Why cant I trade world maps?

[Kudos]

I'm playing conquest and am now in the second age and still have no option to trade maps with other civs?

Why?

 

[Vedder]

Do you have Navigation? You now need it to trade maps.

 

[Kudos]

Nope I dont, but wow that sure makes it a challenge to start trading maps.

 

[cgannon64]

Yeah, the part of the Ancient Age where you must explore for yourself has really been pushed back.

I like it.

 

[wunder]

Keeping the world darker longer just makes it more interesting in my opinion. It always seemed weird to me that the whole world would be discoverd before a.d.

 

[kring]

I always explored the world myself, even before this change. I would send out units to do so and would have most of the land/islands discovered before AD. I also don't build Explorers, either before this change or after it. By the time Explorers become available, I have the most (if not all) of the world mapped out.

 

[Vedder]

I too had never really used Explorers, except to pillage from time to time. I played C3C for about 7 hours last night though and can really see myself using them now in what is really, a very different game than Civ3.

Since maps cannot be traded until much latter, land goes unsettled well into the middle ages now. Even if you have seen all of the coastal land, you won't have seen inland on large continent or pangea maps. As well, sending out teams of explorers will ensure that you can cut off narrow access points to land or simply section off land you want to settle for yourself.

I can really see this cutting down on map trading every turn, at least until all of the land is settled anyway.

 

[budweiser]

All this may slow down ai expansion because they wont know what land is open anymore. You know how they would always send settlers down to grab whatever land you had open after you traded them your first map?

 

[Stuie]

This is the single most awesome change to the game (and also one I had modded in to my own game over a year ago). Glad it's "Official" now!

 

[CyberChrist]

Originally posted by budweiser
All this may slow down ai expansion because they wont know what land is open anymore. You know how they would always send settlers down to grab whatever land you had open after you traded them your first map?

Heh heh, sadly all AI players know and always have known the entire map layout from BC4000 - as well as where all units are located on the map.

 

[sealman]

Originally posted by CyberChrist


Heh heh, sadly all AI players know and always have known the entire map layout from BC4000 - as well as where all units are located on the map.

This is true but the AI does not act on that knowledge until they "see" the area.

Oh, and they also know where the strategic resources will pop up for the first time.

 

[Martacus]

If they wanted to make it even better, they should have made it impossible to map out territory permanently until you get map making--sort of a "fog of war" for exploration.

 

[Black Waltz]

No. I like it as it is. No need to make it 'better'.

 

[CyberChrist]

Originally posted by sealman
This is true but the AI does not act on that knowledge until they "see" the area.

Oh but they do!
How else would you explain why they would stride through unsettled areas, past my capitol and to the far end of my narrow peninsula to settle on the resource fat land there - which I know for a fact that neither they nor anyone else(apart from me) have yet visited?