New player. Why can't I choose a Large or Huge planet size?

[Ivan Rogov]

I like a lot of room to spread out before I possibly meet another empire.

 

[Denadareth]

I also like long time before meeting other players so I understand you completely. Sadly if you select a low number of players, the game doesn't let you choose the bigger maps. There is a way around it, however.

Let's see you choose Enormous map and six players. You have the option to "Select commander" greyed out, but you can go into "Advanced options" and choose your commander and launch the game from there.