How to ensure 'continents plus' games are competitive?

[Pilsener Grease]

This is my first time posting -- apologies if this question has been asked before.

I tend to play mostly on 'continents plus' and I frequently find that by the time I've discovered the other continent, one of the civs on that continent has already gobbled up all its neighbours and is pretty well unbeatable. Which particular civs should I exclude from my games to prevent this from happening? More specifically:

a) Which civs are guaranteed to gobble up their neighbours if left unchecked?
b) Which civs are generally unable to prevent themselves from being gobbled up by a neighbour?

 

[GamerFlair]

Anything with early game war advantages will usually gobble anything that doesn't.

 

[Dentalfury]

It's pretty hard to generalize as each game is different and the situations that lead to mass warfare and total conquest are variable.

However, there a few Civ's that I notice will almost always have expansionary aim either in terms of city spaming or conquest.

Shaka - Without a doubt a pain in everyone's side whenever he's in the game. If he has taken over his entire continent he is often behind in tech so it's possible you can conquer him or make him irrelevant via some other CV.

Alexander - He loves spamming cities, and his CS's bonuses make him strong at about anything so he's a threat to everyone.

Hiawatha - He also spams cities, but whether or not he acts aggressively is up to each game.

Realistically any Civ can do a total continent takeover. The only ones I see rarely doing it are Ghandi, the Swedes, Korea, Egypt, and France.

 

[Yzman]

This is way too broad of a question. Any civ has the possibility, but maybe a few more likely than others.

Shake is a likely candidate, I have also had France do it before, Germany, Hiawatha. Really any civ that has a high expansion flavor would be a good candidate for this.

 

[Qoma]

I find that Bouddica (Celts) is hapless in every game I've played with her, and gets eaten up by at latest the 1500's. Which is kind of funny, given that she's always swinging that sword around in her diplo screen...

 

[MarauderCH]

I make 'continents plus' games competitive by not playing on them and playing on pangaea maps instead.

 

[kamikazees]

Agree with the others. The Zulu and Greece are the two most likley candidates to eat all of their neighbors, and then try to eat their neighbors' neighbors. They are also both very dangerous in the early game and often end up overtaking their continent.

 

[civ54lyfe]

so does this officially mean that Pangea is the only map in Civ5 that is legitimate when trying to compare skill levels, etc?

 

[weregamer]

I'd not go that far. Pangea Plus and Terra are both relatively even playing fields, though there is always luck involved. Archipelago and Tiny Islands are also relatively even. Small Continents is even if everybody ends up with their own like they are supposed to.

Pangea tends to slightly to greatly disadvantage sea-based civs - It hurts England a little, Carthage and Ottomans more, and Polynesia a lot.

Archipelago pretty much cripples Morocco and Arabia and probably Mongols, and hurts Inca and Zulus.

The Petri dish nature of Continents makes for more variability in who you go up against late in the game, but it does tend to guarantee one competitor per continent, or no competitors at all if nobody else dominates their home continent.

 

[Cicerosaurus]

so does this officially mean that Pangea is the only map in Civ5 that is legitimate when trying to compare skill levels, etc?

Thanks for a smile.

To the OP, I pay mainly continents plus, or small continents and haven't found that to be a huge problem. As in, an AI can beat up on the others at any time whether you find them or not.

I would suggest small continents if you want to maintain the Naval theme. It spreads the Civs to a number of smaller continents so you still have plenty of other competitors. Maybe also add a few extra Civs.

 

[Yzman]

How do I even play a continents plus map? Is this a special map I had to buy at one time? I don't see it anywhere.

 

[Cicerosaurus]

YZman, itis an option when you are setting up the game. You'll find it in the drop down menu. I don't think you even need to go to advanced set up. (it is free with the game).

 

[Yzman]

YZman, itis an option when you are setting up the game. You'll find it in the drop down menu. I don't think you even need to go to advanced set up. (it is free with the game).

Not there. I have every expansion and civ dlc, just not any map pack ones.

Under basic setup it just has the standard stuff. Under advanced setup, while I do see some "plus" maps like amazon plus, great plains plus, I do not have a continents plus.


Edit: Never mind I just did a search on the forum and found that it is actually part of a map pack dlc that came out some time ago.

 

[zukenft]

actually having a powerful rival on another continent is competitive and challenging, it's a final boss that you must defeat in endgame.

 

[Cicerosaurus]

Not there. I have every expansion and civ dlc, just not any map pack ones.

Under basic setup it just has the standard stuff. Under advanced setup, while I do see some "plus" maps like amazon plus, great plains plus, I do not have a continents plus.


Edit: Never mind I just did a search on the forum and found that it is actually part of a map pack dlc that came out some time ago.

Well you got me there. I can't remember ever buying a map pack dlc but it may have been part of some other assortment I bought.

 

[Browd]

If I disable the Wonders of the Ancient World DLC at the main menu, the "plus" maps disappear from the Advanced Setup menu, so they must be part of that DLC.

 

[Cicerosaurus]

Thanks Browd. Problem solved.


Oops- hang on. I don't think I have ever purchased "Wonders of the Ancient World". It may have come with some other package.

 

[secon]

I find that Bouddica (Celts) is hapless in every game I've played with her, and gets eaten up by at latest the 1500's. Which is kind of funny, given that she's always swinging that sword around in her diplo screen...

yeah i noticed that awhile back when a friend and i started a coop game and i saw boudica was near me. we talked about how she never seems to do anything ever. she'll build some cities and then just sorta languish making threats. i've never worried about her even when i play on higher difficulties.

 

[Txurce]

I find Hemispheres maps to be even better than my previous favorite, Continents Plus. The main difference is that 1) the CS aren't mostly off-shore, and 2) there is about a 30% chance of the two hemispheres being connected by shallow water - but you can't count on it, like you can on C+.

Pangaea is a favorite on the boards because it allows for the fastest wins, simply because you meet everyone sooner, and therefore have more access to gold, quests, and DoF's. It's not more or less fair than maps that require crossing deep water - just different. Obviously, it screws the many seafaring divs to some degree. Find yourself in the middle and you won't feel it's too equitable. On the other hand, it's easier to compare scores, and scores are more comparable if crossing deep water to wildly varying degrees isn't part of the game.

I find the more locked-in research patterns and relative lack of a naval game boring.

 

[civ54lyfe]

On the other hand, it's easier to compare scores, and scores are more comparable if crossing deep water to wildly varying degrees isn't part of the game.

this is exactly what i was thinking was in the minds of the l33t pro-bowl Civvers minds. ocean crossing=you aren't c0r enough.