And now for something completely different....

Civilization: Babylon
Difficulty: Warlord
Barbs: Raging
World: Standard, Pangea, 80% Ocean, 5 Billion years.
Climate: Wet, Cool.
Rivals: 7 pre-selected.

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/games/images/gotm44large.jpg
http://gotm.civfanatics.net/games/images/gotm44mini.jpg

Conquest Class Bonuses
Players start with Alphabet in addition to Ceremonial Burial and Bronze Working.
Players start with 100 gold in the treasury.

Predator Class Equalisers:
We are backward people! This cannot be allowed to continue! :D

Difficulty: Warlord
:eek: :eek:

Now I'm really scared...

Wow... the 2nd ever Warlord GOTM! And, what's this, we have a food bonus?! What's the catch?

Let´s see: Warlord, small pangea, starting in the south-western corner of the map... we´re probably locked on a remote island alone with no resourse whatsoever! The lighthouse might even be needed. I bet 100 gold the map will play some evil tricks to us.

Looks like the seven tiles we see might be the only ones we have until mapmaking...

Even impossible to build a third city unless you settle on the wheat... :eek:

But if we are lucky, it's thundra and not coastal to west and south. Fog gazers?

I'd say there at least one extra tile directly south of the start location. And Yes, Ido think it's tundra in the west.

He gave us a Warlord game because New Zealand are thrashing Fiji in their rugby test match today :p

Just wait till they meet the british Lions... we may get either a Chieftain game or a Deity-without-settler one...

He gave us a Warlord game because New Zealand are thrashing Fiji in their rugby test match today :p

Just wait till they meet the british Lions... we may get either a Chieftain game or a Deity-without-settler one...
91-0 :yeah:

Maybe he just wants to bring in some new/fresh (cough*dumb*cough) players like us in :p

uuuuu. I am still in GOTM43 and I see no end and here is GOTM44 warlord :cry: This is a hard choice - I will have no time to play both COTM13 and GOTM44. What should I choose?
On another hand 80% ocean warlord pangea should be fast.

But if we are lucky, it's thundra and not coastal to west and south. Fog gazers?
My fog glasses reveal nothing new in any direction. Can anyone else see anything? :scan:

Does it make sense to explore North to see if there is more to this rock than what we can see?

91-0 :yeah:

And they missed so many kicks... :ack:

We may have fresh water to te NW.

I'm seeing plenty of tundra. That grass we see is probably the most viable land around. I'm also guessing "very, very, alone".

Conquest class? Is there going to be one?
Predator class?! How about no worker and no techs....

any bets on "barbarian isles" like there was in GotM40 (Greece on regent)? I see water to the sw, tundra to the w, not sure what's n.

Opening move: worker W. Should see if there's fresh water out there.

Then settle in place, or 1NW, if there's a lake up that way.

I'd like to know how much pop we can have at this level before someone becomes unhappy. I would like to build the Colossus pretty early (it almost act as an extra city, sciencewise). I would like to build a second worker, maybe a temple and then try for the colossus. But, I guess I would need a awrrior or two as well.

Research warrior code first. Then go for Monarchy and Hanging gardens.

3 pop before unhappiness. Pretty much any Wonder we want will be a shoo-in - this will be a 20K player's paradise. The only drawback will be a lack of enemy units to generate the GLs. 20K on Predator may well be a popular choice, if the penalties/AI bonuses prove appropriate.

Opening move: worker W. Should see if there's fresh water out there.

Then settle in place, or 1NW, if there's a lake up that way.

The NW NW tile is definately looking like a lake. Notice the thin strip of land which seperates it from the coastal tiles.

EDIT: Or a chokepoint, but it looks to thin for it to be a land bridge tile.

You get 3 citizens born content. (I've never played Warlord, so I wanted to know too.) (http://gotm.civfanatics.net/games/scope_of_game.php#difficulty)

Predator class?! How about no worker and no techs....How about a first shot at a pre-AD win?

EDIT: Or a chokepoint, but it looks to thin for it to be a land bridge tile.

This is a pangea map. It would be cool if it was a choke point, but we are probably on a tiny island all by ourselves. Mean while the other seven are crammed in close together and will be able to trade amongst themselves. Imagine isolation until navigation with only 2-3 cities.

