Fellow lurkers, we are charged with filtering a set of picks for these veterans to choose from.
Here's a random set of 18 pairings:
Alexander (Agg, Phi) of China (Agriculture, Mining)
Asoka (Org, Spi) of Netherlands (Agriculture, Fishing)
George Washington (Cha, Exp) of India (Mysticism, Mining)
Augustus (Cre, Org) of Khmer (Hunting, Mining)
Suryavarman (Exp, Cre) of Germany (Hunting, Mining)
Louis XIV (Cre, Ind) of Persia (Agriculture, Hunting)
Genghis Khan (Agg, Imp) of Mali (Mining, The Wheel)
Pacal (Fin, Exp) of Byzantium (The Wheel, Mining)
Napoleon (Cha, Org) of Rome (Fishing, Mining)
Julius Caesar (Imp, Org) of Viking (Hunting, Fishing)
Elizabeth (Phi, Fin) of Babylon (Agriculture, The Wheel)
Charles de Gaulle (Ind, Cha) of England (Fishing, Mining)
Justinian (Spi, Imp) of Spain (Fishing, Mysticism)
Zara Yaqob (Cre, Org) of Inca (Agriculture, Mysticism)
Lincoln (Phi, Cha) of Aztecs (Mysticism, Hunting)
Hannibal (Fin, Cha) of Egypt (Agriculture, The Wheel)
Mahatma Gandhi (Phi, Spi) of France (Agriculture, The Wheel)
Willem van Oranje (Cre, Fin) of Celts (Hunting, Mysticism)
The goal is to eliminate the best options from this list so the remaining options are balanced. The obvious standouts are India, Byzantium and Egypt. After that, I think Willem and Zara get the axe. I think Elizabeth of Babylon is out too.
That leaves:
Alexander (Agg, Phi) of China (Agriculture, Mining)
Asoka (Org, Spi) of Netherlands (Agriculture, Fishing)
Augustus (Cre, Org) of Khmer (Hunting, Mining)
Suryavarman (Exp, Cre) of Germany (Hunting, Mining)
Louis XIV (Cre, Ind) of Persia (Agriculture, Hunting)
Genghis Khan (Agg, Imp) of Mali (Mining, The Wheel)
Napoleon (Cha, Org) of Rome (Fishing, Mining)
Julius Caesar (Imp, Org) of Viking (Hunting, Fishing)
Charles de Gaulle (Ind, Cha) of England (Fishing, Mining)
Justinian (Spi, Imp) of Spain (Fishing, Mysticism)
Lincoln (Phi, Cha) of Aztecs (Mysticism, Hunting)
Mahatma Gandhi (Phi, Spi) of France (Agriculture, The Wheel)
If I was picking from this list I'd say the best were:
-De Gaulle of England
-Sury of Germany
-Alex of China
-Napoleon of Rome
-Justin of Spain
-Gandhi of France
-Louis of Persia
-Julius of Viking
Hmm, there does seem to be a bit of separation between the top 2 and the rest. DeGaulle is Mr.Henge without any real competition. Sury is Sury, even with a terrible civ. What do other folks think?
On the opposite end, Seven requested a list with no real duds. Um, I think this list is ok there. Lincoln/Aztec is quite bad, but otherwise no real stinkers here. The Dutch are always polarizing, but are there for the picking if someone wants to bank on the industrial age.
(May 19th, 2013, 21:31)Ceiliazul Wrote: That leaves:
Alexander (Agg, Phi) of China (Agriculture, Mining)
Asoka (Org, Spi) of Netherlands (Agriculture, Fishing)
Augustus (Cre, Org) of Khmer (Hunting, Mining)
Suryavarman (Exp, Cre) of Germany (Hunting, Mining)
Louis XIV (Cre, Ind) of Persia (Agriculture, Hunting)
Genghis Khan (Agg, Imp) of Mali (Mining, The Wheel)
Napoleon (Cha, Org) of Rome (Fishing, Mining)
Julius Caesar (Imp, Org) of Viking (Hunting, Fishing)
Charles de Gaulle (Ind, Cha) of England (Fishing, Mining)
Justinian (Spi, Imp) of Spain (Fishing, Mysticism)
Lincoln (Phi, Cha) of Aztecs (Mysticism, Hunting)
Mahatma Gandhi (Phi, Spi) of France (Agriculture, The Wheel)
To be clear, the full 2nd set will be offered to the players, pending feedback. The ranking at the end was just a reality check to see if there were any clear standouts. Definitely hoping for some feedback on this list.
Shocking that you rolled 18 combos without a single PRO. Keep in mind that unplayable combos are supposed to be axed too, not just the best ones.
I'd probably take Louis of Persia over De Gaulle of England unless I wanted a Fishing start. And I might take Gandhi of France over all of them actually. And actually Zara of Inca is a perfectly not overpowered combination because Inca is effectively meaningless. I say we put Zara of the Celts (not Inca) in and give them 13 combinations. There's nothing wrong with giving them extra combos if it offers more viable non-extreme choices.
Yeah, I actually agree that Zara of Inca isn't that great and that Gandhi of France is better than De Gualle of England in most circumstances. One problem: Augustus is Imp/Ind, not Cre/Org. Augustus of the Khemer, with WE banned, is pretty freakin' bad.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
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.
