The GIGA world map...

November 13, 2000, 12:57

I downloaded it weeks ago and loaded it into the civ2map.exe editor... all I saw was the northern hemisphere and a big load of desert south of it...

then I read some forum posts mentioning MGE in connection with that map. so I loaded it into the map editor in my MGE folder...

WOW!!!

WHAT A MAP!!! it's just like playing on the europe map with the world attached to it! it's so cool! some parts of the world (australia, americaa) are a bit narrow, but just look at Europe, how detailed and LARGE it is in a WORLD MAP!!!

goddamn, this is a must-have for all civers!

Mercantile · November 13, 2000, 15:32

Well i downloaded the giga map and when i made a few tweaks , it stated more than 64 landmasses may cause the ai to be slightly hindered in its thinking or something along those lines. so i connected a couple of islands to alleviate the problem. Now if the ai is still as stupid, then i am going to be

Nice huge map though

a duel on this puppy would be obscene

kcbob · November 14, 2000, 01:02

Yeah, but how do you really feel, Andz83?

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Frodo lives!

November 14, 2000, 01:26

This is not the CGN sarcasm club, my dear!

I'm being true

kcbob · November 14, 2000, 01:29

I know. I'm sure you are. I really do need to download it and use it myself.

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Frodo lives!

November 14, 2000, 01:38

yes, indeed

November 15, 2000, 18:26

innit a cool map?

jcarkey · November 15, 2000, 19:14

Yeah this is an awesome map. Just don't cheat and select all of your opponents real far away. I tried that. I think the Japanese found me, the Romans, in B.C. time.

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What if the Hokey-Pokey is really what its all about?

Contact me at cpoland@mail.win.org

Mercantile · November 15, 2000, 20:05

I am keeping a log of my first game on this giga map. Its 425 BC i have nicely spaced cities with just a minimum of overlap, Hanging Gardens, and Marcos around 425bc. No neighbors and even if i did they would be long gone. Lucky start as the resources are random and i got three whales in Mercantile along with a hut which produced a four legged individual. I am about to send triremes with troops to take the Brits out and the Japs or at least any cities on their islands so that i have a couple of colonies and trade/spy ports close to the rest of the action. Only the Celts 10 cities pose even a mere threat to my thriving Mercantilian city.

The one thing i have noticed is that there are many more advanced tribes on these huge maps, making the game even easier.

What i need is some of these advanced tribes in a small mp game.

The log is a pain in the @ss, but i might right a story about this whole endeavour

Maybe i will post it in the viking scribes.

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Do you shovel snow in your birkenstocks?

Seeker · November 16, 2000, 01:49

I've noticed something strange about the gigamap AI, they seem to have a real problem expanding. Expansionist civs like Zulus, Mongols, I have seen dithering around with a few cities way off somewhere.

Island civs still have a problem, the AI seems to have issues with extensive colonizing by sea.

On Historical Starting positions, I like seeing the Carthaginians not get immediately wiped out by the Zulus.

November 16, 2000, 11:50

it's so pity that the AI in MGE doesn't work properly...

otherwise maps like that would REALLY be helpful. now I had to reinstall my MGE version patch 2 to make a scenario because with the German patch 3 version I'm unable to save games in single player mode...

if there would just be such maps for FW (2.78)...

Mercantile · November 16, 2000, 21:34

actually the map is flawed and if you don't connect some of the smaller islands the ai will act retarded, and this is no joke. I analyzed it and it said more than 64 landmasses may cause the ai researched at a handicap. LOL like it doenst' already, so i connected some minor spots of no influence in reality.

Seeker, your correct, the ai doesn't expand worth crap and the huts yield way too much bounty. I am a bit disappointed with the ai expansion as well. I have hardly expanded at all, in fact half of my cities are freebies and the ai is still behind me

this map may not be what i thought it was. Now a random map may give better results.

zyxpsilon · November 16, 2000, 23:23

quote:

Originally posted by Mercantile on 11-13-2000 02:32 PM
Nice huge map though

a duel on this puppy would be obscene

Considering 8 civs in early development stages; one might think it is a puzzling plan for AI's to spread into this much land... BUT, step back a little, and leave them build up an armada into their cities. What do you get?
I defy anyone to sustain ONE-ON-ONE battles on such a map, "after" eliminating six AI's. Almost forever reaching the maximum limits on UNITS and CITIES!
As for Multiplayers gathering? Icing on a cake.
Added valuable space to scenario building planners, too!

Julius Brenzaida · November 17, 2000, 08:11

quote:

Originally posted by Mercantile on 11-16-2000 08:34 PM
actually the map is flawed and if you don't connect some of the smaller islands the ai will act retarded, and this is no joke. I analyzed it and it said more than 64 landmasses may cause the ai researched at a handicap. LOL like it doenst' already, so i connected some minor spots of no influence in reality.

Seeker, your correct, the ai doesn't expand worth crap and the huts yield way too much bounty. I am a bit disappointed with the ai expansion as well. I have hardly expanded at all, in fact half of my cities are freebies and the ai is still behind me

this map may not be what i thought it was. Now a random map may give better results.

Well, for the huts, I have to agree, that they are rich and ressourceful indeed. But playing on some random gigamap can limit the opportunities of bounty, as can also do, putting not so easy starting locations in my gigamap.

On the other hand, I am surprised to read that the AI seem to be more flawed than usual. I have never noticed that. Some tribes seem very effective, especially the expansionnist ones. Given good starting locations, they can be worthier opponents than usual.

