BOTM 23 First Spoiler - 500AD

[DynamicSpirit]

BOTM 23 First Spoiler

Reading Requirements

Stop! If you are participating in BOTM 23, then you MUST NOT read this thread unless EITHER

• You have reached at least 500 AD in your game, OR
• You have submitted your entry

Posting Restrictions

• Please do not discuss anything that happened after 500 AD,
• Please do not divulge your final result if that happened after 500 AD.
• Please do not disclose any details of the map or civs that cannot be reached from the starting area either on foot or by galleys, or locations of mid-late game resources.

How did the period up to 500AD go? Noble is obviously a tough level to play, did you manage to stay alive?

 

[ngraner42]

DS, thank you for this very fun map. I always had multiple things going on. Expanding to the west, building wonders, warfare (started a little late, none by 500AD). I lost the Oracle going for Civil Service; other than that my plans went well. Sent a worker on a road-ing mission across the ice. Leveraged the Philosophical trait, joining the Budhists (Ramses, the Oracle builder) with only one city and spread it to the capital to get the scientists and engineers rolling. This game made me question why did I decide to go for EQM at Emperor level; Noble would have been much more fun.

 

[Harbourboy]

This has been a nice change from the last Deity game. I am plodding along happily although I think I settled in a silly place. Never mind.

 

[Termitnik]

Alas, there is no circumnavigation bonus on this map.

 

[culdeus]

My game was a trainwreck. Missed Oracle by two turns. Then missed the mids by 5. At that point I was totally shot as I had pretty much set myself up to be a 3 city representation/buearu conquest machine.

I tried to fight through it, but it was a lost cause when I misclicked and said to overrule my war with Bull instead of saying I'd defy it. I just hung it up then knowing I was going to get some sort of ambulance and needed to put some time in the sgotm I'm in.

This played much harder than I anticipated. I know the game designer did say it would play like canals so I anticipated having to ferry all troops, but the lack of happy resources made this play more like monarch. Especially with no pyramids.

I do wonder where the consensus was to settle down by the gold. I sat and stared at that area for a long time, then slept on it, and decided to put it in range of both seafood and save the silk for a later crappy city. I think if I had to do it again I'd put it on the PH instead and use the crabs in the stone city over the water.

Damn pity though as that capital was the nuts for a war victory condition.

I wonder what the conquest vs. domination date difference will be. Domination will be a real bear on that map.

 

[adrianj]

BOTM23 - Contender Save

Unusually for me, I haven't actually decided what Victory Condition to pursue from the outset. I'm thinking it won't be Space or Diplo, so I've taken the Contender save since I want the AI as weak as possible and I'm not planning on using them all that much for tech trading. I figure I'll play out the start and make a decision around turn 20 or so. At this stage I'm leaning towards Culture.

*** Session 1: 4000 BC -> 3200 BC ***

Scout moves NE into the forest, I wanted to see if there was a good reason to move the settler that way. There is definitely coast up that way, perhaps it might make for a second city. For now, I'm settling in place. I'm rewarded by discovering I have marble in the BFC.

First build is a worker, first tech is Agriculture, to improve that wheat.

I'm thinking about what do I want to target from the Oracle (it's a given that I'm going for it...) Mr. Creative Philosopicles is definitely a good chance of the CS slingshot, with a cheap library, and then double to bulb Maths on the way to CS.

Scout explores to the east, and sees what appears to be Chinese borders. Qin's borders expand, and I meet him. I'll see if I have a land connection to him. Hmm, just noticed the revealed terrain to the north. Good one map maker, forgot to unreveal the tiles! Or is it on purpose...

Turn 8: Agri -> AH.
Turn 15: Worker -> Warrior.
Turn 17: AH -> Writing (horses quite close)

I'm starting to see the whole canal thing. Getting at Qin is quite far without galleys.

At turn 20 I'm thinking about what VC to pursue. I've always been a peaceful guy, and I think these canals have been designed to make warfare difficult. So I'm going to chase Culture.

*** Session 2: 3200 BC -> 2320 BC ***

Turn 22: Warrior -> Warrior.

Ooo, Rameses is in the game. And he has founded Buddhism. I would definitely like to kill him and take his holy city and all the wonders he'll produce. Does that work with a culture game?

Oops, worker has run out of useful things to do, so farms a plains tile.

