Gandhi's Cold Cramped Deity Domination Challenge

Gandhi's Cold Cramped Deity Domination Challenge

I wanted to make a game that would take a domination game well through the tech tree, so here's my attempt. 22 Civs and domination victory only enabled. It's a bit different form to the usual DCLs so I've posted it separately instead. Should be a bit of a slog. I'd be interested in how long people take to play this game. The game is attached at the bottom of this post.

There's a hint I'll give you in a spoiler below. It's not essential reading, so feel free to ignore it if you want the extra challenge.

You: Gandhi - India

Map Type:
Map Settings:
Other Settings:

Difficulty:
Starting Location:


Hint:

Sorry to be so negative...

clinton said:

I wanted to make a game that would take a domination game well through the tech tree, so here's my attempt. 22 Civs and domination victory only enabled.

Click to expand...

The main challenge I face for getting a DV is doing it quickly enough. I think turning off VC makes it trivial to get to end-tech warfare. Am I mistaken bout that?

Set up an everything-standard game -- except disable all VC but dom -- then turtle until you have nuke missiles and xcom. Is that not a simple recipe for “a domination game well through the tech tree”? I enjoy the late-era warfare as much as anyone, so I am all for game settings where that likely to happen, but disabling VC just does not appeal to me. I want the time pressure from other AI.

Yeah you can kind of just sit back until you have nukes. With the generally crap land around, you won't really be a big juicy target

Disabling everything except domination means the AI can't win

- - -

But he sure can bug you!

Update: T130ish XBs and Trebuchets and... War Elephants!

I have to say, this map has not been good for AI tech pace. Not only have they all been more or less constantly at war, but the dirt too is far worse for them than for me. Still no sign of Gunpowder units. I'm butchering my way through four fronts simultaneously. Fun, but a bit easier than I like.

consentient said:

I have to say, this map has not been good for AI tech pace. Not only have they all been more or less constantly at war, but the dirt too is far worse for them than for me. Still no sign of Gunpowder units. I'm butchering my way through four fronts simultaneously. Fun, but a bit easier than I like.

Click to expand...

I've been playing a lot of games starting OCC style, and making a super capital with all the early national wonders. I know it's probably not ideal but I have fun doing it. I usually also build the Oracle and occasionally if no-one goes tradition the hanging gardens. If I really focus and the circumstances are right I can get Alhambra and later on Brandenburg Gate to pump out some specialised units. Again this probably isn't ideal but I have fun with it.

Anyway I think you're right about the tech pace...

Why are you putting so much energy into religion when all VCs are disabled except Domination?

clinton said:

If I really focus and the circumstances are right I can get Alhambra and later on Brandenburg Gate to pump out some specialised units. Again this probably isn't ideal but I have fun with it.

Click to expand...

It is keeping with OP's stated goal:

clinton said:

I wanted to make a game that would take a domination game well through the tech tree

Click to expand...

With Alhambra+Brandenburg you can have XCOM that start with Blitz. XCOM w/ Blitz can attack on the same turn they drop. So turtle until you are set, then each cap just takes a turn.

I would love to try that on a map that was not quite so cooked!

I see there is no Temple of Artemis, I really wanted that

T177, 13/22 Capitals are Indian

T203 Update

T234 Update

T248 VICTORY!

a.k.a. "Still Cold but Not So Cramped"

Nice job, consentient!

Thanks. I quite like the OP's idea, so am gonna see if I can find another configuration that might pose a bit more of a challenge and not nerf the AI as much.

That was brutal. Awesome job!

consentient said:

Thanks. I quite like the OP's idea, so am gonna see if I can find another configuration that might pose a bit more of a challenge and not nerf the AI as much.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kudos. I didn't intend this to be particularly difficult, indeed what I was attempting to make was a relatively easy game that nevertheless was hard to finish early.

I find all the non-domination victory conditions a bit artificial. They often seem quite formulaic. It's just my humble opinion, but I think the only way to win should be to take over the world!

Indeed, I find domination a bit artificial sometimes, as unlike previous civ games, there's no "60% of land area" threshold or something similar. With only 8 civs you can win by domination only controlling a small proportion of the world. In those circumstances perhaps it's best to even turn domination off and demand that victory is only achieved when you're the only civ left standing. However on this map with 22 civs, you're probably going to have to control 50% (or close to it) of the world to win by domination.

I'm looking forward to a more challenging map Consentient, perhaps even one that you struggle to complete sub 300.

I've found Amazon Plus maps are challenging for the human, because there's so much room (and good terrain) for the AI to expand. Brazil is obvious a helpful civ to play here, but also Dutch and Inca can be interesting, as the Amazon Plus maps have flood plains and hills regions in their North East and South West respectively.

A 22 Civ Amazon map may be interesting.

Try this one, see if you like it



Should be quite tough!

clinton said:

...what I was attempting to make was a ... game that nevertheless was hard to finish early.

Click to expand...

I laud your ambition with this. I really like the late game warfare too! I am not sure if it needs to be an easy game to go long. But consentient frustrated that aspect of your design, as he finished by T250.

So I am just thinking out loud here, but what are settings that would likely push the game to T350 or later? Extra civs? Poor land quality? Ban the usual science and culture runaways?

Then you need to consider what might provide something of a speed bump for the better warmongers. Judging from the DCLs, starting as Iroquois in a corner with Assyria as only neighbor did it for consentient. So maybe starting as a weak civ with harsh neighbors?

Too many civs actually nerfs the AI as they spend all their time squabbling and warring. It also means that the civs that went Piety (clue: half) all end up with a religion, since the # of religions goes up too, and they spend all their remaining energy on that. In short, they forget completely about science.

A good human player can always win domination much quicker than the AI can launch or sell jeans, so the question is: what makes warfare take longer. The answers to that are not encouraging:

1. Poor terrain or islands map with non-coastal capitals = no fun or challenge, just harder
2. Deity AI unit spam = no fun or challenge, just harder
3. Deity+ AI advantages = no fun, and can actually allow for piggybacking, like I did on DCL #27.

So I'm not sure what the answer is, other than more civs (but not too many). So in my Inca map, I've gone with 16 and other VCs enabled. Let's see if it's an adequate challenge.