Hippo8085
Shaken, not stirred
You could also limit the number of autosaves taken from each game, which solved the problem you suspect you might have in vanilla RFC. I find that 2 works well.
My working copy isn't compatible with your save, will revert to an older version as soon as I've committed it.
Finish date 1805, score is 5111
It was my first time trying as France in DoC and it wasn't easy. The capital is monopolized until 1700 by the cultural uhv, and so is the research path for a while.
Tech path was Engineering - drama - guilds - music - patronage - philosophy in the first phase to speed up the GA spawn rate.
On top of it you need to expand through an overcrowded europe, and make a major settlement effort in NA. Fun times
Bordeaux and Marseilles focused first on research buildings, then units. Paris built library/happiness buildings/forge until engineering then focused on wonders for a long time. Notre dame, then sistine chapel, leaning tower and versailles. I took an unnecessary risk by fitting the sistine chapel in there because netherland often use a GE as it's first GP to rush Versailles, but it did pay off, the culture from the sistine chapel effect is so powerful.
I had time to spawn 7 GP before 1650, 4 GA, 1 GE, 1GS, and 1GM (from being first to economics). I had another timed for 1695 but with 91% chances of being a GA (I had to pollute the pool to make sure it arrived at that date), I had to turn up the culture slider to make sure I had 9000 culture by 1700. Since I entered the industrial era in 1675 (Physics), the 4 great artists were good for an additional 16000 culture, for a grand total of 25K and the UHV. Not that hard but Paris is monopolized until that date, and the GP production goes all toward that goal as well.
I didn't do anything with the 2nd settler until I colonized NA... anyone has a suggestion on where to use it? It's crowded enough in france with 3 cities, and everywhere around is flip territory.
All forests in paris BFC were switched to be worked by Paris, and were pre-chopped so that Notre Dame could be completed in 4 turns only.
I raised a small army and sent it to take Rome around when Italy spawned. I barely beat the italians to the finish. In fact they made an assault just before I did, lost a lot of units and I had a severely weakened garrison to mop up.
I then attacked Italy to clear up Rome's BFC. Unfortunately Spain intervened, it was kind of tough, they made a serious attack on Bordeaux but I managed to repulse it and raze Italy's cities.
Then HRE attacked me for refusing to give them my world map. I sent my veteran siege troops to take Francfort (not knowing it would flip to Prussia later) and they collapsed right after. Kind of anticlimactic (sp?). I took Vienna as an independant city, while Byzantium and the vikings captured the rest.
I was the first to get the conquerors, which is odd because Spain had optics quite a bit before me. Anyway I beat them up a bit, stole a worker, made peace then moved the troops around the future spot of New Orleans.
The North american colonies were made up of new orleans, Chicago, Denver and Regina spots. Since there's ususally no competition for the great plains until the american spawn, it was enough for 43% of NA and half the 2nd UHV. Easy enough and profitable too.
After HRE I went for Byzantium, which fell easily, already at war with the turks. Then Spain dowed me and the first of a series of disasters struck as they landed directly in a poorly defended Rome, which was pumping 1 rank 4 unit every 2 turns. I sent my siege stack to recapture it. Meanwhile, they had military science and were ravaging my fishing boats unchecked. Pushing in their territory was problematic because of conquerors, then grenadiers. Fortunately GB researched rifling for me and I stole it for them to even the odds.
I bribed Russia into the war, which is why you see Madrid as russian occupied in the screenshot. I also gifted economics to the dutch, because I thought that they could build the trading company and attack Indonesia, Spain's vassal. I was very much amused when they declared war RIGHT AWAY heh. I guess AIs don't need to build the trading company.
Spain was taking a real drubbing from Russia, Turkey (vassal) and myself, but the war took a turn for the worst when Prussia Dow'ed me, grabbed Amsterdam (assigned to me through the AP) and Vienna on the first turn, and marched a huge army toward Paris. I thought that the showdown battle at the gate of Paris was a lost cause, but the UU is surprisingly good, and combined with last minute reinforcements from the colonies (the "americans" to the rescue again lol), manage to smash Prussia's SOD. Then it was the slug to take back the cities and destroy Prussia. I got the land requirements on the turn before the time limit, close call.
Couple of really odd stuff:
England did not research Astronomy before 1700.. It researched rifling first.
The netherlands did not beeline for economics. I gave them the tech in the late 1600's
There was no reformation war. Not even Spain opposed it. I guess it didn't help that HRE was dead and France wasn't an AI?
Usually the numbers are quite similar, but as you can see in that situation there's a margin of "error".Oh so there's actually no way of knowing how your oponents are doing in that category ? No way of knowing if they're close or if you can stop growing your cities ?