As far as I understand, there are two distinct ways to start a Civ4 game, custom games and scenarios. Custom games (either the "play now" or "custom game" options in the main menu) allow you a wide array of choices, like map scripts, choosing your civ and leader, and several different game options. Custom games always seem to use map scripts that randomly generate the map based on some parameters.
On the other hand, starting a scenario is basically the same as loading a saved game. The map is static, and so is the selection of possible civs and game settings.
I was wondering if it is possible to have a static map behind the "custom game" option. For example, have an Earth map option that always uses an actual Earth map with let's say 18 player slots, but you still can select any of the existing 30+ civilisations and any possible leader for each civ, like you would from "play now".
Is that already possible and I have just never seen it implemented? If not, any ideas on workarounds for how to achieve something like that?
My first idea would be to have a map script that just reads from a scenario file instead of randomly generating terrain, but I have no experience with map scripts so no idea how feasible that would be.
On the other hand, starting a scenario is basically the same as loading a saved game. The map is static, and so is the selection of possible civs and game settings.
I was wondering if it is possible to have a static map behind the "custom game" option. For example, have an Earth map option that always uses an actual Earth map with let's say 18 player slots, but you still can select any of the existing 30+ civilisations and any possible leader for each civ, like you would from "play now".
Is that already possible and I have just never seen it implemented? If not, any ideas on workarounds for how to achieve something like that?
My first idea would be to have a map script that just reads from a scenario file instead of randomly generating terrain, but I have no experience with map scripts so no idea how feasible that would be.