Restarting if in a bad starting postion?

[liquid_mage]

I was curious if many people restart if the get a bad starting position. The reason I ask is that I myself don't get a ton of time to play. I will usually at least play for the first two hours of the game. Personally I just think I like the expansion part of the game best.

Recently I started this game with the French but I ended up a continent much like the Americas North, Central and South. I ended up in the Central part with alot of jungle and swamp. I'm caught between looking at this as a challenge or a waste of time. Part of the problem is is the all the jungles and swampy land. The other part is I have one civ below me and one above me and both are larger then myself.

BTW I just started playing C3C recently I bought Civ3 about 2 years ago. I'm a huge fan of the first and second games. I even played a little SMAC. I forgot how much I love this series and am glad to be playing again. Usually I prefer winning through the space race or culture.

Thanks

 

[Bluemofia]

i live with it. if i get killed, i hope i get put in a better position next time. otherwise, i try to survive as long as possible.

 

[zerksees]

I play for the challenge. If I get a bad starting location it adds to the challenge. If I want it easy I would play a lower level.

The only time I restart is if I am trying for the HOF, and I am rarely trying for that.

 

[Renfield]

I am with zerksees - a bad starting position adds to the challenge and makes the game that much more rewarding.

 

[Woody]

Depends on how bad, I will play most of the games I start but if I'm in the middle of a desert or far into the artic I will usually try to get a better spot.

 

[Flavor Dave]

Yeah...how bad? On a "jungle" thread, I wrote that if I'm in a really junglicious area, AND I'm not industrious, I start over. One or the other is a challenge, but the two together, at my ability level, is impossible.

I hate playing in the arctics, just because I find it kinda boring. Your strategy is determined...expand toward the equator ASAP. And with the AI cheat for its galleys, if you're on an island, that's it, you're screwed. Hell, my galleys move 6 (edit), and it's still damn hard.

 

[jorge_roberto]

I restart only when I have a "boring" start position, isolated in a island or on a super continent.

I like the challenge to survive at ancient times and discover civillizations in others continents.

 

[FearOfTheDark]

Starting postition is decisive for the game outcome. A river and cattle in city radious open way for fast expansion and you get possibility to lay claim of resources quickly.

 

[wilbill]

Originally posted by FearOfTheDark
Starting postition is decisive for the game outcome. A river and cattle in city radious open way for fast expansion and you get possibility to lay claim of resources quickly.

True, but winning from a start on tundra or desert can be very challenging and makes you feel good.

 

[ssvensson]

Originally posted by wilbill
True, but winning from a start on tundra or desert can be very challenging and makes you feel good.

I dont want to feel good - I want a big empire with as little trouble as possible - and that means starting on grasslands with three cows ;-)

 

[Yumbo]

I stick with the challenge; the occasional loss is good for the soul.

 

[jm chen]

It depends on my goal. If I'm in the mood for a quick slugfest, I won't stay with a bad starting position. In my usual kill-'em-all attempts, I will research straight to iron working, and if there's no iron on the continent, I'll quit. On other days, like if I'm experimenting with the Byzantines on an archipelago world, starting position matters less to me.

 

[nihil8r]

all i have to say is



and that was randomly generated

 

[xxaaaxx]

Blessed by the starting position gods...settler factory extraordinaire. I've never restarted. Ever. It would take an horrid start, I mean SOTD bad...maybe surrounded by 50 squares of all tundra and mountains w/ no water in sight...for me to start over. In the games that I've played, even the most rugged starting position had some redeeming qualities.

 

[Samurai Matt]

I only restart when I'm in a bad mood. Usually I'll just go with what I have. (Unless, of course, I'm morooned on a small island with virtually no resourses...)

 

[Goober]

I will restart, in extreme circumstances. If my capital cannot grow past level 2 within 20ish turns, i restart. If I am on an Island (happened once) that I cannot build more then one city, I restart. If I have jungle/marsh/hills/tundra as far as the eye can see, I restart. Aside from that, never.

 

[xxaaaxx]

The "marooned" start, yeah....i might start over, but the jungle start aint half bad. I've settled deep in the jungle before, spent the better part of early AD carving my way out, and by the Industrial age, had a nice chunk of real estate. Now tundra, that depends. IF there was no water in sight, meaning i couldnt grow beyond size 2, I'd either restart, or waste some turns moving towards the center of the map looking for some grassland/river.

 

[JMK]

Originally posted by nihil8r
all i have to say is



and that was randomly generated

I am wondering to know what is your worker doing on the mountain ?
please don't tell me that you move him on the mountain in order to check if you could find a better location!

 

[kb2tvl]

I restart my location. I play for fun and locations that do not have 1 food bonus + a river + a luxary somewhere nearby just take too long to get going. I like to have enough units to fight with early and having a poor starting location just makes you a gimp.

 

[xxaaaxx]

Originally posted by JMK


I am wondering to know what is your worker doing on the mountain ?
please don't tell me that you move him on the mountain in order to check if you could find a better location!

Might have. I think its always a good idea to move a worker to scope out better territory, especially when you start so close to a high perch like a mountain. Who knows, maybe he had all that cattle in his starting 9, but maybe there was a dyes or a wine (or even better, a coastal tile IN ADDITION to the river) that would have allowed him to score an even more godly start.