[BNW] Enjoyable Deity Games

[beetle]

EDGE#130: We all do it all the time, don´t we: Conquer two cities by t15

I have loaded this file and started from beginning a dozen times now. The ruin results vary, but I have not gotten the one which makes this map the most interesting! Any one have a T1/T2 save where they got the RNG they were looking for?

 

[raider980]

I have loaded this file and started from beginning a dozen times now. The ruin results vary, but I have not gotten the one which makes this map the most interesting! Any one have a T1/T2 save where they got the RNG they were looking for?

Read the comments about this game starting on page 44. You need to move in a specific manner to get the BR upgrade from the ruin.

 

[beetle]

Read the comments about this game starting on page 44. You need to move in a specific manner to get the BR upgrade from the ruin.

Did that, the instructions didn’t work for me. The “RNG” is repeatable (for a given player, from a given save file), but I do not think it is necessarily repeatable from person to person. Or it might be a Mac/PC difference.

Sorry about that. I retried 5-6 times and got the upgrade with the following: Move Warriot 2 tiles E (!) then 2 tiles S, then 2 tiles W and take the ruin on t3. Let me know, if you can replicate that. The only decisive seems to be that the ruin is not found on t0.

Thanks @Nizef and @raider980! This script worked for me!

 

[FritsF1]

EDGE #138 CV t292

Spoiler :

The world around was violent, but I got involved in no war at all (except for bribing the AI a bit). Venice was taken out by Babylon, Babylon was taken out by England. The Americans were very friendly, I got a defensive pact with Washington in the endgame. I hoped this would prevent an American backstab.

Most of the early wonders were going very fast. 3 city NC at t82, after that I build the Hanging Gardens, nobody I knew of opened tradition so I could take my time. Education on t112. After that the AIs were much too busy with war, so I could get all the nice wonders for a CV.

Thanks @Nizef for the game, I like water maps and playing Ethiopia is of course great.

 

[beetle]

@FritsF1 what is the CV guide you tend to follow? I cannot make CV work reliability except with Polynesia and Brazil.

 

[FritsF1]

@FritsF1 what is the CV guide you tend to follow? I cannot make CV work reliability except with Polynesia and Brazil.

First af all, there are much better players on this forum, and I think you know the game better then I do, so please correct me where I am wrong. But maybe it helps to see how a rookie (only 5 deity victories) like myself handles a CV.

Spoiler A deity beginners way to a CV :

The idea is simple: We have to get as much tourism as possible and deny the AI of as much culture as possible. All culture buildings are nice but the competition is in de dig sites and culture/tourism wonders.

The first main goals:
-survive
-get ahead in science

To survive we can build weapons, but I try to keep this at a minimum. At first only enough to fend of the barbs, later one CB for every city. I try to build walls and castles, they cost no upkeep and give some defense in case of war. Units cost hammers and gold, this can be better spend otherwise. We want to get our close neighbors at war with each other as much as possible, we want to get them to build weapons instead of wonders (sadly they do both anyway), so I bribe them. First only our close neighbors, later in the game we want the whole world at war and stay out of it ourself. The first serious units I get are usually the Foreign Legions.

To get the science lead, I focus on food and an early NC. After that reaching Education is top priority. Growing and getting science is the most important thing to do for the first hundred turns. Trade routes go for food. For exploring the world I use two scouts or one scout and a trireme on water maps. Scouting now is important to know how to get to the antiquity sites later. Build Universities, then workshops and iron works. The Sistine Chapel is usually the first wonder I aim for, the culture is nice and we don’t want 25% extra culture in the hands of an AI. Then bulb or build Uffizi if still available.

If all goes well, I enter the industrial era with Industrialization and build/buy 3 factories to get an Ideology. Then archeology, at this point we trade open borders (for me there is no reason to do this sooner), if you do this mutual then guard your own dig sites, a worker can do this. Most trade routes go for money from now on. Build order in the expos: two archeologists then a museum. Build/bulb the Louvre in the capital then archeologists and a museum. We need a total of 2 per city plus 2 for the Louvre. The archies go to the dig sites with this priority: First to the culture leader, then far away first, we dig up our own dig sites last. Get all the archeologists in place and time the digging so that they finish all the same turn. We can promise not to dig anymore if we dug up all there was in one turn.

