Preferred Maps?

[Orion Pax]

Curious to hear what map typs folks are playing these days (and why)?

For me, I have settled in on Big and Small for a while now. As others have expressed, it gives lots of land mass variety and opportunities for expansion. Basically continents but with islands. Islands that matter anyway, not one-tile nothings. I like varying between "normal continents" and "massive continents." But I'm not huge on de facto archipelago, so low sea level. But since Big and Small already generates more land than other types, I find it good to add a good handful more civs to fill out the world.

Considerations of what is most "fair" (i.e. to the AI, which doesn't know map type in advance), I am sympathetic with. Pangea has been pointed to as most fair to AI since they are not isolated and don't have to overcome their difficulty with sea expansion/war. And fractal is arguably most random. But I just hate having to forgo meaningful sea exploration. I want Astronomy to matter. And Big and Small usually still retains a fair amount of unknowns, but also civ connections for all parties from larger landmasses and more landmasses of all sizes afield.

Other thoughts?

 

[AcaMetis]

My favorite standby is Inland Sea with +1 AI - usually it ends up being a very balanced map script in terms of making sure everyone gets a fair shake at grabbing land...but of course that doesn't work out in practice as often as the theory does. And there's also the increased barb activity, the fact that you're almost always going to border exactly two neighbours (not that AIs won't march across the entire known world to DoW you if they want, thanks Cathy ), everything ocean-related is largely to completely useless, and it's a flat mapscript by default so maintenance is through the roof.

But aside from that it's a very nice mapscript .

 

[Orion Pax]

Very cool. Yeah I really find the balance between each player getting a fair shake of land vs. being close to enough civs to keep things interesting to be very delicate. I want my space, but I don't want to be lonely!

 

[Pangaea]

These days I don't play many maps of my own. Playing games for BOTM takes up a lot of time already, and then there are Nobles Club games too. So mostly I play whatever others have selected, which can be very varied.

Big and small is a good mapscript, especially if you want to milk score with Sushi and a million islands (tiny islands mixed in). Sounds like that isn't something you prefer, but it's possible with that mapscript. Terra can be fun to play too. Mostly I like Fractal, though, because it's so random and you can end up with all sorts of situations. I find the early game the most fun, when you know absolutely nothing about what the land looks like, who the AIs are, where they are, and if there is another continent, or islands, or whatever. That is why I think Fractal can be quite fun.

Lakes can be pretty fun too.

What I don't like are maps such as Arboria, with little diversity in resources and crummy tiles everywhere you look.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I mainly play Fractal or Big and Small with it set to have islands mixed in. Now and then I like to play an Archipelago map to make sea power a bigger factor. I enjoy not knowing the specifics of the kind of map I will find as I explore, probably my favorite part of the game. All three of these map choices offer so much variety that there is no knowing what is out there until you go look.

 

[TheBirdMan]

I'm "only" using handmade maps when playing CIV IV (BtS with the RI 3.5 mod).

Handmade because I'm not satisfied with the maps, the engine makes. However I use the engine to make "a draft" for me.

I start as the only player with 18 continents with big isles. Then I decide what direction I want the map to look like, connecting the small continents into bigger ones, trying to get about 40-50% of the map as land and the rest as costal or ocean tiles. When I think the map starts looking nice, I add a number of AI, that "fit" to the map-size.

I want enough space for both me and the AIs to expand and make decent nations - but not so much, that we never will get into wars. This is afterall a war-game, not a variant of SIM-City.


Right now I'm modding on a 160*100 tiles map with 12 nations in total. Below is the startingposition of France.

And a more "wild" one with desert, tundra and ice:

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I mostly play FFH and submods these days so it's Erebus Continents. I am not sure what the vanilla equivalent would be.

 

[elmurcis]

Archipelago almost all the time. It just gives all I want from this game (early flying dragons for scouting would be preferred though ).
I *love* coastal cities (there must be massive reason for non-coastal city to exist for me), Fish (just ate one) and Ocean bridges (that could be one pay pass to or from AI or both way) add a lot of unknown in early/mid-early game. Also I like that AI will not hesitate to send Galleys through my territory to settle cities behind so OB has more strategic value (when to open and what spots I'm fine to risk with)
Large map size (8 AI I think), Mara-speed (still pretty quick speed), no barbs (land would be fine though), NTT and no vassals. This year started Emperor leaders series in alphabetic order for additional fun. For some civs openings are damm tricky with Stonehenge (well, on this map it's value is pretty high as might not see religion for ages) and GLH on schedule (can't REX without it - even with it I manage to collapse economy every 2nd game ).

 

[Major Tom]

As random as possible, in practice Fractal. Exploring opportunities is a fun part of the game. Knowing the circumstances a little turn-off for me.

Also used to play with random personalities but eventually kind of like to know them.

 

[Seraiel]

I played and won on all maps already, but I definately prefer maps with Flat World Wrap, just because of the significantly lower maintenance. I like Terra very much.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

World Wrap effects maintenance costs???