Turn 28: Writing -> Mining. Warrior -> Warrior. I OB with Rameses, to encourage his religion to spread to me.

Turn 33: Mining -> Mysticism. Warrior -> Library.
Turn 34: Athens grown to size 5. Library (part) -> Settler.

I've met Sitting Bull and Isabella as well now.

Turn 37: Mysticism -> Masonry.

I OB with Qin as well, since he has a nice favourite civic and we'll likely be friends.

Turn 42: Settler -> Worker. Masonry -> Meditation. Time to get serious about the CS slingshot.

*** Session 3: 2320 BC -> 1680 BC ***

Turn 45 (2200 BC): Sparta founded SW of eastern cows, begins Library. I meet Zara.

Turn 47: Athens Worker -> Library.

I get a stupid random event destroy Athen's wheat farm.

Turn 53: Priesthood -> Wheel.
Turn 57: Wheel -> CoL.

Turn 58: Oracle is built elsewhere (Rameses)! Wow, that is fast! Time for a rethink. I keep on with CoL because I want to found the religion. Thereafter I'll head to Aesthetics -> Literature for the GLIb, and hope the AI researches Alphabet. Pottery should also come in there, so I can get some cottages set up around my future legendary cities.

*** Session 4: 1680 BC -> 1000 BC ***

Turn 68 I generate a GS in Athens. It builds an Academy. I'm looking at Rameses 1 city and thinking "yes, I do want to kill him". Oh, he has 2 cities now. Still...

Turn 69: Corinth is founded to claim gold, crabs and fish in the SW.

Turn 70: CoL -> Alphabet. I figure I'll get alphabet myself. Confu is founded in Sparta.

By 1000 BC I have 4 cities, with the 5th to be founded next turn. 46 per turn at -5 per turn. 3 turns away from Alphabet.

*** Session 5: 1000 BC -> 500 BC ***

975 BC: Argos founded in the NW east of the gems.

In 925 BC I learn Alphabet. I pick up Pottery, BW and Archery through trades with Issy and SB. Lo! I have copper near Athens. Next tech is IW so I can mine the gems by Argos. IW reveals Iron near Argos as well. Tech after that is Maths - I still haven't done any chopping.

Turn 87: Maths -> Currency. Pyramids still aren't built. I figure I'll make an attempt, and if I miss at least I'll have the cash. A GS produced in Sparta bulbs Philosophy, which founds Taoism in Argos.

Turn 93: Currency -> Civil Service. Took me this long to meet Hammurabi.

*** Session 6: 500 BC -> 1 AD ***

Pyramids still haven't been built. I'm holding my breath. I have 6 chops ready for once Athens is close...
425 BC, Pyramids still available. I complete some chops...
400 BC, still available. Complete another few chops...
I capture Magyar this turn, a barbarian city at the top of the peninsula to the west.
350 BC, Athens 2 turns from completing Pyramids...
325 BC, noone has built them. They must be mine!
In 300 BC I have them. I'm quite pleased, considering I switched to them quite late. The turn after I discover CS and revolt to Rep + Bureau.

Come 1 AD I am teching towards Music, with a deviation through Construction for the Odeons. I'm working on expanding into the western area, and I'm eyeing up some nice grassland in there for a future legendary city. Or do I want to switch to a space race... I'm not sure. I'm very tempted to kill Rameses...

At this point I have 6 cities, producing 144 per turn at -33 per turn.

*** Session 7: 1 AD -> 500 AD ***

Capturing another barb city, this time on the far western coast of the western peninsula puts me up to 7 cities. I also get Buddhism to spread to me. I'm thinking the Music GA can be used for a golden age. I've actually gone off the idea of Cultural VC. I think instead I'll go to Space, even though at the start I said I wouldn't .

I'm really quite short on workers at the moment. Need to rectify that.

I manage to pick up the Hanging Gardens in 200 AD, after having founded my 8th city by the stone to the west.

I'm beaten to Music by Zara, so I'll have to revolt the old fashioned way, to Slavery + Organised Religion for now, so I can whip out Universities soon.

Other wonders along the way are Parthenon (275 AD), Great Lightouse (375 AD) and Great Library (425 AD)

Come 500 AD I have 8 cities, and I'm 1 turn away from Education. Most of my land is cottaged, which I guess means I'm not making full use of the Pyramids giving me Representation, but I'm planning for a Corporations + Cottages end game so hopefully they will pay off. Currently producing 290 per turn at -80 per turn.

