Archipelago - Hunts Galor

[bigwinw]

So I just played my first Archipelago map (standard size, normal speed, prince). AI is awful in all aspects on this type of map.

There are hunt everywhere even late in the game. AI does not go after hunt on islands. I played Egypt and build a War Chariot early for exploration. Upgraded using huts only and it went like this. War Chariot -> Knight -> Cavalry -> Tank.

Another note is that Archipelago is too easy (on Prince at least). I was going for a Cultural Win and could have gotten a Science win 20-30 turns earlier if I wanted. Also I was #1 in points with only 8 cities. So I would have won 3 of the 5 types.

No one declared war on me the entire time, although I was very nice and did not go to war with any city-state or Civ.

Is Archipelago map that unbalanced at the higher difficulty ratings? I feel if I was playing a higher level a diplomatic victory would be easy granted you saved enough money to pay off all the 1- City-States required for victory. This shouldnt be too hard if gold is your main focus.

Does anyone else have any experience at high levels on this map? Does AI get any better or is it a flaw?

 

[EasyGoin]

Archi is widely considered the easiest map type to my understanding- to the extent diety wins on archi are called "cheating" by some, or at least don't count for any sort of bragging rights. I personally haven't played one since they bolstered AI Navy construction.

 

[Civ'ed]

Tiny Islands is much, much worse than Archi - for the AI. (although some guy might settle next to you in 4000 BC)

 

[bigwinw]

Is Tiny Islands an option in CiV? I only see Continents, Pangaea, World and Archipelago.

 

[firecat318]

Is Tiny Islands an option in CiV? I only see Continents, Pangaea, World and Archipelago.

Yes it is, in fact there are about 20 more "hidden" map options if you will (Lakes, fractal, Ice Age just to name a few). Go into 'advanced game setup' and you can then choose your map type.

 

[dublos]

<snip>
There are hunt everywhere even late in the game. AI does not go after hunt on islands. I played Egypt and build a War Chariot early for exploration. Upgraded using huts only and it went like this. War Chariot -> Knight -> Cavalry -> Tank.
<snip>

Can you reitterate this.. because Tank isn't a part of the promotion tree. You shouldn't be abel to goody hut up to Tank. A horse unit should max out to Cavalry.

So are ancient Ruins totally ignoring this fact and determining that the only option for a advanced weapon upgrade is to start the tank path?

 

[Beef Hammer]

and this where the goody huts fail, it is completely ******** to find ancient ruins with advanced technology, and they have things that wont be invented or teched for thousands of years. There absolutely needs to be a cap for upgrades, like maybe medieval units.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Can you reitterate this.. because Tank isn't a part of the promotion tree. You shouldn't be abel to goody hut up to Tank. A horse unit should max out to Cavalry.

So are ancient Ruins totally ignoring this fact and determining that the only option for a advanced weapon upgrade is to start the tank path?

Yeah, ruins will upgrade cavalry to tank ... makes no sense at all .. about as much sense as the more commonly seen upgrade of scouts to archers ... which still keep the awesome scout upgrades.
If you get one of those (especially with survivalism), consider not spending their level-ups until you gold-promote them all the way to rifles. Scary scary units, those.

 

[sarah_aus]

Archi is my favorite type of map because I really get off on the exploration side of things. I play immortal and usually only have 2 civs declare war on me which can be easily kept at bay with a few land units and a crossbow in each city.
Try the map on immortal level, the AI is slightly better then at the easier levels.