Gotm 149 *spoiler*

[Inkerman]

The log for the next set of turns reads much like the log for the last set. I went for a full size spaceship and did what I could to grow citizens in the time that was available. I delivered another 200 vans and captured/founded another 100 cities.

I did hit a small bug which I haven't seen before, probably because I have rarely taken a game up this big. It was when stepping through the cities alphabetically and it produced a crash with a "protection fault". It was bypassed by no longer stepping through the cities that way. I had to replay part of a turn.

As is conventional I will omit details of end date and score.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Having got to this position it'll be a spaceship. The Russian civ is big and dominant, so it is not very difficult.

This world was big enough, the land hospitable enough, and the AI isolated enough that you could have just ignored the rivals and gone for space ship from the start. Why the change of plans from conquest to space ship?

1540- Become Democracy.
...
1730- Discover Magnetism (cancels LH) -> Genetic Engineering > Electricity

Impressive. Less than 20 turns after Democracy your science output is enough to get a tech per turn. In this period of 25 turns you got 24 techs.

I did hit a small bug which I haven't seen before, probably because I have rarely taken a game up this big. It was when stepping through the cities alphabetically and it produced a crash with a "protection fault". It was bypassed by no longer stepping through the cities that way. I had to replay part of a turn.

I have seen a similar bug where past a certain number of cities (I am not sure of the exact number, but if I had to guess above 100) you can no longer step through the cities in ascending alphabetical order. In my case, however, the game does not crash. You simply get out of sequence and then get stuck not being able to proceed stepping through cities. But you can quit that screen and start over. Also, in my case, descending alphabetical order always works. I should mention that I have the classic on Macintosh. It came out a year or two later than the windows version and was generally less buggy.

 

[Inkerman]

This world was big enough, the land hospitable enough, and the AI isolated enough that you could have just ignored the rivals and gone for space ship from the start. Why the change of plans from conquest to space ship?

Yes, why could that be? A reason not to switch horses mid-stream is difficulty catching up with players who have the spaceship in mind from the start. But with this composition maybe that was not so much a factor as usual?

Another reason not to do it is the real time needed. I can only do it once-in-a-while.

It took a long time to reach the far corner where the Mongols where, and I realised that the distances and the potential spread of re-spawns was going to make conquest hard to complete. I first thought about spaceship when the Mongol capital Karakorum built Copernicus to add to Colossus. It was very much in mind as an option as a large fleet approached the Mongols. At about the same time the also remote Americans built city walls everywhere. Karakorum was captured before the far south-west was settled, and the south and west were also quite sparsely covered. Also (it was mid-November real-time and) I had a few days available - that was probably the main reason for the conquer first, spaceship second, line.

 

[Inkerman]

I have seen a similar bug where past a certain number of cities (I am not sure of the exact number, but if I had to guess above 100) you can no longer step through the cities in ascending alphabetical order. In my case, however, the game does not crash. You simply get out of sequence and then get stuck not being able to proceed stepping through cities. But you can quit that screen and start over. Also, in my case, descending alphabetical order always works. I should mention that I have the classic on Macintosh. It came out a year or two later than the windows version and was generally less buggy.

I agree. I play on 2.42 and it seems going in descending alphabetical order is better, and sometimes it is a loop in the sequence rather than a crash. Also I tried a file in MGE and I cannot get the problem. I note "find city" presents cities in alphabetical order in MGE vs the build order used in 2.42. I guess it happens with total number of cities in the game exceeding 128.

 

[Major Advantage]

...difficulty catching up with players who have the spaceship in mind from the start. ...

Probably. I was planning for spaceship right from the start and thus was way ahead in techs though you were well ahead in cities.

My game was dominated by expansion and incredible hut luck, resulting in barb occurence only once. However, I did not win and advanced tribe or nomads in the western continent, so settling there started very late when the strip was fully settled/roaded.


+40 Tiflis founded on east main continent, elefant from hut. We could crush france with it...or pop huts
60 Elefant from hut on southern continent
120 Nomads in the south
160 Philo->Monoth.->Wheel; Baku, Vladivostok founded, Crusader from hut; ask for egypt gift, get masonry
180 25g from hut
220 50g from hut
240 get wheel from Mongols, alliance; dye(d) Smolensk>Babylon 160g; another crusader in the south
260 Research Medicine, Legion from hut
280 50g from hut, Baby Channel founded south of Babylon accessing 3 whales
300 Egypt gifts construction, Mongols gift nothing, immigrant from Moskau grows Walrus city to size 2, gems(d) bring in 108g
320 Bridge-Building from hut
340 Advanced tribe (Krasnoyarsk) on southern coast
360 get republic from Babylon; cannot finish Michelangelo next turn because the road is not completed; 50g from hut, revolution
380 Republic established; nomads
400 Michelangelo completed, 50g, Riga founded, engineering from hut; 75g gift from Mongols, Egypt gifts pottery
420 Rostov, Astrakhan, Neapel founded
460 Advanced tribe(Issus) on easter continent
(Barbs near Riga)
480 Legion from hut puts Neapel in happiness trouble; Banking from hut, could have gotten that from Babylon
520 150g gift from Egypt

Stats at 520 AD:
pop.: 550k; cities: 18; techs: 26; gov: Rep, gold: 321, cost per turn: 2, Trade Routes: 2D/1F; wonders: Marco Polo, Lighthouse
units: 3 settler, 7 defence army, 0 offence army, 1 dip, 2 boat, 1 van

Babylon: Enth., peace
France: Enth., peace
Egypt: Enth., alliance
America: Neutral
England: Cordial, peace
Mongols: Enraged, peace

540 Bribe barb chariot, kill other chariot along with leader, no chance to catch him; Kaliningrad founded, Cremona from Advanced tribe (seriously, I am not realoading huts!)
580 Medicine->Sanitation (other options were Feudalism and Invention, but I want the 10s slot and good payouts)
620 Cannale founded, Feudalism from hut
640 silver(d) 290
660 salt(u) Walrus City>Paris 132g, copper (d) 224g, sign peace with england despite alliance with mongols and tech bomb them since we are still only mighty
680 San.->Math; dye(d) 256, silk(u) 268; get math from Babylon
700 Research Astro; Capua, Turin founded
740 Astro->Theology; Genua founded, copper(d)224
780 SwjosdnyGorodok founded at (128,34), might be SSC someday
800 Egypt builds KRC, Babylon switches to Leonardo. Beat them to it of grab it later?
820 Verona founded, 25g from hut
840 Salamis founded; dye(d)422g
860 Theo->Univers.
880 Lissabon founded
900 dye(d) 336; get Univers. from Babylon
920 Research Navigation; Bach cathedral built
960 Crusader on west island
980 Nav.->physics
(Babyls about to finish Leonardo, about 4 turns before we are ready)
1000 None-Crusader from hut