Ultra-isolated with 3 cities and no resources? This might mean blind luck, in the form of whose suicide galleys survive and whose don't, could be a deciding factor.

Invasion with Spears+Cats+LBs?

based on the position of our starting point in the minimap, what's the chance of our being on a lonely island away from the mainland? 90%?

not many talked about the building sequences yet.. is it because it's on warlord?

Even if we are isolated (which I doubt), on warlord you do most of your own research anyway, right?

I'm going for 20k on this one. :D

I'm not going for 20K, because I suspect so many others will be! If isolated, I doubt BC dom/conquest will be on though because of the distance/luck factor needed.

Might go for OCC UN!

not many talked about the building sequences yet.. is it because it's on warlord?

With only 7 visible land tiles there are too many uncertainties to make a plan for to many turns. I'd send worker w to the BG and mine and road it. This will help determine if the NW NW tile is indeed fresh water. Unless worker sees something better I'd settle in place, there's no reason to move away from the wheat.

First build will be a warrior for exploration. After that I'm unsure if I'll go for a second warrior, an early worker or start a settler. There's a lot of prep work to do to get a settler factory running, cut the forest and bring irrigation to the wheat, so the worker may be my second build.

EDIT: If there is fresh water NW NW, then I'd probably move settler NW and found on the forest (which loses the 10 shields from a chop but shortens the turns needed to bring irrigation to the wheat).

Why all the cynicism? Let's try to be optimistic! :) There's got to be SOME way to win this, so even if the start is on an island, there's gotta be a way to get to the mainland without walking on water.

I know I speak as a pretty low-level player, but, hey, how hard can a warlord be? I figure even I've got a chance to accomplish something - unlike the last GOTM, where I got completely clocked before I could breathe.

gaccboom - I'm sure you are right, they wouldn't make us totally isolated. It wouldnt be fair to most players. For myself, I kind of wish it was isolated though. There's prabably a fairly easy island chain to the main land.

Warlord is as easy as it gets. The problem is the tech pace can go slow because the AI is totally retarded. Tha'ts why I am interested in the colossus, to help research.

I'd like it if I could somehow win this game while the bowman was still the dominant military unit. Or at least finish the game with the bowman as the staple of my military forces.

I'd like to see the AI show some teeth - give 'em whatever they got given in COTM11!!

Hmmm, can you win diplomatically if you never meet the other civs? Then again, after getting thrashed by two deity games in a row, this may just be a chance for paayback.

If we're on an island, shields will be the big problem, especially for 20k. We may have to leave those forests up. Then again, it's warlord. With raging barbs. I bet we find a number of empty islands totally overrun with barb horsemen.

On warlord you can replant and rechop forest for extra sheilds. Of course this won't matter until we learn the proper tech. Plus the sheilds won't help for wonders.

Zelda, level has nothing to do with that exploit, which was fixed by a patch.

lot's of tundra and a smal island that's for sure

Regardless of our isolation situation, I am elated this is a game I can actually play! Diety is just no fun at all.

Isolated with tundra or not, all I can say is Hallelujah! Not a 3rd Deity game in a row.

Still slogging through COTM13. Deity on a 60% ocean/continents map is a huge time investment...

GOTM44 will be a welcome distraction.

cas

First on topic: Sweet, I'm going to have to play this one for kicks. (Guess that means I better finish up Cotm 13 or just give up on it like I keep doing on these games)

Even if we are on an island, that isn't such a big deal. Get a city on the mainland and perform a palace jump over. Mapmaking/lighthouse and some suicide galleys if necessary.

Speaking of which, have we officially banned the city gift teleport exploit? It isn't on the list on the website, but then there are a bunch of prohibited exploits that aren't there.

91-0 :yeah:
:eek:

Now that is an can of whoopaxx. When I was in High School my rugby club went on tour to NZ and Fiji. We held our own in NZ but were anihilated in Fiji (45-6 IIRC). It was unreal, no matter where they were, there was always someone right there in support. Guess I always judge Fiji rugby by that experience even if the actual pro level isn't even close to that dominant.

