random maps

[jerkwaterbox]

in civ 2, what are the best settings to get a decent semi-playable map?

[Vlad Antlerkov]

I'd recommend the largest possible map size for starters- 80x125 without the "No Limits" patch, 143x229 with it. I'd also recommend Varied landmasses.

The rest is up to your preference. If you want large tracts of the same terrain type, select a young, 3-billion-year-old world. If you want more randomized terrain, select an age of 5 billion years.

[Gothmog]

IMHO

• Small land mass
• archipelago
• age 5 million (more rugged terrain)

These are the 3 most important settings to generate more earthlike maps. Otherwise you don't get enough mountains and too much land and too few islands.

[shade]

or you can experiment with other mapeditors and use those maps in a game.(the mapeditor for my game can be used for this purpose)

otherwise
--> make your map as large as possible
-->Varied type of land
-->age??all choices are a mess

Shade

[EmperorMing]

What is the "No Limits" patch and where can I find it?

[Dictatress]

I'm a beginner (warlord). I think a medium map is only a bit too large for 7 civs. I find cold and dry climates worst. The rest doesn't really affect the game. I leave most things to random.

[Rasputin]

Originally posted by EmperorMing
What is the "No Limits" patch and where can I find it?

check the Apolyton Download section !!!

[EmperorMing]

To get the best map, which means a lot of grassland, forest and some swamp, with land elevations that makes sense and basically no tundra or glacier squares, I'd choose these settings:

• Climate: Wet
• Temperature: Temperate
• Age: 3 billion years

By setting the climate to arid, you will get maps including a lot of desert and plains, why I prefer the settings above. I also prefer setting the land mass to large, and to play on continents rather than islands, (archipelago). This prevents your very important expansion from stagnation and also makes transports such as moving engineers, military ground troops or caravans much easier. In fact, you can mobilize your entire army and attack at the same turn with a well-developed railroad system.

[Dis]

I usually do better with archipeligo (can't spell it ). Because I know before hand what type of land it is. And go right for map making.

so a better solution would be to go random. Thus mimimizing the advantage you have over the ai.

[EmperorMing]

Dissident:

so a better solution would be to go random. Thus mimimizing the advantage you have over the ai.

Well, my intention with the post was to show how to maximize your advantage rather than showing how to minimize it . I think customizing your map is as big part of strategy as everything else in this game, and not a way of cheating. Using the map editor however, THAT is cheating.

[Marquis de Sodaq]

Originally posted by EmperorMing
Using the map editor however, THAT is cheating.

Actually, it's the only way to get good maps. Really, the random generator sucks.

[shade]

Really, the random generator sucks

==>Build one yourself (or use my generator from my Civ:Imperia,It isn't 100%compatible for Civ 2(the resources and huts)but the maps will do,there is a special Civ2 save option)

Shade

[Dis]

actually the random generator does suck.

I hope they improved it for civ3 but I doubt it. They didn't even improve it for smac from what I can tell.

This thread made me want to play civ2 again. so I customized a map yesterday. Normal worlds. large map. normal and wet.

The big thing I have a problem with is not the terrain types. but the shape. I like to use my navy a lot. But I get tired of navigating my ships through a maze to get to another continent. I prefer more earth like maps. And I have yet to see a setting that provides this.

What I want is 5 or 6 major continents with failry uniform coastlines with some exceptions of course (see US east and west coast and china coast- also south american and africa). with 3 or 4 major oceans to cross. I shouldn't have to go around large obstacles to cross an ocean. The oceans should be wide and a large. Now I can use archipelago to get large oceans, but then you get no continents.

So I usually just do earth map despite the advantage it gives me. But the advantage is minimized by the fact that most earth maps don't have sweet spots. I call sweet spots a city location that will provide 4 special squares in the city radius. Usually on earth maps I can only get 1 or 2 specials in my cities. So my cities aren't as powerful, but it is much easier to navigate the oceans. I'm a navy man, and like navies.

[General Maximus]

you have to find the "hidden specials"

look to where the special SHOULD be, then mine it to forest, i will then appear. there are no grassland specials, so, most likely, they are hidden under grass....

i hope that helps a little.

create a map of all grass, then start turning them into other terrain, you'll see what i mean....

[Marquis de Sodaq]

There are numerous decent to good maps available on different sites. Also, any scenario that has a map you like can be saved out for your own use. I always make maps that I want, or improve existing ones, for play. But then, I'm a geographer, that sort of thing rows my boat.

Back to the random generator topic. Shade, I'll someday try your generator. If it even works half as well as making one manually, it'd be worth using. Making a good map takes time...

[shade]

Marquis dS:I'll warn you,don't expect to much,It's not perfect yet ,but it does take climate regions in account(arctic in poles,dessert at the equator).


Shade

[civcop]

If Civ maps are gifs or bitmaps, couldn't you create a map in another game that allows for such, save it as a gif or bmp and then use it in your Civ game? For instance, I own Railroad Tycoon II (Gold Edition) and it has a map maker. I've only tinkered with it once but it looks as though it could make some nice maps. Hmmm. For that matter some of the graphics from Sid's other game might look good as icons in a scenario. Sorry if this was an idiotic post, but I'm not technically inclined.

[shade]

I have some bad news for you(if I got the question correct):
The file that holds all possible land and resource-tiles is a .GIF(and with that one you should be able to do stuff)but a save file for a game or a map does NOT use those images.In a save-file a map is saved as a hole bunch of numbers(5 or 6 per square on the map)this way it is possible to keep save files quite small(try printscreen once and save it as bitmap,then you'll see how bigg this is)and it is also easier for use(if graphics get changed over a patch your save can still be used.
One of the really bad things in the save-files for Civ2 is that all resources and huts are saved as 1 number(seed for the random generator)=>this causes the fact that it is impossible to play with the place where resources can be found.

here is a link to a site where more info about how the save file looks like can be found: http://gene.wins.uva.nl/~jvermeir/savmaps.htm

and a link to a thread where more about those save-files is said:
How are maps saved


Shade