Next research is Scientific Theory, buy the schools while building archeologists, or build them afterwards. Enter modern via Radio, build/bulb Broadway first, Eifel if still available. Then Statue of Liberty and hotels. Next priority are the research labs. From there on I go for airports, but maybe beelining telecommunication is better. After researching the Internet we could go for Computers to build the Great Firewall before an AI does. At this point I start building weapons.

Social policies order: first full tradition, aesthetics 1 or 2, open exploration, rationalism 2, freedom 3, finish aesthetics, freedom 6

There are always so many nice things to build and research, that I get easily distracted. With EDGE 138 I followed the path above. I think 138 was not the hardest, so it is a nice game to try for an Ethiopian CV.

 

[beetle]

@FritsF1 there are some game mechanics I know well, but the nuances for a CV escapes me. Most of what you mention, I do. But not the rush buying factories. That was key for our succession game, I think I need to play around with that more. Ethiopia with Salt start is pretty sweet!

 

[Nizef]

EDGE#139: Only for the really insane

Some of you already know it: this game has been played as a succession game on the forum https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/deities-on-earth.668250/. So this is no ordinary game. First of all, the map is from the modded map pack Y(n)AEMP (yet (not) another earth map) and is a huge Earth map with TSL (true starting locations) and Standard speed. First to lull you into a false sense of security, the task is (for the second time in a row) to play as Ethiopia. This means, that by moving two times before settling, you will get both Lake Victoria and Kilimanjaro within the reach of your capital. Sounds great doesn´t it! But then comes the challenge: you will have to compete against 21 Deity AIs for the glory. And since this is TSL, you can probably guess who is your southern neighbour, ha-ha. As a side task, you will have to found a religion and there are only seven available. You will most likely have to found around t50 to get a religion at all! But if you get through this early bottleneck, you might just get the ride of your life. As a benchmark, our succession game ended in a magnificent CV on t257. Also note, that it is necessary to have a decent computer to get through the late game. At the end of our game, there were 201 cities on the map... This is Civ5 as you have never played it before! Enjoy this astonishing ride!

 

[Nizef]

EDGE#140: The middle of the world (part 2), CV challenge

As in the recent game with Greece, here we start in the middle of the map. This is of course always interesting. Once again I chose some AIs based on their regional fit. Thus at least America, Brazil, the Aztecs, the Incas and the Shoshone will appear. We play as the Mayans on an unmodded Pangaea map with Large size and Standard speed. Your first task will be to carve out some space for yourself. Scout properly and hurry to settle the best spots. Your neighbours are expanding as well and I had to constraint myself to four core cities. Most AIs want a religion on this map, so you need to hurry with that as well. Maybe you do it better but early on I took two points in Piety (and eventually finished the Piety tree) just to secure a religion at all! And what about the security situation? Well, I wish you all the best...

The idea for this game is to go for a CV. Remember that it is a large map and many of the AIs are very keen on having good culture output. Thus, this is (as many of my games as the Mayans) more demanding than the average game in this series. But at the same time this is a game with great potential and thanks to decent early production in the capital, you can get those necessary midgame wonders that you need. As a benchmark, I built Oracle, Hanging Gardens, Sistine, Uffizi and Louvre and GE rushed LToP and GlobeT. I am sure you will have a great time with this one. Enjoy

There is a short recap of my game behind the spoiler.

Spoiler :

SIP on turn 2. I took a chance and moved up the Gems hill but I had to waste another turn to move back again. Nice CS to the NW and two to the S. First I met Pacacuti and Maria but then Monty came dancing as number three. It is always interesting to have him as my neighbour. As we will see later, Monty was my biggest problem in this game. Fourth religion with Tithe/Pagodas/RC/Messiah and later I took Jesuit Education as my reformation belief. 3 city NC on t88 and Oracle before that. Only England went Tradition (and I had two points) so I took a chance and managed to build HG as well. Education on t108. With building so many wonders early, I had to sacrifice growth a little bit. I also settled the fourth city only around t110-t115. Monty took out Portugal early and Spain started in a frantic tempo with reducing America and Brazil to a bare minimum. The former would later make some sort of decent comeback but Brazil had a rough game, finally going down in the Modern era.

