difficulty :)

[Panag]

hi ,

own modified version of deity , .....

example , basic barbs are infantry , advanced are cavalry , higher costs for techs , etc , ....

have a nice day

[gunkulator]

Regent only so far. Standard sized worlds. Is the consensus that large are huge worlds are easier?

[Panag]

Originally posted by gunkulator
Regent only so far. Standard sized worlds. Is the consensus that large are huge worlds are easier?

hi ,

depends , ....

you get more time to build something serious before you get a WW , .....

362X362 with 24 or more civs are not that easy , .....

have a nice day

[TheArsenal]

Originally posted by gunkulator
Regent only so far. Standard sized worlds. Is the consensus that large are huge worlds are easier?

I would say not necessarily.

My opinion - speaking to the differences between Huge and Large maps and speaking as a militarist: On a large map it is still possible to wield your military power globally, at a fairly reasonable point in the game, although with some great effort. With a huge map, this is not always desirable, or anywhere near possible, because clearing your continent is a time consuming full effort task. But necessary to keep big, nasty, annoyed AIs with lots of production centers off of your border. Stacks of 20-50 units marching into your territory is always an eye opener. Alliances between huge civs out get you are even nastier.

And as often as not, when left alone without the human to cripple it, an AI superpower emerges on the other side of the world after gobbling up weak civs. At my skill level, this AI remains competitive for quite some time in the game - because I can't get overseas with enough force early to cripple it, and I can't out research or out culture it. So there is none of this winning by 1600 A.D. stuff for me.

Also, I find that some of the most tried and true strategies on these boards are not always suited for the huge map. Take the archer rush. Depending on the map configuration, it is very difficult to take out an AI early with a single movement unit. It's too spread out. And, for me anyway, early wars over all are less desirable. You expend much energy warring across a vast area while the other civs race ahead of you in all categories. So even if you're on a single land mass, crippling your opponents early and gaining a lead that way, seems more difficult. So wars come later, bigger, and with more coordinated movement to deal with the size of the civ you are taking out and the number of units needed to do it.

Your mileage may vary.

[David Murray]

Originally posted by gunkulator
Regent only so far. Standard sized worlds. Is the consensus that large are huge worlds are easier?

The easiest map type is definitely a tiny Pangaea. All you need to do on all difficulty levels is build lots of troops and raze all enemy cities. I think it's possible to get an early deity win on tiny (i.e. BC)

[Don K Hotay]

I'm wondering if there'll ever be a way to make the AI more competitive without giving it bonus units or production advantages.

[Theseus]

Originally posted by TheArsenal


I would say not necessarily.

My opinion - speaking to the differences between Huge and Large maps and speaking as a militarist: On a large map it is still possible to wield your military power globally, at a fairly reasonable point in the game, although with some great effort. With a huge map, this is not always desirable, or anywhere near possible, because clearing your continent is a time consuming full effort task. But necessary to keep big, nasty, annoyed AIs with lots of production centers off of your border. Stacks of 20-50 units marching into your territory is always an eye opener. Alliances between huge civs out get you are even nastier.

And as often as not, when left alone without the human to cripple it, an AI superpower emerges on the other side of the world after gobbling up weak civs. At my skill level, this AI remains competitive for quite some time in the game - because I can't get overseas with enough force early to cripple it, and I can't out research or out culture it. So there is none of this winning by 1600 A.D. stuff for me.

Also, I find that some of the most tried and true strategies on these boards are not always suited for the huge map. Take the archer rush. Depending on the map configuration, it is very difficult to take out an AI early with a single movement unit. It's too spread out. And, for me anyway, early wars over all are less desirable. You expend much energy warring across a vast area while the other civs race ahead of you in all categories. So even if you're on a single land mass, crippling your opponents early and gaining a lead that way, seems more difficult. So wars come later, bigger, and with more coordinated movement to deal with the size of the civ you are taking out and the number of units needed to do it.

Your mileage may vary.

TA, your post just hit me in the head like a ton of bricks.

Has anyone noticed in the last several months, maybe more, that bigger games are better?

I think it's pretty much accepted that bigger maps are better... but what about the rest? I think back to my own early thoughts on conditions for the development of KAIs... makes sense to me.

A conundrum: Players' computers, and the general timeframe that it takes to play out the bigger games, versus the quality of what AI civs can achieve in anything less

[vmxa1]

A regular huge map with 16 civs is not so bad, make it 24 civs like AU402 and that is another matter.
KAI come from just what Arsenal said.

[Cort Haus]

I've never tried huge on my weedy PC, but even on large it got too slow, so I just play standard, and I haven't tried any larger since PTW. What kind of machine is needed to run

1) large?
2) huge?

I might have to borrow my girlfriend's whizzy laptop...

[georges bonbon]

Fed up with Monarch level, so going up to Emperor level.

Always playing on huge maps (continents or pangea; I hate the AI-seabombardements).

Depending on the starting position, I generally manage to end the game, though winning is maybe once out of 7.

But I am always way back in science development. For example my current game (huge, 15 civs, continents, PTW 1.21, slightly modified) I am researching Refining and Electricity whereas at least 5 AI's are building the Internet.

Oh yes, I do not have one Big Wonder.

[Panag]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
I've never tried huge on my weedy PC, but even on large it got too slow, so I just play standard, and I haven't tried any larger since PTW. What kind of machine is needed to run

1) large?
2) huge?

I might have to borrow my girlfriend's whizzy laptop...

hi ,

seen a game ones a week ago on a 650 amd duron with 512 ram , windows98se and a 24 civ , 352X352 map , ......


max time in between turns ( timed ) 2.4 min , ......

have a nice day

[vmxa1]

Wow pang that sound to good to be true to me.
I have several PC's. On AU402 (250x250, 24 civs) I was seeign more than 25 mins on ome turns on my 3.06GH with 1GB mem and 128MB 9800 PRO video card.
I dropped it on a 1.7GH machine and it took an hour for a single turn.
Once everyone went to war, the turns got vey ugly.
Yeah some when much faster, but not many were under 3 minutes from industrious age on.
A std huge map with 16 civs is quite fast. If you do not have a ton of islands and hence harbors all over the place and not too many civs at war, it goes quickly.
15-20 civs with several hundred units warring is painful.

[TheArsenal]

Originally posted by vmxa1
15-20 civs with several hundred units warring is painful.

I've had Huge/Large map situations where I've been particularly adventurous and have cities all over the globe, and a fairly substantial navy off of several coasts. Meaning: not a whole lot hidden from my view. With the entire planet practically at war, there are turns where most of the game's battles and movement seem to take place within my unit/city's field of vision, and there is nothing I can do but watch it play out. Add a few rally points/units on path finder and automated workers on my part, and the in between turns were more like a movie I was watching than a game I am playing in.

That can definitely be painful or amusing, depending on what mood I'm in. Or if its 3 am or not.

[georges bonbon]

I have an average of 8-10 minutes between turns.

So I am always reading the newspaper between turns.

Once the newspaper is finished, I start a reading a book.

[Shogun Gunner]

I have a browser open to Apolyton when I'm playing. I size the browser into one corner so I can see 75% of the screen while reading and posting.

I wonder if I'm hurting performance for Civ III when I do this....