Circumnavigating the Map

[Shawanabad]

I’ve played 11 unique Civ 6 games so far (chronologically – Gilgamesh up til Hojo Tokimune. Next up is Montezuma. Final will be Gandhi).

About 80% on continent maps, rest are fractal – all on large size. On every single map, the oceans are always unconnected. No way to circumnavigate the world with your navy. Continents I start on are always pole to pole – ice blocks northern and southern passages. There are no Panama or Suez-like possible future canal zone city locations.

When I cross the ocean with my caravel, I always find another continent that is also pole to pole. So no places like the Straits of Magellan or Cape of Good Hope that allows you to circumnavigate the globe.

What this means, for me, in effect is by the modern era I have not yet explored lands/oceans that are beyond the next continent.

For a game whose interface design is inspired by the age of exploration – you can’t actually explore the entire map with your caravels in the renaissance period!

Are others experiencing the same? Is this how Continent and Fractal maps are now? Or just "luck of the draw" for me?

 

[lordhaw]

I've mostly played Continent maps and largely find the same thing. I have had one Continent map where there was a gap in the south of one continent that allowed you to go from ocean to ocean but the other one was pole to pole. Most of them are pole to pole though. Only tried one fractal map that had such a crappy start position that I gave up...haven't retried fractal yet.

 

[smartcanuck1988]

Yeah it's a common issue with many people. I get the same thing too. Right now I'm playing on Fractal and if it wasn't for an apostle I wouldn't have met Germany for a long long time. They need to ease up on how vertically stretched the continents are. It would also be helpful if the continents aren't just boring blobs. Netherlands in real life would have no hope of any colonies.

I’ve played 11 unique Civ 6 games so far (chronologically – Gilgamesh up til Hojo Tokimune. Next up is Montezuma. Final will be Gandhi).

Hey I'm playing the same way! .. nowhere near 11 plays yet though.

For a game whose interface design is inspired by the age of exploration – you can’t actually explore the entire map with your caravels in the renaissance period!

I loved this. Relevant to few other parts of the game. Many quirks with the game are happening because the theme is being ignored. Civ 6 is trying to be and include many things, but little feels genuinely inspired.

 

[Lord_Azazel]

I've played a few games on continents, I have had both ice locked and open ocean between the continents and the poles. But I am only playing huge maps though, and even those feel too small.

 

[Rehpic]

Sadly there is no circumnavigation bonus in civ 6.

 

[Lucius_]

Yep same thing here, it's rather annoying.

 

[Takfloyd]

The two maps I've played on so far both had one pole-to-pole continent and one with passages. Still, it shouldn't be like this. The main problem is just that the maps are too small, even on Huge. The continents are big enough, but there should be far more ocean between them and north/south of them. The planet is 70% water and that was always the standard for Civ games in the past!

Also 11 games already? That's crazy. I have nearly 100 hours playtime and I still haven't finished a game yet(I have one single player and one multiplayer game going).

 

[God of Kings]

How about a continents map with four landmasses in a north-south orientation, each with two civs:

 

[malitano]

Yes I hope the devs can address this not able to circumnavigate the globe in any continents games. The last time there was a bonus for being the first was Civ4 +1 sea unit movement

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Also circumnavigation would make an excellent Eureka/Inspiration.

 

[katanaD]

Yep, this seems to be the norm. Btw, is there a bonus for being the first to circumnavigate the world in Civ6? Haven't noticed it, which is a shame. It's existed for a long time in Civ, back to the days of Civ3 at least I think...

On a slightly different note I'm playing an Island map with sea levels HIGH and I'm having a similar problem! Rather than small islands in the middle of large seas, I have lots of snake like continents and seas. One of the seas (~1/3 of the map) is completely cut off by land and ice from all the others. This is in a island map with high seas! How am I meant to get a map which is mostly water?

yeah its almost like the sea level switch doesnt do anything

 

[Futumch]

I've found the same thing in my games so far.

I've also found builders to be better explorers than scouts until you get Shipbuilding, if you're stuck on a sandbar in the middle of the sea.

 

[Za01phod]

Raising the sea level should allow circumnavigation.

 

[Jimdigriz]

Sadly there is no circumnavigation bonus in civ 6.

Yep I managed to do this on a huge map very early in the game and found that out! Rather silly and I hope they bring this back. And make a bigger than huge map while they are at it!

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Pretty sure in Civ5 it gives you +1 sight. I think it gave +1 movement before one of the expansion pack

No, there is no bonus for circumnavigation in CivV (besides the Steam achievement)

 

[ThERat]

Frankly, the map generator of Civ6 is the worst of the civ series ever. Few map types, bland and boring landmasses. Land always stretching from pole to pole (just like on earth, right )

It's a shame what the current Firaxis team has done to the civ series. Instead of building on the foundations of 5 iterations, they thought re-inveting the wheel is a great idea.

 

[Tatran]

No, there is no bonus for circumnavigation in CivV

Just change the number into anything you like besides 0 and you will get the bonus.

The civ4 Hemispheres map (the civ5 one is different, continents plus is a good one) is the best strategic map there is.
(Random 2-6 continents + the chance of early coastal connections between continents. A 3 continent map has more tundra + ice and the continents are most of the time tied to the poles,
while a 4 and 6 continent map are more like big islands. A 5 continent map, you are either lucky or screwed.)

From what I've seen so far, the landmasses aren't the real problem, but the 1 upt + movement restriction is. (Just like in civ5.)
I recommend the 'let's play civ6 Pericles' by Absolute Zero to get a real good impression of the game.