies of low tech units. With the option on they do not need to build the buildings so they can are able to build any units they have the techs for straight away...

I'm surprised so many people like the Creation map script. It's a bit to extreme for me in terms of differentiated cut off areas. I can't imagine the AI handles the choke points well, not to mention when you have to build a boat to go around a mountain range.

My standard settings are:
Huge map
15 -19 civs
Panagea or Lakes (my experience with earlier versions of the game was that the AI couldn't really handle ocean crossing, if ppl feel that's changed please let me know)
Epic speed*
Aggressive AI
no brokering

*I think I agree that faster speeds are probably better for a true strategic challenge, but the slower speeds are much more satisfying for those of use that like a bit of a role-playing atmosphere. While I like my games to be challenging (I usually play on emperor, which is pretty challenging to me), I want it to be the "type" of challenge that I think is in the spirit of the game, which means I sometimes don't take advantage of every possible strategy.

I forgot about the "no buildings" option, I'm going to have to start using that.

JoeyFantana, I have no problem with the game dying. Sure turns can take a while some times, but I often see games way past turn 500, although my SP games usually end then because a new patch comes out LOL.

My computer isn't new, but has 4G of ram, a lovely graphics card and a hardcore processer. I would upgrade my memory but I'm still an XP user atm.

Strange how your huge maps break down on turn 450. That's odd :s

I do use compact enforced though, so the lack of hell terrain may explain things!

Al