 

[Fluroscent]

I had pretty much played to 500AD, and decided to wait for the spoiler threads for once, before completing the game. Result - I have almost completely forgotten what I had been doing.

I know I am going for score/domination(probably) but the lay of the land, with no AI really close by foot, and plenty room to expand, meant that I have been focusing on REXing and wonders so far.

I have 11 cities - 3 captured from barbs. Probably going to found 4-5 more before going conquering.
Few cottages, with a mostly specialist economy.
Wonders built, no idea when or in what order: Mids-Oracle(probably for COL)-Parthenon-ToA-Glib-colossus.
Founded Judaism w. shrine, and confu.
Techwise completed education, and currently on a biology beeline, planning to take medicine from liberalism, and found Cereal Mills for score. Not sure if I should take sushi instead on this map.

No plans on how to proceed with conquest yet. Maybe start with semi-isolated Sitting Bull, or Qin, who most of the world hates/is most backwards.

 

[dalamb]

Adventurer save.

I decided I could afford to lose a couple of turns checking out the "seacoast" to the NE, so wound up with the following information at the end of turn 1:

I decided 1S of the start (riverside) was the best place to be; basically 3 wasted turns, but at Warlord I figured I was still OK. The intial scout went counterclockwise then east; I built a 2nd scout after an initial worker and sent him west. First settler founded Sparta (2120 BC) on the west coast 1NW of the gold and chopped the Great Lighthouse (a mere 2 forests, but enough). Second founded Corinth (1440 BC) NE for horses and fish. Argos (1080 BC) went N to get the gems. Unfortunately before I could place my planned 4th city, Qin founded Nanking on "my" territory, so I built some CR I Phalanx (plus 2 trireme for protection of my coasts) and took out his city before founding my own Knossos 2W of where he had been, in 325 AD. Qin accepted peace a few turns later, and I'm now building up an army to conquer him. My territory:

I Oracle'd Civil Service in 650 BC, built an academy in Athens in 550 BC with my first GS and bulbed Philosophy with my 2nd in 250 BC. I then stupidly bulbed Paper in 100 AD instead of saving him for Education. In 350 AD I got a Great Prophet, who founded the Confucian shrine in Corinth. I was in Caste System for a while but switched back to Slavery recently to whip some buildings, but expect to switch back soon and run more scientists in Athens.

I'm the tech leader; I got a map of most of the world by trading maps for minor techs or gold. Currently researching Machinery. I founded Confucianism, Christianity, and Islam (partly bulbed with the GA from Music), and may head for a culture win after taking some more territory.

After Qin I expect to expand west into barbarian territory, but I suspect Ramesses will have taken much of it. I'm currently waffling; maybe I should leave Qin for now and promote a few Phalanx to CR II via killing off the barbarian cities? I'm not entirely sure how to read the tech trading screen, but it looks like Qin might be researching machinery for Cho-Ko-Nu, so I might have to at least take out Shanghai (iron) soon.

A turn or two at 100% espionage should tell me how long I have -- and I realize I should have done so immediately when I decided to go to war in the first place.

Wars always make me nervous but I think I should be able to take out Qin; I have to make my move before he finishes Machinery, but taking Shanghai shouldn't be too bad. I have 9 phalanx, two tied up on barbarian protection, and my first catapult should show up in 3 turns. My northern cities will start on catapults when they finish their forges in a turn or two.

 

[Fluroscent]

I'm not entirely sure how to read the tech trading screen, but it looks like Qin might be researching machinery for Cho-Ko-Nu, so I might have to at least take out Shanghai (iron) soon.

The "Can Research" is simply techs they could be researching, that you dont have. There is really no information on what they are actually researching. They can also be researching any of the techs you could trade them.

 

[dalamb]

Thanks. My next step when I resume is to run up the espionage counter to make sure.

 

[BobRoberts]

Thought this sounded really fun - liked the mention of canals in the start game information. I downloaded the challenger save and got stuck in!

I started off with a second scout, I thought for a few turns I'd made a bit of a mistake, before finding the polar land links.

By the time my second settler was coming out I'd decided to try and make things hard for myself! Thought I'd try a domination victory. It looked like this would be painful, I speculated that there would be lots of land, a large number of landmasses and the colonial costs could be crippling - I wanted to find out just how crippling... my thinking was to really go to town on my economy before starting the warfare phase.

