Post by friedrichpsitalon on Nov 21, 2005 21:38:49 GMT -5
This thread is devoting to discussing map settings and setups that are enjoyable in your view, other than the obvious "Pangea, X size, have a nice day."
Water-Based, Immediate Access Maps
Archipelago-Archipelago, Ancient/Classical Start, NO City Razing - This setting will produce islands which can be reached immediately by galley (buildable from the start of the game.) No City Razing is reccomended since players are quite likely to need to settle multiple islands, and so could very easily fall victim to assasination (unbalancedly so.) You can play this one Ancient Start, as well - Sailing is only two techs away if you go straight for it, or would you rather build your infrastructure first? Really, anything works with this map except the "Tiny Islands" setting - and don't choose low sea level unless you want unintended bridges.
Custom Continents, Medieval Start, Average Room - This setting gives each player one continent at the start of the game (assuming you set it that way.) The continents ARE roughly equivalent in size, but the resources will vary. By setting to Medieval Start, you have approximately 30 turns before someone could conceivably have Astronomy, throwing the door wide to invasion by sea. (Move it to Renaissance start for more immediate action.) No changes to your "typical" map size preference are needed, since the continents can be quite close if multiple continents are demanded.
Ice Age, Any Start but Ancient Ice Age is a pretty nasty map - there tend to be a lot of long, stringy pieces of land, and the good land is compressed towards the middle. This allows for a lot of competition for that good land, and potentially a great deal of naval action as well.
Mixed Land/Water Maps
Wheel, Modern Start, Cities Raze, 1-tile Ring, 1 Tile Spoke, Keep It Small A personal favorite of mine; this map setting offers a very exciting set of possibilities - take troops down those tiny routes to your opponent, or go to sea and land from outside. If you are brave enough to put a city on a ring or spoke, you can very easily transfer ships back and forth across the landbridges, but you are in great jepoardy of a visit by Marines - which are still a major threat at the start of the Modern Era! Neglecting technology for outright warfare risks your opponent blocking you out and going for the space race, so pay your money, take your chances. There's no need to inflate the map size on this one; duel suits 2 players excellently.
Hub, Renaissance/Industrial Start, Keep It Small Hub is sort of what you think of when you see an asterisk symbol *. Each player gets an offshoot of land, and of course there's the blooding ground in the center. Choosing to start in these eras makes things rather interesting - you can go to war by land or by sea. Go by sea, and there's only two possible targets, but go by land, and who knows what kind of chaos will be in the center of the Hub. (This is particularly true in larger Hub games.) Finding your way through the melee that can be in the center to find your real target can be a nightmare. This is a great map for team games!
Inland Sea, Future Start, Average Size Play this one with a house rule: no nukes, no space race. Watch the battle for that lake take on all new highs in order to park a carrier full of jet fighters in an advantageous position.
Four Corners, Modern Start, Allow Extra Room Because of the late era start, it is possible to exert control over an opponent's landmass immediately with planes, but you still have to cross the water to actually get anything done. A great map for multiple styles of combat. (Also excellent for a 2v2v2v2!)
Let's step outside the box and try something new, guys. The game has a wealth of neat maps and crazy conditions that we can play with - if constantly dealing with Persia/Egypt/Rome rushes on Lakes, Inland Sea, and Pangea have you down...don't play with those conditions! Try some of these, give feedback, or come up with your own!
Water-Based, Immediate Access Maps
Archipelago-Archipelago, Ancient/Classical Start, NO City Razing - This setting will produce islands which can be reached immediately by galley (buildable from the start of the game.) No City Razing is reccomended since players are quite likely to need to settle multiple islands, and so could very easily fall victim to assasination (unbalancedly so.) You can play this one Ancient Start, as well - Sailing is only two techs away if you go straight for it, or would you rather build your infrastructure first? Really, anything works with this map except the "Tiny Islands" setting - and don't choose low sea level unless you want unintended bridges.
Custom Continents, Medieval Start, Average Room - This setting gives each player one continent at the start of the game (assuming you set it that way.) The continents ARE roughly equivalent in size, but the resources will vary. By setting to Medieval Start, you have approximately 30 turns before someone could conceivably have Astronomy, throwing the door wide to invasion by sea. (Move it to Renaissance start for more immediate action.) No changes to your "typical" map size preference are needed, since the continents can be quite close if multiple continents are demanded.
Ice Age, Any Start but Ancient Ice Age is a pretty nasty map - there tend to be a lot of long, stringy pieces of land, and the good land is compressed towards the middle. This allows for a lot of competition for that good land, and potentially a great deal of naval action as well.
Mixed Land/Water Maps
Wheel, Modern Start, Cities Raze, 1-tile Ring, 1 Tile Spoke, Keep It Small A personal favorite of mine; this map setting offers a very exciting set of possibilities - take troops down those tiny routes to your opponent, or go to sea and land from outside. If you are brave enough to put a city on a ring or spoke, you can very easily transfer ships back and forth across the landbridges, but you are in great jepoardy of a visit by Marines - which are still a major threat at the start of the Modern Era! Neglecting technology for outright warfare risks your opponent blocking you out and going for the space race, so pay your money, take your chances. There's no need to inflate the map size on this one; duel suits 2 players excellently.
Hub, Renaissance/Industrial Start, Keep It Small Hub is sort of what you think of when you see an asterisk symbol *. Each player gets an offshoot of land, and of course there's the blooding ground in the center. Choosing to start in these eras makes things rather interesting - you can go to war by land or by sea. Go by sea, and there's only two possible targets, but go by land, and who knows what kind of chaos will be in the center of the Hub. (This is particularly true in larger Hub games.) Finding your way through the melee that can be in the center to find your real target can be a nightmare. This is a great map for team games!
Inland Sea, Future Start, Average Size Play this one with a house rule: no nukes, no space race. Watch the battle for that lake take on all new highs in order to park a carrier full of jet fighters in an advantageous position.
Four Corners, Modern Start, Allow Extra Room Because of the late era start, it is possible to exert control over an opponent's landmass immediately with planes, but you still have to cross the water to actually get anything done. A great map for multiple styles of combat. (Also excellent for a 2v2v2v2!)
Let's step outside the box and try something new, guys. The game has a wealth of neat maps and crazy conditions that we can play with - if constantly dealing with Persia/Egypt/Rome rushes on Lakes, Inland Sea, and Pangea have you down...don't play with those conditions! Try some of these, give feedback, or come up with your own!