“You want to see numerous rivers, mountains, rainforests, and woods, but not in such a dominant or repetitive fashion that one terrain type completely overwhelms a section of the map. “Handcrafted maps need to reflect the same distribution of terrain types that you see out of our standard, scripted maps,” Beach said. He says that good map design follows certain key principles. Can Persia roll over Greece and dominate the Mediterranean? What if the Aztecs did defeat the Europeans and became the first nation into space?” “I think our players like to see ahistorical outcomes as well. “It’s always fun to answer questions like: Can you create a Roman empire the size of the historical Pax Romana?” Ed Beach, lead designer of Civ 6 told me in an email interview. A quiet coastline hides an inland empire of Aztecs Gedemon/Firaxis Secrets of a Great Map I also played as Japan, creating a pan-Asian empire that expanded exclusively through cultural dominance. In other games, I created a highly advanced South American Inca civilization, which steadfastly refused to expand outside its own continent, but which won the game by focusing on technology. Such places cannot thrive in Civ 6, because they are quickly smothered and subsumed by any local civilization’s cultural blanket.īut despite the game’s limitations, it does offer an opportunity to recreate and to rewrite history. Also, the British relied on small naval stations scattered around the world, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar. In the real world, Britain’s expansion was partly funded by West African slavery, which is not a part of Civilization games. But it was only partially true to history. It was a great challenge and a ton of fun. Like the English of old, I relied heavily on archersĪll of this has some historical resonance. I was unable to take India, because it had become a highly advanced civilization which dwarfed my own.

During this time, I made myself extremely unpopular with rival leaders, and was in a state of constant war. In time, I settled the Atlantic seaboard of North America, and expanded across Canada, extinguishing the northern expansion of the Aztecs, which had previously overtaken the native Cree around the Great Lakes.įinally, I expanded into Australia, New Zealand, and Southern Africa, making use of a peerless and ruthless navy. I focused on populating sea lanes with trade routes, and (like Eleanor’s descendants) relied heavily on archers for defense. Historical realism was provided by my neighbors: I held off ransom demands from the Vikings as well as intense French hostility. Beginning with the city of London, I succeeded in colonizing the north of England and Ireland, while subduing a city state in Wales. I recently played Greatest Earth Map as Eleanor of Aquitaine (English), and tried to recreate the British Empire. Real world TSL maps allow me to tinker with history. A happy arrival on the east coast of Australia which, unlike in real history, is deserted. This is the difference between creating two tightly packed cities in Britain, or four, well-spaced cities with room to sprawl and grow. The south coast of England is only three tiles wide in the built-in map, compared to eight tiles on Greatest Earth Map. A spokesperson for Civ developer Firaxis says the company only offers this one size because it “provides the best experience balancing size and gameplay,” adding that other official maps might be released in the future.įor example, playing in True Start Location mode (TSL), which places a civilization in its geographically and historically correct location, is a problem if you want to play as England or Japan, as those islands are tiny. I find that its standard map is far too small to give a real feeling of history’s wide span. Greatest Earth Map is a highly satisfying alternative to Civilization 6’s built-in Earth map, which is only playable at a much smaller size. Geographically and historically correct locations

Civ 6 true start earth