It would also be interesting to do some sea based warfare pre astronomy - not something I'd usually do.

Felt the Great Lighthouse would be awesome - looked as if there were coastal links all over the place and a lot of coastline, so I prioritised this. The techs also let me build a galley to speed up colonisation of the attractive looking land linked island to the west.

Here's a screeny from 500BC:

Spoiler :

I have built the oracle in Athens - taking confucianism, popped a prophet for (fun and)profit! Just completed the GLh in Corinth.

Here's a piccy of Corinth with those 2 beefy bonus trade routes in place:

Spoiler :

I now have my greedy eyes set on a barbarian city just north of the sugar.

I decided to research MC next, the colossus is very buildable - the bonus good - and the GM points very useful, the forges are also excellent with 2 forge resources. Those would be all the wonders I was aiming at for now... I wanted to focus my attention to GE/GM bulbing the bottom part of the tree. Leveraging the philo trait positively and trying something a little different to my normal game.

This plan worked well, bulbing in Civil Service was really satisfying - at this point I decided the AIs were teching a little slowly, so revolted to Bureau/Monotheism and Confucianism to speed infa building. Hammurabi had converted, so I still had one little friend!

I lack an interesting save closer to 500Ad, so I'll stop the story at there (~early AD) to avoid accidental spoilers.

 

[Grifftavian]

How did the period up to 500AD go? Noble is obviously a tough level to play, did you manage to stay alive?

Alive and well, thank you very much. And thanks for the interesting map

Contender save.

Moved the Scout NE, didn't see much, so settled in place. Turned out to be a good move with Marble and later Copper in Athens BFC. Very nice starting location, IMO.

Fog-busted down river to the east, then SW & N of Athens.

Five cities by 500 AD...

City 2/Sparta 1SE + 4E; on river near Cow & Wheat
City3/Cornith 3 SW; on hill near Gold, Silk & Fish
City 4/Argos 3 SE + 1E of Sparta; on hill near Fur & Copper. Outpost to protect from land attacks from the east!
City 5/Knossos 4N + 1NW of Athens; on hill near Iron, Cows & Gems.

Wonders Built
The Pyramids in Athens; 750 BC. Switch to Representation Civic
The Oracle in Athens; 225 BC. Free Tech = Theology. Christianity founded in Sparta Chance for Religious Victory maybe.

Wonders under construction @ 500 AD
The Parthenon in Sparta
The Great Library in Cornith

Tech Research to 500 AD
1. Mining -> Bronze Working
2. Animal Husbandry -> Writing
3. Archery
4. Masonry
5. The Wheel
6. Agriculture
7. Pottery
8. Iron Working
9. Mysticism -> Polytheism
10. Priesthood
Great Scientist = Mathematics
11. Monotheism
12. Code of Laws (changed to Caste System when completed)
The Oracle = Theology
13. Metal Casting
Great Scientist = Alphabet
Trade: Sailing for Polytheism w/ Qin
Trade: Monarchy & Meditation for Code of Laws w/ Sitting Bull
Trade: Calendar for Code of Laws w/ Zara Y.
14. Aesthetics
Great Merchant = Currency
15. Literature
16. Music (in progress)

Overall, I'm pleased with how my game is going so far. Still some room to expand west of Cornith. Not planning on any wars at this point. Need to build some more units for defense.

The canals make naval forces a consideration that you might normally ignore on an unmodified lakes map. An interesting twist!

Plan A = try to build Apostolic Palace & try for Religious Victory
Plan B = Cultural Victory (will be hard with Ramesses in the game)
Plan C = Space or UN

 

[Mike Lemmer]

Going for a Conquest victory on the Challenger save.

I settled 1 East of my starting position; missed having Marble in my capital, but got Horse instead, so I'm happy. And then I lost my starting worker due to a stupid command. ("Wait, why's my worker heading into the wilderness? Move back, move bac- DAMN WOLVES!") Luckily I've caught back up with the others.

