What map do you like?

[digitalcraft]

Fractal generally because it has a ton of variation.

 

[Pangaea]

Like Fractal because the map can vary a lot - but the big downside with that, which has hapened often recently, is the semi-isolation problem. So for that, I like Pangaea maps too, also because I don't have to concern myself much with naval, which I don't like that much.

 

[jammci]

I like most of them, I don't like the earth 2 map though

 

[vincentz]

Im very surprised to see the diversity of maps being used by the players here.

I used to play Archipelago (Snaky continents/low sealevel)
but now I almost always play Big & Small (Islands mixed in)

gives great randomness, with big chance of playable maps (for both player and AI), that also looks earth'ish

 

[Riflin'Joe]

I like most of the standard map types but usually with low sea level to minimise the chance of isolation.

 

[traius]

I like most of the standard map types but usually with low sea level to minimise the chance of isolation.

I do not even know anymore; I did not realize I was playing 3.13 for the longest time, and now that i have updated, there seem to be a lot more map choices than there used to be.
I used to love the Earth 18 map, but i have played it too much now (and the romans can kill everyone without any effort at all. Still my earliest victory, in the 600s, domination. Got machinery, and even gunpowder, but never used anything but praets and warriors, warriors being spammable by any european power, and can even be used as either the mongols or chinese to wipe out the other).
I played a couple of archipelago games, but they just seem to be slow and easy. I should mention I won one of these even when I failed to get the great lighthouse or the colossus, and started without any strategic resources, and had to mass-archer my closest rival to death before he got ironworking, and it was my first game in a new difficutly (prince). Killed him around 1500 BC, and immediately had the largest empire in the world, even though I felt like I had little at the time (had not found anyone else, so had nothing to compare to). I never felt like I was going to lose from being taken over at any time, because my enemies never brought their navies to bear against me.
So I am playing random continents at the moment.Loved my last map spawn, until I realized that, thanks to raging barbs, I had a major advantage; mine was the only continent with less than 25% snow or tundra (and probably only about 2%, really), which means unending barb spawns for my enemies. It was my first game on monarch, but I do not even think it really counted. I wrote a thread about it; I finished off the civs on my continent, but there was only one of 3 still alive, and I have only killed two civs overall; the barbs killed 5! I have just finished it with a super slow cultural victory (just sids sushi and a bunch of wonders mixed with cathedrals; I never set the culture bar to even 10% for the entire game, so needless to say my victory was among the latest I have ever done; late 1800s)

 

[midget_roxx]

I love tectonics because how the mountain ranges form that make forts actually useful in the chokepoints. I also like custom continents, and lakes with high water level (damn ice barbs). I tried archipelago and didn't like it because there was far too much micromanagement late game.

Can anyone shed some light on what fractal is like? I tried it and didn't notice any significant difference

 

[mintegar]

Well you can just start a new game with fractal, then enter world builder right away to reveal the whole map. Then go into the game menu and choose "regenerate map". Repeat. That way you get a feel for what the map script produces quickly.

 

[PierreBonaparte]

Earth!!
To test my geo skills

 

[digitalcraft]

I love tectonics because how the mountain ranges form that make forts actually useful in the chokepoints. I also like custom continents, and lakes with high water level (damn ice barbs). I tried archipelago and didn't like it because there was far too much micromanagement late game.

Can anyone shed some light on what fractal is like? I tried it and didn't notice any significant difference

Fractal is fairly random so hard to say. It usually does have a major continent then sometimes a second lesser one, or two continents that are close enough together people meet fairly early, but not always. It will also often have a remote medium sized island or a few to explore. The map is generally divided in to climate zones, with desert in the middle upper and jungle lower, ice and tundra top and bottom. Hills are fairly random and there are a few mountain chains but not many. Resources are generally spread out and clumped by type, so one region will end up with different resources than another.

 

[Pangaea]

I like Fractal, but one annoyance (on Normal map size) is that I've often been stuck semi-isolated on one of the continents it tends to create. Like how random it is though, as you never know what kind of land you're placed on, and where your neighbours may be, nor how many there are.

 

[Tristan_C]

Rainforest, 1 Island per player, Fractal

 

[Pisskop]

Terra and modded versions of. Also Earth w/my own mods to "spice" it up a bit. I love big landmasses and cramped people. To me, it encourages rushing, war, and runaways and I always applaude the ai when it manages to do so successfully...

 

[lvdz]

I've recently discovered Perfectworld2 and it is so far my favorite, as it offers a great diversity and therefore many strategic possibilities - it really spices up games, especially in multiplayer although starting points are often imbalanced.