All of this, still needs more testing.

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Oh Man, when will you understand that your greatness lies in your failure - Goethe

Julius Brenzaida · November 17, 2000, 08:15

quote:

Originally posted by Mercantile on 11-13-2000 02:32 PM
Well i downloaded the giga map and when i made a few tweaks , it stated more than 64 landmasses may cause the ai to be slightly hindered in its thinking or something along those lines. so i connected a couple of islands to alleviate the problem. Now if the ai is still as stupid, then i am going to be

I really don't think the 64 land masses is really a problem. Why alter the map for such a reason ? I love all those little islands.
But then I've got a computer with 192mb of ram and some decent processor speed ...

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Oh Man, when will you understand that your greatness lies in your failure - Goethe

Julius Brenzaida · November 17, 2000, 08:21

By the way. The reason I've not done extensive testing of the Ai efficiency with my gigaworld map (127x230) is because I'm working on a huge and now almost finished project : the maxiworld map. Being 143x229, without any Antartica, it should almost dwarf the gigaone. I'm then going to try to play it OCC as the Japanese ! If anyone, with some serious knowledge of geography wishes to betatest it, please let me know.

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Oh Man, when will you understand that your greatness lies in your failure - Goethe

November 17, 2000, 10:18

by talking about AI weakness I was rather referring to general diplomatic behaviour than to expansion behaviour!

Mercantile · November 17, 2000, 14:41

Hi Julius, i hope i didn't offend you with my comments on your new world map. I just ananlyzed it and that is what the computer stated. I am interested in your new map as well but i will allow others to test it. I willl just play it when it comes available. Remember, no more that 64 landmasses

Also making japan and england a bit bigger and all connected ie wales or ireland, whichever is better so the english and japs can put more than two cities on their respective landmasses.

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Do you shovel snow in your birkenstocks?

November 17, 2000, 14:56

I'm open for betatesting the map, julius

send it to

andz83@gmx.net

thank you

Seeker · November 17, 2000, 15:30

ooo, maxiworld...gimme gimme please!

On further thought:
The 64 landmasses does not cause a research penalty to the AI. On looking it over, the AI still founds a lot of cities, the chinese built Cunaxa by 1600, it's just I am too huge and the map makes their empires look small.

There is a penalty though if you contact the AI early and are at war and they're really far away, they spend a long time in 'war mode'. Closer AIs tend to research better (random start was bad for them, if I chose all euro civs on historical, then they could fight and reserch as normal)

Mercantile · November 17, 2000, 20:13

Seeker are you sure. I loaded the giga map world into the map editor and it said the ai would be penalized because of the extra landmasses. i will try it again just to be sure.

"more than 64 land masses have been detected.
You may play on such a map but the intelligence level of the computer opponents may at times be slightly empaired"

well ?
[This message has been edited by Mercantile (edited November 17, 2000).]

Smash · November 17, 2000, 23:21

I would pay that no mind.There is lots of good land for the AI.
The only thing I have noticed is it seems to use the riot factor of small maps but the research rate of large maps.

kent-jo · November 18, 2000, 01:02

I'd like to betatest your new maxtworld map!
Send it to me at kent-jo@world-online.no

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome"
-Isaac Asimov

Seeker · November 18, 2000, 16:44

Yes, the thing about them getting stuck in 'war-mode' is true. That is how their intelligence is penalized. But they don't suffer a research penalty (except for the obvious one of being stuck in the AI war mode)

Julius Brenzaida · November 19, 2000, 07:02

quote:

Originally posted by Mercantile on 11-17-2000 01:41 PM
Hi Julius, i hope i didn't offend you with my comments on your new world map.

No, of course you didn’t offense me. It’s just that I think, the more realistic, the better it is.

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Oh Man, when will you understand that your greatness lies in your failure - Goethe

Mercantile · November 19, 2000, 14:58

ok, i will take your guy's word for it. I crushed the ai too quickly this game , maybe i got lucky. I will play a new one and see what happens.

KhanMan · November 20, 2000, 05:49

Personally, I love this map. I've been playing, lately, as the japanese, and doing the ole caravan horde deal...first world map I've seen where the japanese can land on AC in the 1600s, unopposed, without a single overseas colony!

Is that cool or what?

On the down side, I got royally creamed everytime I tried a continental tribe...something about all that expansion that made the ais beat me to a bloody pulp...but then, I used the unmodified version.

I'd be interested in trying the upcoming world map

-KhanMan

Lews Therìn · November 21, 2000, 17:28

quote:

Originally posted by Mercantile on 11-17-2000 07:13 PM
"more than 64 land masses have been detected.
You may play on such a map but the intelligence level of the computer opponents may at times be slightly impaired"

This means that the AI will sometimes try to send units to places that they can't get to. The reason for the 64 landmass limit is that the landmasses are numbered from 0 to 63. All landmasses that are south of the northernmost tip of landmass 63 are also numbered 63. This numbering is used to define what a "continent" is for the Goto command. As a result, the AI will sometimes try to send a land unit from one continent 63 to a different continent that is also numbered 63.

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Thus spake the Dragon

Mercantile · November 21, 2000, 21:45

so your saying that it doesn't affect tech rate or strategy if you can say the ai has either? I kicked ass on this game and the map is way bigger than the large world map. I found it easy, too easy in fact and was gravely disappointed. I am going to play again , this time as a different civ and see if that changes things up. Alas if only the mediterranean were larger along with europe. Too many civs in the same area generally means the warlike ones crush the weak, must have been why i won as the americans