what are the better (or best) game options?

[9gkj548hkm20vk79dj689bnj4]

I was winning a few games, then bumped up the difficulty and...didn't do so well the last couple games. It might be because the leader who won was a bit of a runaway and there was no real way I could stop him/her, devouring other territories, because he/she was on another continent.

do you think it would be better for me to play on a Pangea map? or maybe have more islands?

 

[Saxo Grammaticus]

My main preference is to play with a hot & wet climate, few islands, and steep terrain, mainly to optimize starting biomes I prefer to settle, but here are some other tips:

-Less land/fewer continents tends to condense competition and diplomacy.

-Just enough continents for 1-2 slots each can lead to too much isolation, hence runaway results.

-More luxuries makes the game easier.

-Islands can feel like dead space, but are good for harbors (food) and exploitable via the hamlet swap.

-Some personas can be very strong at higher difficulties.

I'm curious what others think, but that's my two cents of a reply. Last point, streamers can be helpful for observing map conditions.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Wet map, many rivers, steep terrain but no cliffs. I find this gives the best Temperate Climate landscape, which is my preference to play on.
IF isolated continents are a pain, as they frequently are, set % of landmass to 50% with many islands: that almost guarantees a path from continent to continent so that isolation doesn't last past the first Era or two.

 

[reddishrecue]

I agree with you guys and no matter how much of a navy you make it still doesn't matter and you still are unable to catch up even if you use settlers to make cities in new islands that aren't in use since there are sometimes non-friendly independent cities. The best navy unit I've pushed out if I remember were the man o wars. There was just so little time to get to CE unless I do the nomadic tribe glitch.