The only big complaint that I have about the game is that, when using random maps, your chances of winning are too dependent on the generated map. If I find that there are enough city sites nearby that I can build three or four cities early on, then I know I've got a pretty good chance of winning. However, if I end up with a map like I got on my last game, where there is room for only one city with desert and dead forest for a long way in any direction, I know that I don't have much chance of surviving long enough to fight my way to a win. Right now I have 14 strength points, and the next lowest AI faction has 42 (I'm playing on expert). I'll go ahead and play it out, but I don't think I'll last much longer. You could say that I should just quit and start another game, but I feel like that's not quite kosher. You should play the cards you are dealt. What I would like to see is better map generation. That doesn't mean that you should have the greatest site every game, but you should always have a chance to win if you play your cards right.
What would be the point of having a Random setting if it only generates maps that are consistent? If you don't want fertile land to be scarce, maybe don't select "Random" or "Desert" under Map Type. If you always want to be able to win with everything set to Random, maybe try dropping the difficulty.
Ctrl-N
It was stated earlier in the Beta that the Starting points/tiles will not be balanced at all.
roads roads roads.
For your 2nd hero, make him:
level 2, commander
level 3, road building.
Have him build a road out of the 'wastelands' and towards fresher ground, and you should be able to compete still.
This is becoming de rigueur for me, no matter my starting Sov's path.
Speed kills.
I dont mind some randomness at all. Its a single player game and its fun not to know whats ahead.
There are ways to be extremely effective with even a poor resource setup.
He wants a communist map type.
Thanks for the suggestions, Sythion. There's one thing you say though that I don't understand, "do not pick the + exp traits". What do you mean by that?
In the general tab there's a +15% exp bonus, and the mage tab has another +25% exp bonus. Due to increasing costs of leveling, these are mostly worthless until super high level.
There are only two situations when they should be picked:
If you don't like your hole cards in Texas Hold 'Em (popular Poker variant), you aren't allowed to ask for new ones; however, you are entitled to fold your hand.
In my last game, I had to be aggressive early to find a second city tile on a small map. If I knew the map was always fair (and thus guaranteed me a nearby second city tile), the game would not have been nearly as exciting. The cost of this particular really fun game is that next time I might end up with an "impossible"* map that I may end up folding. I agree that some maps are unfair (at least to us mortals), but it does make for a more interesting game not knowing what hand you've been dealt.
*I put impossible in quotes because there are those experts...
Sythion, my first attempt at implementing your proposed strategy didn't quite work. Thirty-five minutes into the game, I had two cities. My power rating was 18. Ythril's power rating was 75. He declared war on me, and shortly thereafter showed up with two armies, each of which was stronger than my single army. Party over. It's been my habit to first research the two Civilization techs that let me build roads between cities. I then research shard harvesting in the Magic techs. After that, I research Leatherworking so that I can built the Defender-type unit. It looks like I should first research Leatherworking so that I can get those stronger units earlier.
Which strategy?
The one you mentioned in reply #7, though it's probably better described as guidelines.
Birth of summer. It is now a tier 2 magic tech spell, and now works very reliably.
Build up 200 mana, and cast it near a shard or crystal crag. You'll create multiple city spots, at least one with essence. Just don't cast within 6 tiles of one of your cities.
Who needs to rely on the map?
(The attunement sovereign ability makes this easier to cast)
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