This brings me to another point. The question has occurred to me as to when the appropriate time to end the challenge is. CxxC has the early game advantage, whereas CxxxxC doesn't hit its stride until later. I can't see the origiinal test as I type this, but I seem to recall that the test ended when the last OCP city built its barracks. I don't know the answer to this, but is that the right time to end it? It occurred to me that if we did something like the Quick Start Challenge, it might be a better measure. And my thinking was a lot like Tribute's suggestion: have several players sign up and each player plays a CxxC and a CxxxxC turnset. I'd suggest giving everyone foreknowledge of the map, so that both sets get that benefit, rather than just the second one.
The problem is that the QSC ends at 1000 BC, right? I'd suggest something a little longer, just because I don't see any way that CxxxxC can catch CxxC in that period. The question is whether CxxxxC will begin to gain on CxxC or if the differences will become more pronounced by, say, 1000 AD.
I'd also suggest almost full game conditions: a full slate of enemies, diplomacy, but no barbs or goodie huts. I'd also suggest a civ that lacks the following traits: religious (cheap temples), scientific (cheap libraries), commercial (reduced corruption), militaristic (cheap raxes), industrious (faster workers). Each of the afore-referenced traits factors plays fairly heavily in the arguments that have played out in the "CxxC vs. CxxxxC" thread that leaves: Inca, Dutch, and the Portugese.
We could call it the Not So Quick Start Challenge.
