What is your favorite map layout, size, and why?

[Saint Sarai]

I've been playing on Continents/Standard and Continents/Large and have had some good games.

I would like to try some of the other map styles and sizes such as Fractal, Archipelago and others.

I would like to get some feedback from the community about their favorite games and the maps they are associated with and why.

Thanks.

 

[sublime8992]

Terra - Huge, that or the Huge Earth scenarios.

 

[jerVL/kg]

Favorite scenario:
Archipelago, Snaky Continents, High Sea Level
Large (sometimes Huge)
1-2 fewer than normal AI civs (random)
New Random Seed on Reload, Require Complete Kills
Prince or Monarch...sometimes dropping to Warlord to feed my Wonder Addiction™

Why:
Virtually guaranteed an isolated start...I'm an anti-social Civ-er!
Lots and lots of uninhabited islands out there to discover with Optics, including extra goodie huts, which might pop Astonomy. In the Renaissance my games become a mad rush to settle all the land before anyone else does -- sometimes triggering Domination in the process!
New Random Seed...sometimes things don't go the way I want them too.
Complete Kills...always fun to destroy an AI's entire empire and leave them with nothing but a Galley that sails around...forever and ever...

 

[Commander Bello]

Ultra-Gigantic, low sea level, 18 Nations, raging Barbs, random leaders

I like the epic kind of game.

 

[LucyDuke]

I would never pick a favorite, but I really enjoy a high-sea-level lakes, toroidal wrap, standard or large size, with the maximum number of civs. These games heat up quickly and you've got to watch all your borders closely. Culture can be a huge pain in the ass in such a crowded world. The early expansion is incredibly important, too. If you don't get a scout out quickly, you're going to lose all the good land before you know it's there. Religions spread like herpes, and you'll meet your neighbors before you think you want to. War can be fascinating, because almost no terrain is off-limits, and all your borders are with another civ (no coastal borders, you'll cover the lake). That being said, if you can wrest an advantage early, you can play it hard and fast to win rather cleanly.

'Favorite" doesn't describe this, anyway, because I could never play such an intense game every time, or Civ would be no fun. I like a lot of different layouts and sizes.

 

[T.A JONES]

Ultra-Gigantic, low sea level, 18 Nations, raging Barbs, random leaders

I like the epic kind of game.

Hey Commander welcome back. Im the same with my variables. I go as big as I can play away with out delay, you know what I say .But with Civs, Even in Civ3 I would only go with 20 or so. A few less in Civ4 is no mind. It helps me keep things in perpective. Always Continents. Like the East n West Divisions meeting up for the playoffs

 

[King Flevance]

Where is ultra Gigantic? Usually I play Huge. Is that in a mod or a patch?

 

[feldmarshall]

i hate wheel map

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

My inner builder has a fondness for Great Plains (maize and buffalo on floodplains! deer in the trees!).

 

[Mehmed100]

Huge Earth. I play it because I live there!

 

[Neoclast]

See the signature...

 

[Jmall]

Continents bore me. I hate spending hours just to be able to attack the enemy. I don't always attack within 2 hours... I just want to keep my options open, as well as having the stress of having to prepare for everything.

Then again, I only play online.

Inland sea is a really fun team game. Small, 6 players.

 

[KMadCandy]

i don't like archipelago but had a win on one recently i was proud of, did several things new for me and they worked wonderfully.

i haven't tried fantasy, seems too bizarre for me.

i usually go continents.

my current favorite is great plains. partly for 'cheat' reasons, you can tell from the very start if you're in a place where the type of game you want is workable or not (as far as you want grasslands with food resources or whatever).

i'm trying lots of maps lately to get one of each on HoF wins, in my quest for worst quattromaster of all time /flex.

 

[Pannonius]

I usually play on Continents or Archipelago maps, but also like to play Inland sea once in a while. And after I read some of your posts, the next game I'll play will be on Great plains map.

 

[NeverMind]

Pangaea, gigantic size 40x25, 24 civs. that's my choice.

Enough space for continental expansion, diversive diplomacy and..it takes time, of course!

 

[Winston Hughes]

I've recently been enjoying using the Smartmap script to generate these groovy huge maps with 80-90% water and 12-14 civs spread across 7-10 continents. You usually get all of the civs packed into the 4-5 larger land masses, so leaving the smaller lands for later colonisation (which the AI is surprisingly good at; much better than on terra maps).

I've also taken to setting the resources so that I get loads of food, but very few happy or strategic resources. Apart from allowing for uber-powerful late-game cities, and making the whip a constant ally, these settings make the contest for land that much more tense (and occasionally desperate; its often the case that two or three key resources are not present on my starting continent).

I find that these settings allow for a warlike early game, a mid-game characterised by a trans-oceanic landgrab, and a late-game in which I'm battling for supremacy with the two or three monstrously powerful AI civs that always seem to emerge.

 

[KMadCandy]

I've recently been enjoying using the Smartmap script to generate these groovy huge maps with 80-90% water and 12-14 civs spread across 7-10 continents. You usually get all of the civs packed into the 4-5 larger land masses, so leaving the smaller lands for later colonisation (which the AI is surprisingly good at; much better than on terra maps).

I've also taken to setting the resources so that I get loads of food, but very few happy or strategic resources. Apart from allowing for uber-powerful late-game cities, and making the whip a constant ally, these settings make the contest for land that much more tense (and occasionally desperate; its often the case that two or three key resources are not present on my starting continent).

I find that these settings allow for a warlike early game, a mid-game characterised by a trans-oceanic landgrab, and a late-game in which I'm battling for supremacy with the two or three monstrously powerful AI civs that always seem to emerge.

sounds interesting! do you have a link handy info about or the mod itself to spare my lazy self a search?

 

[TylerDurdon]

I love Earth maps, but on my computer its totally impossible toward endgames

 

[kristopherb]

Ultra-Gigantic, low sea level, 18 Nations, raging Barbs, random leaders

I like the epic kind of game.

which mod neerminds XXl mod?

mine
large/gigantic-any map where water is king

 

[kristopherb]

Where is ultra Gigantic? Usually I play Huge. Is that in a mod or a patch?

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=183746