Maps, seeds, and templates

Endless-mode islands are partly random. A world seed pins the islands, fertility, and start position only if you also keep the same map layout and region. Change the layout and the same number is a different start. That distinction is the whole of Polygon’s seed article.

Four layouts

• Archipelago: scattered islands.
• Atoll: a ring.
• Rift: an east-west split.
• Corners: each player starts in a corner, with small islands around them.

Polygon’s advanced-difficulty defaults, one source: Latium Archipelago 9247, Albion Archipelago 2492, Atoll 2687, Rift 9549. They mention a Corners recommendation in the same piece. I am not copying a Corners number I did not re-read in the extract, so that cell stays blank here.

What they optimised for was a nearby trader, a distant raider, a large start island, and fertility for resin, olive, sandarac, marble, and minerals. “Best map” in that article means that shopping list, not a universal ranking.

Map templates and an island atlas already exist on anno-companion. This page does not rebuild them. Seeds are not the same thing as those templates.