Starting Locations: Where and why?

[Orelius]

I've spent an enormous amount of time looking for the right map, the right location for game.  Often, I don't find it.

So, I was wondering, what start positions do you like?  What makes that start position good?  Why do you do it?

I often go for planets with only two wormholes.  I also look to see if it has a "bag" of worlds that it is a chokepoint for, which allows me to have a more reliable situation (even if the AI curbstomps my advance worlds, I'll still have some stations upon which to fall back).

[chemical_art]

For me I don't want to spend an hour looking for a perfect map to end up abandoning it due to being next door to a MK IV world. To save time, compromises are made. If I want a certain unit type, I then compromise by mediocre wormhole count. If I want an awesome position on a chokepoint, I sacrifice unit choice.

I suppose if I spent more time looking I could receive awesome games, but for now I am content with only good games. I like how the game gives the option for either.

[Commiesalami]

For single player games I set all my options and then go play on the next new map.  I try to find a compromise between a good place and a decent ship (The only ships I refuse to take right now is Paralyzers and Nanoswarms).  This makes it so I can mess around with differing play-styles instead of always playing with Autobombs, Yng Tigers, munition boosters or armor boosters.  Sitting there just looking for the exact unit type and position I want feels a little like cheating, If I want an easy game then Ill just give myself a handicap

Starting next to a mkIV is manageable, I've learned that most of the time a mkIV that you start next to can be bum rushed effectively with a full cap of mk1 Triangle ships assuming you attack right when you hit your unit caps.

[Martyn van Buren]

Have you tried the expansions' map types?  Maze or X-shaped, or of course snake, pretty much guarantees you an enclosed space you can wall off.  Personally, I like realistic, but that's precisely because it almost always forces me to have too many fronts in places I don't like, which keeps me moving instead of just playing tower defense.  I tend to go through four or five maps before choosing one; I want to get a bonus unit that looks interesting in a place where I have a pretty good chance of being able to get down to three or four front lines a few worlds out.

[Nalgas]

Maze or X-shaped, or of course snake, pretty much guarantees you an enclosed space you can wall off.  Personally, I like realistic, but that's precisely because it almost always forces me to have too many fronts in places I don't like, which keeps me moving instead of just playing tower defense.

The tradeoff for picking one of those map types that guarantees some sort of defensible position is that they also tend to guarantee that you'll have to go through some really ugly systems rather than around them, because there is no way around.  Just as the AI can't get at you from more than one or two points, you're similarly limited in your options against them.  What you save on in terms of simplified defenses is usually made up for by the attack forces you need to bludgeon your way through a mk4 system that's been reinforcing heavily because it's the only planet in the entire galaxy on alert, and you have to go through it to get anywhere.  Oh, and did I mention that it also has 37 ion cannons, mass drivers, fortresses, AI Eyes, counterattack guard posts, gravity drills, and so on?  Heh.

[Martyn van Buren]

Dang, how did that happen?  Was it a really small map, or can those things get added during reinforcement?  Also, got a screenshot?

[Nalgas]

Well, I'm exaggerating a little bit, and I don't have a screenshot, but yeah, it does seem to happen more often the smaller the map you use.  Usually when you find a planet like that on a realistic map, you plan around it and avoid going near it at all if you can, and that's what I'm used to like you, because that's what my multiplayer group usually plays on, too.  I discovered the horrors of having to confront them head on while playing on my own and trying out different lobby options for some variety.

[NickAragua]

Yeah, like the OP I usually look around for a starting world within a "bag" that has one or two entrances, so that I can have a set of core worlds defended by solid chokepoints. As for starting ships, I'm pretty flexible, but I tend to pick either ones that effectively increase my triangle ship cap (Zenith Electric Bombers, Bulletproof Fighters, etc) or things that are fast and can be used as interceptors (Teleport Battle Stations, Raptors).

Ultimately, it doesn't matter too much what starting world you pick, as you can "create" choke points by destroying warp gates and guard posts on worlds from which you don't want AI dudes to show up, then post some token defenses there just in case a couple of AI guys come through anyway. That being said, I avoid starting on a world with more than two or three wormholes, as it's just too much of a pain to defend.

[zoutzakje]

I always play on realistic map type. Whenever I want to start a new game I just go the next random map seed and start the game without selecting a bonus ship. That's pretty much it lol, I like it random