Stats at 1000 AD:
pop.: 1.38M; cities: 28; techs: 34; gov: Rep, gold: 1143, cost per turn: 5, Trade Routes: 2D/9F; wonders: Marco Polo, Lighthouse, Michelangelo, Bach
units: 14 settler, 11 defence army, 8 offence army, 2 dip, 3 boat, 13 van
footprint: 1 on #20 & #17; 5 on #4, 1 on N-strip, 1 on S-strip, 11 on south, 8 on east

Babylon: Enth., peace
France: Enth., peace
Egypt: coop., alliance
America: Neutral
England: Enth, peace
Mongols: bad mood, alliance


1020 Ur completes Leonardo, Hamburg founded, 50g from hut, 200g gift from Mongols
1060 Finally barbs from hut! Too bad it was my none-crusader that popped it...
(Crusader lost)
1080 Magellan finished, Musketeer from hut, 150g gift from egypt
1100 100g from hut
1120 silk(d) 222; bribing Ur would be 2520g, only ~2000 right now
1160 phys->Invention; get invention from egypt
1180 Research Gunpowder
1200 21g for first SSC-delivery to Paris
1220 Copernicus built; deliveries 124, 224
1240 Bribing Ur would be 2844, exactly what I have right now..., get 100 more (+gunpowder) from egypt, revolution, demand babylonian tribute, they ignore, bribe Ur, get 220g+Pyramids+Leonardo+Chemistry
1260 Republic re-established, spend gold below 50 but Babyls don't want to talk
1280 Research Explosives
1300 Sign cease fire with Babylon, but they refuse peace
1340 Explosives->Magnetism; deliveries 222,76
(Egypt discovers Democracy)
1360 186
1400 Magn.->Steam eng.; get Demo from Egypt, revolution
1420 Demo established, Shakespeare built, Star Station founded (intended to be station city for SSC>Paris, but obiously not...)
1480 Steam->Metall; decide to relocate Issus to serve as station city
1500 Now that we have Pyramids, it seems impossible to starve Issus out of existance...

Stats at 1500 AD:
pop.: 3.98M; cities: 46; techs: 42; gov: Dem, gold: 319, cost per turn: 23, Trade Routes: 2D/21F; wonders: Pyr., Marco Polo, Lighthouse, Michelangelo, Bach, Copernicus, Magellan, Shakespeare, Leonardo
units: 14 settler, 11 defence army, 8 offence army, 2 dip, 3 boat, 13 van
footprint: 1 on #20,#17,6; 5 on #4, 2 on N-strip, 2 on SE-strip, 1 on SE-strip, 19 on south, 13 on east

Babylon: Cordial, cease fire
France: coop., peace
Egypt: cordial, alliance
America: cordial, peace
England: bad mood, war
Mongols: neutral, alliance

 

[Prof. Garfield]

Haven't looked through the discussion yet. Here is my log up to AD 740. I may or may not play further; if I do, I will end up going for conquest. (The VM I was playing through got real slow due to a Windows XP bug; I solved it, but it sort of killed my interest in playing after the game became more "standard.")

Plan: Lighthouse and early republic. Will do ICS on home island while lighthouse is completed.
(1) 4000 BC: ...
(2) 3950 BC: ....
(3) 3900 BC: Build Moscow, begin settler.
(4) 3850 BC: Begin Alphabet.
(5) 3800 BC: ...
(6) 3750 BC: ...
(7) 3700 BC: ...
(8) 3650 BC: ...
(9) 3600 BC: ...
(10) 3550 BC: ...
(11) 3500 BC: ...
(12) 3450 BC: ...
(13) 3400 BC: Alphabet begin Code of Laws. Settler, begin Colossus.
(14) 3350 BC: ...
(15) 3300 BC: Build St. Petersburg.
(16) 3250 BC: ...
(17) 3200 BC: ...
(18) 3150 BC: Rush 1s on settler in St. Petersburg.
(19) 3100 BC: ...
(20) 3050 BC: ...
(21) 3000 BC: ...


Status at 3000 BC:
2 cities, each size 1. 4 technologies. 32 shields progress on a wonder. No foreign contact.


(22) 2950 BC: Code of Laws, begin Writing.
(23) 2900 BC: ...
(24) 2850 BC: ...
(25) 2800 BC: Switch St. Petersburg to Silk so the new citizen will work the whale (instead of possibly the furs).
(26) 2750 BC: ST. Petersburg size 2. Moscow size 2.
(27) 2700 BC: St. Petersburg settler.
(28) 2650 BC: ...
(29) 2600 BC: Build Kiev, start settler, to be switched to trireme.
(30) 2550 BC: Writing, begin Currency. Mapmaking not available. Should have checked the hidden technology chart. Switch Kiev to diplomat. Do NOT rush a shield in St. Petersburg because when the city grows, it will produce 4 shields by working the plains for a turn.
(31) 2500 BC: ...
(32) 2450 BC: ...
(33) 2400 BC: ...
(34) 2350 BC: ...
(35) 2300 BC: ...
(36) 2250 BC: ...
(37) 2200 BC: ...
(38) 2150 BC: Currency, begin Map Making. St. Petersburg size 2, and the city worked the ocean by default instead of plains like I expected. Will work plains for 1 turn to cut settler production by a turn. Move Moscow off of Furs and onto plains to boost production to 5 shields now that total is at 100.
(39) 2100 BC: Kiev diplomat. Kiev now working ocean for a turn.
(40) 2050 BC: St. Petersburg settler.
(41) 2000 BC: ...


Status: 3 cities, 4 citizens. 115 shields towards a wonder. 1 settler, 1 diplomat. 7 technologies.


(42) 1950 BC: Road between Moscow and St. Petersburg complete. Rush 2s in Kiev.
(43) 1900 BC: Rehome St. Petersburg settler to Moscow. Moscow will have food deficit, but St. Petersburg will grow faster. Precharge settler for next road. Rush 1s in St. Petersburg.
(44) 1850 BC: ...
(45) 1800 BC: Road outside Kiev.
(46) 1750 BC: Precharge settler.
(47) 1700 BC: ...
(48) 1650 BC: Most Powerful Civs: Russians Pathetic. Road on Furs.
(49) 1600 BC: Map Making, begin Literacy. Switch Kiev to trireme, Moscow to Lighthouse.
(50) 1550 BC: ...
(51) 1500 BC: ...


Status: 3 cities, 5 citizens. 3 roads. Lighthouse has 165 shields of progress. 8 technologies.