The midgame started with a boom: I hard built Sistine while research the techs up to Printing Press. Then I rushed LToP with the GE from the Mayan UA and took another GE to rush GlobeT. I still managed to get Uffizi by just hard building it. But now my lack of growth came to haunt me and my tech progress was very slow. Luckily Coal was no problem and I was fourth to pick an ideology. I was first to choose Freedom and for 50-60 turns it was only me, until America and Brazil joined the club and on the very last turn of the game the Shoshone also converted. There were wars all over the place and England attacked me quite early with Cannons and Muskets when I only had XBs and Knights to defend myself with. Tikal was down to red health before Elizabeth agreed to a peace deal. The WC decided to embargo Monty. That was bad!

I entered Modern through Radio and hard built Eiffel. Then I took a detour for Dynamite and attacked England. Nottingham was a fantastic city but I went around it and took Norwich (burnt it) and London instead. I still had to focus on military, because Monty was running out of logical targets to attack. Together with my abysmal early and midgame growth, my science output was just bad. It took forever to reach Internet and even after that it took another eternity to win the game. I needed two GMus for the Shoshone and three for Monty. Monty was the cultural forerunner with a little bit over 60.000 culture to beat. He never attacked me but I had to keep him busy all the time. All in all a very competitive and demanding game. I had a great time with this one. SP: Tradition 2, full Piety, Patronage opener, full Aestethics, Commerce 2, Exploration opener, Freedom 8.

 

[Nizef]

Here is a recap of all games in the Enjoyable Deity Games Experience (EDGE) series so far:

