I´ve played a couple of MP Arena games now and would like to share some thoughts regarding possible settings from a "what´s fun", but also "what´s fair and interesting for a competetive game" perspective.

So far we´ve been playing mostly duels and a few ffa games (4-6 people, everyone for himself, not always war).

North_vs_South duel sized is a relative small map. The key factor though are its spawn points. Player seem to spawn relatively random - there is a "north vs south" aspect to the placement, but it can be anything from close to relatively far apart. Sometimes it´s tough to tell whether your opponent is south or north of you after only a couple of moves - so it´s possible that if you send your warrior away it could be going the "wrong" direction. Often though you start close the the northern or southern border of the map and can tell the general direction your opponent is in.


Normal Resources seems to not be an option. Starting with a cow against someone who doesn´t have a resource is a backbreaking advantage. Abundant Resources might be an option, not sure about Strategic Balance though since that only balances Horse, Iron and other strategic resources. Choles did some testing regarding resources. Legendary resources seems to be the way to go so far since it equals out the playing field and in general increase the tile yield of an empire to a level where producing something in a reasonable amount of time becomes more possible.

Barbarians suck in MP since there will always be one player harrased more than another, simply providing an advantage to one side. Since cities defend themselves, there might be a place for barbarians in a MP setup, I wouln´t use them in duels though. Same thing for Ruins - it´s just random who will profit more.

City States might definitely have a place in MP - not sure though it´s in duels. It´s expensive to get them on your side and you don´t have that money to spare if your opponent is pressuring you with units and would do so if you went for a City State centred strategy. Still City States might be a fine addition in some games. In a teamer one player could focus on them while the other build the units for defense. In an ffa one might have the time to commit to them...

Last but not least, the difficulty level Warlord allows for more buildup before having to hook any happiness resource. It also makes Cultural Policies slighty cheaper and through the additional happiness triggers a first Golden Age faster and much more "automatically". Those don´t necessarily have to be good things - it allows for more options though than Prince.

Same settings, but different map. Inland_Sea is bigger and positioning of opponents is more transparent from the start. This results in a longer, more builderish game compared to North_vs_South. The map isn´t nearly as open with only two relatively thin fronts and water in the middle. Of course once units can embark and use the water things get different - especially true in later era starts.

FFA games are fun, but don´t provide a setup for a competetive. If two players ally against you, you don´t have fair odds to win. CTONs on the other hand forbid communication (regarding the game) between players, meaning no alliances or trading.

In general on Inland_Sea you should have two neighbours. Rushing to take one out is likely a bad idea because all your others opponents will build up their empire meanwhile and come with superior forces for you. While there obviously is still a lot of warfare in those kinds of games they allow for more buildup. Aim for general gains for your empire, not relative gains in relation to an opponent like in a duel.


Whoever is interested in Mutiplayer Civ5, activate your MP Arena account here if you already have an Apolyton account and join us in the Apolyton Steam Group´s Chat by clicking "CHAT" here in our main menu. Currently games are mostly run during European and US evening times. So far everything is fun and friendly and games have been played in an enjoyable atmossphere - so join up!