(52) 1450 BC: Kiev builds trireme.
(53) 1400 BC: St. Petersburg settlers. Irrigation complete on plains beside Moscow. Disband diplomat into Lighthouse. It will be done in 2 turns; I don't think it's worth it to spend 40 gold to speed it by a turn.
(54) 1350 BC: ...
(55) 1300 BC: Moscow builds lighthouse, begins Trireme. Kiev switches to diplomat. St. Petersburg switches to diplomat. Trireme sets sail.
(56) 1250 BC: ...
(57) 1200 BC: ...
(58) 1150 BC: ...
(59) 1100 BC: ...
(60) 1050 BC: American capital moved to Boston.
(61) 1000 BC: Literacy, begin The Republic.
Status: 3 cities, 4 citizens. 3 roads, 1 square irrigation. 2 settlers, 1 trireme. Wonders: Lighthouse.
(62) 975 BC: Kiev diplomat. Switch St. Petersburg production back to settler.
(63) 950 BC: Moscow Trireme, will wait for St. Petersburg settler. Use St. Petersburg settler to build Minsk at (137,59). Canal location on plains with access to 3 whales.
(64) 925 BC: ...
(65) 900 BC: ...
(66) 875 BC: Egyptians begin Pyramids. St. Petersburg size 2. Build Smolensk at mouth of river (132,46).
(67) 850 BC: St. Petersburg settler. Rush 8s for a warrior in Smolensk.
(68) 825 BC: ...
(69) 800 BC: Moscow Diplomat. Hut near Smolensk reveals 8 barb horses.
(70) 775 BC: Barbs capture Smolensk (not raze) and plunder 25 gold.
(71) 750 BC: Russians are 5th largest Civilization.
(72) 725 BC: Kiev Diplomat. Rush 2s in Minsk.
(73) 700 BC: The Republic, begin Trade.
(74) 675 BC: Minsk Size 2.
(75) 650 BC: Moscow Diplomat. Hut (118,80): Legion homed to Minsk. Revolution. Rush 4s in Minsk.
(76) 625 BC: Republic Established. Science to 80%. Discoveries every 5 turns.
(77) 600 BC: Build Odessa at (119,77).
(78) 575 BC: Minsk settlers. Hut (111,69): 50 gold.
(79) 550 BC: ...
(80) 525 BC: Trade, begin Masonry over Pottery and Banking. Switch production at home to Caravans. Rush 4s in Odessa. Hut: Iron Working.
(81) 500 BC: Rush 5s in Moscow. Build Sevastopol. Legion Loses to barb archer on Mountain. Rush archer in Odessa.


Status: 6 cities, 8 citizens; 2 cities on the nearest "narrow strip," one city on south continent. Lost a city to barbs on the nearest "middle continent." 2 triremes, 4 diplomats. Wonders: Lighthouse. No contact. 12 technologies. Government: Republic.


(82) 475 BC: Odessa Archer kills barb archer.
(83) 450 BC: ...
(84) 425 BC: St. Petersburg Gems. Hut gives horseman supported by Odessa; Odessa will fall into disorder because I had sent the archer away to pop another hut.
(85) 400 BC: Disorder in Odessa. Hut near Sevastopol gives barbs, bribe 1 horse, kill the other.
(86) 375 BC: Order in Odessa. Masonry, begin Ceremonial Burial. Moscow Beads. Hut gives another Odessa Horseman; another hut gives 50 gold. Disband a horseman; the disorder isn't worth the unit.
(87) 350 BC: Pay 52 gold to get Smolensk back.
(88) 325 BC: Minsk Settlers. Kill 2 barb Horsemen.
(89) 300 BC: Pay 68 gold to keep another barb horseman from attacking Smolensk. Hut gives Mathematics. Kiev trireme, which will be homed to St. Petersburg.
(90) 275 BC: Egyptians build Pyramids. Sevastopol settlers. Odessa Settlers. St. Petersburg grows to size 3 and descends into disorder. Hut gives an advanced tribe at (86,80).
(91) 250 BC: Order in St. Petersburg. Kill 2 more barb horsemen. Notice that my treasury is down to 37 gold. Taxes to 80% so I'll be able to buy a couple temples. Build Sverdlovsk. Hut gives Nomads.
(92) 225 BC: Ceremonial Burial, begin Mysticism. Hut gives 100 gold. Rush temple in St. Petersburg. Science back up to 80%.
(93) 200 BC: Russians 5th most powerful civ. St. Petersburg builds temple.
(94) 175 BC: Moscow Temple, Moscow size 3.
(95) 150 BC: Hut yields advanced tribe at (79,69). Hut yields chariot supported at Tblisi.
(96) 125 BC: English begin HG. Build Vladivostok. Build Novgorod. Hut gives Construction.
(97) 100 BC: ...
(98) 75 BC: Vikings begin HG. Luxuries to 80%, I'm hoping I can get Smolensk to celebrate. Hut gives Legion.
(99) 50 BC: Can't get Smolensk to celebrate to Size 4 without a temple or courthouse. Luxuries to 40%.
(100) 25 BC: Mysticism, begin Polytheism. Luxuries to 0%.
(101) AD 1: Build Krasnoyarsk as a bottleneck city at (125,19).


Status: 13 cities. Government: Republic. 17 technologies. No contact. Wonders: Lighthouse. Foreign Wonders: Pyramids (Egyptians). 2 settlers, 3 triremes, 2 caravans.


(102) AD 20: Hut gives The Wheel, another hut gives an advanced tribe (Riga). Build Rostov.
(103) AD 40: Hut gives Legion. Build Astrakhan.
(104) AD 60: Smolensk Disorder. Looks like I've hit the Riot factor limit. Hut gives Barbs 2 spaces from 2 of my cities.
(105) AD 80: Barbs Raze Sverdlovsk, take Astrakhan. Disorder in Odessa (somehow); St. Petersburg Beads. Hut give Nomads. Taxes to 70%, so that I don't get too many beakers next turn beyond the discovery.
(106) AD 100: English Build HG, Vikings change to Colossus. Minsk Salt, polytheism, begin Philosophy. Moscow Salt. Moscow Beads (d) to Ur for 238 gold. Science back to 80%. Meet Vikings: Peace. Get Pottery (only tech) in exchange for construction. Babylonians: Give Babylonians Literacy and Republic, but don't get maps. Hut gives more barbs; bribe legion, kill horseman.
(107) AD 120: Barb horseman kills my chariot, 2 barb horses defeated by my legion on Mountain. Bribe horseman, kill another.
(108) AD 140: Mongols destroyed by English. Sevastopol suffering from Riot factor; the destroyed Mongol City must have shifted the city list.
(109) AD 160: Vikings build Colossus. Novgorod beads; see Sioux in supply/demand list. Smolensk temple. Philosophy, Seafaring, begin Monotheism. St. Petersburg Gems (nd) to Babylon for 220 gold. Bribe Astrakhan for 26 gold. Hut gives Nomad. Kill another barb horse.
(110) AD 180: Barb uprising consisting of a chariot and leader that didn't even stack. Bribe chariot, kill leader, lose 11 gold in the transaction. Disband chariot for happiness reasons.
(111) AD 200: ...
(112) AD 220: Egyptians begin MPE. Astrakhan disorder.
(113) AD 240: Minsk silk. Kiev dye. Riga builds explorer.
(114) AD 260: Vladivostok hides.
(115) AD 280: Rostov Cloth.
(116) AD 300: Vikings sneak attack, kill horseman. Monotheism, begin Bridge Building.
(117) AD 320: ...
(118) AD 340: ...
(119) AD 360: ...
(120) AD 380: Smolensk Courthouse. 8 caravans into Smolensk for Mike's.
(121) AD 400: Smolensk builds Michelangelo's Chapel. Kill Viking Horseman outside Krasnoyarsk with catapult. Taxes to 80%.
(122) AD 420: Kill horseman/settler stack with catapult. Build Kharkov.
(123) AD 440: Build Grozny. First hut my explorer pops yields barbs.
(124) AD 460: Luxuries to 80%, taxes 20%. Build a city beginning with the letter D. Build Maikop.
(125) AD 480: Russians Most advanced; Vikings in 5th place, Babylonians in 6th. Kill another Viking horseman. Bribe 2 horsemen, they are both NON.
(126) AD 500: Fewer cities than I thought could take advantage of WLTCD due to corruption, so taxes back up to 80%. Archer on Hill beats my Vet catapult.


