ALC Game 20 Pre-Game Thread: Playing as Ragnar

[CivCorpse]

page #7...now give us a map sisiutil

oooooooops

ok, I give up


ahhh, there it is

 

[Julian Delphiki]

with all this discussion moving towards even more customization of the game, how about:
shuffle, random sea level, random climate, random size
seriously: I'd be in favor of leaving as much unknown as possible

Yes, and i'd be in favor of actually starting the game before next year .

 

[RockTheCazbah87]

^



ori actually has a great idea! Then we won't know who the map will favour... you might end up on a Pangaea with Shaka, Augustus and Monty next door...

 

[Munch]

I've rolled 3 pretty interesting maps with these settings:

Emperor difficulty, Big & Small, Standard size, Temperate climate, Low sea level, Ancient start, Epic speed, Snaky Continents (I forgot that you can have Big 'n' Small and Snaky Continents!), Islands (not tiny ones) mixed in. Not Aggressive AI.

They look really interesting, and offer moderately sized starting landmasses (sometimes snaking around in strange, wonderful ways) - sometimes with neighbours - as well as plenty of small-to-medium sized uninhabited lands. Clever use of the new forts-as-canals feature would be essential, and Berserkers crushing weak enemy cities not on their mainland would be very nice.

Take a look at the attachments, and see what I mean. Maps 1 and 2 could make for an interesting game; map 3, well, have a look - I don't want to spoil it.

BTW, some opponents were picked, and 'cos the maps were re-rolled they are the same in each.

 

[KMadCandy]

Clever use of the new forts-as-canals feature would be essential

that's what breaks my heart. i love that feature, but the AI hasn't a clue about how to use it. near as i can tell, they only benefit from it when one of their automated workers happens to have built a fort on a resource already, and then they give a boat a go-to order that happens to create a shorter path using the fort than not using the fort. such a shame . not that i have the slightest clue on god's red alpha centauri p Bhruic *giggle*) how to teach the AI how to plan to use 'em for canals, mind you.

 

[DrJambo]

If there's an issue with AI being poorer on archipelago, AggAI or normal AI, wouldn't the obvious choice be to either up the difficulty level to Immortal if indeed archipelago is going to be used, or side-track that map type altogether?

As some have mentioned before, snaky continents on a big and small or medium and small can produce good watery action while at the same time allowing the AI to flourish more. I must admit my previous go at AggAI was on a big and small and I got whopped late-game. During that game, I didn't notice the AI having a particular shortage of navy; in fact it was probably the contrary.

 

[Pe Ell]

I've gotten some pretty funky maps from Hemispheres. Random number of continents set to varied in size and island size set to islands. Medium sea level. Could work well with Ragnar imho.

Also, don't forget Ragnar is financial. All other traits are secondary to financial (again, imho).

 

[Airefuego]

I'm pushing for ten pages. I think it's worth it.

I've returned from my excursion into Aggressive Archipelago Action, and it does seem a touch on the unchallenging side. I usually find Prince plenty challenging, but I've played up to 250AD (normal speed, mind), and I've got a pretty strong grip on my game, with a good but not superb start. That Financial/Trading Post combo is hot stuff on a watery map, and I'm killing the tech war without much effort. And with the circumnavigation bonus in the bag (I had to wait for open borders to get it - panic!), it won't be long before I'm killing the neighbours as well.

Great for me, as it looks like being an easy victory, but I think it'd be a shame for this ALC to be a walkover, so I would like to offer my humble, worthless opinion that the setup be nerfed a bit.

Nice work in under three hours!

 

[Airefuego]

OK so to change the subject a bit...

I think the 7 pages of pre-game excitement reflects the cult status of ALCs. And the fact that the rest of us have too much time on our hands.

I love it - as long as Sisiutil doesn't feel that the growing pressure is taking the fun away ... so much expectation from the fans! Gotta... keep... up... how do you cope?

Right, enough of being sensitive to Sisiutil's mental state... let's have a map!

 

[Deadliest Catch]

Ya, put the cards on the table already!

 

[Morgawr]

I think Hemispheres with Snaky Continents and medium sea level would be a great choice.

Not sure about Aggressive AI as many people pointed out it might hamper the AI and make the game less challenging.

Are you considering the "No Tech Brokering" option? Some of us tried to convince you to try it in the previous game you said you would consider it in the next one. It would totally fit with Ragnar's personality too since Ragnar is one of the few AI's that will not trade any of his techs unless he's Pleased. So he wouldn't want the other players brokering away his hard-earned techs!

 

[dermoth]

Nice work in under three hours!

Micromanagement isn't my strong point

 

[TRJS]

Nearly at 8 pages.

 

[Gooblah]

Poor, poor Sisutil.
On a brighter note, I have successfully indoctrinated 2 of my friends and a teacher into Civdom! Hooray!

I think the map suggestions by Munch are good. Go with them.

 

[d.a.oconnell]

Financial and Aggressive? I love the vikings. Zerk's are a fun unit to use too. Can't wait to see the next ALC. These water-based maps should be fun to watch.

 

[Sisiutil]

I think Aggressive AI can still be put to use with Shaka, who comes after Ragnar, if I'm not mistaken. So maybe it's best then to forget Aggressive AI this time and go with Archipalego to showcase Ragnar's naval strength, as well as showing people how to go about with naval warfare.

After due consideration of the discussion, I like this idea.

7 Pages! I am sure we can beat that.

Quick someone start talking about the merits of CE v SE.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Right, enough of being sensitive to Sisiutil's mental state... let's have a map!

I'll try to post that soon. I started an off-line game on the weekend as Elizabeth and rolled corn, clams, and 2 gold mines in the capital. It's a bit of a romp, even on Emperor, but you need one of those every now and then. So I've been a little pre-occupied.

 

[Daedal]

I'll try to post that soon. I started an off-line game on the weekend as Elizabeth and rolled corn, clams, and 2 gold mines in the capital. It's a bit of a romp, even on Emperor, but you need one of those every now and then. So I've been a little pre-occupied.

A calm before the storm perhaps? Anyway I expect at least another dozen pages of discussion once the map is up and before any unit is moved. Should be fun.

 

[KMadCandy]

I started an off-line game on the weekend as Elizabeth and rolled corn, clams, and 2 gold mines in the capital. It's a bit of a romp, even on Emperor, but you need one of those every now and then. So I've been a little pre-occupied.

sheesh! she even starts with fishing and mining, how perfect can you get? here's hoping it'll be such a landslide you won't be distracted too terribly long *giggle*

i want to see the discussion we'll get about where to settle if we start out with only a few land tiles around. can't count on walking inland for a more central capital on an archi map. but even if we only have 4 tiles to choose from, we'll debate it for pages. fun fun!

 

[TRJS]

Taking bets now on how many pages the "where to settle" debate will take up.

 

[CivCorpse]

7 Pages! I am sure we can beat that.

Quick someone start talking about the merits of CE v SE.

> and why isn't Poland in the game instead of the HRE?