I've been playing around with the map gen, am I just having rotten luck or does this map type generate seriously unfair starts for several civs most of the time. I've been genning large maps with defaults selections for everything else and while 1 in 5 gens seem reasonably fair (most of these are pangeas) the rest average 3 about 3 civs with a 2x or more deviation from the average amount of starting space.
Techtonic maps
- Thread starter Summoner
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sydhe
King of Kongs
I've had the same experience. A couple of times, I found myself in a huge batch of plains squares with little food.
killmeplease
Mk Z on Steam
those plains would be ok if there will be more cattle resources on it.
Stoney the I
Prince
I play tectonics all the time and yes, they are hugely unbalanced maps.
Personally, i like it. The world isnt created for man, man reshapes the world kinda thing. and if i get a crappy polar start with 2 food and no room, ah well, then ill regenerate.
my settings are
large tectonics.
wet
60% water.
it gets a decent , balanced map every 3 tries or so.
Personally, i like it. The world isnt created for man, man reshapes the world kinda thing. and if i get a crappy polar start with 2 food and no room, ah well, then ill regenerate.
my settings are
large tectonics.
wet
60% water.
it gets a decent , balanced map every 3 tries or so.
Yes sometimes in Tectonics you will get starts where there's plains and plains hills all around you. Some of the starts can be pretty difficult compared to what other civs get so in those cases I just look at it as more of a challenge. I wouldn't recommend Tectonics if you are relatively new and uncertain about your current difficulty.
At the moment I'm fond of 60% water, huge map with 18 civs. Normal aridity.
I suppose you could set aridity to wet if you don't like plains starts but I'm happy the way it is.
When it comes to maps my preference is for realism and diversity over gameplay balance, which is why I choose Tectonics usually.
At the moment I'm fond of 60% water, huge map with 18 civs. Normal aridity.
I suppose you could set aridity to wet if you don't like plains starts but I'm happy the way it is.
When it comes to maps my preference is for realism and diversity over gameplay balance, which is why I choose Tectonics usually.
Stoney the I
Prince
I totally agree!
I found they were too dry, and started playing around with it a bit.
I should have taken a picture, because one time I guess I adjusted there to be too much water, and one "island" was about 2 squares wide and maybe 10 squares deep, and there were 3 people starting on it. 2 civs were starting literally separated by a hill (I should have played a turn to see what would happen if one started before the other, then they wouldn't be able to build their city, or even move to find a new space, since they were on the tip of the island haha).
I should have taken a picture, because one time I guess I adjusted there to be too much water, and one "island" was about 2 squares wide and maybe 10 squares deep, and there were 3 people starting on it. 2 civs were starting literally separated by a hill (I should have played a turn to see what would happen if one started before the other, then they wouldn't be able to build their city, or even move to find a new space, since they were on the tip of the island haha).
Stoney the I
Prince
fractal i guess. It tends to generate a lot of snakey pangea maps that can be circumvented with a scout. i do not find these fun at all.
when it generates a map with several continents its a balanced mapscript imho.
Scoottr
Prince
I like Fractal and Tetonics. Just started Tectonics and finding it has tons of hills and peaks wich makes the game a bit different. Hate deserts though and you get them with it. I've found, at least with Fractal, that if I adjust the aridity from normal to wet then I just get a bunch of jungle. Sure you can clear it but takes alot of work and our cities in that area are toast until that happens.
Fractal is a good alternative to Tectonic and vice versa.
Fractal is a good alternative to Tectonic and vice versa.
sydhe
King of Kongs
There weren't. Just plains as far as the eye could see. Sort of like Kansas without the cattle.
WuphonsReach
Prince
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2005
- Messages
- 426
I've played a lot of Fractal (and then Tectonics). I'm a real big fan of Tectonics, Huge, Marathon, 60% water, Normal Aridity.
But you're right, sometimes things can be unbalanced. I've had games where I had so many resources that I was an unstoppable rocket civ. My current game, I had resources, but also a lot of desert right in the middle. So it's turning into a long hard slog of a game that I'm not sure I'll be able to win.
Still, I prefer the unpredictability of Tectonics. You end up with mountain ranges, small outlying islands, and generally a few major continents along with inland seas, or bottlenecks, or places where you can create a canal with forts/cities. Each map is substantially unique.
I will always regenerate a few times if there aren't enough or the right type of resources immediately visible to my settler. Or if it looks like I'm going to be smack up against tundra, ice or desert.
But you're right, sometimes things can be unbalanced. I've had games where I had so many resources that I was an unstoppable rocket civ. My current game, I had resources, but also a lot of desert right in the middle. So it's turning into a long hard slog of a game that I'm not sure I'll be able to win.
Still, I prefer the unpredictability of Tectonics. You end up with mountain ranges, small outlying islands, and generally a few major continents along with inland seas, or bottlenecks, or places where you can create a canal with forts/cities. Each map is substantially unique.
I will always regenerate a few times if there aren't enough or the right type of resources immediately visible to my settler. Or if it looks like I'm going to be smack up against tundra, ice or desert.
djvandrake
Prince
I am also a big fan of techtonics maps because of the variation in terrain. I like that there are a few bottlenecks that I can strategically exploit for defense (or offense for that matter). I do wish there were more separation between land masses though. A continents map with tectonics type terrain would be ideal. 
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