What map settings do you use/what do you look for in a SP map?

[ete]

Just curious about the worlds people here like to play on.

[Buster's Uncle]

Oh, small/30-50% ocean/weak/abundant/dense.

I like the game to not last forever and to maximize fertile land to play on.

[Petek]

The bigger, the better. Seldom smaller than 180x180. More often 256x256 or 305x305. I have a save file from a game on a 1024x2048 map, although I haven't played it for a couple of years.

[ete]

The most important thing for me is to have reasonable land connectedness, mostly because the AI is entirely and utterly incapable of mounting a threatening invasion. And also because it speeds up the big invasion lategame. I've played on a lot of different sizes (including one with no separate continents which was so big that by the time i'd walked to the last guy (drones), i'd finished the tech tree. And there was a semi-continent which was at least four times the size of the standard map of planet which was entirely unoccupied. So many pods.). The other settings, I'm quite inconsistent with. Generally not low native, but otherwise everything gets tried sometimes.

[JarlWolf]

Typically I go for a custom map, abundant plant life, either normal or sparse rainfall (though it can vary) and erosion also varies. Water is usually 50 to 70.  I like large maps because I don't like having factions rushed and eradicated before I get to meet them and interact. And I generally have only 1 to 2 long spanning games I return to every once in a while, and I record them in writing for a good read once in a while when I feel nostalgic.

[Yitzi]

Depends who I'm playing as and what style I'm planning to go for, though sometimes I mix it up for more of a challenge.

[Lord Avalon]

Typically huge, random, abundant life, average everything else.  Lately I'm adding strong erosion and sparse rainfall.  Look for not starting on a tiny island or peninsula.  I build about 3 squares apart and figure I want at least 6 bases in order to continue.  If I don't have elbowroom on a continent, I'll continue play and see if I can successfully rush the neighbor before rerolling.

Rarely I might try a small map if I'm trying to play momentum from the start.

[t_ras]

As large as possible, I enjoy the parts when it gets big and you have to take care of a big empire. Also 50-70% land to have place to grow.

[Yitzi]

Typically huge, random, abundant life, average everything else.  Lately I'm adding strong erosion and sparse rainfall.  Look for not starting on a tiny island or peninsula.  I build about 3 squares apart and figure I want at least 6 bases in order to continue.  If I don't have elbowroom on a continent, I'll continue play and see if I can successfully rush the neighbor before rerolling.

Rarely I might try a small map if I'm trying to play momentum from the start.

I'd only build that close in SP when I'm trying to play momentum from the start, and then I do small maps.  I like to have room for my bases to grow to their fullest (or close to it; depending on the circumstances, sometimes I'll have their radii overlap a little to avoid wasted space).

And if I start on a tiny island or peninsula...I'd just expand either to the sea or across the sea.

[Lord Avalon]

Typically huge, random, abundant life, average everything else.  Lately I'm adding strong erosion and sparse rainfall.  Look for not starting on a tiny island or peninsula.  I build about 3 squares apart and figure I want at least 6 bases in order to continue.  If I don't have elbowroom on a continent, I'll continue play and see if I can successfully rush the neighbor before rerolling.

Rarely I might try a small map if I'm trying to play momentum from the start.

I'd only build that close in SP when I'm trying to play momentum from the start, and then I do small maps.  I like to have room for my bases to grow to their fullest (or close to it; depending on the circumstances, sometimes I'll have their radii overlap a little to avoid wasted space).

3 apart on a diagonal isn't much overlap.  And if workers have no squares to work, they become specialists.  I tend to build a ton of clean formers, so eventually they find spare squares to put farms & condensers on, and I crawl nuts.

Of course abundant fungus means 3 apart is a guideline, not a rule, and sometimes pushing borders dictates base placement, as does terrain.

And if I start on a tiny island or peninsula...I'd just expand either to the sea or across the sea.

Yeah, if I can see a nearby coast, I'll try to expand there, but I don't think I've tried many land starts, early sea expansion.  Who knows, maybe I will.  And it takes so long to build stuff.

[Yitzi]

3 apart on a diagonal isn't much overlap.

Firstly, I didn't realize you meant 3 diagonal.
Still, that's 8 squares overlap per base (2 with each of its 3-diagonal-apart neighbors).  I can get down to 2 squares overlap per base without "wasting" any space.

