Do you reload till you get a good start ?

[Soronery]

Depends. Usually I want to try out a specific strategy and reroll if the start is poor for that strategy.

 

[Nato_]

Mindset really can be so different. I think this question gets at two camps of players: the "skill" type of players who see Civ as a sort of abstract competitive chess game revolving around the victory conditions, and the RP type of players who see it as an empire or story simulation.

I think most people have shades of both, but on the forum I see a lot of posts that are heavily rooted in one outlook.

For me, Civ would make a poor competition game, and the AIs unarmed opponents. I've always been drawn to it from the imagination angle.

I myself absolutely restart to get a terrain that matches who I'm playing as. If I'm playing Egypt, I really want to feel Egyptian. And so on. Being accused of "cheating" just doesn't compute to me.

Also, Civ games are very long, and time is precious. I'm under no obligation to spend my limited free spare time on what the RNG created. If I was under some sort of blood-oath like that, I'd definitely not be playing.

 

[OmniPotent42]

If i get too much tundra, or am stuck on a small island I will usually reroll, but any other start I will stick it out until I am 100% positive I am in no position to win (like capital taken, eclipsed in tech by at least 2 eras, etc)

 

[Rathelon]

I rarely reroll the map. Once in a while if I'm on the butt end of a continent in nothing but tundra and ice.

 

[Depravo]

I only reroll if I don't like the random civ it throws me.

 

[Socratatus]

players who see it as an empire or story simulation.

This is how I see it. I don`t play my sim or strategy games like a calculator. i play them as if they were `real`. If I`m in a bad situation, I think, `How would I deal with this in reality?` and play it the best I can. I even make decisions sometimes based on emotion which I know I shouldn`t do, but is Human, like fighting a war too long when I could`ve stopped early because the Civ leader`s a jerk, etc. I tend to treat the AI like Humans even if they often don`t act like Humans!

Playing like a strict robotic game is neither realistic or Human or enjoyable for me.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I'll often re-roll a start that looks really bad.

The reason being, I don't have that much time to play these days and I'd rather re-roll than invest time in a game that I know will frustrate me and cause me to rage quit later down the line.

I will play most starts though, I'd say only about 1/10 looks bad enough to re-roll (I admit, they might actually be good if I stick with them...)

 

[Falconiano]

Why do you guys reroll tundra :/
It's my second fav start after desert folklore starts. You get religion so easily even on deity.

Unless it's this case:

 

[VainoValkea]

Playing like a strict robotic game is neither realistic or Human or enjoyable for me.

Oh, playing to win is somehow inhuman then?

I understand that some players like Civ as a casualized simulator but to me it's a strategy game and in a strategy game, I try to win. When I want to play something like a real historical ruler, Civ falls short in so many aspects I rather play something else, like Crusader Kings.

 

[JustinianIV]

I sometimes re-roll a new map only when I make a stupid mistake early on, like allow a settler to be captured by barbs. I never re-roll based on a bad start.

I don't save and load, save and load. That's lame!

 

[fremat02]

At a point I tried to make myself as a rule to not reroll, but after some few games with terrible surroundings or starting spot, I allow myself to reroll if I see I will not stand a chance (I guess it is always possible to win, but I am not good enough yet and will get back to my rule when I will be)

 

[Greizer85]

I'm at the extreme end of the spectrum. I'll only play a perfect start and have rerolled up to a 100 times to get it. In Civ V though I will simply use IGE to place a mountain next to my riverside hill capital with wheat and/or salt around it. Way I figure it I can either do it with the editor in 20 seconds or spend three hours rerolling. If I try to play without a mountain or a river I get a crazy thump in the back of my head, saying 'what if you had a MOUNTAIN next to your LOSER capital, LOSERBOY???'. Until I edit in the mountain this feeling never leaves my skull.

On real world maps though (which I mostly play tbh) I tend to shy away from this procedure for some reason (it feels like 'corrupting' the map that a human has balanced for the different civs). But then I usually only play the civs with the best starting positions. I like playing as Japan because they get Mt Fuji right next to them, so religion is taken care of right off the bat.

 

[Ryoga]

I sometimes re-roll a new map only when I make a stupid mistake early on, like allow a settler to be captured by barbs. I never re-roll based on a bad start.

I don't save and load, save and load. That's lame!

When you abandon and start a new game because of an error that you have made and not because of random conditions that you don't like that's not re-rolling, that's forfeiting the game.

 

[Civert]

Most of the time I quicksave the start, and scout the map with the warrier and settler.

If there are too many negatives, such as placement and number of other Civs, poor Capital placement, not adequate expansion room, few luxuries, etc, etc, I restart.