I have 7 cities now; founded 6, captured 1 barbarian city to the NW. I founded my first one to the east (coin city) on Turn 57; I was beaten to the Oracle soon after. I built 2 more cities by Turn 80, one to the west (hammer city), one to the southwest (coin city). I also missed building 2 more wonders: the Temple of Artemis & the Pyramids, both while I was at least halfway through building them. At least I got a good 400g from the deal, letting me run 80% beakers for a while. I shot straight for Aesthetics & Literature so I could build the Parthenon & Great Library with my marble. I successfully completed those and started popping out Great Scientists like mad, which should help my research while I'm busy conquering.

Hinduish spread first, so I converted, joining Qin Shi Huang & Ramses. Everyone else is either Buddhist or None. I've also noticed I'm surrounded by civilizations with good protective early unique units... this will be tough. I went for Construction next for catapults while I invaded Hammurabi early. Isabella declared war on me soon after I began pillaging his lands mercilessly.

Unfortunately I almost ran out of money and had to set my Science rate to 20%. I'm still making good progress on Metal Casting -> Horse Riding, though. Once my catapults reach Hammurabi, I hope to make some good progress razing his cities, then rely on a good science rate to outtech the other civilizations. This time, I'll have to be careful not to overextend my empire; two of my cities are already costing me 6g/turn each.

Hrm, the Great Lighthouse is still available to build, but it'll take ~18 turns... should I risk it for those trade routes?

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Hrm, the Great Lighthouse is still available to build, but it'll take ~18 turns... should I risk it for those trade routes?

I would suggest that you risk going for it. Although you and I know that the map has "canals" instead of "lakes," the AIs don't know that fact--they only know that the map type is "Lakes." Since the AIs tend to avoid water-based World Wonders on a Lakes type of map, they are likely to do the same here.


As for my game, I played the opening a bit differently than normal. Generally, I am open to settling in place or moving, so I'll send my Scout/Warrior to see if I can find a better spot. If I see something promising, I'll move towards it. If I don't see something promising, I'll settle in place.

In this game, I was not very impressed with the initial screenshot, as I felt that we were a bit low on food, due to seeing a lot of Plains squares and having one of our food Resources (the Sheep) on a Hill. Thus, my plan was to move the Settler. Therefore, knowing that I would move the Settler, I figured that my Settler could scout out a new place to settle, leaving my Scout without a job. Thus, I used my Scout to try and disprove the reasoning behind my desire to move. As a result, the Scout went west towards the Plains Hill square and revealed the Marble. Okay... twist my arm... I became convinced of the starting spot's viability... and settled in place.

I was leery of this promise of canals, but decided to try for a military type of game regardless.

It took me a while to find any of the AIs, as my Scout went the wrong way at first and I likely found Qin much later than many of you did.

It wasn't long before the world was bragging about its Truffles, Herbal Medicines, free Pastures, Prairie Dogs, and the like. In my part of the world, it seemed that Volcanoes would rather erupt and spew forth their molten magma. No worries--the AIs can have their laughs now--they'll get what's coming to them.

After I found Ramesses and had placed a couple of cities, I pumped out an army. The troops dragged their feet, consumed expensive rations, and at one point I almost suspected that they were in talks to form a union and strike (but then I remembered the low difficulty level and laughed off the thought). In 300 BC I declared war. It took me several turns to travel across his deep cultural borders and then wait for my army's stragglers to catch up. Ramesses had connected Iron, but with my overwhelming forces, I still fought through his Spearmen, Swordmen, and Archers, capturing a capital laiden with Stonehenge, The Temple of Artemis, and two Holy Shrines.

Not wanting to lose my momentum, I quickly declared war on Qin. His three core cities were mine by 175 AD.

By 500 AD, I have brought my armies to bear on Zara Yaqob, but am just outside the gates of my first target city, without having managed to capture any of his cities yet.

I picked up Alphabet in 875 BC, Civil Service in 50 AD, and Literature in 375 AD. Those dates are quite far from impressive and have pretty much convinced me that I will stick it out with a military type of game.

As of 500 AD, I have:
13 Cities
18 Workers
41 Military Units, including boats
125 Sustainable Flasks

I don't seem to have the luck of some of you, as Sitting Bull expanded far beyond 2 cities and has (from what I can see) at least one city placed on a neighbouring landmass.

 

[Mike Lemmer]

I would suggest that you risk going for it. Although you and I know that the map has "canals" instead of "lakes," the AIs don't know that fact--they only know that the map type is "Lakes." Since the AIs tend to avoid water-based World Wonders on a Lakes type of map, they are likely to do the same here.