Status: 19 cities. Government: Republic. 3 settlers, 3 triremes, 10 caravans. Wonders: Lighthouse, Mike's. Foreign wonders: Pyramids, HG, Colossus. Foreign Policy: Peace with Babylonians, War with Vikings; no Embassy. 23 technologies.


(127) AD 520: Viking Phalanx kills diplomat at Krasnoyarsk; rushed catapult kills Phalanx and archer.
(128) AD 540: ...
(129) AD 560: Sioux: Peace, give Republic, Horseback Riding, Philosophy, Iron Working, Writing, get Maps.
(130) AD 580: Egyptians nearly complete Marco Polo's Embassy. Due to the Long travel distances, I decide to get MPE after all, put 4 caravans into Moscow. Spend treasury down to 28 gold. Vikings: Peace. Exchange Republic for Bridge Building. Give Philosophy and Wheel, get Maps.
(131) AD 600: Begin Astronomy. Moscow Builds Marco Polo's Embassy. English: Demand 100 gold; war. Egyptians, give Republic, Literacy, get Maps.
(132) AD 620: ...
(133) AD 640: Build Kursk. Luxuries to 80%.
(134) AD 660: Moscow Salt (nd) to Ur for 228 gold.
(135) AD 680: Astronomy, begin Navigation. Peace with English, give techs, get maps.
(136) AD 700: Decide to go for a conquest using crusaders; will tech for Feudalism, build Sun Tzu, then build up forces. Get Monarchy from Egyptians. Hut gives Banking. Build Kuibyshev.
(137) AD 720: Build Magnitogorsk. Luxuries to 10%; Beads to Ur (d) from St. Petersburg for 533 gold. Build Uralsk.
(138) AD740: Build Kazan.


Status: Cities: 24. Government: Republic. 4 settlers, 5 triremes, 12 caravans. Foreign Policy: Peace with everyone (except Americans, whom I Haven't contacted, and who only have 2 cities AFAIK). Wonders: Lighthouse, MPE, Mike's. Foreign Wonders: Pyramids, HG, Colossus. 27 technologies.

 

[Inkerman]

Haven't looked through the discussion yet. Here is my log up to AD 740. I may or may not play further; if I do, I will end up going for conquest....

Quite understand maybe not playing further as even with conquest it would require some significant time - it's a long way to the far corners and respawns are on. On the other hand I think it might be well-suited to quick play, as trade and incremental building are not as useful as usual (because it is mostly one continent and the older larger cities are away from the fighting.) And it might be quite satisfying, depending on what floats your boat, as one of our sayings in England has it.

Of the other contributors here only haleewud (has posted up to 1AD) may have gone for conquest. I started on that track and switched. Major_Advantage and Ali had spaceship in mind from the off. Your AD500 numbers look similar to others.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Prof.
Your game looks too promising not to finish despite awful luck with hut barbarians. Couldn't believe how many you got.

I played till 1800 last night. I am about to discover flight. Space race will start in 1820s.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

+1752 Atomic Theory -> Fundamentalism.
+1754 Conscription -> Egyptian -> Industrialization. Engineer runs into barbarian legions on southern island and backs away. 200g from hut. T0L1S9
+1756 Fundamentalism -> Corporation. Musketeer from hut. Abadan founded.
+1758 Corporation -> Steel -> Genetic Engineering -> Refining. Darwin built. Deliveries to Egyptians for 368, 232. T3L1S6
+1760 Refining -> Combustion. Delivery to Egyptians for 290. Khorramshahr founded.
+1762 Mongol elephant kills my explorer on west central. Rifleman survives barbarian legion and turns vet. Combustion -> Automobile. Barbarian leader for 50g. Izeh founded. Rifleman from hut. Deliveries to Americans for 148, 384. T0L1S9
+1764 Automobile -> Mass Production. Mazar founded. Silver to Washington for 215. Railroad -> English -> maps.
+1766 Mass Production -> Machine Tools. Barbarian Frigate sighted near east coast of east island. Kish founded on island 14. Hoveizeh founded. T4L1S5
+1768 Barbarian dragoons kill an engineer and a cavalry. Cure built. Barbarian dragoons and frigate bribed for 102g each. T3L2S5
+1770 Machine Tools -> Electronics. Lisbon founded on the west coast of southern island. Sardestan founded.
+1772 Babylonians reach peace with Vikings. First pollution appears. Kharg founded on island 10. Salt from Moscow to Samarkand for 1504 (capped). Undemanaded Cloth to Samarkand for 145. T2L2S6
+1774 Electronics -> Mini. Egyptian deliveries for 277.
+1776 Mini -> Computers. Banana founded. Foreign deliveries for 246, 290, 242, 147, 242, 110, 110, 92.
+1778 Computers -> Recycling. Badakhshan founded. Tonb founded on island 13. Senate hands cease fire to Vikings. Delivery to Vikings for 186.
+1780 Recycling -> Amphibious Warfare. Gems to London for 314. Offered Mongols peace and tech bombed them to worshipful to reduce tech cost and get their maps. They have 3 cities on their strip but none on west central.
+1782 Foreign deliveries for 372. Shahrud founded. T4L2S4
+1784 Amphibious Warfare -> Mobile Warfare. SETI built. Musketeer from hut. Foreign deliveries for 80.
+1786 Mobile Warfare -> Robotics. Hoover built. Domestic deliveries for 217.
+1788 Egyptians build Suffrage. Sirjan founded.
+1790 Robotics -> Nuclear Fission. Domestic deliveries for 180. Neyriz founded.
+1792 Domestic deliveries for 80, 40, 72. Babol founded.
+1794 Nuclear Fission -> Nuclear Power. Coal to Boston for 387.
+1796 Nuclear Power -> Laser.
+1798 Laser -> Communism. Domestic deliveries for 55, 366, 467, 228. Egyptiuans and Babylonians both have Communism but neither want to trade because they are both building the UN. T6L2S2
+1800 Foreign deliveries for 212, 452, 92, 64. T4L2S4

