Description of map types?

[capella]

Does anyone know if there exists a description of all of the map types available? I have all of the available DLCs and that makes the maps list quite long, and I would like to know the general description of each of them.

Thanks!

 

[joncnunn]

I don't have a full list at all.
But.

Anything with "+" : those are based on the standard script, only with additional tiny islands, likely for City States.

Ring : One main landmass around the edge of the map; inland sea. Misc islands containing all City States (5 by default).
One of my favorite ones since it combines the advantage of ease of getting contacts while limiting your threats to just two.

Donut: Single circular landmass with the choice of one terrain on the outside. Then there is a choice of second terrain in the middle.

Four corners: World divided into four regions. Note that there is a bug in the generator that sometimes places a second major AI in one of the regions.

Battlefield: Dual size map with little water. Quite a bit of choices.

All real world locations : What they say they are, these are often huge maps.

Tiny Islands: A more extreme version of Archepello.

Small Continent: Between Archepello & Continents. Often will give you your own landmass, but other times you'll find a second major AI present.

 

[Optional]

What you also could do is to download the toolset, which is a seperate download from Steam, but you are automatically entitled to it when you own the game.
With the worldbuilder, part of this toolset, you can generate random maps for each map type. This gives you a much better idea. The game itself already gives you a short description of each map type, but there's nothing better than actually seeing some for yourself.

An article in the war academy with pics and an explanation of settings like 'arid' and 'cold' would indeed be handy, but I don't think anybody has volunteered yet to do it.

 

[capella]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I may download the toolset and check the maps out that way.

 

[The_J]

Since I guess that some example images would be enough to see what they do, you should check out http://www.civwiki.de/wiki/Kartensammlung_(Civ5) .

 

[capella]

Thanks for the link, The J! I found the English version of that: http://wiki.2kgames.com/civ5/index.php/Advanced_Setup_Map_Generators

 

[The_J]

It's not an exact copy (there is more info in the german wiki, also images of the maps, and examples of modded mapscripts), but it's good to know too .

 

[Rimpy]

What you also could do is to download the toolset, which is a seperate download from Steam, but you are automatically entitled to it when you own the game.
With the worldbuilder, part of this toolset, you can generate random maps for each map type. This gives you a much better idea. The game itself already gives you a short description of each map type, but there's nothing better than actually seeing some for yourself.

You could also accomplish the same thing by enabling debug mode, starting a game, and then revealing the map. You don't get to see all the resource placements (it only shows resources where you've explored), but you do get to see the general formation of the land. This is a little easier than downloading and using the SDK.

Here's the info on the debug mode that I'm copying and pasting from a Google search. I can't test the exact process below since I'm at work, but this sounds like what I did:

Enable debug mode by setting your two INI files as follows:

UserSettings.INI
DebugMode = 1

Config.INI
; Set to 1 to activate the debug panel
DebugPanel = 1
; Set to 1 to disable OverlayDebug system
OverlayDebug = 0

Files are located in ~\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\

Once in the game press "~" to open the debug menu. You can reveal all, edit cities etc.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

The RING script is bugged in World Builder. don't know if it's just me, but everytime I generate a map using the RING script in WorldBuilder (works fine in game) it comes out as fully grassland map, no resources, no features no nothing.. just.. grassland.

 

[joncnunn]

The RING script is bugged in World Builder. don't know if it's just me, but everytime I generate a map using the RING script in WorldBuilder (works fine in game) it comes out as fully grassland map, no resources, no features no nothing.. just.. grassland.

Interesting. On the real map; one of the choices is what type the base terrain is. Grassland is on that list, but so is Plains and some others.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Interesting. On the real map; one of the choices is what type the base terrain is. Grassland is on that list, but so is Plains and some others.

In worlduilbder, it doesn't even work, there's no ring. the whole map is just grassland, nothing seems to generate. It literally generates a plane of grassland. I have no idea why it doesn't work in WB. It works perfectly in the game, albeit with about 5 city-states and no more, it auto-destroys the other CS (which is very annoying for Diplo Victories)