The whole wide world

[Uber Warrior]

Only read the top of the thread....I play largely on Mega huge maps and huge. Basicly my best suggestion for you is focus on getting your tech and territory to its maximum before contact with AI's. You generally cannot do much till Industrial Age, sad to say...but its true

[Mountain Sage]

Originally posted by Knecht
However, it doesn't mention "depeche mode" which is mentioned twice in the abbreviations thread in the general forum, specifically the killing thereof. Can't wait to hear the explanation.

Where did you find it exactly? Could you quote it? I re-wrote the thread but DM is only a black hole for me

[Knecht]

Sorry to veer way off topic with this nonsense but since you asked: At the top of the Civ III General Forum is a thread called "Abbreviations, abbreviations". The first entry in this thread is a long list of acronyms divided into four categories. The third category is "General" and contains old favorites like IMHO (and many others which may be found in forums everywhere). This category contains the acronym "KMFDM" which it defines as "Kill mother-effing Depeche Mode". This acronym and definition appear several times throughout the abbreviations thread. Later in the thread the same acronym is defined with a German phrase which it suggests is the name of a German rock band. The more I read this thread, the more inclined I was to believe that there was an awful lot of nonsense in it and that this acronym was just another example of this. If it is really meant to communicate something more than a reference to one or more rock groups (rather like graffiti tagging, I suppose), this is not apparent.

[Knecht]

And back on topic, let me just add that after playing this mega map into modern times, I would say that, in terms of gameplay, I don't find it much different than playing on a regular huge map. I have never been able to win a conquest victory on a huge map (if I win, it's on points and I usually turn off everything else including domination), and a mega map is really just more of the same. Since I increased the number of civs for this map, expansion and encountering the other civs was also about the same. The real drawback of a mega map is that the turns take so long in the late game that, if you want to avoid terminal boredom, you really have to bring a book to the experience. Unless you have a real screamer (I have an Athlon 1.2GHz), I wouldn't advise it. On the other hand, I normally play against 6 other civs on a huge map and I did find playing against 11 civs easier. The more civs you play against, the more they tend to fight each other rather than you (or that at least was my impression). Has anyone else noticed this or was it just an idiosyncrasy of my current game?

[Sitting Bull]

Originally posted by Knecht
The more civs you play against, the more they tend to fight each other rather than you (or that at least was my impression). Has anyone else noticed this or was it just an idiosyncrasy of my current game?

imo it's one of the biggest things. On emporer, I can only win a large map unless the comp beats up on the comp. My first emporer game was one of the easiest games I played because the politics fell into my hands. But if the comp stays at peace with itself, I get run over.

[johncmcleod]

I don't play huge maps because rexing takes forever, as you pointed out, instead I usually play large maps with only 7 opponent civs.

That's exactly what I play on.

[Epistax]

I like (regular) huge maps. I am just really really irritated at the amount of corruption, even under democracy and communism. I think I'll look into adjusting these numbers. I'd suggest that 'corruption' also be broken into two parts, including itself and 'inefficiency'. One damages trade, the other production. I don't see why a far away separated part of my nation should have less of a goods exchange than those close to my capital. I think small cities around large cities should be the ones suffering trade penalties.

[vmxa1]

Knecht even a screamer is painful. I have PIV-3.06GH with 1 GB and saw some turns take 25 minutes.
Admittedly it was a 250x250 with 24 civs on all islands and I let them all survive as long as I could.
This meant 20 or more civs at war in the modern age, so it was very lengthy.
Just huge with normal play and 16 civs would be much faster.

[TheArsenal]

The corruption, no question, can be a true pain. And it is - as I've stated before - why I've lost a bit of my appetite for early overseas campaigns and wait until I've absolutely no choice left. It is another reason I've been playing on Pangaea maps lately. For far reaching captured cities, the corruption is no less daunting, but far less effort is put into capturing non-productive, culture flip risky, cities.

Even saying that though, once I became accustomed to corruption, I find it is a useful game ingredient. The game is already tilted toward rewarding aggression, this at least puts some breaks on that aspect. Even though I like to play a military adventuring game, I understand the need for balance.