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[Anakin]

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[Rift]

Usually personal preference. I prefer to play on Huge maps, Continents and Islands. Usually, it's a good mix of land and water with some islands in between the major continents for settling. I tend to favor playing Wilhelmina and "Age of Steam" Victoria, but even if I don't focus on a naval Civ, I still prefer that map type.

[Sstavix]

It really depends on your preferences and the civilization you chose. I tend to prefer Pangaea or continents, but there are some civs - like Indonesia or Norway - that are better on archipelago or small island maps.

I find the Highlands map to be really interesting as well, but it might be too much land for someone still learning the game. Still, it's an option if you want to try something really out of the ordinary.

[gdshore]

I like to play the seafaring nations, so for me it's 'Archipelago, Continents and island, at huge usually with barbarian clans for sure.

[Iskander]

If you are new (also if you aren't new) I suggest the small "snowflake" (or "clover") map. The map is symmetrical so you start equal and the map is small enough so that you make contact with your friend (and other civs) relatively quickly.

While I enjoy playing the largest maps possible singleplayer, I find the smaller maps more fun multiplayer.

[jmerry82]

Many map parameters can be tuned to favor one civ or another, but the most important thing for your "game with a friend" is to get the size right. If it's just the two of you and no AI rivals, the "Duel" size is meant for that. If you'd like to mix in two to four rivals, that suggests "Tiny" or "Small".
The Earth maps aren't usually available in anything smaller than "Standard", meant for about eight players.

[Sstavix]

Originally posted by Okumaro:

Originally posted by Sstavix:

It really depends on your preferences and the civilization you chose. I tend to prefer Pangaea or continents, but there are some civs - like Indonesia or Norway - that are better on archipelago or small island maps.

I find the Highlands map to be really interesting as well, but it might be too much land for someone still learning the game. Still, it's an option if you want to try something really out of the ordinary.

To play with a friend thats a good thing?

That depends on what you mean by "with." Are you playing on the same team and will share the victory? If so, then Pangaea or one of the snowflake maps might be best, so you can meet each other (hopefully) quickly in order to gang up on the CPU. If you are playing against each othef, maybe try continents first. It would give you both a chance to expand your empires before you start slugging it out.

A lot can depend on your own preferences, too. Try different things out and see what you both can agree on.

[colostmy4]

I usually play random map, but you can get screwed sometimes when the leader doesn't really match the terrain that well.

[Lisan al Gaib]

Seven Seas is the best neutral map. It will mirror a real world setting with major continents surrounded by lots of different oceans and it's usually tough to navigate.

[grognardgary]

Depends on what you want out of the game and that is largely a function of both map size and speed setting. I prefer continents unless I am playing for domination in which Pangaea is better. As a general rule of thumb bigger maps and longer times make for longer game smaller maps and faster time settings make for shorter games

[plaguepenguin]

This is a wargame combined with a development game, with neither predominating. Both have to be kept in some degree of balance, but different players tend to prefer playing one or the other of the two to a greater or lesser degree. What sort of game the members of the group like best should determine what sort of map you choose for your first few games.

Jmerry mentions the basic choice, size of map, and the default number of players for each size. These two choices of how many players on what size map results in a density. Choose a map that is low density, large compared to the number of players, and you get an early game that is development heavy, that won't have much if any early wars of conquest among the players. Choose a map that is smaller than default for the number of players, and you will all start so close to one another that early war becomes more possible, and sometimes more necessary, almost from turn #1. Probably best to stick with the defaults unless all of you are warmongers out for blood right out the gate, or, conversely, you are all out to see which can build the best empire in a sandbox sort of game. Default density lets you see which approach can be made to work better by different players.

Pangaea, or the Highlands map that is mentioned by Sstavix, is good for a wargame emphasis. Any ocean between landmasses, as you get on Continents or Archipelago maps, is going to keep players isolated from one another on the landmasses they start on until the mid-game. Some players will be able to war on others relatively early, but only the other players who happened to start on the same landmass. The early game gets split into 2 or 3 separate games, only coming together as you get the ability to cross the oceans that separate the landmasses.

This is also a pretty complicated game. You have to play it a time or two to pick up how to succeed at both war and development. No matter how much you read, or even how many videos you watch, there's nothing like having to make the choices the game presents you with -- then living with the consequences -- to teach you how to play.

This factor leads to the suggestion that you and your friends at least consider each of you first playing a game or two against AI civs so that you all enter your first game against each other with some experience in the basic mechanics. If you don't do this, that first game is likely to have pretty dramatic reversals of fortune, which, hey, may be what you are all looking for.

[Commander Ceph]

My favorite map is https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2907173761

[Dorian Gray]

I enjoy Terra.

It is basically "continents", but leaves several land masses unpopulated by Civ players.

It gives the feel of Old World vs New World exploration and settlement and lends itself well to colonization later in the game.

[grognardgary]

Originally posted by Commander Ceph:

My favorite map is https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2907173761

One note of warning maps larger than huge can be problematic with less than 16 gigs of ram.

[takoller]

Huge, Marathon, Fantastical. Random everything. Change a seed by no more than two points. It never gets old.

[jmerry82]

Not recommended for a multiplayer game. If you're playing on your own and have plenty of time, you might enjoy that sort of game ... but if you're playing with other people, you're much more likely to enjoy a game that gets to the point quickly. "Online" speed. A map that isn't any bigger than the number of players involved needs.