Gotm19-Ottomans Pre-Game Discussion

cracker

Gil Favor's Sidekick
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This month we are again going to try the concept of releasing the game announcement and set up instructions to all the players a few days in advance of when the starting save game will be available for you to play.

It is not possible for you to begin play at this time but you can strategize together about what you think you would do in the game.

This process should allow all the players to look over the setup instructions for the game and discuss what they think these instructions mean without the risk of any real spoiler information. Since none of the players will be able to start the game, essentially all you will have available to support your discussion will be past GOTM results and strategy articles.

The rules for participation in this discussion thread are simple:

1) read the game announcement and get yourself set up to play the game when the save game is released to you.

2) barbarian features in this game have been announced and encountered in previous GOTM games so you may freely discuss anything you feel that would be appropriate for pre-game planning.

3) Once you download the starting save game file and open it to begin play you may no longer participate in this discussion thread.

I plan to leave this thread open to support pregame discussion for any players who have not yet opened the starting save game file but if we have any players who violate this rule the discussion will be closed.

Again there is a great deal going on inside and around this month's game, but at the core of the process the game is simple and fun. Read the instructions and you will have a good time.

Be warned also that the first spoiler discussion will not open until May 5th.

The first spoiler discussion will require you to have made specific contacts with your rivals in the game as well as to have specific knowledge of the game map. You can be certain that one of the conditions for participation in the first spoiler thread will be that you must have gained enough technolgy knowledge to enter the middle ages even if you may not be allowed to discuss everything you might know up to that point in time.

Here is your link to the

Game Announcement Page for Gotm19-Ottomans

Good luck in your quest to elighten the infidels and remember that a certain amount of reverent role playing should be a freely acceptable part of the process of pretending that you are becoming the great Muslim Leader of the Civ3 World.
 
I finally went out and bought PTW and really want to play it this month so how about some pregame discussion. There are no bonus resources shown, or hinted at within the edge of the adjoining squares. However, there are lots of bonus squares, one in the start position.

If you take the start position then there are 5 other bonus squares available. However, if you move the Settler one square SW, to the grassland, and build your capital there, then there are 6 bonus squares visible, all available to the capital after its expansion.

I think that will be my preliminary plan. Of course, that may change if we are located in some weird corner of the world and I may want to send my worker to one of the two mountains to have a look around.

I will also look to build a second city to the NW, on the bend in the river, in order to share the bonus squares with the capital.
 
Those plains aren't bonus squares. They always produce 1 food and 1 shield. He has the show food and shields on map option turned on. I will probably move my worker north to the mountain to see if there's any bonus food along the river up there. Otherwise that start position is fairly weak in terms of food. But all that river is great for commerce.

A small map on emperor. I'm sure there will be people dominating/conquering the world really early, unless navigation is required to reach other land masses.

I had planned to go for a fast space race victory. With the small map that will be a bit more challenging but all the more reason to go for it. I may change my mind and go for 100k culture though, but leaning towards space. Those rivers at the start position should favor a fast tech approach too.
 
Hi everybody,

I really wanted to join in this pre-game discussion, but it just won't work for the moment. Everytime I try to open the page for GOTM 19 I get an error in IE and it closes. As other people already reacted, it must be a problem with my comp, or it can also mean they don't use IE. I'll be back after I sort out the problem,

greets Jurimax
 
100k culture on emperor, on a small map ? No thanks !

Looking at the screenshot of the start, I'm going to move my worker to the bonus grass to see what's available to the south as 1) it will likely be the first tile worked anyway and 2) there appears to be more grass to the south, so I'm more likely to move the settler in that direction (1 tile SE).

I'm undecided as to the desired victory condition - most likely I'll try to see what's feasible as the mystery unfolds.
 
I think I will start by moving the worker S to the bonus grassland. If nohting new appears, I'll settle on the starting position.

Now, a small "mystery" land mass, and with the large Pangea of last GOTM in mind, I will be very surprised if this map doesn't consist of a few separated islands. I don't think they will be far apart (no need for suicide galleys this time), since it wouldn't fit for the Ottomans. Also, 7 other civs will mean that the map gets full quickly, so tight city spacing and quick expansion is critical.

My guess is 3 evenly sized islands (our is perhaps the smallest), with few but abundant resources. This means you'll need to trade a lot, and I fear Cracker has some surprises for us concerning our UU. Maybe there is no Saltpeter at all on our island? Or even no horses?
 
One thing about the image, I clearly see three units at start. Do we get an extra settler? Or a worker?



Anyway, I will move either to the eastern or northern mountain to scout the terrain before I settle anywhere. It depends on if we're located more to the west or south on the map to which mountain I will scout from. Like Shillen said, good start economy in this game with all the rivers around the start location.

Mystery landmass, geology and enviroment... This looks set to be another fun game.
 