OCC 20k, for sure, in an attempt to get the 20k Shield. Where we sit now, we won't be able to get that hill in our range, so I'll move 1SE and get that in range(after expansion). Opening builds will be Temple, Worker, Colossus. Shoot straight for GL, get it and then hang on until 2050. (And of course build a few other wonders in the process.) After getting literature, get Map Making, head out, and make some friends, keep trading. Also keep the Diplo option open. After making contacts, get to Republic ASAP, shore-cram the island with units(trade for as many slaves as possible), get half a dozen defensive units in the capital(in case anyone does come knocking before I can load up the shores). Keep population low unless building a wonder or prebuild, that'll keep the score down. Wouldn't surprise me if I had a Jason under 500 here. Obviously for lowest score I also want worst date, so 2040-2049 will be what I'm shooting for.

Between Colossus (2, 4 doubled), GL (6, 12 doubled), and the improvements (Temple, Library, Colosseum = 8, 16 doubled) I'll be bringing in 32 cpt after everything doubles, so I'll need a couple more wonders(and the middle age improvments - Cathedral, Univ = 7, 14 doubled). Get Bach's or Shakespeare's to finish up, that should give me enough CPT to get through to the late 2000's. If we have more than just a few tundra tiles off to the side, I might build a city there early on but disband it later once Babylon's culture can cover all the squares. Research on Max all the time until I get the GL, then ride the AI wave until Theology is mine - After that, go full-out on education and then wait.

Golden Age - Well, neither Colossus nor GL is religous, so I'll have to get one of those to get a GA(or wait for someone to attack and use a Bowman to knock out a redlined attacker). Completely passive play here.

(GOTM 43 was a complete disaster, I didn't even bother finishing it. Persia is one turn from launching space and I don't even have Tanks yet.)

I might just want to go for Diplo though. With everyone thinking a 20k is a piece of cake, it wouldn't surprise me if I wasn't the only one to finish OCC 20k in 2049. If I can't make the culture, or think someone's gonna beat me to the shield, I'll grab the UN and win that way.

Firstly, I'd like to say hi to you all. I've been lurking in these forums for a while, and finally decided to register and maybe even start posting. I've learned a lot from reading some of the posts, and got myself out of the habit of reloading. Playing is a lot more fun this way. This is my second GOTM so far. I submitted a losing game in GOTM 43. I'm more comfortable with monarch and emperor. Hopefully, I'll be able to win this one.


Even if we are on an island, that isn't such a big deal. Get a city on the mainland and perform a palace jump over. Mapmaking/lighthouse and some suicide galleys if necessary.
I don't quite understand this. Won't a palace jump destroy your lighthouse? What if there's room for only one good city on the starting island? I'm assuming the lighthouse would be built in the capitol.

Here's a radical thought -- maybe it really is designed to be easy, and ainwood's just seeing how many people can manage conquest before the ADs.

(Given the tundra visible, I doubt it, but you never know!)

Renata

Remember the last Greece GOTM? If it's on a lower difficulty, there's a catch. I'm betting something like "No Iron" on this one. Or maybe "No Aluminum" and people who are going for space will be stuck.

Attached is my fog guesses (Light Blue - Coast, Dark Blue - Sea, Green - Grassland, White - Tundra, Brown - Hill, Dark Green - Forest):

(Note: Multiple dots indicate I'm not sure.)

Thank goodness. A little bit of light playing to throw inbetween my bouts of trying to catch up to the Diety-level AIs in GOTM13.

Too many people will go for 20K win for me to want to do it. Probably go for a space age / diplo win to exercise the builder in me. He hasn't gotten out to play much lately, with all the military pressure in the GOTM...

Oh, opening sequence... Worker will go west. If it's a freshwater lake then I'll settle 1NW to get a settler farm up and running. If not a freshwater lake, then I'll probably settle on spot, but don't know for sure yet.

Raging barbs... I bet we got about twenty barbs waiting just offscreen, custom-like ya know? :eek:

ill have to try this one, its warlord. as it seem most want diplo/culture wins, i want to conquer the world, even if im on ssome midgit snow island in the middle of nowhere. who knows, i could actually be bothered finishing this!

OK, I have some newbie questions:
- Is there any place where I can read up on how GOTM works?
- Do I need some mod-pack to join?
- When does it start?

Am I right that GOTM is a preset game where everybody gets the same start and we can compare how we are doing in relation to other players? I think that's very cool, as it's probably the best way to learn from good players.

