Azedenkae's Policy Beelining Experiment/Guide

[Azedenkae]

Hey all!

So I've been around for a while, started, then stopped, then started and stopped again for a while.

I'm a fan of experimenting (being a scientist and all), and like to try out different playstyles.

Recently, I grabbed the full compilation thingy off of Steam (G&K + BNW) and decided to do something... different.

Like I said, I love experimenting and going for things I don't initially plan for.

Towards that, I have decided to go for something fun, which is randomizing nations and choosing one of the many starting policies to beeline to. The purpose of this is to see the effects of combining that specific policy and nation into a playstyle that works.

Really it's just for me to have fun. XD But hey, if there's insights, the better!

I start off with Indonesia and Collective Rule - the results of which I will now start posting below about. Stay tuned!

 

[Azedenkae]

Of Indonesia and Collective Rule

Hey guys! So the first random civ + policy I got is Indonesia and Collective Rule!

Immediately it was apparent what I had to do - I had to beeline to Optics, to take advantage of the civ's specialty. The sooner I can travel to other islands, the better.

As an added bonus, by building a monument initially, by the time you get Optics - Collective Rule is also within grasp, and that free settler is yours!

That's what happened with me. Playing on Standard speed, Optics finished researching the same turn as Collective Rule did. For different starting locations and city focuses, it may be off a bit - but not so much.

I find this to be a huge advantage. Being able to settle afar asap and getting that unique luxury resource is a huge boon in the early game. It's actually not just +4 Happiness. Being an unique luxury resource, you can easily trade it off for another luxury resource, granting a total of +8 Happiness. Three cities, and that's +24 Happiness. Not too mention settling in a different land tends to mean you'd net other luxury resources from what you start with anyways. With quicker settler build time, you'd churn out those cities very quickly.

Additionally, since your cities are almost exclusively coastal, you'll benefit


[WIP]

 

[consentient]

This looks interesting. I have a couple of questions:

1. How are you choosing which policy to beeline?
2. Do you employ any kind of filter to this process so as to avoid anything totally illogical or ill-fitting - i.e. choosing Representation or Meritocracy as Venice, or Organised Religion as China, etc.?