The Awesome Starts Collection

[lymond]

Kinda looks like the land in that area of a Great Plains map except that is a heck of lot of Peaks. I didn't think any map script would isolate your start with Peaks like that. Paratroopers FTW!

I'd say Great Plains or Highlands, though I don't recall seeing so much desert on Highlands map. Did you change Climate settings?

 

[iggymnrr]

I guessed rainforest from experience. Southern edge is often food-plainy and mountain concentration can be high. I've been isolated like that in a northern corner of a rainforest before.

Edit: As an aside, ever seen a 1-tile island start on a highlands? It is possible.

 

[lymond]

Edit: As an aside, ever seen a 1-tile island start on a highlands? It is possible.

No, but I actually rolled several like that on rainforest trying to get HOF maps.

 

[ShengWuLien]

Edit: As an aside, ever seen a 1-tile island start on a highlands? It is possible.

Yeah, quite a lot actually. I used to play almost exclusively Highlands when I first started Civ, with oceans enabled instead of lakes, and I rolled a few island starts like that. I remember one game where Genghis ended up with a start like that, never got another city, and my empire surrounded the little sea he called his own.

 

[Junuxx]

For a Great Plains quecha rush, I'm currently trying to generate a start that has 3 5 on turn 1. This should be possible with the settler on a plains hill, plus a plains/hill/forest with a cow or sheep in the first ring. I have occasionally seen the latter on Great Plains maps and they give 1 3 unimproved. However, after (currently) 600 maps I still haven't found a start like this. I'm starting to wonder whether it's possible, or prevented somehow. Opinions?

 

[Seraiel]

Don't really understand how you wanna get those yields on turn 1 as Cows or Sheep are simple 2 1 tiles. If you want high yields, try out plains-Hill (+ Marble or Stone) and a forrested hill with Deer! Plains hill Stone / Marble + plains hill Deer would give 3 and 6 . Getting such a start though is very very very difficult, I've only seen that combination once in my life, but a normal plains Hill with a forrested plains hill Deer would give the yields you want, and that's totally possible.

Btw, 600 starts are nothing, I create 600 by letting the computer run over night in one night, I hope you know mapfinder and don't generate them manually.

 

[Junuxx]

Don't really understand how you wanna get those yields on turn 1 as Cows or Sheep are simple 2 1 tiles.

2 2 from the city center and 1 3 from a plains forest hill cow (or sheep).

If you want high yields, try out plains-Hill (+ Marble or Stone) and a forrested hill with Deer! Plains hill Stone / Marble + plains hill Deer would give 3 and 6 . Getting such a start though is very very very difficult, I've only seen that combination once in my life, but a normal plains Hill with a forrested plains hill Deer would give the yields you want, and that's totally possible.

I don't think plains hill forest deer occur on Great Plains maps, that's why I mentioned cow or sheep, which I have seen on such maps on that map type. I didn't think of settling on a marble/stone plains hill though, that would be even better I guess. But an additional food (over the relatively common 2 5 start) seems more powerful than an additional hammer.

Btw, 600 starts are nothing, I create 600 by letting the computer run over night in one night, I hope you know mapfinder and don't generate them manually.

Yeah I was using Mapfinder. I'm looking at Tiny maps so it didn't even take that long. Still, 0 out of 600 (1000 by now) left me dubious. I might give it another try though, thanks.

By the way, Great Plains are also unusual for allowing Floodplain Corn (4 1 unimproved).

 

[Seraiel]

If you want to Quechua-rush, Plains-Hill Stone / Marble is top of the notch. Don't forget though, that you'll need some Commerce to finance the early rush, you basically need 1 Gold / Gems per Civ you wanna rush, and rushing up to 5 Civs is perfectly possible. Getting a high-yield tile to settle on is desirable, but one can also simply play the maps that are given to one, and simply hope for some luck. Sometimes, I rushed 1st Civ with as little as 4 "Checkers" successfully.

 

[bhavv]

I just got this archipelago start:

Spoiler :

But its seriously lacking in production

 

[elmurcis]

I just got this archipelago start:

Spoiler :

But its seriously lacking in production

Ocean fish how sad.. early commerce is so important and its so sweet to get coastal fish... and I would settle 1 S on sheep - more production later and still great place for Moai

 

[bhavv]

With that much seafood I just work the crabs first, and its Roosevlt so buiding a lighthouse and GLH is easy

 

[Seraiel]

No offense, but starts with that much seafood are quite common. That start is one of the worse ones, because it has so much water and one hill is on the other side of it.