Status at +1800
Population: 32M; Cities: 56; Techs: 73; Government: Democracy
Gold: 1411; Cost: 207; Trade routes: 37D42F;
Ancient Wonders: Colossus
Medieval Wonders: Marco, Michelangelo, Copernicus, Magellan, Shakespeare
Industrial Wonders: Leo, Bach, Newton, Adam Smith, Darwin
Modern Wonders: Cure, Hoover, SETI
Units: 22 Engineers, 10 soldiers, 7 Transports, 1 diplomat, 23 vans, 1 explorer.
Goals: Apollo (10 turns), Space race, further expansion in east central and southern.
Footprint: 1 in homeland, 1 in 17, 7 in 4, 2 in 6, 19 in East central, 14 in Southern, 5 in Southern-E.Central strip, 3 in Babylon/Viking-E.Central strip, 1 in Southern-W.Central strip, 1 in each of the 3 middle small islands.
Note: West central is still uninhabited.
Babylonian: no embassy; Hanging Gardens; allied with me
Viking: no embassy; Lighthouse;
Egyptian: no embassy; Pyramids, Great Library, King Richards, Eiffel, Suffrage;
American: no embassy; Great Wall, Statue of Liberty; allied with me
English: no embassy; allied with Mongols
Mongol: no embassy; Oracle; allied with English

 

[haleewud]

+20 Tblisi Founded (East Island), Hut -> 25, Hut -> 8 Barb Horse (near Smolensk), 98g spent on RBs
+40 Barb Horse kills warrior in Smolensk (reduced to size 1), Kiev Settler, 82g spent on RBs
+60 Smolensk destroyed by Barbs, East Moscow Food, South Moscow Food, Moscow Food, 4 vans to Moscow
+80 Moscow builds MPE
Zulus: Despotism, 41g, 2 cities, 9 Techs
Vikings: Despotism, 472g, 8 cities, 8 Techs (Masonry)
Egyptians: Despotism, 244g, 3 cities, 7 Techs (Masonry)
Americans: Despotism, 233g, 4 cities, 10 Techs (Masonry, Republic)
English: Despotism, 338g, 4 cities, 8 Techs (Masonry)
Mongols: Despotism, 305g, 3 cities, 8 Techs
Egyptians (2), Peace, 100 tribute
Americans (3), Peace, Trade Trade -> Republic, Give Philo, Monarchy, MM, exchange maps, 100 tribute
English (4), Peace, Trade Republic -> Masonry, Give Wheel, exchange maps, 100 Tribute
Mongols (1), I give them 50 tribute, Peace, Give Republic and Philo, exchange maps, no Tribute
Tech cost is now 342
+100 New York builds GL, Start Polytheism, Minsk Settler, St. Petersburg Settler, 91g spent on RBs
+120 South Moscow Settlers, 66g spent on RBs
+140 English capture Aleppo (get CB), Mongols get Currency from English for HBR (GL gives it to Americans), English-Mongol Peace, East Moscow Settler, Kill Barb Leader (50g), Sverdlovsk founded (East Island), 84g spent on RBs
+160 Vikings encountered, they demand 350 tribute, I refuse, WAR, Horse killed by Viking Chariot, Moscow builds Harbor, 83g spent on RBs
+180 Vikings Math, Poly -> Construction (380), Minsk Diplomat
+200 Barb Horse kills Phalanx in Odessa (reduced to size 1), Odessa warrior kills Horse (becoms Vet), 96g spent on RBs
+220 WLTCzarD ends in Moscow, Elephant kills Viking Chariot, 53g spent on RBs
+240 Ur (Vikings) builds Pyramids, 60g spent on RBs
+260 22g spent on RBs
+280 Kill Viking Chariot, 70g spent on RBs
+300 Americans develop Construction, Tblisi Settlers, Moscow Gems, 16g spent on RBs
Contact Vikings (5), Give IW (GL to Americans), CF and Peace, Give Republic, Philo, exchange maps
Contact Egyptians (2), Give Trade+Republic+Philo+Monarchy+MM, exchange maps, get 50 tribute
Contact Americans (4), Trade Seafaring for Construction, get 75 tribute
Contact English (3), get 50 tribute
+320 Start Monotheism, South Moscow Food, 44g spent on RBs
+340 4g spent on RBs
+360 Minsk Hides, 21g spent on RBs
+380 Sverdlovsk Settlers, Kiev Hides, Bribe Viking Chariot 103
+400 East Moscow Food, 4g spent on RBs
+420 Moscow Food, East Moscow settler builds into Moscow
+440 Zulus steal Trade, I do not declare war, 19g spent on RBs
+480 St. Petersburg Beads, 8g spent on RBs
+500 Odessa Settlers, Monotheism -> Engineering

stats at +500:
pop.: .57M; cities: 10; techs: 23, gov: Monarchy, gold: 110; trade routes: 0D0F; cost/turn:2
units: 6 Settler, 8 Warriors, 1 Phalanx, 1 Horsemen, 1 Chariot, 1 Elephant, 5 Trireme, 1 Diplomat, 7 Caravan
wonders: HG, Colossus, LH, MPE
Footprint: 3 cities in Russia, 2 cities on SE strip, 5 cities on East Island

Babylonians: Destroyed by Vikings
Zulus: Despotism, 150g, 3 cities, 12 Techs
Vikings: Republic, 485g, 8 cities, 13 Techs (Mathematics), Pyramids
Egyptians: Republic, 124g, 4 cities, 13 Techs
Americans: Republic, 256g, 4 cities, 18 Techs, GL
English: Republic, 299g, 5 cities, 14 Techs
Mongols: Republic, 312g, 3 cities, 11 Techs


