Need ideas on how to kill wasted tiles.

[Lehawk]

On my huge europe map I have very large areas that I either have to leave uninhabitable, or ignore. The problem is, Russia has incredible amounts of real estate available to expand and will usually dominate if not ganged up on early game. Also this extra space allows barbarians to constantly attack for the "barrens".

Anybody know of an idea to kill the space, without sacrificing civilizations on the borders by shrinkage? I was thinking about a unpassable black tile, which would allow me to focus on the main game areas. I don't know the feasibility of it though. And ideas would be appriciated.

 

[Greencardman]

The Desert War Mod uses impassable desert tile, i think it looks like Tundra. One solution may be to make up a new tile, say, impassable deep forest or something. It acts like a peak tile, so you can't move into it, but isn't so annoying looking. It could also create interesting aspects to game play, because you could strategically place them to create valley/passes just like with peaks.

 

[CdGGambit]

Make it lots of plains without many rivers. Without irrigation, those cities won't get very large. Keep the amount of bonus resources (cows, wheat, etc) in that part of the world minimal, while having plenty in the rest of the Europe. This is how Rhye balanced it in his map.