What determines the victory score??

F

Fihri

Chieftain
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Messages
17
Does anyone know what factors impact the final victory score?

I have a domination win on warlord with catherine, for 13101 points.
I have a cultural win on noble that came in at only 4310.

Both victories were about 1940.

Shouldnt a win on noble be worth more?
 
In game score has a significant impact on your final score. Domination wins imply that you probably control a lot of the world, giving you a higher score. I think the scoring system is moderately broken though. Difficulties don't matter enough.
 
The length of the game (ie, how quickly you win) is also a factor.

Your cultural victory probably came pretty late, after having to take the time to get your three cities to legendary status.

A domination victory with a good start can be achieved quickly, so it happens a lot earlier.
 
Hover upon your name in the bottom right of the main screen, it will tell you everything.
 
My best scores have been quick conquest victories, my worst scores have been time victories.

A duel map conquest win (i.e. winning sometimes between 1000-500 BC) gives a better score than a huge map domination win (winning around 1900ish) even though the latter is exponetially longer and harder to acheive.
 
It appears difficulty level provides a bonus as follows: Diety is twice Noble and Diety is 5 times Settler.

Generalizing and elaborating:

It seems the way to maximize your score is as follows. Increase your population as quickly as possible toward the maximum the total available land area can support then end the game as soon as population growth rate falls off. This is because population is half the "raw" score and early finish gives maximum bonus. Increasing population requires controlling land area which contributes another 20% to the raw score. Increasing population and land area will require technologies which contribute another 20%. Number of wonders built contributes 10%. Difficulty level provides a bonus where Diety is twice Noble and Diety is 5 times Settler. However, the bonus for finishing early appears to be dominate.

You might agree that the results posted in the Hall of Fame seem to support this because the highest scores are currently Conquests on standard maps at Marathon speed and Diety difficulty. Scores (even by the same players) seem to fall at lower difficulties and/or smaller map sizes. I think I will search the forums for an explanation as to how Lurifax acheived the current high score of 412,476!!

--------------------------

I have not yet found this information on the forums or in the Wiki's so I thought I would share it.

After studying the relevant Python and XML files listed below (update 1.52) I conclude the following regarding score: "Game Score" and "Normalized Score"

  1. All scores are a sum of 4 components weighted as follows:
    • 50% based on population of all your cities
    • 20% based on land area within your cultural borders
    • 20% based on technology you have researched
    • 10% based on wonders you have built
  2. Each pre-weighted component is the ratio of what you did relative to the maximum that was possible in that game:
    Code: 
         your population               TO max population possible on that map
     land area within your borders TO the land area of that map
     technology you researched     TO all technologies researched
     wonders you built             TO all wonders built
  3. The so called "Game Score" is determined by 1 & 2 alone and nothing else other than being multiplied by 10,000. In other words, if you have maximum population, maximum land, researched all technologies and built every wonder then your Game Score will be 10,000.
  4. The so called "Normalized Score" is dependent on difficulty level and the turn the game was completed on. If the difficulty is NOBLE and you finished the game on the so called "Estimated End Turn" then your Normalized Score will be 10,000.
  5. The difficulty level alters the normalized score by 0.2 per level as follows:
    Code: 
         Settler:   score is 0.4 times what it would be at Noble
     Chieftain: score is 0.6 times what it would be at Noble
     Warlord:   score is 0.8 times what it would be at Noble
     Noble:     score is 1.0 times what it would be at Noble
     Prince:    score is 1.2 times what it would be at Noble
     Monarch:   score is 1.4 times what it would be at Noble
     Emperor:   score is 1.6 times what it would be at Noble
     Immortal:  score is 1.8 times what it would be at Noble
     Diety:     score is 2.0 times what it would be at Noble
  6. The turn you end the game on alters the normalized score in a complex way. The game "estimates" the turn that you "should" win. The game also has so called "Initial" values for each of population, land, techs & wonders.
    Let
    • E be the estimated end turn.
    • W be the turn you won on.
    • R be the raw value (eg your population or techs researched) and
    • M be the max value (eg max possible population or max techs) and
    • I be the initial value (?eg initial population? or initial techs?).
    ---
    • Recall the Game Score for each component, G(i) is R divided by M:
      • G(i) = R / M, for example
      • G(pop) = R(pop) / M(pop)
    • If the Initial values of all 4 components are zero then the total normalized score, N, is multiplied by the ratio E divided by W:
      • N = (E/W) * (R/M)
      • N = (E/W) * [G(pop)+G(land)+G(tech)+G(wonder)]
      Note: in this case the turn you finish on has a "linear" effect on score
    • The wonders component of the score is always effected linearly by the turn you finish on, although when I is not 0 it is more complex:
      • N(wonder) = R / {I + [(W/E) * (M-I)]}
    • The turn you finish on has an exponential effect on population, land, or tech if their corresponding initial values are not zero. Each component of the normalized score, N(i) is altered as follows:
      • N(i) = R / (I * pow( M/I, W/E ) )
      obviously if W is equal to E then
      • N(i) = R / (I * pow( M/I, E/E ) ) = R / (I * M/I) = R / M
      If W is twice E (ie it took twice as long to finish the game) then the score is reduced because I is less than M:
      • N(i) = R / (I * pow( M/I, 2*E/E) ) = R / (I * M*M/(I*I)) = (I/M)*(R/M)
      If W is half E (ie game was finished in half the number of turns) then
      • N(i) = R / (I * pow( M/I, 0.5*E/E) ) = R / (I * sqrt(M/I))

