Horrible Start Bias

[animalguy]

How many times does the map script follow the start bias? So many times I see Russia landing a pure desert start even though they are supposed to land a semi tundra start, or the inca land in a flat river plain with not a hill in sight, or polynesia starting in the middle of a continent which i find extreamly odd. Is this by design or is it just random chance? Any help appreciated!

 

[crawf0rd]

Its start bias, not start guarantee. It will try and pick a good spot but it is not always going to happen.

 

[NotSure]

Starts are usually consistent with the bias for me. I believe Earth maps ignore start bias though.

 

[Optional]

The mapscript devides the map into regions, and will attempt to place a civ in the region that closest resembles its start bias.
Other factors, like available food are weighed in as well.

Russia, who has tundra as their start bias, will more likely end up on plains, because of food requirements.

If a map is small and the regions relatively large in comparison, the start bias may not have a huge effect. I never really tested it, but it should be more reliable on bigger maps.

 

[joncnunn]

Yup; desert bias & tundra bias tend to start near that terrain rather than in the middle of it.

And, that is also correct about "Earth" maps; those ignore start bias entirely.

In addition, there is an advanced rule setting that would disable the start bias if by chance you don't want to start near the normal area for that civ.

 

[animalguy]

I dont tend to play earth maps all that often so I am not familiar with that the start bias are non-exsistant on earth maps. It just suprises me how far a civ can land from its supposed starting territory (though I do enjoy it when I play as russia and land in a fertile river valley )