Is this the sign of a bad player to start new games until you ''like'' your start ?

[King_Course]

Even a map like this?

http://i.imgur.com/ET9ZQ.jpg

I would restart that in the blink of an eye. But I also like to double the amount of Civs on the map.

 

[Vidszhite]

Tundra starts are actually decent - they tend to have oil, aluminium and uranium for the late game.

Anything that takes until the modern age to become useful at all is a bad start. Great expansion location, terrible start. It would be great if we started the game with Biology, Electricity, and Atomic Theory, but your starting location has to support a lot of things: construction, science, population, and gold. If it lacks too much in these areas, such as with a Tundra start, you're boned. You can't build any improvements on Tundra except for Trading Posts, and those aren't until early mid game.

Good expansion locations are not necessarily good starting locations.

 

[Louis8k8]

I don't personally have anything for bad starts. To me that's just excuses for being not adaptable and relying on luck. However I do admit I've faced players with terribly crap spawns. My friend spawned in a land only place with 12 mountain blocks adjacent to his capital. and the nearest coast is 8 cells away. Desert and Tundra isn't nearly as bad in the G+K mod.

I take for granted that my city never lands on Iron, Coal, Oil or Aluminum. I just take/build cities for them when I discover them.

I do 'cheat' reload-autosave for vs AI games in the case where my starting location is 2 blocks away from coast/river.

 

[compwiz1202]

If you want to start in a more ideal place, go for it. It’s for your playing experience, for your enjoyment. I tend to rage quit if I can’t find iron.

My game was almost worse than no iron. Rome with two iron tiles in the FOURTH ring with no way to control the tiles taken by culture there I really wish there was some way to control tile acquisition other than buying the tiles. Why wouldn't the AI prioritize strategic resources, especially with an iron dependant UU?

I suppose I could have just popped down a city, but I didn't want to share tiles with the capital or the nearby citystates.

 

[Emperor Giulio]

My game was almost worse than no iron. Rome with two iron tiles in the FOURTH ring with no way to control the tiles taken by culture there I really wish there was some way to control tile acquisition other than buying the tiles. Why wouldn't the AI prioritize strategic resources, especially with an iron dependant UU?

I suppose I could have just popped down a city, but I didn't want to share tiles with the capital or the nearby citystates.

I think if seafaring civs are guaranteed to spawn next to a sea title; iron dependent civs should be afforded the same treatment.

 

[Atlanteax]

I would like to see added the ability to "re-generate the map" so we did not have to go through the long tedious process of having to recalibrate a game (if we do specific AI Civs, or disable some features like goodie huts).

I think an ideal resolution, particularly for MP, is to see a slightly larger area at start, and you get to pick where to plop down your settler & warrior (as sometimes, the initial area is doable, but you'll lose 2-3 turns getting to the 'right spot').

 

[Emperor Giulio]

But, if I see a CS with iron, I might try to overwhelm them early on.

 

[Emperor Giulio]

I may restart my game simply if I think the terrain looks ugly lol

 

[smallfish]

Good expansion locations are not necessarily good starting locations.

That's why I don't stick around on the tundra for long.

And now with this Aurora pantheon, it makes it all the more worthwhile. Give me a tundra start, rather than a decent start with absolutely no lategame strat resources in the 10-tile vicinity, and I'll give you a human runaway powerhouse.

 

[Gliese 581]

That's why I don't stick around on the tundra for long.

And now with this Aurora pantheon, it makes it all the more worthwhile. Give me a tundra start, rather than a decent start with absolutely no lategame strat resources in the 10-tile vicinity, and I'll give you a human runaway powerhouse.

I think I'll be stupidly OP this game where I started on tundra as Spain. Well it helped that I found the 2food 6 faith natural wonder and got 500 gold to settle it immediately..

 

[PhilBowles]

That's why I don't stick around on the tundra for long.

Which is great when you aren't on an island map...

And now with this Aurora pantheon, it makes it all the more worthwhile. Give me a tundra start, rather than a decent start with absolutely no lategame strat resources in the 10-tile vicinity, and I'll give you a human runaway powerhouse.

That's actually part of the reason I stuck with it, since it gave me the opportunity to try out a pantheon I'd be unlikely to otherwise, as well as a chance to see the AI's naval improvements in action. It's turning out to be a fun explore, but so far peaceful game; even having limited settlement options with access to horses or iron (in fact I have none of the latter) isn't a big deal at the moment. I do regret choosing the Maya over Carthage or indeed Polynesia in this instance, but on a shuffle map I can't predict the archipelago games in advance.

 

[Noatz]

There's nothing inherently wrong with restartaholicism, but I find it will make you grow bored with the game more quickly if you indulge in it too excessively. Its also a crutch that impedes the development of your "skills".

A big part of the game is getting the best out of all the tiles you have, so if you restart every game until you have a big fat river or 3+ luxes on your capital you might want to look at brushing up on your play a bit if you intend to progress to higher difficulties.

 

[Shurdus]

If you would like to play another start more than the one you got, toen by all means, go nuts and reroll. It has nothing to do with skillz.

On aan sidenote, why would care if others thought you were a bad player? :shrug:

 

[Baron2]

I don't want three lux. I want marble and a river.

 

[Noatz]

I don't want three lux. I want marble and a river.

Well I think everyone likes a river, since they're OP.

Marble implies you love the wonders, which is fine, but a bit of variety spices up the game and makes it last longer

 

[Bad Wolf]

I reroll if I get a start that just doesn't "feel" right for that Civ. If I'm playing Arabia, I want to start in or near a desert (and they usually do); for the Aztecs I want to start near jungles; for Carthage, I want to start by water, etc. I don't really consider it cheating because I'm not doing it based on how good the start is for me gameplay-wise, but rather RP-wise.

 

[Emperor Giulio]

Well I think everyone likes a river, since they're OP.

Marble implies you love the wonders, which is fine, but a bit of variety spices up the game and makes it last longer

Rivers and marble are definitively the beginnings of a very fun game, I love making my capital the world mecca of culture.

 

[TPQ]

I mean more precisely the starting zone. (I'm a sucker for Marble and a river)

The question really is; can you win from any start?

If the answer is 'yes', you're a good player, it doesn't matter if you choose not to take any old start each time you play, but rather that you have the ability to win from any start. Having the ability, but choosing not to use it and instead having fun with an easy start, isn't the same as being a "bad" player.

If you can only win with a highly selective, easy start, then you might begin to question if you're a "bad" player or not.

Regardless if you're "bad" or "good", as long as you enjoy the game, that's what really matters. There are very few of us who can take a tundra start with a single luxury, on deity and take it to the win and I'm certainly not one of them.

As long as you know you can win from a rough start (meaning you've done so at least once, at whatever level you play on), it doesn't matter if you re-roll or not. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you always have to and choosing not to doesn't make you a "bad" player.

 

[Civologist]

It might not be the sign of a bad player but it could be the sign of a player pigeon holded into a specific strategy. Not very versatile

 

[@nthony]

I like to start completely randomly, both map-type and random human and AI civilizations chosen. I hate the 'pre-knowledge' that some civ's are better on some maps than others.

I then play my way forward the first hundred or so turns before I know if I am playing well or not, if I had a 'good' start or not. Sometimes all things are relative and you go into a game having chosen some of those variables yourself already it can lead to judging a situation before you've given it a fair crack of the whip.