starting position variance seems too high.

from Elemental Forums


That is, the variance between the quality of starting positions.  Played about 25 full games; another 25 or so started but abandoned early for various reasons.

Sometimes you get a rather weak start town location, low on essence with only 6-7 total pips;  sometimes you get a strong one.

Sometimes ther'es piles of settleable new cities nearby; sometimes there's barely any (recently had one with no valid settlement locations for quite aways in al directions.  Is there any pattern or reason to what kinds of places get better essence/food/material yields?  and i'm not playing random so that shouldn't cause it.

 

I'd suggest a standardization to start locations; at least as an option;  while dealing with randomness to some degree is fun; you're first city is so essential, and every turn you spend wandering to find a location is a turn your entire economy and gameplay is set back.  It's quite common in games to have a more fixed start, or at least, some well-defined local requirements [e.g. the square you spawn on must always be settleable].

In civ5, while it did some things wrong, one thing that's good is that you ALWAYS spawn with 2 luxury resources in range;  while the numbers of others you get when you explore farther may vary, you're guaranteed at least a reasonable base to work with.

In moo2; you're home planet properties have a default, and can be adjusted with points in race creation; again this helps ensure a reasonably equitable start, though people can still get lucky with other habitable planets in thier home system.

Not sure what the best defaults would be for FE;  4/3/2 seems a bit high, maybe 3/3/2 default on the spawn square, with a guaranteed 1 or 2 bonus resources of some type in adjacent squares?

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Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Sry mate but I think your wrong..

It's part of the challenge. I rarely restart a game if the starting position is bad. Because it's all the fun!

Do you really want every game to start the same?

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

You'll find that this has been an issue for some time.  And just as above, some people agree with you, while others don't.

 

Myself, I'd like to see more variables in players' hands to control the quality of starting sites, or at least a checkbox or two for a more rigidly defined starting site, and one that's open to greater variance.  But this hasn't happened, and isn't likely to.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Glazunov1, reply 2
You'll find that this has been an issue for some time.  And just as above, some people agree with you, while others don't.

 

Myself, I'd like to see more variables in players' hands to control the quality of starting sites, or at least a checkbox or two for a more rigidly defined starting site, and one that's open to greater variance.  But this hasn't happened, and isn't likely to.
End of Glazunov1's quote
well the more options the better :) 

I do agree with OP but only because there is like one strategy to win.. which is city spamming.. 

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Yeah it would be nice to have an option for more standardization. I mean I like the idea of it being really random in theory. Seems like it would encourage replayability. Except for the fact that in practice all it does is anger me when i'm 30-60 turns into the game, cleared out the tough monsters near my starting point. Then realize I have no good spots for expansion cities an there are barely any champions for me to recruit. But my neighbor AI has 10 champions. So I can either continue playing knowing i'm going to lose eventually or just restart. Neither is a fun option.

Not only does Civ 5 have decent standardization but it also has ways for small Empires to compete. Underpowered ways but at least they have a chance with stuff like Culture victory. In this game it's either you keep up with the momentum or you get crushed. Even by the other AI's on your faction.

 
Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Just goes to show different tastes.  I would hold Civ5 up as an example of a game that soon becomes boring because you always draw the same hand.  What fun is exploration when you know exactly what you are going to find?  I want my games to play out differently each time.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Playing with Ctrl-N a lot today and I've found the starts are fairly consistent on random maps. The areas outside of the immediate start location can vary much more though of course. Pretty much the same as Civ5.

If you get into a situation where you have nothing nearby to settle, make sure you snake your starting city out as far as possible toward an area that looks promising. You can fairly quickly push your border out far enough so that it revives an area you can drop another city into.

As for champions, I stopped using them after the exp split nerf. Just bulldoze everything with your sov. Doesn't really matter how many level 2 champions with 5 injuries and crappy gear that the AI sends at you.