GOTM 07 Pre-Game Discussion

[AlanH]

It's Epic. A copy/paste problem on the release page, I think.

 

[ainwood]

Yes, it is Epic. I had two games to release last night, and not much time, so I rushed it a bit. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[godotnut]

I agree that these conditions look ripe for a cultural victory, but all of my recent non-GOTM and non-Gauntlet games have been for cultural victories, so I'm up for something different, maybe an early aggressive expansion, followed by diplo...? Or maybe just a domination if the diplomacy situation looks bad mid-game.

As for the starting position, I'm moving inward if the warrior reveals this to be a peninsula. I'll save that tasty starting position until after I've built my first settler and researched techs to reveal hidden resources.

Right now, I hope to find stone and/or marble upriver and start closer to my first victim. I can eat a turn or two of research at Prince level.

 

[paulhager]

Moderator Action: Deleted: Please ONLY post about the game in the official spoilers once you have started the game. The first spoiler will be opened in a few days

 

[jimbob27]

OOoohhh.. this'll be my first game of the month. I quite like saladin too. I'll just do my usual warmongering thing. I usually do fairly well with spiriual civs. I just wish it was marathon instead of epic. I'm so used to marathon now.

 

[albefranks]

My first GOTM attempt. Has anyone ever submitted loses and if you do lose do you just replay the game again?

Oh never mind didnt read the rules well enough

 

[caperkins]

Saladin!

I just finished a noble, lake, prince game with Arabia the other day and it was my best score to date (33K domination, not stellar by other standards, but Civ IV is my first of the series so I'm still learning). I went and looked at my replay for hints and here's what seemed to work:

-Founded Hinduism
-Built Stonehenge AND Pyramids (had stone near 2nd city)
-Built Notre Dame
-Founded Islam and built Spiral Mineret (for the money bonus)
-Built Taj
-Utilized a few golden ages

The Camal Archers did most of my damage (the retreat bonus DID come in handy) and upgraded them to Cavalry with a healthy economy (and the capturing city yield.

Good luck to all!

 

[albefranks]

Hmmm yah the pig and wine thing is funny.. Maybe some should create a mod that hinders you from build or using these types of resources based on you religion for the state. Hinduism doesnt allow the use of cows, Islam pig or wine, etc etc.

 

[PeteJ]

Not my first GOTM, but this will be my first submission.... I hope I can keep up with you guys.

 

[iluvc2oh6]

Moderator Action: DON'T post here once you have started the game.

 

[paulhager]

Which file(s) do I upload - the last save?

Moderator Action: Second Sentence Deleted.

DO NOT POST SPOILER INFORMATION IN ANY THREAD OTHER THAN A SPOILER THREAD.

DO NOT POST HERE ONCE YOU HAVE STARTED THE GAME.

 

[AlanH]

The Submission Page gives all the information you should require to submit your game. If you need further support please contact me or ainwood via PM as indicated in the game release page, not in these threads.

 

[drkodos]

I have not started the game.


I keep seeing people say in this thread that there are plains hills on the map. Where? I always thought plains hills were more brownish and not green.

Is it the food/hammer production on those green hills that indicates they are actually plains hills and not grass land hills?

If so, I am glad and thankful that someone posted this because I automatically, and most likely possibly erroneously, assumed all green hills were not Plains hills.

And as it were, I think I'd rather get the longer term production from mining them rather than the short term perk of getting a 2nd hammer in the city center tile. If iron or copper pops up on one of those hills, then I would really rather not have my city sitting over it grabbing just two hammers instead if the potential 6 with a metal resource.

I am hoping to start tonight, but have not decided what to play: the easier route with extras or the contender class. Kudos to anyone that picks the toughest. I hope someone posts a game along those lines.

I admit to being intimidated by the Prince level since I am a middling Noble player.

 

[DaviddesJ]

The hill 1E is a plains hill. You can tell from the FPC (2h1c). It's green because the screenshot shows your cultural boundaries overlying the tile, and you happen to be playing a leader with a green player color.

 

[drkodos]

The hill 1E is a plains hill. You can tell from the FPC (2h1c). It's green because the screenshot shows your cultural boundaries overlying the tile, and you happen to be playing a leader with a green player color.

Excellent. Thank you.

Helps me get past the paralysis of that initial decision on where to settle.

 

[paulhager]

The Submission Page gives all the information you should require to submit your game. If you need further support please contact me or ainwood via PM as indicated in the game release page, not in these threads.

Thanks. Did submit ...

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I have not started the game.
I keep seeing people say in this thread that there are plains hills on the map. Where? I always thought plains hills were more brownish and not green.

Besides DaviddesJ's point about the cultural boundaries, it's also worth remembering that Civ adjusts the graphics levels to the capabilities of the individual computer, so screenshots you see might look different from how things look when you play, if the person taking the screenshot is using a different level of graphics quality. The effect is actually pretty big - I had to a real double take when I first saw the screenshot for this GOTM because it just looks so much better (and yes, a bit greener) than what I see when I play.

Is it the food/hammer production on those green hills that indicates they are actually plains hills and not grass land hills?

I find with practice I can tell somehow from the appearance of the hill, though I'm not quite sure what about the appearance gives that away -it is subtle, I couldn't tell the difference when I first started playing Civ 4. In this screenshot, I could see immediately it was a plains hill without looking at the food/hammers. But yes, the food/hammer production gives the final clincher if there's any doubt.

 

[Cyrillin]

I think the screenshot was taken with the Blue Marble graphics Mod installed. I may be wrong though, because I've been using Blue Marble for so long that I can't remember what it looks like without it!

 

[topcatdk]

Hmm, I've just downloaded the save and am gearing up my courage for my second attempt at a gotm, as I had a time-loss on noble in the last one I might as well surrender now… Hehe…

I read somewhere about a good start so if this starting position turns out nice, I might actually survive to see which AI wins the game…

Starting strategy, mmmm, I’ve done a few pre-games with the same settings (and I’ve been beat up seriously), one thing I’ve learned though is sea-travel is almost useless so I think I might actually settle one north, hoping to get one additional floodplain into the city area, with some luck this could turn out to be a monster GP city (which I’ve never pulled off in any game before) going NW runs the risk of finding desert in the dark area, 1 NE might also be tempting as it seems to add more trees to chop… Moving inland also allows me to skip fishing for some time and with even more luck I can find a good spot for a second city up river…..

And I know I won’t be as lucky so I’ll do the 1 north, miss out some key benefits and be beat up by who ever AI is around…

See you all in the spoiler thread… Hehe I might even be able to get fastest loss, now there’s something to aim for…

 

[culdeus]

After some thought and some practice games world built on this tile I'm moving to the PH. Extra ocean tiles < any earth tile. This will limit the hammer output of the capital long term (especially if copper is on the PH). And that wine is better than nothing I guess.

I've only done one or two full games since 1.61. Has anyone posted a good strategy article on starting build order for REX with the new chop yields?