Which settings give me these kind of maps?

[Mortac]

In previous Civ games I always used to see a nice mix of islands and continents of different sizes, but Civ4 really ticks me off with its map generator. Why? It's because no matter what I do I seem to either end up with tiny islands or huge continents. I've tried archipelago, but it seems the islands are too small, which they should be for such a setting. I have yet to try islands, but that sounds like it would make continents non-existant, and I don't want that either. Continents setting I don't like that much, because there are too few islands, and I never start on one. I usually see two or three huge continents and that's it. I don't like the custom continents setting either because, frankly, I don't like to know in advance how many continents there will be.

Anyway, for obvious reasons I mostly play with the balanced setting, since that should mean a mix of everything. This is not what I'm seeing however. In every single game I've played I still end up with huge continents. So which settings, if any, would give me the nice mix of a couple of continents and several islands of different sizes with a decent chance to start out on an island? I usually enjoy my games the most when I'm on a decently large island with 2-4 other civs (I use 18 AI players), but nowhere near the size of a continent. I still want continents to be present.

 

[Julian Delphiki]

Hi,

quick reply

Civ IV map scripts explained by Sirian, author of the scripts here

Smartmap custom maps script might do what you want.

 

[Mortac]

Nice, thanks a bunch! Very informative! I might try out SmartMap, but I have to say I'm sorely disappointed at Firaxis because there doesn't seem to exist any option to get a mix of continents and islands. Looks like you're stuck with either huge continents or an archipelago. Where did the nice mix of continents and large and small islands go? In previous Civ games I have always enjoyed exploring for and then colonising islands of the size to fit 5-10 cities.

 

[Rellin]

I am looking for the same map type as you. I want 2, 3, or 4 medium continents with a bunch of smaller continents, preferably with no one starting on them.

 

[LucyDuke]

BTW, I don't know if anyone's pointed it out, but "balanced" (rather than "standard") just means that every capital is going to have the important strategic resources nearby. It has nothing to do with the size, shape, or number of landmasses.

 

[Neoclast]

Custom Continents does have the option to have a random (2-6) number of continents. I feel simular about map settings and I found that the Customer Continents works best for me. I usually set it to a large map, low sea level, and then play with 12-16 total civs.

 

[@war]

For me it was fractal. It looks more "real" with island chains and multiple hunks of land (sometimes). Its not always like that but it is much better than cotinents. And you can get some very interesting maps.

 

[MrMahk]

Yeah, I think fractal is what you're looking for, Mortac.

 

[Mortac]

I'll give fractal a shot then. Thanks!

 

[Neoclast]

Another idea is to start a game with a certain map type and before moving any of your units go into the world builder and see what the map type gives you for a world. You can then exit world builder and regenerate the map. THis way you can try several different maps and get a feel for which one it is that you like.

 

[Meester_henk]

I'm currently playing in fractal map. My Persia is in one continent with Incas. Northern continent has Germans and Koreans. East continent has Japan and Carthage. Zulus have their own smaller continent. There are also few islands to colonize, but not a lot.

I think, I'm getting time victory. I was too slow again to develop space ship.

 

[Jorunkun]

For the biggest diversity of maps, play fractal large (or huge). I've seen anything from pangaeas to six or seven islands, and some really interesting yet natural looking locations (lakes, mountain ranges, isthmuses ...) By far the best mapscript in the mix if you ask me.

 

[Moxxa]

Terra maps can sometimes give you the types of maps you are describing. Its usually like a pangea map with a few islands here and there, and then another continent across the ocean settled by barbarians. I find it fun to cross the ocean and rid the "New World" of barbarians.

 

[bassist2119]

I want maps exactly like 'play now' continents, but with absolutely NO deserts and mountains. I hate having it so you have to either 1.) not place the city ideally regarding land types and resources, or 2.)you end up with a few dead tiles.

 

[Willem]

Yes, definitely Fractal. It gives you the best variety of maps of any other setting. Altough it tends to lean towards a more Pangaea style, quite often I'll find myself on a small continent either alone or with just 2-3 other civs.

 

[sydhe]

I like Archipelago with the snaky continents setting. Generally it gives you time to expand a bit before meeting anyone and you usually don't get buried by barbarians. You usually don't wind up with more than three people on a continent.

 

[Herod]

You might like to try Snaky Archipelago