 

[elohssa]

Haven't played civ 4 for a while but stumbled accross this start. Settings:

Fractal
Medium
Normal
Emperor

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

This start is isolated. However it is probably the easiest emperor map I've ever played. The distribution of land is amazingly uneven. You get as much land as two other civs to the east who share an island. There are also tons of resources and stone.

Note: The start is from 3960BC as I moved the settler 1NE. It was a good move though.

 

[strijder20]

No offense, but starts with that much seafood are quite common. That start is one of the worse ones, because it has so much water and one hill is on the other side of it.

I suppose this start isn't that bad then, as it has some hills, and 'only' 3/4 (depending on what is hiding there in the fog) non-seafood coastal tiles.

It's on Monarch/Normal/Fractal, and you are teamed up with four lovely AIs

It's on unrestricted leaders, so it isn't Joao who is leading the Portuguese, but Willem van Oranje.

Some spoilers:

Spoiler :

There is an extra seafood out there in the fog.
FPs cause 2 unhealth - growing to size 5 will bring you unhealthiness.
The rest of the land isn't that good - with the exception of a Copper-Cow-Corn spot and a triple-gems + rice spot further north.

 

[bhavv]

Yea I already said that my start had rubbish production, it was hopeless for Roosevelt, couldnt build wonders fast enough. All that food and only two hills, one which needed a galley to get to as well.

I wanted to try making a lovely GLH, Temple of Artemis and Collosus capital for Roosevelt farming and settling lots of Great Merchants / unlucky Great Prophets, and adding National Epic + Wall Street later on while running as many merchant specialists under caste system as possible. I normally do this on lower difficulties with Elizabeth, but without IND its too hard on Emperor and higher difficulties.

 

[bhavv]

How about this one:

Spoiler :

Ooooh, some gems too:

Actually terrible, I lose a flood plains if I SIP

 

[happyturtle]

Oooh, pretty! But what are the settings?

 

[Seraiel]

Tbh, read what I've just posted in the Sitting-Bull thread from pangea.

Concerning this start, I'd say it's a terrible start. It looks like one wants to play it, but:

• All Fish are on Oceon Tiles.
• One is totally blocked by the Jungle.
• A Plains Hill here would be good, because with that, one can focus Workboats, this is a rare case where green Hills are imo "bad" .
• 9 Forrests are medicore, but not good.
• No secondary and tertiary city Spot (Sugar is not Food until very late, Jungle is no land until the game is decided) .

I've played starts like that because I had to try everything out, but better ones where there is land where one can REX to, land that has Forrests to further REX, no Jungle, good Sources of Food. Those maps are fun and imo easy to play, but they're soooooooooo slow. Funny things are things like one can REX to 8 cities on Deity because there is just so much Food, but one will either be backwards or all Civs will be backwards.

Dreamstarts in my taste are still the ones posted by Kaitzilla with the quintuple Gold dual wet Corn, because that start has everything, the coastal 4 Gold riverside start I posted in on page 1, and the 7 riverside Gems dual Food start I've posted for Ramesess.

 

[bhavv]

Its on Immortal as Pacal, Standard snaky continents archipelago. I teched Fishing > BW > Sailing > Masonry > IW, all done in time for cities 2+3 and GLH. Theres also loads of space NE without going into the jungle, but I got IW really fast, and Mansa Musa for my neighbor who gave me all his techs for Compass + Construction (my priorities after IW for Pacal).

Spoiler :

Youre on a large Isolated Island with a huge food capital for a GP farm, and strong commerce, lots of forests to get GLH chopped, and Mansa on the nearest coast connected Island, whats not to like

All Fish are on Oceon Tiles.
One is totally blocked by the Jungle.
A Plains Hill here would be good, because with that, one can focus Workboats, this is a rare case where green Hills are imo "bad" .
9 Forrests are medicore, but not good.
No secondary and tertiary city Spot (Sugar is not Food until very late, Jungle is no land until the game is decided)

1) I ignored the fish until later. I just work the clams at first until I have enough for the fish (after my ball court)
2) Not blocked, theres lots of space NE but its mostly plains but theres good production and seafood sites
4) I chopped 14 forests for my capital, including ones outside the BFC
5) My secondary and tertiary spots were the Gems, I got to IW very fast working the coast clams.

Dreamstarts in my taste are still the ones posted by Kaitzilla with the quintuple Gold dual wet Corn, because that start has everything, the coastal 4 Gold riverside start I posted in on page 1, and the 7 riverside Gems dual Food start I've posted for Ramesess.

Well yes, but we dont all keep mapfinder generating maps for several months to find such maps

 

[happyturtle]

Oooh, two levels up from where I currently play. Still tempting though. What's the map size?