BOTM 257: Hatshepsut of Egypt.
The various deities have decreed that this is to be THEIR month. Therefore, you play on deity level. And since the Gods want you to have worthy opponents who worship and respect the deities, you are playing against all classical civilizations. One of your wise men did express the opinion that this is just so all the AIs get to play with their unique units before you vanquish them. Of course, you instantly exiled him to the desert for blasphemy: The thought that anyone could ever question the motives of the mapmaker-Gods. Pffft!
Because deity is probably going to take longer to play, you have an extra week: This competition won't close until 9 October.
Game settings:
Playing as: Hatshepsut of Egypt
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Deity
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No barbarians, no vassal states, no goody huts, no random events
Victory Conditions: All enabled
Map settings:
Map: Pangaea
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Tropical
Sea level: Medium
Map latitudes: -90°S to 90°N
Hatshepsut is Spiritual and Creative, and you start with The Wheel and Agriculture.
The Spiritual trait gives no anarchy and double production speed of Temple and Cristo Redentor
The Creative trait gives +2 culture/city each turn and double production speed of Colosseum, Library and Theatre
Unique unit: War Chariot (replaces Chariot)
A favourite for early sneak attacks, the war chariot is stronger than a chariot, with a base strength of 5. And it's also immune to first strikes.
Unique Building: Obelisk (replaces Monument)
The obelisk lets you turn 2 citizens into priests. Very nice if you want a super-early great prophet!
Starting screenshot
This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):
Adventurer Class bonuses:
An intrepid barbarian tribe managed to evade the God's instructions that there should be no barbarian villages, and by pure luck, your warrior stumbled on it just before the game began. They provided you with a 2nd settler and a scout (on the same tile as the warrior) and a worker (on the same tile as the settler). Maybe that will even things up with the AIs (who on deity each start with 4 archers, 2 scouts, 2 settlers and a worker).
Challenger Class Equalizers:
Your warrior was a bit too blase when he entered the barbarian village: He sought to seduce the barbarian chief's daughter. Unfortunately for you, he succeeded. Naturally, the chief was livid, and in his fury he vowed to rid the World of all non-barbarians.
To Enter the Competition:
This competition will open at 00:01 am on 1 Sep 2023, server local time (UTC-6:00). From that date and time, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.
Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 9 Oct 2023.
Here is a link to a list of the differences between Vanilla, Warlords and BtS.
Software Versions
Windows: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the BUFFY mod version 3.19.005 installed. You can download the BUFFY mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.
Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the Mac BUFFY mod version 3.19.003 installed. You can download the Mac BUFFY mod here.
While playing...
Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.
We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of your game outside those threads.
@Blake00 @The_J
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