Need to break my Pangaea addiction

[Trapper439]

I've gotten into the bad habit of only playing Pangaea maps, perhaps because I like the large scores that a quick Domination on a map where the enemies are easily accesible can get you. And I have to admit that I really suck at building a decent navy. My Triremes are usually built too late, and they always seem to lose to barb galleys even with good combat odds, and thus my seafood gets pillaged.

I've played a few Continents games, a few Fractal games, and one Big and Small in which I had great land (maybe a few too many floodplains, that I tried to cottage too heavily in order to fight the costs of so many cities) on a big continent, but that game was ruined by over-expansion.

I'd really like for somebody to suggest a fun alternative to the Pangaea maps to which I've probably become too accustomed.

What kind of map would people here suggest that I try instead?

I'm comfortable on Prince, win most of the time on Monarch, and I've had a handful of wins on Emperor. Please feel free to post a starting save of a game (preferrably on Epic speed) you think I should try, although if it's an Emperor start I'll probably fail massively unless it's a really, really nice starting position.

 

[SamSniped]

Try playing on the RandomScriptMap for interesting settings. Set all of the options except starting era, game speed, and anything else you know want for the map to random.
Or, download the Giant Earth Map (GEM) mod, which has an amazing Earth map that's fun to play.

 

[Choggy]

I started with Pangaea maps but got fed up of them - too much tundra and desert and they're very 'samey' - basically after exploring for 10-15 turns I knew exactly where I was on the map. Now I run Fractal maps.

Fractal maps generally give better land imo and the un-predicability of the map means exploring is essential and they often still roll single continent maps. It'll also help you to develop Naval tactics. The only downside to Fractal is when you roll the occasional 'lonely heart club' start which can be tough on the tech rate until Astro.

I think you must have a had a bad run with Barb Galleys.Tririmes usually deal with them easily enough, maybe just double up on them where your resources are near coastline that isn't fog-busted.

I've tried a couple of Great Plains maps but found the amount of available land a pain with Barbarians. Techtonics seem to produce endless plains tiles. Terra type maps are too predictable. Would also like to hear other people's suggestions for new map types.

 

[uat2d]

I started with Pangaea maps but got fed up of them - too much tundra and desert and they're very 'samey' - basically after exploring for 10-15 turns I knew exactly where I was on the map. Now I run Fractal maps.

Fractal maps generally give better land imo and the un-predicability of the map means exploring is essential and they often still roll single continent maps. It'll also help you to develop Naval tactics. The only downside to Fractal is when you roll the occasional 'lonely heart club' start which can be tough on the tech rate until Astro.

I think you must have a had a bad run with Barb Galleys.Tririmes usually deal with them easily enough, maybe just double up on them where your resources are near coastline that isn't fog-busted.

I've tried a couple of Great Plains maps but found the amount of available land a pain with Barbarians. Techtonics seem to produce endless plains tiles. Terra type maps are too predictable. Would also like to hear other people's suggestions for new map types.

Fractal maps are indeed a great suggestion.

Regarding barbarians, it's best to just leave them off, their nothing but a random nuisance whose only purpose is distract from the game experience with unnecessary nonsense and micromanagement.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Another vote here for Fractal. It is my favorite because the map can be almost anything. So exploring it is fun and the game play is always variable. If you want to try and get better at the naval game, try archipelago. I play those now and then, too.

 

[shakabrade]

Civ without barbs is not a real civ. And it is easier. And on lower difficulties, they are no problem at all since you can fogbust everything before barbarchers, and barbaxes, and spearbarbs.

 

[Turquoiside]

Try Terra? Most of the time your situation will be similar to Pangaea but nearly all civs will have coastal access and navies are much more important. Military wins are somewhat harder due to the AI spread to the New World.

Most of that second sentence is just rambling though, I've only won one game on Terra and that was peaceful. Pangaea forever <3

 

[GenerallyGreat]

Inland Sea FTW!