-------------------------------

In directory:

c:/Program Files/Firaxis Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 4/Assets/XML/

file:
GlobalDefines.xml
the following parameter values are specified:
Code: 
  SCORE_POPULATION_FACTOR        = 5000
  SCORE_LAND_FACTOR              = 2000
  SCORE_WONDER_FACTOR            = 2000
  SCORE_TECH_FACTOR              = 1000
  SCORE_FREE_PERCENT             = 0
  SCORE_VICTORY_PERCENT          = 0
  SCORE_HANDICAP_PERCENT_OFFSET  = -60
  SCORE_HANDICAP_PERCENT_PER     = 20

In directory:

c:/Program Files/Firaxis Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 4/Assets/Python/

in files:
EntryPoints/CvGameInterface.py
CvGameUtils.py
CvUtil.py
we find functions:
gameUtils().calculateScore()
CvUtil.getScoreComponent()

Following is a "simplification" of those functions.

The first function calculates the score as follows:
Code: 
  PopScore  = getScore(Pop,  InitPop,  MaxPop,  5000, T, Final, Victory)
  LandScore = getScore(Land, InitLand, MaxLand, 2000, T, Final, Victory)
  TechScore = getScore(Tech, InitTech, MaxTech, 2000, T, Final, Victory)
  WondScore = getScore(Wond, InitWond, MaxWond, 1000, F, Final, Victory)
  return (PopScore + LandScore + WondScore + TechScore)
where presumably the Init values are starting values (for example the game starts with some free techs) although they could be something else (perhaps the function is generalized for later than 4000 BC starts).


The second function calculates each component of the score as follows:
Code: 
getScore(RawScore, Initial, Max, Factor, Exponential, Final, Victory):

  if EstimateEndTurn == 0:
	return 0


  if Final and Victory:
	TurnRatio = GameTurn / EstimateEndTurn
	if Exponential and (Initial != 0):
		Ratio = Max / Initial
		Max = Initial * pow(Ratio, TurnRatio)
	else:
		Max = Initial + TurnRatio * (Max - Initial)

  Free = (SCORE_FREE_PERCENT * Max) / 100
  if (Free + Max) != 0:
	Score = (Factor * (RawScore + Free)) / (Free + Max)
  else:
	Score = Factor

  if Victory:
	Score = ((100 + SCORE_VICTORY_PERCENT) * Score) / 100

  if Final:
	X = HandicapType * SCORE_HANDICAP_PERCENT_PER
	Y = 100 + SCORE_HANDICAP_PERCENT_OFFSET + X
	Score = (Y * Score) / 100

  return(Score)

This can be further simplified as follows:
Code: 
getScore(RawScore, Initial, Max, Factor, Exponential, Final, Victory):


  if Final and Victory:
	TurnRatio = GameTurn / EstimateEndTurn
	if Exponential and (Initial != 0):
		R = Max / Initial
		Max = Initial * pow(R, TurnRatio)
	else:
		Max = Initial + TurnRatio * (Max - Initial)

  if Max != 0:
	Score = Factor * RawScore / Max
  else:
	Score = Factor

  if Final:
	Score = ((HandicapType * 20) + 40) * Score) / 100

  return(Score)

--------------------------------

Things that I have not yet verified or otherwise determined:
  • what is included with wonders? world, national, projects, spaceship parts?
  • is the score really unchanged at Noble difficulty for all game speeds? (what value is returned by function getHandicapType()?)
  • how is the estimated end turn determined? what does it depend on? (what value is returned by function getEstimateEndTurn()?)
  • what determines the "initial" values for population, land, techs & wonders? (what value is returned by functions getInitPopulation(), getInitLand(), getInitTech(), and getInitWonders()?)

