There's this bug in my Civ II game...

Jim W · September 16, 2000, 00:06

Well, I mean, there must be. For the last thirty tries, it's started me out in deserts, in mountain ranges, and all kinds of wild an unproductive land, so that I can't win.

I mean, the only other explanation is that I'm an incompetent player, and nobody could believe that, could they? Could they?

Actually, bugs and all other things aside, I was stuck, on my last game, in the southern hemisphere, and everything that wasnt tundra or mountain was prairie.

At the end, when it was certain that there was no way I could catch up to any of the AI civs, let alone pass them, I cheated and looked at the map. The Persians, for instance, who appeared to be my strongest rivals, ahd gotten most of the extensive grassland patches on the planet.

So it must be a bug.

Or maybe I'm just desperate to break out from Warlord.

Jim W

Gothmog · September 16, 2000, 07:44

Are you playing the seventh tribe on a small map? If so, I've noticed that what you describe tends to be the case.

Ribannah · September 16, 2000, 10:43

Tribes get their picks for starting position in the order of appearance. Seven tribes on a randomly generated small map is often simply too crowded.

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If you have no feet, don't walk on fire

finbar · September 16, 2000, 19:55

The map size you're playing is important in terms of the quality of the land. The smaller the map, the more rubbishy the land can be. The best settings for a decent chance of good land seem to be large map, small (or normal) land size and 3 billion years.

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finbar
Mono Rules!
#33984591

Jim W · September 16, 2000, 20:44

quote:

Originally posted by Gothmog on 09-16-2000 07:44 AM
Are you playing the seventh tribe on a small map? If so, I've noticed that what you describe tends to be the case.

First tribe on a big map.

Jim

Ken Hinds · September 17, 2000, 01:08

Jim,

I usually play on a 75x133 random map and find that my usual starting position is either the northern or southern 1/3 of the map. Often fairly near one or other of the poles. As you noted this provides an excellent opportunity to improve your skills at winning with less than desirable terrain. Whether it is actually true or just my being grateful for any goodies that may occur in that situation, I'm not sure. But, it seems like I get more silks and whales than I do when I get the middle 1/3 of the map. Although occasionally I have to settle for furs or Musk Ox. I try to run through all the tribes before I reuse one so I haven't noticed and tribal corrilations.

Ken

cavebear · September 17, 2000, 14:10

Jim - Trying using custom settings and play on a "wet" and older (5By) world. If you still get mostly desert and prairie and mountains then, you have a problem...

finbar · September 17, 2000, 19:15

quote:

Originally posted by cavebear on 09-17-2000 02:10 PM
Jim - Trying using custom settings and play on a "wet" and older (5By) world. If you still get mostly desert and prairie and mountains then, you have a problem...

Yikes! They're the settings that give me swamp and jungle and mountains.

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finbar
Mono Rules!
#33984591

Jim W · September 17, 2000, 21:59

quote:

Originally posted by cavebear on 09-17-2000 02:10 PM
Jim - Trying using custom settings and play on a "wet" and older (5By) world. If you still get mostly desert and prairie and mountains then, you have a problem...

What I'm trying to do is to hone my skills on a "normal" sort of world before I start taking on the special cases.

Jim

cavebear · September 18, 2000, 00:10

This was a joke, then?

Lews Therìn · September 18, 2000, 01:54

The older your world is, the more broken up the terrain is -- fewer patches of a single type of terrain.

Jim W · September 18, 2000, 20:52

quote:

Originally posted by cavebear on 09-18-2000 12:10 AM
This was a joke, then?

Well, to a certain extent, yes. However, is there a strategy to follow if you end up in a palce with very little in the way of food? I know, there is a conventional wisdom that says you go wandering around the map until you find someplace with two whales and a silkworm before you even think about settleing down.

However, in the meantime, the AI is out there bulding cities and stocking them up, so that by the time you actually meet him, you're oiutnumbered, out-gunned, and on the wrong end of a disparity of riches.

So, are there asnwers?

And I mean beyond the one that says the AI is so pitiful that you could just hit return for the first forty turns and still come out and defeat it.

Jim W

finbar · September 18, 2000, 21:23

quote:

Originally posted by Jim W on 09-18-2000 08:52 PM

So, are there asnwers?

And I mean beyond the one that says the AI is so pitiful that you could just hit return for the first forty turns and still come out and defeat it.

Jim W

Ultimately, once you've played enough, that becomes the truth. Well, forty turns might be an exaggeration, but you can certainly afford to wander. I've wandered for up to a 1000 years and still managed to succeed.

Frankly, if your start point is rubbish land, there's little point building there. You'll take a while to overcome growth problems. Find at least a river to build on - good for defence and trade purposes - or at least one special.

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finbar
Mono Rules!
#33984591

DaveV · September 19, 2000, 07:40

I played an MP game once on a map that was mostly hills, desert, and plains. Food specials became very important - I usually don't have much use for fish, but I was hunting for them in this game! I also built a couple cities on buffalo. They didn't grow very fast, but were able to churn out lots of units for exploration and barb king hunting...

finbar · September 19, 2000, 20:15

quote:

Originally posted by kcbob on 09-19-2000 12:26 PM

BTW. I thought my version had become demon possessed last night. I went to build a road with a settler and the "Revolution?" window kept popping up. After three or four accidental revolutions, I then noticed the Caps Lock light on.

Tee-hee. I've run into the same problem at times. If you're not paying close attention, you can finish up in anarchy. Very unpleasant.

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finbar
Mono Rules!
#33984591

September 20, 2000, 00:06

quote:

Originally posted by Lews Therìn on 09-18-2000 01:54 AM
The older your world is, the more broken up the terrain is -- fewer patches of a single type of terrain.

HAHAHA!

EVERY time I put in the oldest world I get NO hills, NO mountains, NO swamp... only giant bits of grassland and a few sporadic forests!

kcbob · September 20, 2000, 00:26

quote:

Originally posted by Ribannah on 09-16-2000 10:43 AM
Tribes get their picks for starting position in the order of appearance.

Is this in the same order as they are listed when making your selection for which tribe you are going to play? I hadn't noticed that much of a difference from one to another. Then again, if I get an unreasonable starting spot, e.g., on one of the polar caps, I just start over.

BTW. I thought my version had become demon possessed last night. I went to build a road with a settler and the "Revolution?" window kept popping up. After three or four accidental revolutions, I then noticed the Caps Lock light on.

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Frodo lives!

Better dead than "Red"... or green... or blue... or yellow... or orange... or purple... or white.

[This message has been edited by kcbob (edited September 19, 2000).]

Barington · September 23, 2000, 14:51

Do not know how you can avoid a poor starting position but my stratetegy is to go looking for something better. As soon as you find huts with military units send them exploring and get the settlers to improve whatever is available. Dont build a city yet and make sure you dont build a road or irrigate the square you have choosen for your first two cities. You should aquire some techs and some none supported military units from the huts plus some gold.
I sometimes dont build a city until 2000BC. This does not work if you are on a small island. Send any Archers etc you have aquired back to defend your first two cities and any two movement units (horsemen) to carry on looking for huts. I play Diety/Bloodlust/Raging Hordes on a large map; works about 50% of the time for me.