(April 19th, 2013, 00:51)NobleHelium Wrote: Probably the best start ever for t0 RoB, with the two oases. Nice.
Nah, the best start for t0 RoB (assuming normal tiles only) would be three oasis tiles. The lack of a third three-yield tile first ring is annoying. Until the border pop, he really only gets an oasis and a 1/1/2 wines tile, for a boost of +1 production per turn, +4 commerce per turn and +0 surplus food. Not bad, by any means, especially since the inherent free pop corresponds to lots of free food, but it always does that. The final verdict depends on how much faster the wheat and sheep are improved.
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.
(April 19th, 2013, 00:51)NobleHelium Wrote: Probably the best start ever for t0 RoB, with the two oases. Nice.
Nah, the best start for t0 RoB (assuming normal tiles only) would be three oasis tiles. The lack of a third three-yield tile first ring is annoying. Until the border pop, he really only gets an oasis and a 1/1/2 wines tile, for a boost of +1 production per turn, +4 commerce per turn and +0 surplus food. Not bad, by any means, especially since the inherent free pop corresponds to lots of free food, but it always does that. The final verdict depends on how much faster the wheat and sheep are improved.
If we're going to dream, how about the Remnants of Patria or Yggdrasil for a third workable tile? And it would be nice if the wheat were riverside. But yeah, this is a great start for a super-early settler. Now I just need to find a good city site.
Border expansion gives me visibility on a few more marginal tiles, and also lets me work the wheat for less commerce but a faster worker:
I found a reagents tile in the north by what appears to be a lake, but it looks pretty icy up there. I'm hoping to find something decent on the rivers to the east or west.
This is my favorite part of the game. The map is full of possibilities and mystery, and I haven't had enough time to mess it up yet.
(April 19th, 2013, 00:51)NobleHelium Wrote: Probably the best start ever for t0 RoB, with the two oases. Nice.
Nah, the best start for t0 RoB (assuming normal tiles only) would be three oasis tiles. The lack of a third three-yield tile first ring is annoying. Until the border pop, he really only gets an oasis and a 1/1/2 wines tile, for a boost of +1 production per turn, +4 commerce per turn and +0 surplus food. Not bad, by any means, especially since the inherent free pop corresponds to lots of free food, but it always does that. The final verdict depends on how much faster the wheat and sheep are improved.
Well obviously. I mean in the context of a real game.
Which gave me a whopping 3 gold. Yay. I can't complain too much though; at least it wasn't Muris Clan goblins.
I thought I had spotted a grassland tile in the fog 2N of the incense. Maybe it has corn, or at least rice?
No. This is garbage terrain, no way to support a city here. This reminds me of a Civ3 thread from Velocyrix a long time ago. He talked about two kinds of bad starts: one where there was no good place to plant your capital, another where you had a good capital site surrounded by worthless terrain. This is looking more and more like the second type.
Edit: the scoreboard shows Thoth grew to size 2. Evidently he thought it was worth delaying his worker in exchange for being able to work that second oasis. Demographics don't indicate another unit for him, but a quick check shows he wouldn't have had enough hammers to finish one yet. So I need to check next turn for a bump in rival power.
Don't get too down on the map; I don't know (or, more accurately, remember) what the land around your capital looks like, but you've got a cow that you haven't completely explored, as far as I can tell. What if there is another food bonus in the fog near it? That wouldn't be a bad city, especially since you already need AH for the capital.
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.
Thoth finished his unit, and it was (drumroll) a scout. Now it's seven more turns till his worker pops.
My scout exposed a couple turndra tiles and ducked back inside my borders. I'm just going to pop out and back in to expose the 4th ring tiles, rather than send him out to be eaten by an animal (they should start spawning during this barb turn).
I discovered Agriculture at EoT, Crafting is next. Here's an overview shot showing the terrain I've been whining about:
Not much to report this turn. My scout didn't reveal any new tiles, my worker completed at end of turn but can't do anything until next turn. My opponents are doing something, though:
Thoth and Kyan both finished a tech, presumably Agriculture. Ichabod plays after me, so he'll probably also finish research this turn. gtAngel, on the other hand, did not finish a tech. Either she's jumping around between techs or she's researching a tech more expensive than Agriculture. The only possibilities are Crafting or Fishing. Fishing doesn't make much sense with a landlocked capital, so I'm putting her down for Crafting.
![[Image: 27-2_terrain.jpg]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8114046/ffh27/27-2_terrain.jpg)
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