 

[Kjotleik]

Try searching for the MapScript PerfectWorld by Cephalo in the MapScripts section of CivIV Creation&Customization on these forums. Recommended by me, at least. You will probably find several versions of it. The version I have used lately is the 2.08 version, I think!

Ah, here is the thread

I have included it in my little mod, the Kjotleiks LongPlay 2.0!


Yours Sincerely

Kjotleik of Norway

 

[stoferb]

Inland sea is a good alternative, there too you have easy access to win domination early and it has the benefit of no barb galleys. Atleast I haven't seen them on such maps.

 

[capnvonbaron]

Lakes maps are fun for an occasional challenge. Plays like a pangea but more land and a better military strategy challenge. Also putting up the GWall will really make your neighbors feel Barb pains

Large Earth2 maps are dynamic and fun many times too. It gives the partial predictability of an Earth map with just enough randomness to make it fun. Although generally I've found starting in "faux Africa" makes for an easy conquest victory if it connects to Eurasia. Sometimes its seperated by a small gulf though, d'oh

 

[Antilogic]

Does anyone know of a script that creates a largely pangaea-type map but adds a few islands (not one-tile affairs, maybe sized for two-three cities) for colonization? For those who want a little naval and colonization action but not too much? Or something that added fractal-type terrain grouping?

I always wanted to code a kind of Pangaea+ script that would offer options like this myself but never figured out how.

 

[capnvonbaron]

Does anyone know of a script that creates a largely pangaea-type map but adds a few islands (not one-tile affairs, maybe sized for two-three cities) for colonization?

Terra comes close. Since all the civs start in the old world which is generally huge, the new world which is always smaller is good for colonization. I've seen Australia/Polynesia situations before on Terras, too.

 

[Antilogic]

Terra comes close. Since all the civs start in the old world which is generally huge, the new world which is always smaller is good for colonization. I've seen Australia/Polynesia situations before on Terras, too.

I've played Terra, but that's not quite what I'm looking for. I mean one big landmass in the center, and small islands that are definitely not continents. Sometimes, you can get them by manipulating the water level and using a natural coastline on a pangaea script, but I'd like to be able to generate them consistently (without going into WB to check and thus cheating).

 

[uat2d]

Just go fractal, there's often a mix of everything there!

 

[Silverbow]

I've played Terra, but that's not quite what I'm looking for. I mean one big landmass in the center, and small islands that are definitely not continents. Sometimes, you can get them by manipulating the water level and using a natural coastline on a pangaea script, but I'd like to be able to generate them consistently (without going into WB to check and thus cheating).

Big & small with islands mixed in?

 

[Trapper439]

OP here, belated thanks for all of the responses.

I went for a different kind of variety in the end. ie Unrestricted Leaders.

Playing as Boudica of the Romans (I didn't select that, it was what the random leader/random civ option gave me) I got the easiest of the handful of domination Emperor wins I've ever had. Emperor is usually too much for me, but it didn't hurt that the first two opponents my Aggressive and Charismatic Praets attacked had no copper or iron, so they had no axemen to counter my veteran Praets. It was absolute carnage, and very fun.

I didn't even plan on attacking the second opponent, but the random events gave me a "bad wedding", and when I declined to accede to Napoleon's demands that I let the marriage be conducted under his Spanish religion my recovering Praets were still on his border. He declared war instantly when I said no, and got crushed, since he lacked any type of metal.

I learned a lot about recovering a crashed economy in that game. Took me a while to get Alphabet so I could set some of the many cities I had gained to "Research". I'd researched "Metal Casting" first. But once I got Alphabet, Hatshepshut of the Mayans gave me a lot of techs for Metal Casting, and before I knew it I'd managed to trade around for Currency.

I had a bottleneck with Hattie's Mayans after that early destruction, and she was just running away on tech, so I had to lay low for a millenia or so until my armour rolled her and all of the other civs in a few short years at the start of the 1800s. I had games in vanilla where Hattie was a really fun opponent as well.

Since then I've had an enjoyable Prince win playing as Bismarck of the Spanish on an archipelago map.