Welcome to GotM, Tesuji. :wavey:


- Is there any place where I can read up on how GOTM works?http://gotm.civfanatics.net


- Do I need some mod-pack to join?
Not if you're playing C3C, you can read all about on the gotm site if you use the link. :)


- When does it start?
The CotM games start at the first of each month, Classic games start the 15th.

Am I right that GOTM is a preset game where everybody gets the same start and we can compare how we are doing in relation to other players? I think that's very cool, as it's probably the best way to learn from good players.
That's exactly right.

Not if you're playing C3C, you can read all about on the gotm site if you use the link. :)
If you have Conquests then the COTMs play using your out-of-the-box installation. You should play Classic GOTMs using the Play the World option installed with Conquests. They then generally don't need any mods. The current GOTM 43 is a rare exception, and it only required a small graphics mod pack.

Here's a radical thought -- maybe it really is designed to be easy, and ainwood's just seeing how many people can manage conquest before the ADs.
Renata

I second this opinion. I need a rest after those deity games and I will assume that this game is a chance to set a new conquest/domination records and I will play AAC, open or predator depending on bonuses.
I plan to play COTM13 very fast without micromanagment and QSC log. It will give me a chance to loose it fast and save time for this one.

This difficulty level is very bad guys. I have been playing a few practice games. In my last game the AI had on average 5 cities by 70AD and I had to gift them just about every ancient age tech. I think any strategy to do with tech is doomed to a very late finish. Go bowmen!

First post updated with class equalisers / bonuses.

No techs for Predator :D

Though our starters are hardly expensive: CB is equal-cheapest, BW a little more so.

CB and BW are not necessary. Pottery is and so is WC. I've been playing more at this level, the AI are totally useless so you have to do it all yourself and that means you need people. You want WC to build your bowmen early or else you will be in a situation where you can build nothing but warriors or spears (useless). I have a practice game going now where I am trying to conquer the world and bowmen are too slow and a bit under powered. Horesemen are preferreed, swordsmen are a bit more effective than bowmen (obviously).

After that you need mapmaking. Because the conquest class is getting alphabet, it may be a clue that we are isolated.

CB and BW are not necessary.

Not if going for 20K, which I'll probably do. Instant Temple, and then Colossus while researching next culture-bringing tech - starting without them is quite a challenge, especially if we are isolated.

But I learned an interesting thing: the real game-breaker for 20K game, the one which can get like 100 years off your date and let you finish in 16xx, is building Heroic Epic early, in BC, somewhere before 500BC.
Nothing else makes such a difference: I saw it when playing with Sir Pleb's 20K spreadsheet.

And the way to get a very early leader seems to be having very few troops, like 3 or 4, and getting exactly one elite out of them (from barbs), and then winning with this one elite, with no other wins before that. It almost certainly brings a leader: maybe it's a bug in Civ, but I saw it happening many times.

And if we are isolated it almost rules out this chance. So if we are isolated and with no barbs I'll probably abandon 20K: early temple and Colossus won't hurt if we are on a small island, the real expansion will start only after we are off the island, anyway.

With raging barbs, if you leave one square of not-visible terrain, a hut's bound to pop up at some time or another. (Hopefully we have enough terrain on the island for this.)

made a test scenario isolating the starting island with only what can be seen and a few tundra beyond the water to the nw...very small island. Put the 6 other civs on one continent...mixed them up with different starting techs/traits. The other civs all reached the MA on their own around 250BC-10AD...although none of them researched Lit, Monarch, or Republic...which I found odd. First Wonder by the AI civs was Pyramids (500BC or so) and the Oracle shortly thereafter. I built the Colossus by 1000BC...so maybe one of the AI's would have completed it earlier than 500BC.

I hope we have more room than my test scenario...so there can be at least 1-2 higher pop/production cities. It's hard to grow with lots-o-tundra until you get harbors. Also I packed in 5 cities, but it was too tight and hurt production.

Starting move will definitely be worker W and if there is more land visible and a fresh lake I will move the settler/capital inland with the second city as a settler factory next to the wheat. Second worker will also be a priority...because it takes a lot of time to bring irrigation to that wheat. Research path if we are alone will beeline map making most likely. If we have more room, it might be worthwhile to get pyramids. If the island is super small or going for 20K, I think 2-3 cities and colossus/republic asap would be the priority.

cas

edit: cleaned up the grammar and added research stuff thoughts.