1. Korea (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 1
2. the Shoshone (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Really Advanced Setup (RAS)), Page 1
3. America (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 3
4. Denmark (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 3
5. Byzantium (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS). Page 3
6. Germany (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 3
7. Polynesia (Small Continents Plus, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 4
8. Brazil (Continents, Standard speed, Large size, Modded with RAS), Page 4
9. Mongolia (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 4
10. Spain (Terra, Standard speed, Large size, Modded with RAS), Page 5
11. Carthage (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 5
12. the Aztecs (Lakes, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 5
13. England (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
14. Korea 2 (Small Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
15. Venice (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
16. Egypt (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
17. the Huns (Oval, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 6
18. Japan (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 6
19. China (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 7
20. Babylon (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
21. Polynesia 2 (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
22. Korea 3 (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
23. Russia (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded both with RAS and Hellblazers map script), Page 7
24. Portugal (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 7
25. France (Lakes, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 7
26. Germany 2 (Lakes, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 7
27. England 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 7
28. Sweden (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 7
29. Arabia (Sandstorm, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
30. the Mayans (Tectonics map, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with both RAS and the Tectonics map template), Page 8
31. Ethiopia (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
32. Assyria (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
33. Poland (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with RAS), Page 8
34. India (Pangaea, Standard speed, Small size, Modded with RAS), Page 8
35. the Aztecs 2 (Hellblazers Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Hellblazers map script), Page 8
36. Morocco (Sandstorm, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
37. Babylon 2 (Large Islands, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
38. Spain 2 (Inland Sea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
39. Greece (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
40. Carthage 2 (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
41. Indonesia (Archipelago, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 8
42. the Mayans 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety challenge, Page 9
43. Siam (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Patronage partial challenge, Page 9
44. the Shoshone 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 9
45. Poland 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Honor challenge, Page 9
46. the Netherlands (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Liberty challenge, Page 10
47. the Aztecs 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 10
48. the Celts (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 10
49. the Zulus (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Aesthetics challenge, Page 11
50. Austria (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
51. Persia (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
52. the Ottomans (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge, Page 11
53. Rome (Fractal, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
54. Songhai (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
55. the Incas (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
56. Russia 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
57. India 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 11
58. Germany 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 11
59. Byzantium 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge, Page 11
60. the Iroquois (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Aesthetics challenge, Page 12
61. America 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 12
62. Sweden 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Petra challenge, Page 12
63. Morocco 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial Commerce challenge, Page 12
64. England 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial UN challenge, Page 12
65. Portugal 2 (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), partial elimination challenge, Page 12
66. Egypt 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 12
67. Polynesia 3 (Archipelago, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 13
68. Sweden 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 13
69. Germany 4 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Large size, Unmodded), War academy, part 1, DomV challenge, Page 13
70. the Huns 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 2, Page 13
71. Spain 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded), Page 13
72. Denmark 2 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used), Page 13
73. Venice 2 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DipV challenge, Page 13
74. Carthage 3 (Hellblazer´s Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Modded with Hellblazer´s map script), CV challenge, Page 13
75. China 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 3, DomV challenge, Page 14
76. Mongolia 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), War academy, part 4, Page 14
77. Brazil 2 (Pangaea, Epic speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 15
78. the Shoshone 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 15
79. Assyria 2 (Terra Incognita, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used), Page 15
80. Indonesia 2 (Small Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), No Liberty challenge, Page 16
81. Portugal 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 16
82. Japan 2 (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), No Order challenge, Page 16
83. Persia 2 (Random map, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 16
84. the Netherlands 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 17
85. Denmark 3 (Tiny Islands, Standard speed, Large size, Raging Barbarians, Otherwise unmodded but Rotate Starting Position was used), Page 17
86. America 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), No Tradition challenge, Page 18
87. the Incas 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 18
88. Korea 4 (Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 19
89. the Ottomans 2 (Continents, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 20
90. Arabia 2 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 20
91. Ethiopia 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Pantheon challenge, Page 21
92. Greece 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 21
93. France 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 21
94. Siam 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded),Incense challenge, Page 22
95. Byzantium 3 (Continents, Epic speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 22
96. England 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 23
97. Sweden 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 24
98. Babylon 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 24
99. the Zulus 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 24
100. Germany 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 25
101. Brazil 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 25
102. Austria 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 26
103. England 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, modded with RAS and Acken´s balance mod), Page 27
104. the Celts 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 27
105. Rome 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 28
106. Songhai 2 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 28
107. Poland 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 29
108. Russia 3 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 29
109. China 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 30
110. the Aztecs 4 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 30
111. the Shoshone 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 32
112. Korea 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 32
113. the Mayans 3 (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 32
114. Assyria 3 (Continents, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded), Partial domination challenge, Page 33
115. Japan 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 33
116. Egypt 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 33
117. India 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Religion challenge, Page 33
118. Germany 6 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 34
119. the Zulus 3 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 34
120. Carthage 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 34
121. Ethiopia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety and CV challenge, Page 34
122. the Mayans 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 35
123. the Ottomans 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 37
124. the Aztecs 5 (Lakes, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), CV challenge, Page 38
125. Mongolia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 39
126. Spain 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 40
127. America 4 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), SV challenge, Page 40
128. Egypt 4 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 40
129. Morocco 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 40
130. the Huns 3 (Fractal, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 42
131. Indonesia 3 (Tiny Islands, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 45
132. the Incas 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded, Raging Barbarians), Page 46
133. Siam 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 46
134. Arabia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 47
135. Persia 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), DomV challenge, Page 47
136. Spain 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 48
137. Greece 3 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 49
138. Ethiopia 4 (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Page 49
139. Ethiopia 5 (Earth, Standard speed, Huge size, Modded with Y(n)AEMP map pack, 21 AIs on the map), Page 50
140. the Mayans 5 (Pangaea, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), Page 50

The subseries MIDGE consists of:
1. Finland (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Finland), Page 26
2. The Papal States (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is The Papal States. You also need Austria-Hungary.), Page 27
3. Phoenisia (Continents, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is the Phoenician civilization.), Page 27
4. Norway (Ice Age, Standard speed, Standard size. Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Norway. You also need the modded civs Finland, Iceland and Scotland.), Page 29
5. Belgium (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Belgium), Page 30
6. Tibet (Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Otherwise unmodded but the civ to play is Tibet), Page 49

 

[cocls]

I finished #140 with 217T CV using standard liberty - order internet + international games strategy.

