On an island

[kingsfan]

Continents, standard. Of course it would depend on what civ you are playing, but do you prefer being the only one on an island with no contact to other civ's at the start or would you rather have diplomacy? I am playing as the Japanese and kind of liking it for a change. Being able to expand at my leisure. And what are your thoughts for the CS on this island. Does it do me any good to befriend them? Diplomatically, the warmongoring effect should wear off by the time I meet other civ's and they are no one's ally? I am kind of toying with them right now. Letting barbarian's wreak havoc on them until they call for my help. I have set up archers on hills picking them off for exp if they come after my cities.

 

[bryanw1995]

my last emperor game I was on an island. had enough space for 7 good cities (could have crammed in another 2 or 3 but it was suboptimal land). 3 cs's were 2xMaritime and 1xCultural, so I palled up to all 3 of them. If they had been militaristic I probably would have instead DOW'd one or more to farm xp and maybe taken over the other two.

 

[lissenber]

I once got a start on North America. Aside from City States (mostly maritime and cultural) I was the only one on America. Perfect for expansion.

So i quit the game. I wanted some competition and challenge.

 

[CaptainJewbeard]

My first game as Catherine started on a large island (maybe a small continent, even), and I was alone except for the CS's. We took one over, befriended the other two, and put a lot of energy into research. Charged up the tech tree, built some frigates and such, and wreaked havoc on the rest of the world.

 

[IgnatiusTBarfat]

So i quit the game. I wanted some competition and challenge.

This.

 

[kingsfan]

Streamlined navigation. After a little poking, my closest neighbor is Ghandi. LOL, should I wait for him to build a few more wonders before taking them?

 

[Trickster7135]

I once got a start on North America. Aside from City States (mostly maritime and cultural) I was the only one on America. Perfect for expansion.

So i quit the game. I wanted some competition and challenge.

That seems to happen to me every time I play Earth. Myself or the AI starts on North America, and everyone else starts on Eurasia/Africa.

 

[eviltypeguy]

That seems to happen to me every time I play Earth. Myself or the AI starts on North America, and everyone else starts on Eurasia/Africa.

I'm pretty sure it's a function of map size. I had this happen too, but not on one of the larger maps.

And technically, I didn't start alone -- there was a city state up where Canada is supposed to be

 

[The Tollan]

Does it do me any good to befriend them? Diplomatically, the warmongoring effect should wear off by the time I meet other civ's and they are no one's ally? I am kind of toying with them right now. Letting barbarian's wreak havoc on them until they call for my help. I have set up archers on hills picking them off for exp if they come after my cities.

I would suggest that militaristic city states can eventually be conquered and turned into puppet states without too much trouble (just try to prevent other city states you know from declaring war on you). If you are going heavily into patronage then it might be worth keeping even the militaristic city states around but you could try either option.

The Maritime city states are very powerful and should be kept as allies if possible (much effort must be spent to control unhappiness though).

If the Cultural city states don't really get in your way then it is probably best to leave them as allies and instead get cities from other civilizations.

 

[PickledDictator]

I like being isolated from time to time. Allows you to work on different strategies...Of course now that I play immortal, I find my strategies diminishing

have yet to be spanked on Deity b/c I haven't played it yet

 

[Zenstrive]

Isolated is good for cultural victory.

 

[Sainhann]

I once got a start on North America. Aside from City States (mostly maritime and cultural) I was the only one on America. Perfect for expansion.

So i quit the game. I wanted some competition and challenge.

You would have gotten it later in the game when you finally found out that one other Civ took out everyone one else and had an army 10 times the size of yours and better equip as well.

 

[Esckey]

I prefer isolated. No immiediate need for an army, no competition for good sites for a city, and my most hated thing for an AI to do. Get to a goody hut(City Ruins) before I do.