 

[Seraiel]

World Wrap effects maintenance costs???

Yes. Flat is cheapest, Cylindrical is 1.5 and Toroidal is even 2.0 times the maintenance.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I did not know that. Also WHY????

 

[krikav]

Another vote for fractal, for the reasons already mentioned. It's so random and you never know what you are going to get.
It's also somewhat often isoloation, which I have a certain fondness of.
Me against barbs early on, then I get to plan out my expansion w/o AI settling like morons and screw up my dotmap, then I often get to use ships and take other AIs stuff. I like naval as it gives more utility to rifles/cannons compared to cuirs.

I do like inland sea too, as it places high relevance on who is neighbour with who, and it's kind of fair.

There is some script "Planet generator" which can do very random and interesting maps, and I played quite abit of maps on that one, but it's not that commonly in use on the forums so it lacks the comparability and social aspects.

Lakes can also be really nice with a tendancy to create lots of natural chokepoints. Which are all but nonexistant on fractal and continents like maps.

 

[lymond]

Fractal has been my "go to" for many a year. I like it for pretty much the same reason as others.

After the recent BOTM, I've been trying out Earth2 some for several games. It's an interesting map that is Earth-like (and Terra-like), but with some randomness in configuration. Pseudo-Europe is often a tough spot to be in depending on just how small it is or not, and having rolled quite a few starts it seems the human is most often positioned in that area. It plays somewhat Pangaea like early on, but there is an empty New World. Battle for land is quite tight usually. Pseudo-Iberia is sometimes connected to North Africa.

I've also been playing Pangaea quite a bit recently. I'd really not played it much in years and was looking for a more consistent early conflict and early reliance on diplo stuff. You really have to be on your toes early with that map on high levels.

 

[Orion Pax]

I've also been playing Pangaea quite a bit recently. I'd really not played it much in years and was looking for a more consistent early conflict and early reliance on diplo stuff. You really have to be on your toes early with that map on high levels.

Totally. I've really enjoyed Pangaea for those same reasons. I just often miss having naval exploration. Wish there was a "Pangaea + islands" option. To make certain technological phases more meaningful and to open up possibilities to secure key resources or new city sites apart from the main landmass. And to extend the theater of competition to new locations.

 

[jblazer]

Used to play Fractal only now I only play Smart Map, and even this isn't that great. Sometimes I get isolated starts, sometimes the starting location is awful, sometimes there's no AI nearby.

I've been looking for a good map engine to play on for about 15 years, I've yet to find it.

 

[ArchGhost]

Fractal and Pangaea are my typical preferences, I really like playing earth shape maps but I can't find one without the Terra dynamic of nobody starting in the New World, so that's mostly just playing Earth18. I have played whatever the NC threw out for us, and just used Shuffle in the past but these days I use a random script that allows exceptions and always turn off Archipelago.

It's not that it's hard to win them. Quite easier to get ahead, actually, and every once in a while I will choose to play one on purpose. Last one I undercut the AI to GLH, Mids, Colossus and it was (figuratively) smooth sailing in the tech race. They are just very very tedious for me and I fricken hate barb galleys with a passion. Land barbs are bad enough even with good units to hold with. But trying to stop an armada of suicide galleys that can take the odd Trireme out on a good day? lots of sunk hammers in an already hammer poorer situation (not to mention typically spending hammers on a Lighthouse too, possibly replacement workboats as part of sunk cost). Very annoying.

AI also plays island heavy locations like garbage so it's not a good showing for them. Last game I completed was Immortal Huge Normal Pangaea, 13 civs. It was random so i couldn't pick Solid shoreline option. Three civs started out in the island chain territory BS (all three great techers too! HC, Pacal and Pericles). By the time the land ran out on continent I was sitting at 26 cities, everyone but those three had15-20 themselves and even competed for some of those crappy island chains, and they were all vassaled to someone else. They never had a shot, though they were immune to my Tank rampage later

I want Astronomy to matter.

This is where we differ. I find the Astronomy dynamic annoying in CiV4 and don't like boating fleets over large distances for attacks....much rather just sit and tech to space or Culture than go through with intercontinental war if it's not a short hop onto the next landmass or way ahead of the AI already. Even in Iso it still matters because I gotta get trade routes and resources up and running. Which is cool and all, I learned how to handle the situation form other great players like Lain and participating in the NC games here, but it's still not as fun to me as either running war early, mid-game Cuir/Cav stomp, or big REX recovery into huge cannon or tank push later. I would rather even sit on the same Pangaea in a corner and Space Race before intercontinental war. Pfft.

 

[s.bernbaum]

If you play as The Netherlands, Archipelago can have good production, as long as you are not looking for an early victory. Once Dikes become available, every city gets one hammer in every water tile after they build Dikes, as if they each had been able to build Moai. The one that does build Moai gets two hammers in each water tile.

 

[drewisfat]

Fractal for BTS, Pangaea for Kmod.