News: GOTM 121, The Polar Express, starts December 8

[Deckhand]

GOTM 121: The Polar Express.

You play as The Conductor of The Polar Express. You will ride the rails to gather goodies and deliver a new deal to your European partners.
You have been relocated to the Polar regions. Many goody huts will reward your exploration. With the Medieval start, all civs start with two settlers.

Game settings:
Playing as: The Conductor of The Polar Express (Roosevelt)
Rivals: 6 AIs (3 teams)
Difficulty: Noble
Starting Era: Medieval
Speed: Normal
Options: None
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Wheel
World Wrap: Flat
Mapsize: Normal
Climate: Temperate

The Conductor is Industrious and Organized, and you start with Thirty Techs (all Ancient and Classical).

The Industrious trait increases Wonder production 50 percent and Doubles production speed of Forge.

The Organized trait gives -50% civic upkeep and double production speed of Courthouse and Lighthouse.

Unique unit: Navy Seal

Spoiler :

These seals are prized for their dark blue fur. They are seldom seen in Civ games as they have been hunted almost to extinction.

Starting screenshot

This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):




There are no Adventurer nor Challenger saves for this game.

To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 8 Dec 2015, 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 12 Jan 2016.

Here is a link to a list of the differences between Vanilla, Warlords and BtS.

Software Versions

Windows: This game MUST be played in Civ4 Vanilla (NOT Beyond the Sword or Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the HOF mod version 1.74.004 installed. You can download the HOF mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.

If you have not installed BtS, you will need to update the relevant DLL files in order to match the Locked Assets checks. These are available here.**

Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Civ4 Vanilla (NOT Beyond the Sword or Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the Mac HOF mod version 1.74.002 installed. You can download the Mac HOF 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.

 

[MarleysGh0st]

So if we have "European partners", I'd assume that at least two of those AI are on our team.

But, ummmm, I can't read that fine print you're pointing to.

 

[High King J.J.]

Edit: corrected so this is no longer necessary.

Spoiler :

News: GOTM 121, The Polar Express, starts January 8
Perhaps it starts a little bit earlier than next year...?

Do barb animals raze improvements like railroads? Probably not. Fortunately we have some time before barb units start to appear and raze our rail net. How many turns is that on Noble? Also do barbs start with warriors or are they medieval too?

@MarleysGh0st: I believe those 3 AI teams are our rivals. Maybe they're all European?
Our new deal will probably be something like "Give us this and that and you'll live until we ask again. Deal?"

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Remember that whichever Settler settles first will determine the location of your Palace.

Barbs will not Pillage any Improvements or Routes (Railroads and Roads are considered to be Routes) that are outside of any Civ's Cultural Borders. Essentially, a Barb City could spawn near such a location, so why Pillage it, think the Barbs.

AI teams will share techs, so trading to one AI will give the tech to the other AI. But, I imagine that +4 Fair and Forthright Trading will only come from the AI to whom you made an overly beneficial trade, so you'll have to kiss up to both AIs in a team to keep them off of your back.

I wonder if the game's interface makes it easy to see which AI is on which AI's team... probably with a Shared Defensive Pact bonus on the F4 GLANCE screen.

Some Wonders will be obsolete, while others may be worth chasing after, especially with us being Industrial and having the ability to build a Marble Quarry from the start, due to knowing Masonry.

Copper, Iron, and Horse are likely to be revealed from the start, so there don't seem to be any Strategic Resources that are in the immediate areas of our Settlers.

Rather than waiting until we unlock Navy SEALS, it seems that we should be happy enough with unleashing the Blue Beavers (Macemen) on the world!

 

[Deckhand]

Some information. Spoilers ahead.
Lots of Randomness.

Yes, the first city you settle becomes your capital.
Note that the known religions are randomly assigned a few turns into the game. [USA got two in one of my test starts!]
Music can be popped from a hut, the civ doing that will get the Great Artist.
When you meet one team member, you also meet the other team member. However, you don't learn where they are. Teams are shown on Diplomacy screen with a yellow line.
Some of you may not be familiar with Roosevelt's New Deal. Just a joke on my part. High King JJ has the right approach.
The other civs aren't Roosevelt's partners this game. They were during WWII.
The Marshall Plan was after Roosevelt. Distributing "gifts" is part of the game's theme.

Have Fun.