+520 Sevastopol Silver
+540 Vikings develop University, Minsk Food, Give Construction to Vikings, Trade Writing -> Math and Trade -> University (644), 85g spent on RBs
+560 South Moscow Food, Moscow Gems to Ulundi 429, Kiev Hides (U) to Moscow 124, spent 52g on RBs
+580 Engineering -> Astronomy (672), Kiev Food, East Moscow Food, Moscow Hides
+600 St. Petersburg Silver, Bribe Viking Warrior 34, Yakutsk Founded (North East strip), Tribute English (100), Mongols (150), Americans (100), Egyptians (100), Zulus (50), 306g spent on RBs, REVOLUTION
+620 Moscow University, Republic Established, T/L/S = 0/8/2 (for short celebration cycle), 24g spent on RBs
+640 Sverdlovsk Silver, WLTCD in 6 cities, 156g spent on RBs
+660 Moscow Aqueduct, Novgorod founded (East Island)
+680 Heliopolis builds GW, WLTCD ends in 5 cities, Sevastopol Silver to Moscow 394, 213g spent on RBs
+700 Sevastopol Salt, Moscow Salt, 43g spent on RBs
+720 Kiev Hides, Astronomy -> Invention (775), Krasnoyarsk founded (East Island), Minsk Hides to Moscow 360, Vikings demand 350g, I refuse, WAR, 174g spent on RBs
+740 Sevastopol Temple, Minsk Coal, East Moscow Food, Moscow Temple, Bribe Viborg 510 (75+Legion+Phalanx+Settler), Give Vikings Engineer, CF and Peace, 5 Food vans to Moscow, 370g spent on RBs
+760 Disorder in Viborg, Sverdlovsk Temple, Tblisi Food, Kiev Temple, St. Petersburg Food, South Moscow Food, Moscow builds Copernicus' Observatory, St. Petersburg Silver (U) to Moscow 64, Viborg disbands Phalanx, 126g spent on RBs
+780 Invention -> Navigation, Viborg Temple (order restored), Minsk Temple, St. Petersburg Beads (U) to Moscow 87, 76g spent on RBs
+800 Tblisi Temple
+820 Riga Founded (East Island), 4g spent on RBs
+840 Navigation -> Physics (837), Moscow Hides to Vladivostok 234, 157g spent on RBs
+860 33g spent on RBs
+880 Americans develop Banking, Viborg Diplomat, Minsk Food, Kiev Settlers, St. Petersburg Temple, East Moscow Food, South Moscow Food, Moscow Food, Bribe Viking warrior 44, 8 Food vans to Moscow
+900 Mosocw builds Magellan's Voyage, Physics -> Medicine (868), Kiev Hides (U) to Moscow 109, 58g spent on RBs
+920 Sverdlovsk Silver (U) to Moscow 121, 71g spent on RBs
+940 Viking Sneak attack kills Warrior, Kill 3 Viking units (stacked), 132g spent on RBs
+960 Vikings kill Legion and Horse near Viborg, Medicine -> Chemistry (928), Kill 2 Viking units, Moscow Salt to Trondheim (delivered form ship) 618, Sevastopol Salt (U) to Moscow 95, Bribe Viking Archer 124, RB 55g spent on RBs
+980 Minsk Food, East Moscow Food, South Moscow Food, Chemistry -> Gunpowder, Rostov Founded (NE Strip), Minsk Coal to Moscow 270
+1000 Odessa Food, Kiev Food, Moscow Gems, Astrakhan founded (South Island), 35g spent on RBs

stats at +1000:
pop.: 2.06M; cities: 18; techs: 32, gov: Republic, gold: 735; trade routes: 11D1F; cost/turn: 15
units: 2 Settler, 5 Warriors, 2 Phalanx, 1 Archers, 1 Chariot, 1 Elephant, 5 Trireme, 2 Caravel, 1 Diplomat, 8 Caravan
wonders: HG, Colossus, LH, MPE, Copes', Magellan's
Footprint: 3 cities in Russia, 2 cities on SE strip, 4 cities on NE strip, 8 cities on East Island, 1 city on South Island

Babylonians: Destroyed by Vikings
Zulus: Despotism, 295g, 4 cities, 14 Techs
Vikings: Republic, 437g, 7 cities, 19 Techs, Pyramids
Egyptians: Republic, 101g, 4 cities, 15 Techs, GW
Americans: Republic, 251g, 4 cities, 22 Techs (Banking), GL
English: Republic, 301g, 6 cities, 17 Techs
Mongols: Republic, 254g, 3 cities, 13 Techs

 

[haleewud]

At this point, the Republic is starting to grow and with Sanitation coming up soon, I started to think about disbanding the two helper cities (East Moscow and South Moscow) to allow Moscow to reach its full potential.
Checking my records it appears that East Moscow contributed 10 food vans, 2 Settlers, 1 Archer and 1 Trireme and 135 turns of beakers during it's existence.
South Moscow (which won't be disbanded until 1510 AD) contributed 10 food vans, 4 Settlers, 3 Engineers, 1 Archer, 1 Horsemen, 2 Warriors and 159 turns of beakers during it's existence.

