One issue in this game continues to bug me

[KingHalford]

9 out of 10 planets I roll put 4 out of 6 Majors right next to one another, with a couple outlying.

Vic explained this isn't by design but by the efficiency with which the planet calculates where cities would be located to maximise their efficient existence and that's fair enough.

Been thinking about this a bit and whilst I actually think putting you next to Majors probably makes the game more interesting (I can see some people getting bored just swallowing up Minors for 50 turns) now that the Minor Regimes are actually dangerous I think that's less of an issue now.

I propose there is an option on setup to either allow the player to choose which Major Regime that is spawned to play as, or an option to force separation of the Major Regimes if so desired (as happens in the Beginner difficulty), and leaving the existing system as the default setting.

Sometimes I think it'd be nice to have the space to expand a bit more leisurely without the immediate pressure from powerful neighbours on several sides: sometimes you can have aggressive Majors on three borders. I don't always want to be in an immediate rush for land with three other neighbours, because whilst that can be fun, and I know that you "can" be friends with some of them, more often than not you can't be and remaining friendly with them usually allows them to become so strong and take so much territory that facing them down in the end game is very difficult. I've posted a link to a picture showing what can happen when you allow this (and whilst I was loving that ridiculous war so much, I think it should be just one of many end-game scenarios).

What do people think? I'm not asking that anything be changed, just an extra option that might allow people to choose a less intense start for when they're not in the mood for the usual "baptism of fire" experience. The game is currently rather difficult even on Regular.

https://imgur.com/ZIzJLho

I have considered the likelihood that starting yourself further from the Majors might allow you to steamroller them more easily, and I think this is something that could be a problem with my suggestion: some people might play like that, win more easily and claim the game is boring (seen this happen in several games over the years!)


Edit: I should just add one last point, I tend to play on Militia start on the larger end of Normal-Large planets. I've decided to try 1 Army start to see if this changes things, it might well be that I just suck and I need a boost in the early game, but I still think the option to choose which Regime you play as on the map would be cool.

[KingHalford]

I've moved this to the suggestion forum (forgot about that!)

[diamondspider]

I'd love a normal, spawn close to opponent, spawn far from opponents settings. I am the sort that doesn't like spawning close and can use other ways to get the high difficulty I like.

[devoncop]

The only downside to this is by forcing major regimes to start in less optimum zones in the interests of distance you could be unwittingly crippling one or more of the AI nations as whilst a player would no doubt instantly restart if they found they were starting surrounded by thick jungle or dense mountains on all sides an AI would have no such ability.

In practice this is likely to result in an easier game than the player would have wished.

[KingHalford]

ORIGINAL: devoncop

The only downside to this is by forcing major regimes to start in less optimum zones in the interests of distance you could be unwittingly crippling one or more of the AI nations as whilst a player would no doubt instantly restart if they found they were starting surrounded by thick jungle or dense mountains on all sides an AI would have no such ability.

In practice this is likely to result in an easier game than the player would have wished.

I agree and I'm not sure if my idea is the best solution. I'm usually of the mind that more options are better but there are some clear cases where if presented with an option to make a game easier, players will take it, and then bitch that the game is too easy. I don't think this is so much of an issue in wargaming but in 4X it's common if my conversations with people are anything to go by.

[Vic]

ORIGINAL: diamondspider

I'd love a normal, spawn close to opponent, spawn far from opponents settings. I am the sort that doesn't like spawning close and can use other ways to get the high difficulty I like.

This is actually on my to-do list, but I am first focussing on more urgent issues.

Note that Beginner difficulty always keep you at least 1 zone away from another major (if possible on chosen map).

[diamondspider]

Fantastic!

[76mm]

I'd also very much like the option to spread major regimes out a bit...in my first game at beginner level, my regime is on the bottom map edge, and while I've only explored 2% of the world I have already encountered 3 other major regimes. I don't really get why so many regimes should be clustered in one area, surely the optimum zones for a planet's resources would be more randomly distributed than that?

[Laiders]

ORIGINAL: 76mm

I'd also very much like the option to spread major regimes out a bit...in my first game at beginner level, my regime is on the bottom map edge, and while I've only explored 2% of the world I have already encountered 3 other major regimes. I don't really get why so many regimes should be clustered in one area, surely the optimum zones for a planet's resources would be more randomly distributed than that?

Conversely in my first substantial game I spent ~50-60 turns relentlessly expanding, conquering ~4 minors (maybe 3 minors because I also founded a city) and had no prospect of immediate contact with a major. I had pursued every constructed road to its final destination and was bounded by mountains, oceans, dense forests and marsh...

I dropped that game what being at over 30 score with about 40% of total planetary population when the other majors were all about 10 for both.

I guess this is part of the randomness. My current game is quite exciting. I started with two majors about a zone away so we all had a zone to expand into. The other majors are not currently in play.

Some options to fine-tune this if possible would be helpful. Most players neither want to be totally isolated from other majors nor surrounded by them from turn 1.

[76mm]

Yeah, I think I encountered three minors as well--generally it has been a bit much for a first game. I'll start this one over but would still prefer the option to have more space at the beginning of the game.

[wodin]

I'd love abit of space sometimes. Every build so far I've had civs right next to me..yet large parts of the planet are totally empty. Would love an easy option where you get some space to start with and some towns and a few special places.