Comments regarding unverified and/or undetermined information:
  • wonders have the least impact on score so knowing the contribution of national wonders, projects or spaceship parts wont help players increase their score by a significant amount.
  • knowing the exact difficulty where the score is not changed wont help players improve their score.
  • knowing how the estimated end turn is determined could potentialy help players increase their score (it would at least be interesting to know).
  • the manner in which the score if altered depends on the "initial" values so it would be nice to know what those values are; if they are zero then finishing earlier has a linear effect otherwise exponential.
  • The maximum tech is 300 (at least it is in my current game) but there are 86 techs and the sum of points needed to research every tech is 197,120. Perhaps it is based on number of techs weighted for era?
  • The maximum number of wonders is 230 (at least in my current game) but there are 33 world wonders, 13 national wonders, 4 projects & 7 spaceship parts.
 
@paul57

Wow. You did some digging and a lot of work to collect that info and post it here.
Thanks for the effort!
 
Just noticed I got mentioned in the thread, so I felt like commenting :)
The only way to get a really high score is as for now to go for conquest on a map as large as possible with as many opponents as possible, and try to do it as fast as possible. The one and only way to do this as for now is using the perpetual anarchy strategy posted by moonsinger back in november or something, i dont really remember. Learn how to use this strategy and learn how to make a good start and you are on your way. A good starting position is another one key to achieving the goal. Hope this makes any sense to you.
 
@Lurifax
Thanks for enlightening us; makes sense to me. Are you striving to post high score in all categories or are you moving on to other pursuits?

BTW: I will search later myself but can anybody provide links to threads explaining the Anarchy strategy and/or other relevant high score strategies?

@DaveMcW
Thanks for the link. Sorry I did not read it first. You and Dianthus explain scoring very well & Aeson shows us the relevant lines in the relevant files.

I like your explanation:
  • win in first half score^2 (squared)
  • win in first third score^3 (cubed)
  • win in first quarter score^4
  • etc
And your advise:
  • Claim victory when no longer able to double score every 10% of turns.

I'll attempt to summarize important information containd in that thread but omitted from my previous post:
  • Initial score seems to be possible score at end of first turn (eg 1 pop, 21? land, 6? tech, 0? wonders).
  • Estimated End turn is(?) turn limit for the game.
  • Raw population score is 1 per citizen.
  • Raw land score is 1 per land tile held for > 20 turns.
  • Raw tech score is 1 per Acient Era tech, 2 per Classical Era, 3 per Medieval Era, ..., 7 per Future Era tech (and bonus points causing you to exceed the maximum of 300 by repeatedly researching the tech called "Future Tech").
  • Raw wonder score is 5 per world wonder and 5 per national wonder including Palace and Shrines but nothing for projects and spaceship parts.
 
Try this thread:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=152148
That is moonsingers original strategy. What the strategy basically is all about is this: When you overtake other civilizations cities in the speed you will do, the negative income will turn huge, and you wont make even a few turns if you dont turn to anarchy. As your land area/pop increases the turns in anarchy will rise, for example, a change of religion will take 3 turns instead of 1, and even later 5 turns instead of 1 and 3. This means that you can stay in anarchy most of the time and only need to make one turn or so between anarchy which then cost you money. Oh well, I feel like I am not the best to express a strategy in a short version in a short time :)

As for your other question, I have a loads to do in uni right now with upcoming exams so there wont be much gaming for me for a while, but for sure my next goals are trying to get even higher score, and in different categories. I feel the next patch is coming soon and maybe everything will change then, we'll see what happends. As for now I am just enjoying the high score and I hope it will last a while at least ;)
 
Last night I used the map editor to simulate an ideal high-score situation, and I found something odd with the score associating with "Land Area".

Starting with Standard Pangea, I filled the map with Ocean, replacing all remaining shores with deep ocean. Then I created a land mass that only 1 Civ (that's me) can access. All of the other 6 Civs are crowded on a small dessert peninsulla that has a dozen or so forest tiles for their escape from the sun.

I designed the land in a way that all of the land tiles can be covered by the city boundaries. Then I planted the cities on designated spots. After 1000 years or so, the entire new continent is filled by my culture.