+1020 St. Petersburg Food, Bribe Viking Phalanx 99, 160g spent on RBs
+1040 Egyptians Banking, Gunpowder -> Metallurgy, 99g spent on RBs
+1060 77g spent on RBs
+1080 Sverdlovsk Food, Minsk Food, Bribe Viking Phalanx 87, 22g spent on RBs
+1100 Krasnoyarsk Food, Vladivostok Settler, Sevastopol Food, East Moscow Food, South Moscow Food, Kill Legion and Archer in Ur, Capture Ur (68+Pyramid+Colosseum), Vikings give 200g for CF, I agree and also sign Peace, 8 vans to Sevastopol
+1120 Sevastopol builds Leo's, Odessa Food, Kiev Food, Order restored in Ur, Moscow Food, Metallurgy -> Explosives (1024)
+1140 6 vans to Moscow
+1160 St. Petersburg Food, Moscow builds Shakespeare's, 72g spent on RBs
+1180 Minsk Food, 6g spent on RBs
+1200 Renounce Viking Treaty, Ur Settler, East Moscow Settler (disbands city), South Moscow Settler, Explosives -> Sanitation (1056), Trade with Americans Invention -> Bridge Building (1122), Kill Phalanx+Phalanx+Archer in Aarhus, Kill Legion in Hladir, Capture Aarhus (43+Colosseum), Capture Hladir (14), Vikings demand 150g, I refuse, Moscow Gems to Thebes 748, 84g spent on RBs
+1220 Bribe Viking Settler 252, 182g spent on RBs
+1240 Viborg Engineer, Tblisi Silk, Odessa Coal, South Moscow Engineer, Moscow Silk, Sanitation -> Magnetism, Kill Viking Legion, Bribe Viking Warrior 31, 58g spent on RBs
+1260 Riga Engineer, Minsk Food, Kiev Dye, Kill 2 Archers in Nineveh, Bribe Nineveh 109 (57+Barracks), Hut -> Crusader, Kharkov founded (South Island), 168g spent on RBs
+1280 Moscow Food, Senate signs CF with Vikings, 102g spent on RBs
+1300 Novgorod Food, Yakutsk Engineer, Sverdlovsk Food, St. Petersburg Food, South Moscow Engineer, South Moscow Engineer joins Kiev, Hut -> Crusader, 44g spent on RBs
+1320 Boston builds KRC, Krasnoyarsk Gems, Viborg Diplomat, Hut -> Crusader
+1340 Magnetism -> Electricity (1188), Hut -> 100, Bribe Viking Warrior 59, 81g spent on RBs
+1360 Minsk Food, Moscow Food, Odessa Coal to Moscow 330, Hut -> 200, Grozny founded (Vikingland), 79g spent on RBs
+1380 Astrakhan Engineer, St. Petersburg Food, 274g spent on RBs
+1400 Vikings break CF, Sevastopol Food, Kiev Food, St. Petersburg builds Mike's, Electricity -> Theory of Gravity (1295), Dnepropetrovski founded (northern center small island), Moscow Silk to Heliopolis 863, Give Gun+Nav+Physics to Mongols (1221), Give Nav+Gun+Trade to English, Kill Phalanx in Kaupang, Capture Kaupang (101), No CF, 192g spent on RBs
+1420 Americans develop Democracy, Odessa Spice, Minsk Food, Moscow Sewer, ToG -> Steam Engine (1254), Kiev Dye to Washington 146, Kill Archer in Trondheim, Capture Trondheim (186+colosseum), Bribe Uppsala 56 (6+Barracks+Archer), Vikings destroyed, French respawn, Give them Monarchy+Literacy+Inv, exchange maps (southwestern portion of western Island), Hut -> 8 Barb Knights, Hut -> 100, 92g spent on RBs
+1440 Viborg Diplomat, 309g spent on RBs
+1460 Kharkov Diplomat, Sverdlovsk Silk, Tblisi Silver, Hladir Engineer, Kaupang Engineer, Moscow Beads, Maikop Founded (South Island), 126g spent on RBs
+1480 Zimbabwe builds Oracle, Rostov Silk, Novogorod Engineer, Vladivostok Silver, Minsk Cloth, Ur Dye, WLTCD end in Moscow, Steam Engine -> Railroad (1287), Trade with Egyptians Sanitation -> Banking (1400), Trade with Americans Nav -> Democracy (1435), 303g spent on RBs, REVOLUTION
+1500 Moscow Food, Democracy established, Bribe Barb Knight 82, Kursk founded (eastern center small island), Tblisi Silk to Boston 348, 78g spent on RBs

stats at +1500:
pop.: 3.93M; cities: 29; techs: 43, gov: Democracy, gold: 566; trade routes: 12D4F; cost/turn: 36
units: 10 Engineers, 11 Musketeers, 5 Crusaders, 1 Knights, 1 Cannon, 9 Galleon, 2 Diplomat, 18 Caravan
wonders: Pyramids, HG, Colossus, LH, MPE, Copes', Magellan's, Shakespeare's, Leo's
Footprint: 2 cities in Russia, 2 cities on SE strip, 4 cities on NE strip, 8 cities on East Island, 3 city on South Island, 8 cities in Vikingland/Babylonia, 1 city on 10, 1 city on 14

Babylonians: Destroyed by Vikings
Zulus: Despotism, 346g, 5 cities, 17 Techs, Oracle
Vikings: Destroyed by Me
French: Monarchy, 2g, 1 city, 26 Techs
Egyptians: Republic, 285g, 4 cities, 20 Techs, GW
Americans: Republic, 448g, 5 cities, 30 Techs (Banking), GL, KRC
English: Republic, 546g, 6 cities, 24 Techs
Mongols: Republic, 372g, 3 cities, 19 Techs

 

[Ali Ardavan]

(With the extended deadline days away and my timeline not being particularly fast, I see no harm in revealing my end date.)

+1802 Communism -> Espionage. Salzburg founded. Foreign deliveries for 176, 66.
+1804 Espionage -> Flight. Foreign deliveries for 215. Domestic deliveries for 182, 102, 150. Five barbarian cavalry form hut; freight escapes. Dashtestan founded.
+1806 Egyptians build UN; Babylonians abandon. Flight -> Radio. Foreign deliveries for 157, 137. Domestic offshore Oil for 1335.
+1808 Radio -> Advanced Flight. Domestic offshore Oil for 570. Foreign deliveries for 354
+1810 Advanced Flight -> Combined Arms. Domestic delivery for 25. Foreign deliveries for 187, 212. Barcelona founded. Babylonian and Viking embassies established. T3L2S5
+1812 Mongols break cease fire and sink an empty transport. Combined Arms -> Rocketry. Foreign deliveries for 210, 110. 100g from hut on south western island.
+1814 Rocketry -> Space Flight. Foreign deliveries for 266, 232, 232. Domestic deliveries for 142, 294. Eight barbarians from second hut on south western island. (1 rifleman and 7 cavalry; never seen such a combination.)
+1816 Space Flight -> Environmentalism. Foreign deliveries for 116, 77. T4L2S4
+1818 Tangestan founded.
+1820 Babylonian allies put a lot of units on fully inhabited island 6. Vikings steal Space Flight; I do not get a chance to declare war. Environmentalism -> Guerrilla warfare. Apollo built. West central is still uninhabited. Foreign deliveries for 168. Domestic deliveries for 75, 114. Toledo founded.
+1822 Babylonians make a delivery on island 6. Vikings sneak attack and lose 2 chariots on my engineer on hilltop. Babylonian allies declare war on them. Guerrilla warfare -> Plastics. Domestic deliveries for 402, 2268 (Oil from Moscow to island 4). T2L2S6.
+1824 Plastics -> Superconductor -> Labor Union. Babylonians ask for space flight and I give it to them. Then they ask for Plastics and I refuse. They cancel the alliance. Space race starts with 4 structurals. Vienna and Nakhlestan founded. Foreign deliveries for 63. Domestic deliveries for 62.
+1826 Labor Union -> Stealth. Domestic deliveries for 38, 644.
+1828 Stealth -> Fusion Power. Foreign deliveries for 50. Domestic deliveries for 80, 87, 88, 70, 30, 840.
+1830 Babylonians join the space race. Fusion Power -> Future Tech 1. Domestic deliveries for 1764 (oil to Moscow), 94, 660, 367. T1L2S7
+1832 Babylonians land troops on island 4. Vikings join the space race. Future Tech 1 -> 2 -> 3. I do not have a peace treaty with Babylonians!? How did this happen? According to the foreign advisor we are at peace but they are not even interested in peace. Looks like I may have to conquer them and the Vikings after all. Babylonian Cavalry bribed for 468g. Domestic deliveries for 467, 840, 898, 520. T2L2S6
+1834 Future Tech 3 -> 4. Sarvestan founded. Babylonian Crusader bribed for 300g to get it off my land. Domestic deliveries for 546, 76.
+1836 Future Tech 4 -> 5. Foreign delivery for 77. Kuhestan founded. Domestic deliveries for 516.
+1838 Future Tech 5 -> 6 -> 7. Domestic deliveries for 315, 862. English embassy established. Amol founded.
+1840 Future Tech 7 -> 8. Domestic deliveries for 80, 30, 125, 477, 258. Foreign deliveries for 174, 806, 183. Mongol embassy established. 100g to Mongols for cease fire so I can tech bomb them. Research cost reduced from 4371 to 3441.
+1842 Future Tech 8 -> 9 -> 10. T3L2S5. Domestic deliveries for 74, 54, 20, 105. Foreign deliveries for 264, 74, 450. Mongols demand 100g and declare war. Mongol Ironclad destroyed. English come to the help of their Mongol allies and declare war on me. Sari founded.
+1844 Future Tech 10 -> 11. Domestic deliveries for 756, 252.
+1846 Future Tech 11 -> 12. Tazarv founded. Domestic deliveries for 182, 56, 498. T2L2S6
+1848 Future Tech 12 -> 13 -> 14. Full space ship launched. Foreign delivery for 138. Domestic deliveries for 97.
+1849 Future Tech 14 -> 15. Foreign deliveries for 374. Egyptians demand 50g and declare war. Egyptian embassy established.
+1850 Future Tech 15 -> 16. Domestic deliveries for 679. Foreign deliveries for 276. Shahi founded.
+1851 Egyptians join the space race. Future Tech 16 -> 17. Sabzestan founded. 2 Egyptian ships sunk. Domestic deliveries for 600.
+1852 Mongols join the space race. Future Tech 17 -> 18. Domestic deliveries for 264.
+1853 Future Tech 18 -> 19 -> 20. Moscow maxes out at size 27. Foreign delivery for 280.
+1854 Future Tech 20 -> 21. Domestic deliveries for 826, 588. Foreign deliveries for 356, 242.
+1855 Americans join the space race. Future Tech 21 -> 22 -> 23. Tonbak founded. Domestic deliveries for 1749, 370, 206.
+1856 Future Tech 23 -> 24. Domestic deliveries for 1098. T0L2S8
+1857 Future Tech 24 -> 25 -> 26. Domestic deliveries for 318, 934, 62. Foreign deliveries for 200, 720. Meeshgaav founded. T1L0S7
+1858 Future Tech 26 -> 27 -> 28. Sun Tzu and Manhattan built. Pol, Barahut, Seh, Endgame1, and Badiyeh founded. Domestic deliveries for 116, 200, 402, 230, 50, 13, 248, 177, 262. T0L10S0
+1859 Space ship arrives