Otherwise I go back, start and play.

The one thing I wish I could do, is scout future resources, especially oil and aluminum.
Even though I play with abundant resources, I have invested 200 turns or so in a number of games, only to discover I have no oil or aluminum.
On the harder difficulties, that can be a real killer.

 

[JustinianIV]

When you abandon and start a new game because of an error that you have made and not because of random conditions that you don't like that's not re-rolling, that's forfeiting the game.

Right you are. I do take it as a loss.

 

[BroOfTheSun]

I allow myself one re-roll. Even if the re-roll is worse, I have to play it.

 

[adwcta]

I think if the re-rollers just tried to play through these "bad starts", maybe go down a difficulty at first... you'll see it's not that bad. It might be always better to have a river/mountain than not... but there are advantages to not being on a hill, to being near desert/tundra/jungle, etc. And if you have only 2 luxuries instead of 3 in your capital, that just means there's a spot vaguely nearby where you can get a 3-lux city for your trade spot, and it means you'll probably have more strategic resources to reveal later in the game. You're never dead in the water. Most of my most fun games involve some tundra or jungle. Try some Russia/Sweden/Brazil/Aztec games on a lower difficulty, you'll figure how to play your game your way while still using those tiles... and get better at playing the game.

I understand RP-ing (I feel weird every time I get a tundra start with a civ that does not belong there; I sometimes pick the AI civs to re-enact an era/conflict), but that's different than re-rolling for luxuries, rivers, mountains, etc. That's not RP-ing, that's getting a strategic advantage (or avoiding a strategic disadvantage).

Everyone has fun in different ways playing the game, but there are two types of people, those that are content (or even really really happy) having fun playing a game with no ulterior objectives, and those that want to constantly get better while having fun (who usually feel that getting better at the game is half the fun itself). I don't judge if you're in the first camp. But if you fancy yourself in the second camp and still re-roll regularly... then I do judge. It's self-defeating imo.

 

[Addetetet]

Rerolled til i got a nice start today, was trying Deity for the first time ever.. I don´t Think i couldvé managed with a terrible/mediocre start.. Have played the game for about 2 weeks.. playing almost every day Started out on chieftain my first games, got 2 Immortal victories and decided to give a try at deity with a nice start location..

Babylon+Petra+luck with people not attacking me at all gave me a science victory at turn 325, austria quite Close to a Culture victory but i had gold and nukes to destroy most of their work had i needed it.. I was sitting with 3 army units for most of the game just to improve my 3 cities ranged combat strength


Well.. All i wanted to do was to brag about managin my first Deity win

 

[BroOfTheSun]

I think if the re-rollers just tried to play through these "bad starts", maybe go down a difficulty at first... you'll see it's not that bad. It might be always better to have a river/mountain than not... but there are advantages to not being on a hill, to being near desert/tundra/jungle, etc. And if you have only 2 luxuries instead of 3 in your capital, that just means there's a spot vaguely nearby where you can get a 3-lux city for your trade spot, and it means you'll probably have more strategic resources to reveal later in the game. You're never dead in the water. Most of my most fun games involve some tundra or jungle. Try some Russia/Sweden/Brazil/Aztec games on a lower difficulty, you'll figure how to play your game your way while still using those tiles... and get better at playing the game.

I understand RP-ing (I feel weird every time I get a tundra start with a civ that does not belong there; I sometimes pick the AI civs to re-enact an era/conflict), but that's different than re-rolling for luxuries, rivers, mountains, etc. That's not RP-ing, that's getting a strategic advantage (or avoiding a strategic disadvantage).

Everyone has fun in different ways playing the game, but there are two types of people, those that are content (or even really really happy) having fun playing a game with no ulterior objectives, and those that want to constantly get better while having fun (who usually feel that getting better at the game is half the fun itself). I don't judge if you're in the first camp. But if you fancy yourself in the second camp and still re-roll regularly... then I do judge. It's self-defeating imo.

Also take into account, if you have a bad start, it's very likely AI civs have bad starts as well. Just roll with it

 

[Elz Majesto]

I was playing as Spain, and I desperately wanted my second city to have a good Natural Wonder. So I rolled about 6 times, and on one start I noticed I was on a hill with good sea resources, lots of jungle, and lots of hills, but no room for expansion, so I re-rolled 7 more times with nothing. Something about that start gnawed at the back of my brain like a bad recurring thought, so I loaded up that Initial Save, and I moved my warrior 4 tiles north of England's Cap to a coast about 6 tiles out of my capital...and lo and behold I found Great Barrier Reef and a quick 1000 gold. Brought a settler, settled and never looked back! lol ended up with a Science Victory going Order just for giggles.