I figured that, but I didn't want to risk getting beaten to another Wonder, especially in the middle of a war. On the plus side, this means the Colossus is wide open, too.

 

[civ_steve]

What a difference a month makes! I enjoyed BOTM22, but playing at low level and dominating the AI is just fun!

Took the Prince-level Challenger save, figuring this might give some Tech trading advantages. Pondered where to found the capital; decided to move 1 space East with very limited information, but figured a few more river spaces in the capital was advantageous. Founded, so I missed out on the Marble, and Copper eventually, being within the Capital's BFC. However, this move did bring 4 hills within range of the capital's citizens, and the Horses, eventually, allowing a surge in production when desired.

Initial research was Farming-AH to use the local resources, then Mining-BW to take advantage of the extra food. Then Wheel-Pottery-Writing-Alpha.

Initial Builds -Worker, 2nd Scout, Warrior, Worker.

First Scout made it all the way across the bottom going East, then went up into the Jungly open area to the West of our landmass; eventually beaten up by a Barb Warrior, but had revealed the entire Jungly land mass. Other scout headed West, then up into Ramses' territory, and is currently hanging out up there.

Cities - founded Sparta to the East near floodplains, Corinth to the SW to gain Gold (and finally use the Copper). Later, Argos to the NW near the Iron. Those are my local and oldest cities.

Canals are pretty cool! A couple of Workboats went sailing and facilitated all contacts by the time Alpha was learned.

Was able to trade Writing for a handful of low level religious Techs. Zara was a particularly good early trader - I lightbulbed Math and was able to trade for IW. Later on I got Calendar in trade, and got a few turns off Monarchy, but that's about the extent of the trading help I got.

After Alpha, decided that GLH would be good, so researched Sailing, then Masonry. Corinth would be the GLH city, and completed that with help of a few chops. I'd never built GLH before, but the extra gold coming in allows coastal cities to pretty much pay for themselves once founded, especially when the trades are facilitated by the Canals. Add Currency and they're generating 12 gold from the get-go.

I've decided to go for Score this game (never having done this, and the difficulty level will help.) Going to need a lot of territory. Decide to found my future FP city near the Sugar-Rice-Banana spot on the NE corner of Jungle-Province. (It's kind of central to the Jungle area, Sitting Bull's area and part of Hammie's area ) There's a barb city just north of my chosen spot (on the Sugar, so I can get Rice in the BFC also), so I send over a Phalanx/Chariot pair, which remove the hindrance. A Settler and a couple of Workers come over next and Knossus is founded.

More research - Aesthetics-Literature (Parthenon and GLib in Athens), partial researches or trading up to Priesthood, COL (beaten to Confucianism by a couple of turns), CS (convert to Bureaucracy). 2nd GS used for Philosophy and I found Taoism. Hinduism has come my way from Egypt, and I convert to Hinduism.

OK, Qin and Sitting Bull have nice land that I want, eventually. When and how to take said land, I wonder. Those dog soldiers look placed to disuade a Phalanx or Mace attack. Plus, I have a lot of expansion to do also (although China has Pyramids and Great Wall, so earlier would be nice). Knight attack? China will get Feudalism first. OK, I decide to get up to Rifles before doing the attack. So I can expand, build lots of Wonders, and be ready for what will probably be Rifles on LongBows. OK.

So I've been running CasteSys/FreeSpeech to maximize GS creation, which will eventually get me PrintingPress, Education, etc, and I'll alternate with Slavery/OrgRel for building stuff when I've got buildings to build. 6th city founded near the Stone, and getting ready to connect. I'm currently researching along the lower tech path (MC-Machinery learned, and just starting on Feudalism, next Guilds and Banking). Saving GS's, for Education after learning Paper directly.

Wonders - Athens (Parthenon, Great Library, National Epic); Corinth (GLH, Temple of Artemis)

Here's a map:

 

[Airny]

Scout NE; decided to settle in place and go for Worker first; techpath: Ag,AH,Wr,Al
After worker, I built 3 warriors and then Library for fast GS.
The scout moved east along the coast and spotted Qin Shi Huang's borders. As I've guessed, we seem to be separated from the rest of the map. The first bridging tile near the mountains was half the map away and I didn't go north but more east to circle the map. I later realized, that was a bad idea, because I didn't discover other civilizations. My scout was killed before meeting others.
Met Sitting Bull by seeing his unit north over the seas.
The following comments were made as they should, by writing right after actions!

