Best Map Type / Number of AI

[DAC]

Hey everyone.

I used to play Continents because I thought it was the most fun. But after realizing that was because I was able to win every game (on Noble) as the AI is incapable of mounting any kind of successful sea invasion, I've decided to switch mainly to Pangaea, as I think its the next best open/sandbox type map (rather than say Earth map) and is a lot fairer to the AI.

I play on Standard map size as I think that the next level (Large?) has waaayyy too much space and you end up with a massive civilization which is just boring to run, city specialization becomes pure tedium, and there are more strategic resources around.

But my problem is that whenever the game begins all the Civs tend to be so close together that you have to axe/chariot/etc Rush one or even two of them to get any kind of space. The problem then being that once I've achieved this, I'm pretty much guaranteed the win.

So I'm wondering would dropping the number of AI's from 7 to 4 and upping the difficulty by one or two levels make for a fairer, less cramped and more importantly difficult game?


With that in mind: Which maps do you play the most and how many AI do you like to compete against and at what difficulty?

 

[GGracchus]

6 AI's is probably better, on a standard sized map you(and the AI) get ridiculous amounts of land with only four AI's, and on higher difficulties the AI expands like crazy and more than likely will steal portions of your land. I also play almost exclusively pangaea. If you can win every game on noble, try monarch(prince is easy). If you win on that, go to emperor. Right now I play immortal.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I mostly play on fractal maps, as I enjoy not knowing what the lay of the land is until I have explored the world. Usually I have played on large maps with the default number of civs (IIRC that is 9). Lately I have played a couple of huge maps with the default of 11 civs.

 

[Turquoiside]

I always play on Huge, Pangaea maps with 8 or 9 AI. For now I play on Prince, but hopefully I'll move on to Monarch sooner or later.

 

[Bigv32]

the size of the map depends more on the computer I am using than anything. As far as number of civs, I use the default numbers unless I want an interesting change and put 18 civs on a duel size map.

Pangea maps for me, but I do enjoy some custom team continents every once and a while.

Granted, I usually play Earth maps though.

 

[Optical]

Big and Small, default number of AI's on Standard, Large or Huge depending on my mood.

 

[salty mud]

Fractal usually, sometimes going for Big/Medium and Small. Rarely go for other map types, and usually stick to standard size.

 

[Kjotleik]

Hello!

In standard BtS I usually play a Huge map with the Fractal mapscript in order to not know how the world looks like. And I tend to play with 18 civilizations on this huge map size.

Now, I have downloaded the 50-Civ dll-file. I use that in my own personal mod. I mostly play with about 30 civilizations on a Huge map (or bigger) on Marathon (or slower). And since I have downloaded the PerfectWorld2 mapscript by Cephalo, I just love to see what worlds that mapscript creates for me to play in...



Yours Sincerely

Kjotleik of Norway

 

[salty mud]

Hello!

In standard BtS I usually play a Huge map with the Fractal mapscript in order to not know how the world looks like. And I tend to play with 18 civilizations on this huge map size.

Now, I have downloaded the 50-Civ dll-file. I use that in my own personal mod. I mostly play with about 30 civilizations on a Huge map (or bigger) on Marathon (or slower). And since I have downloaded the PerfectWorld2 mapscript by Cephalo, I just love to see what worlds that mapscript creates for me to play in...



Yours Sincerely

Kjotleik of Norway

Your games must take a very long time!

 

[DAC]

I must admit, I'm surprised that Pangaea isn't the most popular by a mile.

How does the AI cope with Fractal? I would have thought badly?

 

[GGracchus]

It depends...if it's left alone with 20% of the land it tends to do fairly well and this happens more often than it does on Pangaea.

 

[J.K. Stockholme]

I myself much prefer Big and Small with BTS, not with any strategy in mind. I just prefer the geography for it, its the most likeable looking of the default map generations.

 

[LeHam]

I like Earth2 or Tectonics with Randomized Actual Earth.

I WISH there was a map script that was a worldbuilder map of Earth, but semi-randomly placed civilizations at map start. So the map layout wouldn't change, but the number of and what particular civs you added in would change. Also, if you could set an option so that the civs you chose spawned in historical places, that would be cool as well. It would also be awesome if that map worked with RoM or Legends of Revolution or RevDCM. Some don't

 

[Optical]

Actually, there is one. I'll edit in the link in a minute.

 

[K.Murx]

Strange nobody mentions Inland Sea. While it is a bit boring if you play it exclusively, the map type is very accessible to the AI and can make for somewhat predictable, but still challenging games.

 

[Scoottr]

Fractal because it provides great variance in layout. The AI seems to use it well...I got nailed in my last game by a ocean assault by America. In other games they have used their ships to blocade well. But with Fractal, most of the time, it is one continent strung together.

I use Small just because I don't get alot of time to play and I add in a civ or two to make it crowded so they are more likely to fight each other.

No Vassals and No Tech Brokering.

Did random personalities the last few games just to keep me guessing.

 

[Turquoiside]

I like Earth2 or Tectonics with Randomized Actual Earth.

I WISH there was a map script that was a worldbuilder map of Earth, but semi-randomly placed civilizations at map start. So the map layout wouldn't change, but the number of and what particular civs you added in would change. Also, if you could set an option so that the civs you chose spawned in historical places, that would be cool as well. It would also be awesome if that map worked with RoM or Legends of Revolution or RevDCM. Some don't

I remember editing this in for myself at one point. If you just take an hour or so staring at and redoing the coding for the scripts and saved games of an Earth Map it shouldn't be that difficult for you to create that script for your own use.

 

[Optical]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=315047

Sorry, that was a long minute. Has random resources as well, but it's still cool.

 

[nfw]

I play standard, low sea level and with 1 or 2 extra civs added. So it's like playing a large map without playing a large map.

 

[Lord Parkin]

My personal favourite is a good Huge/18 civs game - especially in multiplayer, but also against the AI. Anything beyond that (in terms of size or number of civs) and the performance of my machine drops off too much in the mid-late game for it to be enjoyable.

As for map scripts, I prefer "natural looking" maps with a decent amount of sea, so I'd have to say Big_and_Small and Fractal take the top spots for me. Hemispheres is also nice, and Inland Sea can be good for a small competitive match. I also find it fun to play Terra from time to time. The PerfectWorld map script can also be very enjoyable - often it produces really nice looking maps, although it sometimes spawns huge chunks of desert or gives you a horrible start which always bothers me a bit.