Maybe that third unit is a scout..
A scout would be very handy to scope out the surronding terrain.

If it is a scout I'd be going for Iron working to reveal all the local Iron deposits ASAP and then send units out to deprive any local opposition.

SW look to be the best starting position to be. Extra shield for setting the grassland would be the best for early production and growth.

btw what exactly are the starting attributes of the Ottomans?
 
I believe, if I am reading the announcement thread correctly, that the third unit is a conscript warrior, from a pre-popped goody hut (they pre-popped three huts to minimize random effects of equally 'good' play styles, with the three huts giving us 25 gold, a conscript warrior, and 'this village was deserted').
 
Well, there isn't much to do there. I would definitely found my capital city at the starting location, then move my worker South to build mine before road. Of course, I'm going to build two or three warriors then a settler. Since at this level, even Pottery does cost 34 turn at 100% science; therefore, I'm going to set my research at mininum and search for the most expensive tech by 40 turns.
 
I don't think that's quite right; since you start on the river, you should get 2 extra commerce right away - my guess is that pottery can be researched in 20 turns at max science, and that's what I will do.
 
It is no ones fault, but why do we wind up with a small world the same month that nothing is going on with the Civ Tournament? This game won't come close to covering much of the month. I never would have guessed small map under the wild speculation thread. I hope if we have another small map that it shows up in the tournament busy season.

The first thing I will do is to send the conscript warrior to one of the mountains. However, I will most likely found the city where the settler stands due to the small map. IMHO you can't afford to waste a single turn to move the capital with how few cities there are on a "small" map. I have my suspicion of mostly land, but we shall see.

I won't go for pottery this game. I am have been getting to nailed with early war on small / tiny maps while waiting for the granary and first settler and being too weak with military. If we are near Greece, then we absolutely need military ASAP. With Greece starting with free hoplites they are stronger then the world and are very likely to start a war.

I am baffled with what to do for a victory condition. I was hoping to try for a 100K win again to improve my skills in that type of win. With a small map I don't think that is physically possible without tripping domination by mistake. I suspect I need to know more of the map to decide my victory goal. However, I wonder how many games will end without seeing Siphai. The small map doesn't let us play too much with the best UU in the game. I give Panzer the #2 slot mainly for how late they appear. The majority my games under deity are over, or in mop up, by the time tanks appear.
 
The extra unit?? I re-read the scope of the game announcement ;). A couple of huts etc. etc. This will change the effects of players that get a settler from that first hut.

I am glad to here that MDI are in the game after going peacefully last Month I am looking to a few wars :hammer:
 
Well that's what I get for not reading the second page of the game description. Since we have a conscript warrior clearly the best thing to do is send the warrior north to the mountain and if he doesn't spot anything, then the worker south to the bonus grassland.

As for the pottery discussion you're all forgetting that research is much faster early on on a small map. Since you aren't expected to have as many cities, techs require much fewer beakers to complete. I figured pottery would take less than 20 turns so I did a test start. Small map, emperor, made sure I got at least one river and I worked the bg next to the river. Pottery in 13 turns at 100% science, and that will only go down as your city grows and you build roads.

I have confidence in the Jason scoring system that whatever victory condition you go for you can get a good score. The Jason score accounts for the fact that it's a small map. So the cultural 100k date will be much later than it was in the previous two games. Therefore I don't think the small map should discourage you from going that route if you so choose.
 
Is anyhing known about the European PTW 1.21 patch? Will it become available sometime in May? If so, I will wait until it does.

I don't really like the starting position. Perhaps there are better tiles on the other side of the river. I'll be thinking about moving two squares. However, the Worker can go south and the Warrior west before we have to decide about moving the Settler. Or, alternatively, sending the Warrior north could also gain valuable information.
 
Warrior N or W really depends on our position on the map, doesn't it?
But definitly one of the two and then worker S if warrior scouting isn't succesful.

Settling where we are, I'd road to the S first and then mine to get sci running as quick as poss.
 
Originally posted by Capt Buttkick
Warrior N or W really depends on our position on the map, doesn't it?
But definitly one of the two and then worker S if warrior scouting isn't succesful.

Settling where we are, I'd road to the S first and then mine to get sci running as quick as poss.

I don't think it depends on position on the map. We're moving the warrior in hopes of finding a better settling spot, so whichever move has the greater potential to reveal a better spot should be taken. If we're in the northern part of the map then I'll just move the warrior west or east after his initial move to the mountain.

It's good to see someone else roads before mining. I think roading first is more beneficial. Either way you're adding 1 power to the square. But when you road it you get it done twice as fast. So over time that square is more powerful if you road it first. Of course with an industrious civ the difference isn't as great because roading takes 2 turns and mining only 3. You also get the movement benefit of the road while the mine has no additional benefits.
 
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