starting location

[ci_sto_dentro]

Hi, back to old world after a while, game is interesting but still one of the major flaw IMHO hasn't been solved.
I tried different maps but everytime I end up in the middle with all the other civs surrounding me, plus I have to deal with all the tribes....kinda of a continuos total war.
Is there a known map setup where this is random and I have a chanche at least to spawn in a corner? (excluding continents)

[Sunyata]

Some maps you can chose if you want to spawn on the coast but I suspect its not a flaw but intentional game design to place the player more or less in the middle of the action. Mountains and coasts make up natural barriers and choke points instead.

[Fluffster]

A bias towards starting the player in the middle of the map is intentional, to keep player interactions with other nations high. There are plenty of map scripts and options that mix this up though.

Disjunction guarantees all players are evenly spaced and no-one is in the middle

Archipelago, Bay, Inland Sea, Mediterranean and Player Islands space players out more due to their geography (less likely to be land in the middle to start in)

Continent, Desert, Hardwood Forest and Seaside have Coastal options in Player Start and Donut has Outer Sea, these will all put you on a map edge and potentially in a corner.

Northern Ocean has an Islands and Peninsulas start option which will be remote though likely to make expansion harder.

Then you have the Premade Maps which define starting locations by nation, many of which are remote.

[ci_sto_dentro]

Originally posted by Sunyata:

Some maps you can chose if you want to spawn on the coast but I suspect its not a flaw but intentional game design to place the player more or less in the middle of the action. Mountains and coasts make up natural barriers and choke points instead.

Yeah maybe, it just feels unbalanced, most of my game are spent fighting continuosly against tribes, hoards of barbarians invading, when you're done fighting them the game is basically over. I hadn't a single war with a major nation in several games, cause everyone it's just too busy. Too much actions with tribes, very little with nations.
And tribal invasions? Lol cmon, you basically need an army in each of your cities, since you are in the middle of the map.

[ci_sto_dentro]

Originally posted by Fluffster:

A bias towards starting the player in the middle of the map is intentional, to keep player interactions with other nations high. There are plenty of map scripts and options that mix this up though.

Disjunction guarantees all players are evenly spaced and no-one is in the middle

Archipelago, Bay, Inland Sea, Mediterranean and Player Islands space players out more due to their geography (less likely to be land in the middle to start in)

Continent, Desert, Hardwood Forest and Seaside have Coastal options in Player Start and Donut has Outer Sea, these will all put you on a map edge and potentially in a corner.

Northern Ocean has an Islands and Peninsulas start option which will be remote though likely to make expansion harder.

Then you have the Premade Maps which define starting locations by nation, many of which are remote.

I tried Seaside with coastal start, and guess what, I started on the coast...but in the middle of the map :)
There is a war at each corner of the empire, the result is quite boring IMHO

[folgra]

I play on a huge map with less ai but every time I have a scout appear within 3 turns which really pisses me off.

[Siontific]

As stated, the game has seveveral settings that will push you to fringes. It is effectively impossible to end up in the middle of the map on the Mediterranean map script, for example; there's an ocean in the middle of the map.

I do find it interesting that you think the game is MORE boring when a war is taking place in each corner of the empire... I definitely feel it's the other way around; I'll avoid corner starts like the plague as they feel like instant-win conditions.

I'm pretty good at the game, though, so this doesn't apply to everyone... but if I'm given room to breath, it becomes very easy for me to snowball, which makes victory almost guaranteed. So I very much prefer maps with a center bias that put me in the center of the action with the threat of raids and invasion from all sides.

Seaside remains my favorite map script so far for this reason.

[Salty Biscuit]

If constant war with tribes is not what you're looking for, you can tone them down in the settings - even eliminate them and go barbarians only. Smaller maps (which I usually play on) also lessen the chances of a center start, particularly if there's large bodies of water.

[krabdr]

I just start a new game if a civ gets a city adjacent to my capital early in the game. Those games are just no fun and my forces get crowded in too quickly. Restart = enjoy!