Hmm. If we're super-isolated, and a very tiny island with no rivers, Colossus for the research boost alone will be needed. So BW will be missed, and it may be worthwhile researching it after Pottery->Alpha->Writing->Map Making.

Not sure about the Lighthouse though.

I really hope we're not isolated, already had 2 GotMs recently with isolated starts. I'm thinking we're on a long narrow peninsula crowded by a civ with a nasty defense unit--like Greece w/their hoplites. I did a test game with the Greeks as neighbors. We weren't isolated, but even cats were useless against them. It just took sheer numbers to wipe 'em out. And I'm betting we don't have iron around either, so no swords to go against them.

i am thinking about settling where we are and then palace jump later on once we have a large inland city with a ring set up. however very often i see that people or AI have their capitol beside the sea, which effectively decrease the number of 1st ring cities by two or three. why is that worthwhile?

I just hope this one doesn't have the mediterranean resources, couldn't get them to work in the last gotm no matter what I tried. (Yes, I have installed all of the packs starting from gotm21 and played succesfully with the extra resources previously...)

At least I don't see any information about extra resources, but... warlord? I played one warlord game when I bought Civ3, couldn't find the endurance to finish even that (absolutely no challenge) really hope this is an isolated poor start (grin). And it's good to get new blood (players) to gotms. At least it's raging barbs... :)

I played one warlord game when I bought Civ3, couldn't find the endurance to finish even that (absolutely no challenge) really hope this is an isolated poor start (grin). And it's good to get new blood (players) to gotms. At least it's raging barbs... :)

I actually prefer easier difficulty games. The challenge isn't to win, it's to win at an extremely early date and to play better than other people. The reason I prefer these type of games is because it leaves all the fun aspects of the game in and takes all the annoying aspects out. I also don't feel as pressured to use exploitive tactics which are within the rules, such as ROP rape, gifting away and recapturing the great library, palace jumps, buying techs with gpt and declaring war, etc. I don't like playing that way, but you almost need to on deity level. Warlord might be a bit too easy but I have no doubt I'll enjoy this game more than the last two deity games.

Beware of Ainwood's "easy Warlord games" though... ;)

...even though the British and Irish Lions have lost their last match :p

...even though the British and Irish Lions have lost their last match :p

A minor glitch, of course. Next time, we'll ask them to let us have the ball once in a while....

Um, back on topic, a think peninsula with nasty defensive units to get past (Greece, Carthage, Zulus...) would be more fun than total isolation, I think!

In that situation, I'd still go hard for Map Making. If you can't beat 'em, sail around 'em....

Beware of Ainwood's "easy Warlord games" though... ;)


Was there a precedent?

Regent GOTM40 was somewhat slow due to the isolation on small islands, but I would not call it difficult. I think that most difficult regent game was actually your COTM11.

And I do not remember any warlord or chieftain games :hmm:

I'm pleased to be having the chance to go for a morale boosting victory this time 'round on a nice, easy level like Warlord. I've suffered too many defeats lately and it takes it out on you, getting mashed to a pulp every time you play.

So thanks in advance Ainwood! :)

That is, unless you have some devious trick in mind for us. :p
Yeah, that's probably the case.
Oh well, we can only try.

Yeah, we're gonna get a Victory this time. Yeah (whoop, whoop).

Oh, well. You can bet that I won't be mindlessly hitting 'next turn', praying for someone to finally launch a Spaceship to put an end to yet another miserable Diety-level loss.

Too bad the 'King of Culture' (Babalonians) will have no place to really flex their culture muscles. At least that's the way I see it, being on a Japan-shaped island. Map Making will be the number-one priotity.

Might actually go for this one and finish too. Or maybe I'll wait for a Cheiftain game :D .

If we are very isolated, would leaving the palace in the isolated spot, and building a FP elsewhere with a leader count as a palace rank corruption exploit?

Good point. You could always wait 'til you've captured 6-8 cities around your planned FP city before rushing it. Means every city you capture from then on is likely to be Rank-1, of course, but it'd be the same for everyone.

