SnotlinG,
In Beta4 (or was it 3) you had code in place so that if the starting spots weren't defined the players started as far apart as possible. Can that code be restored or at least have that as a game option when selecting a map?
I've just started 2 games in a row on an 8 player start map (150x100) and both times we started right next to each other instead of opposite areas so that by turn 2-4 we were already attacking each others empty cities (the second game was on Illuria where one of us was White and the other Green so that war happened on turn 2). If I wanted to play where war happens fast, I'd select a 50x map where you know you need to potentially defend on turn 2 or 3. It totally sucks to have starting spots like this on larger maps.
KGB