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Favourite custom game settings
- Thread starter FLUKE
- Start date
g.neuman
Far Out Space Nut
Almost all of my games are Terra, temperate, normal sea level, large map, epic speed, nine civs, no time victory. Plus I use WB to place each civ in a starting position that approximates its historical location (e.g., Germans in Central Europe, Chinese in East Asia, Incas in northern South America, etc.).
After much trial and error, I've discovered that this setup most often gives me what I want from Civ IV: A long, enjoyable game on a map that is similar to Earth, but not so similar as to be utterly predictable.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
I rather like the Choose Religions settings, I find it tends to give the game a more realistic feel if Spain is Christian, China is Confucian or Taoist, and so on.
When I go up a difficulty level, as I just did to Immortal, I like to play with Advanced Start to balance out some of the advantages the AI has. As I get used to the level I wean myself off of AS by lowering the initial points. I usually retain enough points just to get Hunting, a Worker, and a couple of Scouts so as to alleviate the boredom of the initial turns (I usually play my off-line games on Marathon speed).
I also play a lot of my off-line games with the "new random seed" option turned on. This is because I'll often go back several turns to a previous save if a particular strategy didn't work out so I can try something different (since I don't have the benefit of the ALC gang to help me out off-line). While I might do that for strategic purposes, I find the random seed option keeps me honest tactically by not guaranteeing the same results from things like battles, goody huts, and Great People--so, in other words, I'll have a potential price to pay for turning back the clock.
I sometimes play with No Tech Brokering on, usually when I'm at a point where I want a bit of a challenge for my current difficulty level, but I'm not quite ready to move up just yet. NTB closes off two of my commonly-used tactics: one is tech brokering, of course, forcing me to be much more strategic with my tech trading. The other tactic that NTB eliminates is that of selling a tech to the AI for some gold when they nearly have it completed. With NTB on, AI will NOT do this, preferring to reap the benefits of being able to trade the tech in which it has invested so much research. This is one of the few examples I've seen where the AI has been programmed to adapt reasonably well to a custom game setting. (I say reasonably well because there are times when it is more advantageous to get the tech early than to be able to trade it later, but the AI apparently has not been programmed to weigh those benefits against one another.)
Aside from that, I don't use a lot of the custom game options. I've found that the AI doesn't cope with those settings very well, with the exception of No Tech Brokering, as noted above. For example, Aggressive AI slows down the AI's tech rate considerably.
When I go up a difficulty level, as I just did to Immortal, I like to play with Advanced Start to balance out some of the advantages the AI has. As I get used to the level I wean myself off of AS by lowering the initial points. I usually retain enough points just to get Hunting, a Worker, and a couple of Scouts so as to alleviate the boredom of the initial turns (I usually play my off-line games on Marathon speed).
I also play a lot of my off-line games with the "new random seed" option turned on. This is because I'll often go back several turns to a previous save if a particular strategy didn't work out so I can try something different (since I don't have the benefit of the ALC gang to help me out off-line). While I might do that for strategic purposes, I find the random seed option keeps me honest tactically by not guaranteeing the same results from things like battles, goody huts, and Great People--so, in other words, I'll have a potential price to pay for turning back the clock.
I sometimes play with No Tech Brokering on, usually when I'm at a point where I want a bit of a challenge for my current difficulty level, but I'm not quite ready to move up just yet. NTB closes off two of my commonly-used tactics: one is tech brokering, of course, forcing me to be much more strategic with my tech trading. The other tactic that NTB eliminates is that of selling a tech to the AI for some gold when they nearly have it completed. With NTB on, AI will NOT do this, preferring to reap the benefits of being able to trade the tech in which it has invested so much research. This is one of the few examples I've seen where the AI has been programmed to adapt reasonably well to a custom game setting. (I say reasonably well because there are times when it is more advantageous to get the tech early than to be able to trade it later, but the AI apparently has not been programmed to weigh those benefits against one another.)
Aside from that, I don't use a lot of the custom game options. I've found that the AI doesn't cope with those settings very well, with the exception of No Tech Brokering, as noted above. For example, Aggressive AI slows down the AI's tech rate considerably.
Kip Beagle
Sleestak
I turn off goody huts. I don't like that much randomness that early in the game, but the real reason is that way I'm not tempted to re-load if I don't pop something I like. 
I also turn off domination, cultural, and diplomatic wins, they're just not dramatic enough. And I turn off tech brokering (because it's annoying) and I turn on choose religions (because I like to see different ones being dominant).
I always play with the raging or additional barbarians (I forgot what it's called). It's kinda like having target practice or someone to beat on if you get angry and can't beat on any of the other civs for whatever reason.
I always play on a modified marathon (modified to make research slower, so I can enjoy using units for a while instead of constantly upgrading them) and on huge maps with at least 2 continents. Games take forever, but they're memorable.
I almost always play a civ that has had a massive impact on the world... Rome, Germany, England, America, China, etc. I've never played Zulu, Khmer, Portugal, etc.... yes I know they're important and have had significant impacts in some ways. I just don't want to play them.
I also turn off domination, cultural, and diplomatic wins, they're just not dramatic enough. And I turn off tech brokering (because it's annoying) and I turn on choose religions (because I like to see different ones being dominant).
I always play with the raging or additional barbarians (I forgot what it's called). It's kinda like having target practice or someone to beat on if you get angry and can't beat on any of the other civs for whatever reason.
I always play on a modified marathon (modified to make research slower, so I can enjoy using units for a while instead of constantly upgrading them) and on huge maps with at least 2 continents. Games take forever, but they're memorable.
I almost always play a civ that has had a massive impact on the world... Rome, Germany, England, America, China, etc. I've never played Zulu, Khmer, Portugal, etc.... yes I know they're important and have had significant impacts in some ways. I just don't want to play them.
Onagan
The Dutch
I turn of events, i hate them
FlyinJohnnyL
You need more workers....
You kinda cripple the AI by turning off space race victory as this is their favorite form of victory. I think I read somewhere that they will STILL pursue it even if you turn it off...
I can't stand going for the space race myself, I've only done it once and it just feels like I'm waiting forever to research, then build the parts, then wait for the f...er to land. My impatience usually results in a dom victory long before a space ship is the twinkle of anyone's eyes. Matter of fact, I don't think I've ever had a cultural victory, and only a handful of conquest and diplo victories.
Anyhow, my favorite custom settings are raging barbs (love it when, outta nowhere, "The Indian Civilization has been destroyed" and you haven't even met them yet), OCC (getting pretty damn good at these), No tech brokering, and sometimes Aggressive AI. That being said, most of the time I play as it is with the play now button, unless I want to add some opponents.
EweezE
Dog Soldier
Hemishperes, Tectonics, or Terra map.
Choose Religions
No Tech Brokering
Lock Modified Assets
*Add an extra civ or 3
Choose Religions
No Tech Brokering
Lock Modified Assets
*Add an extra civ or 3
EweezE
Dog Soldier
It's time to do it again! That one was just a warm up for this one. Someone should bump that "old" one. Get 2 of these puppies going.. You can never have enough game settings threads going.
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