Starting distance between civs

[skodkim]

Is there any way to edit the minimum starting distance between civs? I often find myself clammed in between other civilizations which I find reallt annoying since one the things I enjoy most is exploring and building my empire

\Skodkim

[skodkim]

I've found a file called GlobalDefinesAlt.xml in the ..\Assets\XML\ directory. in that two values are given:
STARTING_DISTANCE_PERCENT
12
and
MIN_CIV_STARTING_DISTANCE
10

which sound as though they might be correlated to this, but I'm not sure. Tried increasing both numbers and it seemed to help, but again, I'm not sure

Skodkim

[Emperor_V]

I really think this needs to be addressed too, I find I'm always starting in a game very near another civ, even in 1v1 games... and of course, they get the cows and the horses in the cap

[skodkim]

Well I can only urge you to try increasing the values I've given. As I said I'm not sure what they really do, but It doesn't crash the game and in the one game I've played since I found myself having more distance to my neibourghs and enjoying the game more.

Telle me what you find out!

Skodkim

[Lithrim]

How much did you increase those values?
Ive tried both the double values and four time the values but I still seem to start very close to the others. Started a epic game yesterday on huge map, and I met all other civs within 30 turns, all on the same island. Very sad since I really enjoy exploring and building my empire berofe starting to kill the others. :P

Anyone found something else to increase starting distance?

[skodkim]

Think I doubled or tripled the vaules (I'm awork now). Seems I start a little further away from my "friends", but I'm not sure. I still meet them pretty quickly.

Could ke a detailed study with trialand error but I just don't have the time for it.

Skodkim

[Blake]

If you do enjoy exploring, then Highlands maps can be good, since it takes so mcuh longer to meet the neighbours. Also with ridges and large lakes there is some really interesting exploring to do. It creates valleys and stuff.

[MrFun]

For some reason, when I generate a map using Smart Map, it has one or sometimes even two civilizations start right next to me. That sucks -- what do I need to do to increase starting distance between civilizations?

[MMC]

With Smart Map, you can override the the starting distance when you setup the game (if you use 'custom game', rather than 'play now'). It has 13 settings you can pick from (or No override if you want to try your luck). Setting 13 makes sure the closest possible starting location for another civ will be far enough away that your capitals won't be touching borders even with both at Legendary. Other cities can be closer of course. Settings 12 and lower get progressively closer (12 I believe allows touching distance at Legendary only, and so on)

[MrFun]

I will try that, MMC. I have tried how many times now generating a Smartmap with a smaller distance starting location on a huge map with continents and I end up usually having no room to expand beyond two or three cities because I'm immediately surrounded by three other civilizations at worst, and next to one at other times.

I use Smartmap's cutom size numbers after choosing huge, and I play with 18 civilizations -- well, play is not the word yet, as I'm still trying to start a good game.

[MMC]

I have a save somewhere where I started with everything but Ivory within easy grasp, and I managed to get a choke hold on two other civs in the process...
As for progressing beyond 2-3 cities, I often find that 5-6 is an optimum number and don't bother with many more except possibly for strategic reasons. And I had 4 cities on that choke hold map. I'll find the save if you want a look.

Which reminds me... if anyone knows how to reuse the map from a game without resorting to manually deleting all the cities and improvements with the WorldBuilder (which also removes certain terrain features), I would like to replay a couple of decent maps I've had with different civs (and a different number of civs). Keeping the same starting location would be nice, but that's not so important.

[MrFun]

Nothing seems to be working. I tried setting separation at 13 between civilizations, and I still start next to at least one civilization; we come into contact when I move my units before I end my first turn.

Does this have to do with the fact that I play with 18 civilizations? I wouldn't think so, since I choose extra-huge map size.

[NTJedi]

Originally posted by MrFun
Nothing seems to be working. I tried setting separation at 13 between civilizations, and I still start next to at least one civilization; we come into contact when I move my units before I end my first turn.

Does this have to do with the fact that I play with 18 civilizations? I wouldn't think so, since I choose extra-huge map size.

Use smart map... thus each nation can have their own island... plus it allows you to make very very large maps preventing this issue.

[MrFun]

But the problem is that I am already using Smartmap, and two to three civilizations usually start right next to me.

[MMC]

I think that when you play with all 18 Civs, even SmartMap has trouble finding a good place to put players, so my advice would either be to accept that you're going to start next to someone, or to play with less Civs. 8 is a nice number to give a bit of competition with plenty of room, 12 would give you the crowed feeling but still leave you with breathing room when you start. Anymore than 12 may not be beneficial.

As a side note, have you tried setting the sea level to high on SmartMap? That should force a few more islands.