COTM114 Babylon - Pre-game discussion

[Più Freddo]

COTM114 Nebuchadnezzar II of the Babylonians - Pre-game discussion

In game number 114 of the Conquests game of the month series you will
rule as Nebuchadnezzar II over Babylon, the ancient
metropolis by the Euphrates. Your people is religious and
scientific and you start the game with the knowledge of
Ceremonial Burial and Bronze Working. The unique unit of
the Babylonians is the Bowman, an Archer which defends like a
Spearman. This may come in handy in fights with the raging
Barbarians!

Nebuchadnezzar II ruled the Neo-Babylonian Empire, when Babylon again
rose to greatness after a period of chaos. During this time, the
Hanging Gardens were constructed in Babylon, a huge urban garden
compound bringing the beauty of the mountains to the desert plain. In
this game, the Great Wonder of The Hanging Gardens has been
modified. The cost has been lowered to 200 shields, and besides
making one citizen happy in all friendly cities and three in its own,
The Hanging Gardens this time increases the scientific output of
its city by 50% and allows growth above 12 citizens. This
means that a city must be of size seven or larger before it can start
constructing The Hanging Gardens.

It is reported that Nebuchadnezzar II contracted mental illness and
spent seven years in the desert before returning to his throne, an
episode graphically depicted by William Blake in the picture
above. Will you fare better in this game?

This is a Regent level game. The original plan said Emperor,
but in order to fit better with the beginning of the new game series
2015 - 2016, I have lowered the difficulty level.

Starting Area

Scope of the Game

Civilization: Babylon
Difficulty: Regent
Map size: Standard 100 X 100
Map topology: Continents
Rivals: Nine random
Barbarians: Raging
Submissions due by July 6th, 2015
PLEASE NOTE THE DATE!

The save is a available here.

 

[Kuningas]

The Hanging Gardens increases the scientific output of
its city by 50% and allows growth above 12 citizens

Wow that means I may try 20K Culture.

 

[Lord AJ]

From what it looks like I think this is a regent level game made as easy as warlord. Such a great start plus the hanging gardens bonus!! (nobody's complaining though) I think I'll attempt a 20k victory too. This would be easy to get considering we can get the 20k city to size 12 in the AA itself. Only if I find a site with a few hills somewhere close, I'll definitely go for a 20k win.
As for my first move, I think I'll settle right here in 4000bc.

 

[templar_x]

Rivals: Nine unknown

again i am asking whether some additional rule should be installed that no one is allowed to check f10 for the opponent civs? otherswise unknown=known...

20k sounds like the logical choice here to me also, even though the start screenhot might advise to find a 2nd town spot for the 20k city.

t_x

 

[Lord AJ]

again i am asking whether some additional rule should be installed that no one is allowed to check f10 for the opponent civs? otherswise unknown=known....

I think this is based more on one's own sense of keeping the play fair and a person's own standards. Even if a rule is added it will still be on the players discretion to keep from checking his opponents. This is the same as the NoAIPatrol setting, there's no way to enforce this yet all of us have that added in the Conquests.ini just to have a level playing field. So maybe, all of the players could mutually decide to not see the opponents. Who all agree?

 

[Più Freddo]

I think using F10 to discover the identities of the opponents is a just and built-in feature that one should certainly use. I never intended that the identities of the AI tribes should be unknown to the player when I wrote "unknown" in the game introduction. If I had wanted to achieve that, I could have renamed and recoloured the tribes in the editor and no one would have known what traits and unique units were hiding behind the names.

I just hadn't checked it myself and I hadn't chosen the AI tribes. In the future, I will use the word "random" instead.

Generally, I would prefer to have as few special rules as possible. If you just play the game and focus on that, you don't even come to think of the various bug-exploitation schemes that we have found out and banned. Using F10 just doesn't fit the description of a major bug exploitation. It rather goes along the grain of the game than against it. It doesn't lead to or encourage a perverse play style comparable to placing the capital on a remote island in a corner of the map or making unintuitive trade deals with the AI leading in the end to permanent money streams out of nothing, kind of modelling a modern central bank.

 

[templar_x]

thx for this clarification!
t_x

 

[Cotta]

Move worker first.

 

[Drb42]

Hmmm. i'm trying to step up to regent anyway, i'm going to try this one i think.

 

[ignas]

Looks like an ultra fast 20K victory is possible!

 

[Lanzelot]

You mean move across the river to get more mountains into the BFC and then use the floodplains to feed the mountains?
But during GA you lose a lot of shields because of all those the floodplains. For 20K I prefer a location, where all 12 tiles can produce shields?! (Or can we starve the capital a bit during GA, using the BGs, 4 irrigated deserts and hills & mountains?!)

 

[templar_x]

whom are you talking to?
anyway, my plan was to go exactly the way you described in your 2nd paragraph...
t_x