If we are very isolated, would leaving the palace in the isolated spot, and building a FP elsewhere with a leader count as a palace rank corruption exploit?
I don't see how it could. Apart from anything else, will there be enough space to trigger FP production? If not, then there would be little corruption benefit to building on the island anyway - assuming it is an island.

If we really were totally isolated, I think Alphabet would have been a starting tech for standard play. Also why start us on Raging Barbs on a tiny island that would be filled by one culture expansion? I am a little more optimistic.

Looks like an all-out expansion-military game to me... Horses or swords will work for ages, as will their upgrades. Go for Cavalry ASAP, the AI will be miles behind all game.

Can't remember my last Warlord game...

There may be no catch, the staff may be interested to see how fast the best players could conquer the world on warlord. Or maybe they're giving us a break from the demigod and deity games.

The predator challenges should have been much greater, only starting with no techs? How about Babylon has no traits or UU as well as no starting techs?

I'm pretty sure it is an isolated start (or some other nastiness :p ).
A real warlord game on a real pangaea would lead to early victories, which would totally break the Jason scoring system.
Well, I will know in a few hours when I get home. :)

The predator handicap is already quite large. Note the difference between elite and not-so elite player gets bigger as the difficulty goes up.
IMO making up for a missing tech is easier in deity than in monarch, regent or the total unchartered waters (for me) of warlord.

Well, I think right after this there will be another GOTM, and the staff just tried to squeeze this in. I say no catch. We'll see who's right.

I'm pretty sure it is an isolated start (or some other nastiness :p )...
The predator handicap is already quite large. IMO making up for a missing tech is easier in deity than in monarch, regent or the total unchartered waters (for me) of warlord.

It is puzzling to me too, but I am drawing just an oposite hypothesis:

I agree that predator handicap should not be large if it does not give any advantages.

Therefore missing techs could mean two things:
1. Easy to get them, e.g. crowded deity and a lot of opportunities.
or
2. We will not need those techs.

A regent game means that we will need to do all the research ourselves and particularly if we are isolated, so it makes a huge difference between predator and open.

Therefore, I do suspect that we have the second situation where those techs won't make a large difference.

With my poor fantasy I can see only one scenario that fits in it: This Pangaea can be conquered with a warrior in despotism.

Hello, CivWorld. First post.

My preview plan is to focus on expansion. I'm going to assume there is at least one other civ nearby. I'll only make one warrior at first and then a couple of settlers, then a granary. First, I'll discover pottery, then focus on getting map making unless it become obvious that we're connected to the pangea. I'm going to risk running into barbs early on. I may use my warrior to steal a worker at first, if it looks safe, otherwise he'll just explore.

I will put my settlers very close to my capital so they can share the early improvements. My worker will go W first, and I think I'll settle right where I am. I don't see any good reason to move toward the fresh water, even if it's there, because then I won't have enough shield producing squares to support a city anyway.

Good luck all...

Welcome, LowtherCastle! :wavey:

Good luck to you too...!

Hi,

Never try the GOTM, I am a chieftain/warlord player. Maybe I will try next level sometime, but I will try this one since a GOTM :)

Thank you so much Ainwood. :goodjob:

I have been waiting with great patience for a Monarch or below game. I play Monarch all the time and have a lot of fun with it, but now that there is some sort of "competition and acknowledgement with a lower level game I am thrilled. I know I won't come in in the top ten, bu I know for a fact that I will have more fun than I have had on any other GOTM or COTM.

Let's see. My plan is for a Cultural or Diplomatic win. Hell, anything but Space Race! I vow to myself not to win by Space Race again for at least five GOTMs and COTMs.

Plan of attack: Send Worker West. If Fresh Water Go NW and Settle. If not, settle in place. Build order will be warrior, worker, granery, settler.

Go from there....

I am so freakin' stoked about this game! :) :) :)

Hi cptben! Good luck!

Rough plan of action. Build an armada. Find other people, learn their secrets, if any. Make decision whether to stomp or trade. Decide stomp. Stomp.

Hi guys.

I'm a relative newbie at this and this will be my second C/GOTM. I got my ass kicked in COTM 13 (submited the record of my humiliation last night) and I'm ready for something I can handle better. No matter how bad the starting position ends up being in this one, I should be able to keep up better.