Spoiler :

My first game on large size map. 8 self found cities, get 1 city from England through peace treaty and capture Incan capital after industrialization era. Luxury trade is much harder compare to standard size map, England surrenderred very early but I need to wait for a long time to get enough happiness to get her city.
Lucky enough to found a religion with pagodas.

 

[Nizef]

I finished #140 with 217T CV using standard liberty - order internet + international games strategy.

Great work!

 

[mariorio]

First time trying out these games, I decided to go with #138. Won the game CV at turn 283. It was just joyful to have a wonderful starting location.

Spoiler :

I got lucky discovering El Dorado early (I didn't know that it would give you 500 gold if you discovered it [first?]). I decided to buy a settler. Then I realized I have no neighbors as I didn't expect the map would not be a Pangea-ish kind -- I decided to build 3 expansions. I managed to do a 4 city NC at turn 90ish.

 

[Nizef]

First time trying out these games, I decided to go with #138. Won the game CV at turn 283. It was just joyful to have a wonderful starting location.

Hi,
Welcome to this series and thanks for trying out the game. Maybe I can lure you into trying some other games as well...

In your game you used SPs in a way I have never done: combining full Tradition with right hand side Liberty. I would appriciate any elaboration on this!

 

[mariorio]

Hi,
Welcome to this series and thanks for trying out the game. Maybe I can lure you into trying some other games as well...

In your game you used SPs in a way I have never done: combining full Tradition with right hand side Liberty. I would appriciate any elaboration on this!

Ah I got liberty the last when I got Tradition and Aesthetics full, openers and got the necessary policies in Freedom. I just wanted another golden age that's why I opened Liberty, late game I was still at 1 SP every around 10 turns, so it didn't took long.

As I remember my SP order is:

Tradition full -> Patronage (Opener and 1 policy to the right) -> Aesthetics (Opener and first 2 policies) -> Rationalism Opener -> Exploration Opener -> Aesthetics full -> Freedom -> Patronage full -> Commerce full -> Liberty right part

 

[beetle]

Can’t find the thread (it is a little bit older) where @Nizef talks about how many times he has to reload. Thanks again for this series!

 

[Nizef]

Well, I have rerolled tens of thousands of starts and some of the coastal civs are the trickiest to get decent starts with.

One of my weakest areas in Civ5 has been the evaluation of the location for cities. I have come up with some basic principles for how to evaluate any given location. This is also a subject where I would like comments and suggestions for improvements.

So here we go:
- Riverside or lakeside flatland/hill plains and grassland I all evaluate at the base value of 1. The basic idea is that this goes for any tile with output yield 4 (any combination) of FOOD and HAMMERS at (most commonly) Civil Service. Obviously hills Sheep and tundra Deer are included in this category.
- Hills without fresh water also get the value 1, but I rarely have the ability to work more than 5-6 of them and thus I think that a cap is required. I suggest that the cap will be set to 6. They are a little weaker than the first category because their yield is only 3 until Chemistry. Mining luxuries are a little sronger but still get the base value 1 except for Salt.
- Grassland/plains Salt, Flood plains Wheat, plains Wheat, forested Deer tiles, Sea resources and Bananas are stronger than the first categories and get a value of roughly 1.2 -1.5.
- Calendar and Trapping luxuries get a lower valuation, anywhere between 0 and 0,5. While it is necessary to have them inside your borders, they are mostly useless for estimating the potential of a city. Desert Marble belongs to this category as well.
- Desert Incense automatically gets the value 0,
- Grassland and plains tiles without fresh water are also valued to 0 or very near zero at least. Jungle tiles get a negative value or a value around zero and this goes for flat desert tiles as well.
- A city along a river gets the value 2 and hills/river 3. A coastal city gets the value 2 and coastal/hill 3, while coastal/hill/river get 4.

As you can see from the outline above, I value gold output extremely lowly in the context of growth and production of a certain location. A city with 17 workable tiles and a score of more than 22 will set you up for a good game. Scores between 16-21 are decent locations, 10-15 situational and a score lower than 10 is usually bad. Wonders might change the valuation though.

