I don't want to put too heavy a level of restriction on "map balance" - the Pitbosses where the map has a lot of variation (5 and 8 are once again my models) are a lot more fun to lurk than the heavily balanced/near mirrored ones, as there's more of a sense of discovery and exploration to be had when you can't extrapolate the map based on your start.
As I said upthread - as long as none of the BFCs are lame duck, everyone has early strategic resources accessible, and nobody's screwed out of luxes, I think we'll be fine.
(March 3rd, 2012, 21:07)antisocialmunky Wrote: Civilization Economics: You have 1 Cow. You build some pastures around it to feed your people. The population grows uncontrollably. You enslave everybody and work half of them to death.
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.
(May 5th, 2013, 16:43)Sisu Wrote: I don't want to put too heavy a level of restriction on "map balance" - the Pitbosses where the map has a lot of variation (5 and 8 are once again my models) are a lot more fun to lurk than the heavily balanced/near mirrored ones, as there's more of a sense of discovery and exploration to be had when you can't extrapolate the map based on your start.
As I said upthread - as long as none of the BFCs are lame duck, everyone has early strategic resources accessible, and nobody's screwed out of luxes, I think we'll be fine.
(May 5th, 2013, 16:43)Sisu Wrote: I don't want to put too heavy a level of restriction on "map balance" - the Pitbosses where the map has a lot of variation (5 and 8 are once again my models) are a lot more fun to lurk than the heavily balanced/near mirrored ones, as there's more of a sense of discovery and exploration to be had when you can't extrapolate the map based on your start.
As I said upthread - as long as none of the BFCs are lame duck, everyone has early strategic resources accessible, and nobody's screwed out of luxes, I think we'll be fine.
I agree with this. Rolling and editing seems fine, Merovech.
(May 5th, 2013, 16:23)Azza Wrote: Id propose a fairly simple ban list. Fin/Exp/Inca/India. You can have 1 of these.
So the only banned leader would be Pacal, and if you pick Inca or India you can't pick a Fin or Exp leader. There should be enough workable combos that no one feels disadvantaged by their place in the pick order.
Mods: Visual only
Map: Ramdon map, balance not mirrowed
Civilization Picks: Option 2
Diplomacy: AI Diplo
Espionage: Can't build spies, Great Spies must be settled or used for Golden Age/bulb
Technology Trading: Off
Barbs: Anyway is fine
Huts: On
Events: Off
I would like if events were off. I really don't like them and I would prefer to scrub my game myself rather than the RNG.
I still really think random is a bad idea, because in a game with Greens like this an unbalanced combo from random could really muck the fairness and it takes away from learning something fairly important for future games (Figuring out/picking civ/leader combos).
Returned from vacation to find this post - exactly what I'm looking for! Sign me up with the following preferences:
Team: Suttree (no MP exp)
Map: No preference
Civilization Picks: Random, Normalized (v2)
Diplomacy: AI diplo only
Espionage: Can't build spies, Great Spies must be settled or used for Golden Age
Technology Trading: Off
*Barbs: Off
*Huts: Off
*Events: Off
Further bans (corps, nukes etc) by consensus.
To be honest - while I hope to play competitively, I'm not too concerned about game settings so long as the settings/bans are clear.
If we get a good enough map maker, a relatively balanced in terms of land quality yet interesting map is definitely possible. The problem I have with option 2 is that it just sounds really boring and unnecessary. Perhaps someone can convince me why we need it?
