2metraninja Wrote:As I am usually the one attacking, I use to think that spies actually help the attacker (knowing where your target weak spots are, city disorder, reinforcement road cuts, etc, etc).
That's a good point. Personally, I dislike randomness immensely and that puts me off spies quite a bit. I would still prefer spies being off in order to keep the focus on the demo aspect.
Lord Parkin Wrote:Plus, you can never get techs ahead of the nation you're stealing from... so you'll never pick up the bonus freebies (Lib/Music/etc), and will always be at least a turn behind on wonder races and the like.
Quite the opposite in sequential unfortunately. If I research Nationalism, I get it at end of turn. Then you steal it during your turn and build Taj before I ever play a turn with the tech in hand.
Quote:I've investigated espionage teching a few times in the past, and despite stacking as many discounts as possible it still didn't end up more powerful than the real deal.
Check out my pb7 thread, and keep in mind that was always war.
2metraninja Wrote:As I am usually the one attacking, I use to think that spies actually help the attacker (knowing where your target weak spots are, city disorder, reinforcement road cuts, etc, etc).
I agree. I think spies (even just the vision part) benefit the aggressor. I think the opposite position comes from the outdated idea that attacks rely on the element of surprise. Not so in the games I've played. That element of surprise thing isn't very effective against experienced pbem/pb players.
SevenSpirits Wrote:I agree. I think spies (even just the vision part) benefit the aggressor. I think the opposite position comes from the outdated idea that attacks rely on the element of surprise. Not so in the games I've played. That element of surprise thing isn't very effective against experienced pbem/pb players.
I don't think it's the element of surprise, it's just that with spies you know much better whether and how hard you need to whip out your defenders ahead of time. We all know that the defender has huge advantages. With spies on it just makes it easier since you can know exactly how much collateral and other units you're going to need to defend with.
That being said, I do concede there are some nice things as an attacker.
Odd argument from the group of players that makes spreadsheets tracking not just soldier counts and power graphs, but really odd things like number of forests your unmet opponents have available to chop and when they chop them (based on changes in the Life Expectancy screen).
Commodore Wrote:Okay, well, I have a ton more work to do but I've more or less finished the starts. Barring objections, it's a 52x52 Standard/Prince/Toroid, with all teams on the same landmass and both over-coast and over-ocean other landmass.
Sounds awesome!
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