2360BC 5turns till 1st GS and 10 till I research Alpha and built my 1st settler, he'll settle east of the gems. More settlers will come and build cities near gold in the west and 2-3 east near horses, fish and furs. Marble was a nice feature btw. I nevertheless won't go for Oracle and Religion, but instead will go for the Great Library and perhaps Mausoleum or Partheon

2160BC expecting barbs in 4 turns, my two warriors got hurt a lot by animals. I can't afford to loose one at all. Build the Academy with 1st GS

2120BC One Warrior got owned by wolves, this is bad. Moving the other around to fogbust.

2040BC Alpha ready, traded for wheel, Mining and Archery, which means I'll build one after my 2nd settler, then perhaps a spy? I tech to Asthetics and my 2nd city goes for at least two work boats, which should be the best way to scout the map.

1800BC China requests Alpha from me, I denied. They became Sitting Bull's worst enemy and with spending all my espionage on them, they should become my 1st target.

1560BC Met Isabella's work boat, she has -4 from me trading with Sitting Bull. I gift her two lower techs to get her cautious and to sign OB.

1520BC 2nd GS settled in Athens, still not able to trade: Myst, Masonry, Sailing and BW! "..not...just yet"

1080BC Finally met Hammurabi, who was willing to trade with me those techs, that the others won't trade.

650BC status: 4 cities, 3 GS emerged, building GLib, OB with all AIs and all pleased except Qin Shi Huang, monopoly on Alpha (still!). In 6 turns China researched it, so I know when to trade it to everyone. My current plan is to build my cities and focus on hammer economy. I wanna build MoM, use GA from Music for a Golden Age and then later another from Taj Mahal while building an army to conquer China.

150BC another session, fulfilled my goals! Music is finished, MoM too and now I will start my 1st GA with my GA . I took a barb city with one swordsman against two warriors (no archer? ). 7 cities total, research MC -> Machinery and build Parthenon in capitol atm. My plan for an attack is to use Cuirassiers and draft Musketmen. I have to decide which religion to use. I can pick judaism or christianity atm. Most civs like judaism, which is actively spread to me by Ramesses' missionaries so I think I'll pick it. Switching to HR, Slavery, OR.

125AD Ramesses is friendly because we have OR, and so I was able to get CoL and Theo from him. Judaism was spread to all cities before switching civics. I then switched to Theo and Caste System in my GA. Building Hagia Sophia now, all hills are mined now. I'll build some work shops and forges for better production rates in 4 cities. Theocracy will make Zara friendly soon. I realize that you should always have one friendly civ to trade research with.

400AD Started 2nd GA, AIs tech really slow... I still need Civil Service, Nationalism, MilTrad, Guilds and Gunpowder. I will target a domination victory with high score. That means I'll settle the whole empty western "continent". Got 10XP on a swordsman and build Heroic Epic now.

500AD Status: building triremes and catapults. Macemen follow in 2 turns. I have 8 cities. About 70 turns till my research goal is reached. That's much longer than expected, I will have to build wealth very soon to accelerate research. Only one civ has researched Feudalism yet...if I would've known that they are so slow, I would've attacked much earlier. But following my current path I should be able to sustain a large empire and a continuous attack as soon as I'm ready techwise.

I love the map type "canals"! I think it would even be worth to extend the predesigned map pool with this one! Go talk to the developers please.

The screenshot of a globe view should show you an overview of the empire, but I don't know how to get a picture like dalamb or BobRoberts have made. If someone could tell me, I'll upload a better overview picture.

 

[dalamb]

For screenshots: create an account on a server like photobucket.com and upload your .jpgs. Hover over a photo and below it appears a bunch of possible styles of links; click on the "IMG" line, ctl-C to copy, then paste into your message.

There's other details I picked up along the way that aren't relevant right away, but:

• If you expect to eventually post lots of screenshots, you might want to use photobucket's "sub-album" feature to keep them organized.
• Irfanview is a free tool that lets you crop and resize images if you want to get a little fancier about what you post.

 

[Airny]

Thanks dalamb. What I originally meant was how to get a flat, zoomed-out view of the map. Compare your 2nd screenshot with my last and you'll see what I mean.

 

[dalamb]

I'm pretty sure that's the "field of view" slider in the upper right of the BUFFY UI.