0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
I admit, I've no idea how to force his traits to be whatever they currently are in the real game. Maybe this calls for something more akin to Serdoa's spreadsheets. Or just more rigor in a worker plan. Got to do something to improve my performance over past games, though!
Golden Age would be a bad idea, it'd give me all of 2 commerce/turn and 1 hpt, for the next 9 turns, and then the next GA would be harder. Although it is tempting to save him, it's probably best to get the snowball going right away.
Bulbing is a silly idea, he'd give me Animal Husbandry, which, though nice, is only 207 beakers.
Settling is the short term best answer, for 6 bpt/1hpt.
But I think he's going to found an Academy. Only 5 bpt right away, but with the potential to scale much further than that. Should catch up to a settled GSage once we grow to size 3, and everything after that is gravy.
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
I'm starting to debate popping the Barrow to my north. On the one hand, lairs have been good to me so far, right? On the other, I now have something to lose.
On the third, which I'm not yet certain if is gripping, surely it would be worse still for one of my foes to pop that one? But I don't know how big this map is. Officially Huge could well mean no one can reach me before the animals kill their scouts...but then they do have Valor/CI/Sentry scouts same as me...
Gonna have to mull this one over. Don't have to decide just yet, I'm going to stick to defensive terrain on the way there. And maybe a Skellie will spawn and remove that choice.
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
Thanks for the pics.
Wow this would be super unbalanc_ed as lanun - I suppose OO balance occurs because there's then an areas inland where the lakes thin out and disappear.
Not even gonna bother mentioning what o think of the lair - I'm sure you can guess
Wow that's an awesome pop, do you see the city as aiming on commerce? If not settling might still be better.
Where's the valor scout atm - have you met anyone, or are you keeping it close?
Will you have hunting in time for city 3 or is it just gonna grow on ariagrarian grass?
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
![[Image: PBEM25%20T13%20Deeper.JPG]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16549110/PBEM25%20T13%20Deeper.JPG)
![[Image: PBEM25%20T13%20Sage.JPG]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16549110/PBEM25%20T13%20Sage.JPG)
![[Image: PBEM25%20T13-1.JPG]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16549110/PBEM25%20T13-1.JPG)
![[Image: PBEM25%20T13-2.JPG]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16549110/PBEM25%20T13-2.JPG)
![[Image: PBEM25%20T13-3.JPG]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16549110/PBEM25%20T13-3.JPG)
![[Image: PBEM25%20T13-4.JPG]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16549110/PBEM25%20T13-4.JPG)
On the other, I now have something to lose. 
