Do you usually ctrl-N til you get a map you like?

It's not counted as cheating. Hell yes.

No. All maps are playable, they may just be more or less of a challenge. Also, I'm not sure if ctrl-n is still bugged. (AI difficulty reset)

I take whatever is dealt and go with it. It's all part of the overall challenge with some map positions being in your favour at times, and other times not so. I just roll with the punches as they say.
If I find I'm in a less than desirable starting position on the map, I will change my strategy to try and compensate for this. It's all part of the learning experience and enjoyment I get from not always having things go my way.

It depends on the difficulty level I am playing. If I'm trying a higher level than normal, and the starting position looks to be impossibly difficult, I'll hit CTL-N.

I occasionally use Ctrl+N should the starting positions be too awkward, but usually I can manage fine on most maps.

I Ctrl-N until I get the map I want, or until my game crashes, whichever comes first.

Agree with you, it's not the same startin' with a 300%research/manufactory tile (or even with a bloody 700% ) then without it, especially at the beginning. On higher levels it makes quickly the difference at the end between "yeah we got it!" and "oh shit, I'm grilled"...

I like to use ctrl+n to get a map that looks good to me. I'm less concerned with resources on my planet or in sight than I am with seeing a good spread of planets. I also don't like much to start in the middle.

I haven't played 1.6 yet (busy with Civ IV BTS but likely to switch gears to GC2 again in the near future) so I don't know if the "AI resetting into stupidity" bug was fixed - I don't recall reading that it was fixed. It pretty much makes ctrl+n unusable.

I dont use ctrl-n at all, because of the bug where it lobotomizes all the AIs. If the setup looks especially bad, or if I play for a while and it just doesnt seem to be going well at all, I'll sometimes go back to the main menu and start over again, rather than use ctrl-n. I try to keep the lame-ness to a minimum though, and give it a good try on each map.

One issue which I thought of is that people could use this bug in an exploitive way. When the AI intelligence resets with it, does it also technically change the difficulty setting of the game for scoring purposes? If this is not the case, the bug could really be taken advantage of.

Sentient species taste better...

I'll use ctrl-n for league play or tournaments if I get a less than desirable start. Personally, I think everyone should to put it all on a level playing field. There's no point in doing it for regular games though, so I go with what's dealt.

The AI lobotomy is thorough. It resets everything to Cakewalk, including the difficulty for scoring purposes. It's important therefore not only to use it sparingly, but when you do use it, check the last set of entries in the debug.err. It'll show you the AI intelligence levels.

I'm not sure what the low settings are. I just make sure they're at 150 before playing the actual game (for suicidal).

I didn't know the AI may reset the difficulty level...it never happened to me before. I think this may occure if you are pressing Ctrl+N too many times or maybe this has already been fixed?

For me it is mainly important to own a good planet at the start, it is also motivating me as I know the AI will have plenty of bonuses.., I care less about who are my neighors and my location on the map, it's as good as it gets. Alea Jacta Est.

I have done it a few times - especially on tiny maps, where it really matters if you start in a sector with 1 star system or 3 - but when I play on larger maps, I usually just go with what I get.

Makes sense. My opinion on ctrl-N is that it should be used in conjunction with difficulty level. I just play on suicidal now, for example, and I try not to use it too much, but I don't want to start the game being stiffed in starting position compared with an AI that cranks out colony ships like mad. I basically use it until I get a starting position with room for expansion and a world with at least some kind of production bonus on either my homeworld or a nearby world (that way I can at least compete in terms of early expansion). Using it too much takes the fun out - the AI is really not that smart, even on suicidal, so waiting for a huge starting advantage not only takes a lot of reloads, but it makes the game less challenging.

"There's a fine line between challenging and a pain-in-the-ass"
-unknown

Nealy always use cntrl-n, sometimes not but thats rare. I use it not so much for the starting resource (in any event the overall resource level spread across the game will be the same anyway, its a balanced game), its more a personal choice about where I am in the Galaxy in a relative sense to others. The scenario mix gives different issues to resolve, and some scenarios I loath - its a game, not a method of inducing a stressed out heart attack   

I have never had the AI reset as some described, not a clue why. I have been keeping my eye on that, but it has not happened yet.

Regards
Zy

I used Ctrl-N to get a good spread of opponents. I don't want to be blocked in. Ideally the AIs and I are at different edges of my huge universe.

I have had the brain-dead AI problem. You usually can tell that the AI is not spreading out at all. A lot of wasted time.

I can't be sure if this works all the time but if you get a map that you like, the hit
Alt-Tab and go look at the debug.err file under the Dark Avatar directory. Remember not to look at a similar file for DL.

Every time you hit Ctrl-N the debug.err file gets longer. Everytime you generate a new universe it lists the "intellence" of each party. I don't know all the levels but I want my AI's operating at the intelligent level and so the "intellence" (weird spelling should be set at 80. Look at the last set of "intellence" listings and make sure they are set right.

I have Explorer set up to use Notepad to read .err files. So I click on it and read it.

Kind of a pain but good to know, thanks for the tip.

This bug has been around for several patches now - it'd be nice if they'd fix it!

I hit ctrl-n a few times in my last game -- when I looked at the debug.err I saw that 3 of the 7 opponents had their intelligence reset from 80 to 42.

Usually when I have seen this bug, the intelligence (er, intellence) is set to "fool."

If you play the game a while without realizing it and figure how much time you spent, you feel like a fool.

The game tells the intelligence level once you meet the ai. I think the game should show this "in-game" from the beginning. I usually like to have everyone spread out and so that it takes a while before meeting them. Of course the tipoff is their colored blob never expands.

BTW I think all the conditions of a game should show up somewhere in-game. Have a tab for it.

Gentlemen,
I guarantee you that with my current installed v1.61, cntrl-n DOES NOT stupify the AI (or if it does, then the state needs to revoke my driver's license).
I say this from the vantage of 6 consecutive losses trying to learn to beat Obscene; I've used cntrl-n a lot on each set-up, 'cause I'm trying to mitigate the learning curve. Also because I play on Rare everything, and a poor homeworld will make you a minor power equivalent real fast.
At least I have managed to lose all of them in different ways.

drrider

I use ctrl-N. I will be playing that game for the next 8 hours, I need to make sure I will be having fun on the map I roll. In many other games I would just do random everything and go with it, but those games were over in 45 minutes. Not Galciv.

I use ctrl-N because otherwise it is an undocumented change to the challenge rating of the game. If you are against one side of the map you have only half the rescources and worlds within effective range than if you start in the middle of the map. If you are in a corner the rescources drop to one quarter.
So, if you don't mind giving your opponents a 2-4 times as many avalable worlds and resources as you have; Never restart your position. Personally I think that this is an undocumented (and probably unintentional) AI advantage and I feel strongly that I should start on a level a playing field as possible.

Scincerely,
[email protected]