And if workers have no squares to work, they become specialists.  I tend to build a ton of clean formers, so eventually they find spare squares to put farms & condensers on, and I crawl nuts.

Of course abundant fungus means 3 apart is a guideline, not a rule, and sometimes pushing borders dictates base placement, as does terrain.

I don't really like making heavy use of crawlers in SP (it doesn't feel like the way the game was designed to be played).

Yeah, if I can see a nearby coast, I'll try to expand there, but I don't think I've tried many land starts, early sea expansion.  Who knows, maybe I will.  And it takes so long to build stuff.

You mean because sea bases are low on minerals?  Try terraforming them with kelp/tidal harnesses, building the appropriate facilities for those, pop booming the sea bases, and working the squares (with extra food going to support technicians or engineers).  Once you get energy bank/tree farm/hybrid forest up as well, you'll be amazed at how fast the cash rolls in.  It won't be enough to hurry at the sea bases every turn...but unless you put a substantial portion of that energy on labs it should be enough to put them on par with nonborehole-using land bases.

[Lord Avalon]

Firstly, I didn't realize you meant 3 diagonal.
Still, that's 8 squares overlap per base (2 with each of its 3-diagonal-apart neighbors).  I can get down to 2 squares overlap per base without "wasting" any space.

Well, I didn't necessarily mean diagonal.  it all depends on where the coast is, where the fungus is, etc.  I do diagonal if I can, though that's not a rule, either.  It's probably rare to have many bases with 8 squares of overlap.

I don't really like making heavy use of crawlers in SP (it doesn't feel like the way the game was designed to be played).

Well, different strokes .... Obviously, since I don't mind crawling stuff, overlap isn't as much of an issue for me.

You mean because sea bases are low on minerals?  Try terraforming them with kelp/tidal harnesses, building the appropriate facilities for those, pop booming the sea bases, and working the squares (with extra food going to support technicians or engineers).  Once you get energy bank/tree farm/hybrid forest up as well, you'll be amazed at how fast the cash rolls in.  It won't be enough to hurry at the sea bases every turn...but unless you put a substantial portion of that energy on labs it should be enough to put them on par with nonborehole-using land bases.

That would be something to try.  But in addition to low mineral production, I meant there are often fewer forests from which to crawl mins.
I would, of course, try to settle next to a coast to land formers and plant forests.  (I really hate it when some faction is already inhabiting that land. )

[Yitzi]

Well, I didn't necessarily mean diagonal.  it all depends on where the coast is, where the fungus is, etc.  I do diagonal if I can, though that's not a rule, either.  It's probably rare to have many bases with 8 squares of overlap.

So then it'd need to be more than three in any direction, as the absolute minimum overlap with bases 3 apart from each other is 8 (if they're 3 apart in the short direction, it's a lot more.)

That would be something to try.  But in addition to low mineral production, I meant there are often fewer forests from which to crawl mins.

Yeah, but with energy bank/tree farm/hybrid forest you can get better facility production even in a forest by crawling energy and rush buying than by crawling minerals (assuming no genejack factory to boost your minerals and assuming you set your tech level to keep total tech production the same).  With sea spaces (which are much better for energy than a forest, especially with a thermocline transducer), it gets totally broken, even before specialists.

I would, of course, try to settle next to a coast to land formers and plant forests.

Boreholes are probably a better bet if you've only got a few land squares to use.

[Lord Avalon]

Yeah, but with energy bank/tree farm/hybrid forest you can get better facility production even in a forest by crawling energy and rush buying than by crawling minerals (assuming no genejack factory to boost your minerals and assuming you set your tech level to keep total tech production the same).  With sea spaces (which are much better for energy than a forest, especially with a thermocline transducer), it gets totally broken, even before specialists.

I was thinking more before tree farms.  I crawl forests in base radii until a base has a tree farm, then I move those crawlers out to an external mine or forest.  Potentially less opportunity for that from a sea base, but there's occasionally trawling a sea min bonus.

Boreholes are probably a better bet if you've only got a few land squares to use.

Boreholes may eventually be involved, if I can ship over more formers.  They just take so long with one.

[Rymdolov]

Most of you seem to choose abundant native life. Why is that? Is it to farm mind worms or for some other reason?