This is not so much a complaint as an observation: Has anyone noticed that the starting positions on the random maps tend to be scrap for the human players ?
I've been experimenting with the new civs and have found that most games don't last past 1000 AD, because I have yet to get a decent start. I've seen some wonderful resources around my cities, but without rivers to irrigate, you can't come close to producing settlers at the rate the AI civs do it. And this leaves only warmongering to balance the scale. The AI civs all seem to get starts with either Flood Plains or at least a river at their capital site.
The last game I started was a classic. Two hills with gold, two wheat on plains, and desert all around. I explored a considerable area of the map before running into anyone, and I couldn't find a river to irrigate with so the best I could do was 2 food per square. As a credit to the first AI civ I found, it had irrigated almost every square possible and had populations of 5-6 in all their cities, while the best I had was 4 and most were stuck at 2.
This is not a chance occurence since every start since installing and patching PtW has been like this. And as for resources, the maps seem to have more resources so trading options are minimal or non existant (and I still have use the editory to get the silly AI civs to build harbours when they are on small continents...)
I like the AI agressiveness, but it will take some more tinkering to balance out the playing field at Regent level at least. It's enough to be behind by a couple of units or techs, but to have to be dead last in population is a death sentence at any level.
D.
I've been experimenting with the new civs and have found that most games don't last past 1000 AD, because I have yet to get a decent start. I've seen some wonderful resources around my cities, but without rivers to irrigate, you can't come close to producing settlers at the rate the AI civs do it. And this leaves only warmongering to balance the scale. The AI civs all seem to get starts with either Flood Plains or at least a river at their capital site.
The last game I started was a classic. Two hills with gold, two wheat on plains, and desert all around. I explored a considerable area of the map before running into anyone, and I couldn't find a river to irrigate with so the best I could do was 2 food per square. As a credit to the first AI civ I found, it had irrigated almost every square possible and had populations of 5-6 in all their cities, while the best I had was 4 and most were stuck at 2.
This is not a chance occurence since every start since installing and patching PtW has been like this. And as for resources, the maps seem to have more resources so trading options are minimal or non existant (and I still have use the editory to get the silly AI civs to build harbours when they are on small continents...)
I like the AI agressiveness, but it will take some more tinkering to balance out the playing field at Regent level at least. It's enough to be behind by a couple of units or techs, but to have to be dead last in population is a death sentence at any level.
D.
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