This has not been fine tuned at all and, as said, suggestions are much appriciated.

 

[mbbcam]

I have played with coastal cities more than anything else, but I still don't know how to handle them. They mostly seem to be short of hammers. I sometimes wonder if it is almost obligatory to go Exploration with coastal cities, but I've actually never experimented with that. I will have to try it. But it is very difficult to evaluate these things, because there are so many factors that may confound impressions.

 

[aafritz17]

Well, I have rerolled tens of thousands of starts and some of the coastal civs are the trickiest to get decent starts with.

One of my weakest areas in Civ5 has been the evaluation of the location for cities. I have come up with some basic principles for how to evaluate any given location. This is also a subject where I would like comments and suggestions for improvements.

So here we go:
- Riverside or lakeside flatland/hill plains and grassland I all evaluate at the base value of 1. The basic idea is that this goes for any tile with output yield 4 (any combination) of FOOD and HAMMERS at (most commonly) Civil Service. Obviously hills Sheep and tundra Deer are included in this category.
- Hills without fresh water also get the value 1, but I rarely have the ability to work more than 5-6 of them and thus I think that a cap is required. I suggest that the cap will be set to 6. They are a little weaker than the first category because their yield is only 3 until Chemistry. Mining luxuries are a little sronger but still get the base value 1 except for Salt.
- Grassland/plains Salt, Flood plains Wheat, plains Wheat, forested Deer tiles, Sea resources and Bananas are stronger than the first categories and get a value of roughly 1.2 -1.5.
- Calendar and Trapping luxuries get a lower valuation, anywhere between 0 and 0,5. While it is necessary to have them inside your borders, they are mostly useless for estimating the potential of a city. Desert Marble belongs to this category as well.
- Desert Incense automatically gets the value 0,
- Grassland and plains tiles without fresh water are also valued to 0 or very near zero at least. Jungle tiles get a negative value or a value around zero and this goes for flat desert tiles as well.
- A city along a river gets the value 2 and hills/river 3. A coastal city gets the value 2 and coastal/hill 3, while coastal/hill/river get 4.

As you can see from the outline above, I value gold output extremely lowly in the context of growth and production of a certain location. A city with 17 workable tiles and a score of more than 22 will set you up for a good game. Scores between 16-21 are decent locations, 10-15 situational and a score lower than 10 is usually bad. Wonders might change the valuation though.

This has not been fine tuned at all and, as said, suggestions are much appriciated.

(In this thread you can consider me one who lurks-to-learn...)

Two questions:
What about an observatory mountain?
What about NWs?

 

[beetle]

This has not been fine tuned at all and, as said, suggestions are much appriciated.

Actually, I think it might be more fine tuned than it needs to be! And I don’t see an explicit value for chops. I suspect a simpler algorithm might work just as well. Something like:

1. Each lux you can see: +0.5 (if on desert), +1 most others, +2 if Salt
2. Each bonus resource: +0.5 (most), but +1 if I really like it (e.g., banana or deer on hill)
3. Settle on a hill: +1
4. Settle on a lake: +1
5. Settle on river: +3 (both lake and river is only +3)
6. Settle on a mountain: +1
7. Settle on coast: +1
8. Each forest you can see: +0.5
9. Settle on plains, and Stone or Marble within range: -2 (probably should only be -1, but it’s a pet peeve)
10. Settle on or next to desert: +1
11. Settle on tundra: +1 (because the computer algorithm undervalues tundra, and because cities on tundra [or desert] are just as productive as cities on grassland or plains)
12. Settle on spot that unlocks UB or UA or UI: +3 or more
13. No faith dirt (rare, since there are several): -3
14. Wonder within range three: +5

Only UB that comes to mind is Aztec needing lakes or rivers? UA includes woods for Celts and Iroquois. UI might really only be Netherlands. Obviously Ahmad likes desert, but I would probably only put desert hills in this tally. Some starts for Polynesia are obviously great, but it is hard to score that. Inland start with Polynesia would be -10!