I have to say that I'm impressed by how so many of you know the ins and outs of this game so well that you can come up with detailed plans of attack. I just happened to start a random game late last night that gave me a starting position similar to what this seems to be and I hope that I can learn from the mistakes I made there. But beyond that, I can't say I have decided on any strategy yet.

I would normally go for Conquest class but considering the level of this one... I'll assume it can't be that bad and I'll go for Open. I may regret this... ;)

All right... let's jump in and see what lurks in the fog... This should be fun...

Well, I'm glad I'm not alone as a relative newbie trying a GOTM. Hopefully there won't be any truly nasty surprises... And I'm still figuring out whether to go open or conquest...

That tundra on the border though, could be a problem in addition to any isolation issues that may come across...

Does conquest, open or predator affect jason score?

Yes, conquest is 20% penalty, and predator is 20% bonus, I think. (If possible, I'd play this on conquest just for the score penalty, but then I'd also be ineligible for the shield award.)

no predator doesnt have any score bonuses

This is a hard choice - I will have no time to play both COTM13 and GOTM44. What should I choose?

My feelings exactly. Just finished GOTM43, and now what? I hate to skip out on one of Renata's maps, but I also have the RL map of Colorado in June to contend with. I'll decide tomorrow...

Conquest is 15% penalty.

Yes, conquest is 20% penalty, and predator is 20% bonus, I think. (If possible, I'd play this on conquest just for the score penalty, but then I'd also be ineligible for the shield award.)
Incorrect on all counts.

Conquest has a 15% score penalty and loses the right to all high score and fast finish awards.

Predator has no rewards except a warm glow inside :D

All classes can win lowest score and ambulances. 42 lowest scoring victory awards have been won by conquest class players since its inception.

@Xerol: You are eligible to play conquest class.

I thought you were ineligible if you ever scored above the bottom 25%. GOTM 40 I was 61st out of 114, and 41 I was 91 out of 128. All classes can win lowest score and ambulances. Hmmm....wish I had known this sooner...

Still, I could've been playing for higher scores in the recent games and probably achieved them, but I've been intentionally scoring low due to my quest for shields. Even if I was eligible, I don't consider myself as such.

You're ineligible if you score in the top 50%. You made it by 4 spots.

@Zerol: The King has said it. Your highest rank was GOTM 40, 61 out of 114, and was outside the top 50%. However, as you say, I think your own personal C/GOTM variant rules ought to ban you from using Conquest class to lower your score, as it looks rather like an exploit :D.

Since I just got conquests, one more question: am I still eligible for conquest class in COTM even if I score in the top 50% in a GOTM?

The question has never been raised, but my guess would be 'No'. Better than 50% in either version shows you basically know how to play the game, and should disqualify you from conquest class in both. Conquest class is not supposed to be a mechanism to allow experienced players to win the low score awards, it's for novice players who want some arm bands for their first couple of visits to the pool.

Maybe he just wants to bring in some new/fresh (cough*dumb*cough) players like us in :p

i am one of these NEW players and need help setting up to play the gotm any help would be nice ps remember i am NEW

Bigrick- The game is out already and if people have started playing, they technically are not allowed to post in this thread. Myself included. If you wait a few days, I think they will open a hunting tips thread and then you can get help.

no i mean i got the new patch the gotm mod but i am having trouble getting the gotm it said that windows cannot open the file what do i need to do where do i save it to please help

You save the downloaded savegame file to the saves directory of civ or ptw, which ever one you have. Then you use the game program to open the save, not windows.

So, save it, then open it in civ.

Question: If I settle on the Wheat, do I still get the wheat bonus?

No, you don't.

no i mean i got the new patch the gotm mod but i am having trouble getting the gotm it said that windows cannot open the file what do i need to do where do i save it to please help

Just a question - have you managed to get the GOTM installer to work so that you can play GOTM 44?

Apparently not. I'll take this to PM with BIGRICK.

[Edit] This is an example showing why we ask people with technical issues to contact us by PM. Trying to provide technical assistance in a public forum just creates confusion, with too many people trying to help, all making different assumptions about the problem. There's insufficient information in the original support request to make any suggestions at this stage.