To my surprise that my land score (other scores are the pop score, the tech and the wonder, as you know) was something like 150/800. I already occupy more than 80% of the total available lands, but my score is only 150/800...

I can think of 2 possibilities. Land score is calculated from...

1) The TOTAL AREA of the map. In my game, 150/800 is roughly right for the area I occupy relative to the entire map area.

2) The INITIAL LAND AREA before the map editor. Since I started with Pangea, roughly 1/2 of the map area is land. However, I certainly own more than 150/800 of the initial land area...

So I think (1) sounds more correct. Next time I will test it with a Duel Pangea and fill the entire map with cities, and see whether the land score gets high as predicted.
 
The land score calculation seemd to be more complicated than I thought.

So this past weekend I started a duel map pangea (32x20), and with the Map Editor, I almost land-filled the entier map, stuffed 24 cities in it. With each city I changed its culture score to 1000, which is 3 (or 4?) levels of cultural expansion.

Basically, one Civ covers 32x20 - 2 tiles of the map. The 2 tiles that went missing goes to another Civ. I unchecked the domination victory box, so I don't get a victory right away.

I played with the map editor and put a lot of populations into these cities. The total number of population actually goes over the theoretical limit of the map. My population score looks something like 278/181. So it is possible to exceed the theoretical score maximum.

However, my land score was always 0/141. I don't know what went wrong... I used the map editor to give out settlers, not planting cities from nowhere, so that part was done normally. Perhaps by giving up culture through the map editor, the land gained is not counted? But at least it shouldn't be 0.

Also, I found that it is IMPOSSIBLE to win before 3950 BC in this game. Even if I meet the criteria of diplomatic and conquest victory, I did't get the "You Win" message until 3950 BC (Game speed was Quick).

Also, future techs are not counted in the Tech score. Once you researched everything else other than the future techs, you get 300/300 in Tech score already.
 
Excellent work! Thanks.

>>
The so called "Game Score" is determined by 1 & 2 alone and nothing else other than being multiplied by 10,000. In other words, if you have maximum population, maximum land, researched all technologies and built every wonder then your Game Score will be 10,000.

<<

I have obtained “Game Score” higher than 10,000 several time. They are all domination victories at deity level. The “normalization scores” are about the same as the “Game scores” in those cases. So the maximum “Game score” cannot be 10,000.
 
That is very interesting. Thanks for letting us know. Did you happen to mouse over your score and notice the ratios (pop, land, tech, wonders)? Apparently, each time Future Tech is researched it increases so the tech ratio can be greater than 100%. I wonder if and how the other ratios could be greater?
 
paul57 said:
That is very interesting. Thanks for letting us know. Did you happen to mouse over your score and notice the ratios (pop, land, tech, wonders)? Apparently, each time Future Tech is researched it increases so the tech ratio can be greater than 100%. I wonder if and how the other ratios could be greater?
Click to expand...


I have checked my scores and there are numerous cases where the "Game Score" is above 10,000. They are not all at deity levels, they are at all levels.

The below one is a domination victory at Deity level, dual, France as leader against Huayna Capac, wining at 2046AD, quick setting. The "Game score" is 11719. I continue to play the game from 2046 to 2049, at which point he is wiped out and the game is saved. At 2049 AD, here are the scores:

12917
7978 from population
1891 from land
2700 from tech
347 from wonders.

I also happen to saved the game right before the domination victory, here are the numbers:

11672
7020
1673
2653
326

Thanks again.
 
Hmmm I see one post mentions that you get bonus points from wonders built...

Does this include wonders you've captured?
 
cv431410 said:
12917
7978 from population
1891 from land
2700 from tech
347 from wonders.
Click to expand...

Excellent! Thanks for these numbers.

We see you achieved 160% of max population, 95% of max land, 135% of max tech, and 35% of max wonders. I guess we might as well wait for the SDK to discover how the program establishes those maximums.

MrPaladin said:
Does this include wonders you've captured?
Click to expand...

I assume it would be a simple World Builder experiement to determine whether or not "captured" wonders are included in the score (perhaps I'll find time to try that tomorrow if nobody beats me to it).
 
maltz said:
Also, future techs are not counted in the Tech score. Once you researched everything else other than the future techs, you get 300/300 in Tech score already.
Click to expand...
Is this for certain? Once all techs are discovered am I right to reduce research to 0%? This information is contradicted by Paul:

Paul57 said:
7 per Future Era tech (and bonus points causing you to exceed the maximum of 300 by repeatedly researching the tech called "Future Tech")
Click to expand...
 
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