 

[littlejimmy]

Ok, I've been playing this one. I'm a relative beginner to this sort of thing so it's been ugly.
The modifications to the game options in the .sav file really threw me off for a while.
I wasn't getting notifications that my stuff was being built so i wasted a lot of shields.
I'm starting to catch on.
It's much more difficult than i expected at emperor level.
I went for the ice hopping strategy and didn't anticipate the amount of corruption i've seen.
probably should have gone democracy early and went for a spaceship.
but right now i'm just into the 20th century and switched to fundamentalism.
i think i've finally gained the upper hand by defeating the most powerful enemy, so hopefully i can launch some quick invasions before the other enemies get too advanced.
i'm not going to compete with you guys on this one but it's been fun.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Glad to see you are trying. Do not despair. I designed this map and the amount of early corruption surprised me too. Democracy is, of course, the ultimate cure but before getting there one should emphasize food first, shields second, and arrows last when placing citizens in cities far away from the capital. That is because food production does not suffer from corruption and shields suffer less than arrows.

What you are referring to as modifications in the .sav are settings in Graphic and City report options. It just copies my defaults and I have them set so that the opening round does not take very long.

 

[Major Advantage]

Welcome aboard, littlejimmy! Resetting the options back to my preferences is the first thing I do (if I think of it ) when starting a new GOTM.

Since Ali already started, here is the final part of my game:

1520 Metall->Railroad
1550 RR->Industrialization; get economics from France
1570 Ind.->Corporation
1590 Corp.->Electr.
1610 Electr.->Refining
1620 Ref.->Genetic Eng.
1630 deliveries 90, 130
1640 Genetic->Gravity
1650 Gravity->Combustion; cure for cancer and massive celebrations started; deliv. 19, 11, 244, 180, 210, 15
1660 Comb.->Steel;
1670 Newton college, 297
1680 Steel->Automobile; 9, 18, 297
1690 Auto->Conscript.; World's End founded on cont. #19; 100g from hut
1700 312, 7, 9
(Mongols develop Conscr., very bad timing)
1710 Conscr.->Mass Prod.
1720 97, 610, 404
1730 Mass Prod.->Refrig.; 936, 595 (both to Moskau), 28
1740 Refr.->Atomic->Nucl. Fiss.; 252, 833, 152, 128, 175
1750 Nucl. Fiss.->Recycling (messed up this one)->Electron.; 765, 307, 388, 630

Stats at 1750 AD:
pop.: 19.9M; cities: 58; techs: 60; gov: Dem, gold: 3293, cost per turn: 107, Trade Routes: ?D/?F; wonders: Pyr., Marco Polo, Lighthouse, Michelangelo, Bach, Copernicus, Magellan, Shakespeare, Leonardo, Bach, Newton, CfC
units: 44 engineer, 23 defence army, 7 offence army, 5 dip, 14 boat, 25 van
footprint: 1 on #20 & #17; 5 on #4, 2 on #19, 2 on NE-strip, 3 on SE-strip, 23 on south, 16 on east, 3 on SW-strip

(Babylon discovers communism)
1752 Electron.->Communism, 882, 270, Babylon refuses to tech-trade, don't want to steal
1754 Commy->Nucl. Power; 1120+...
1756 N Power->Laser; 798, 193, 539
(French sneak attack, very brave)
1758 Laser->Espionage; 270, 269, 1114, 180
1760 Espion.->Chivalry; UN built and peace again; 490, 1148, 288, 276
1762 Chiv.->Leadership->Tactics; 90, 50, 270, 30, 74, 171, 795, 320, 1252
1764 Tactics->Guerilla->Mach. Tools; 1396, 891, 1429, 369, 1137, 114, 204
1766 Mach Tools->Mini->Computers; 170, 26, 22, 168, 1472, 336, 858
1768 Computers->Mob. Warf.->Robotics; SETI built via zoom-home; 17, 30, 544, 1020, 232, 798; Heathrow founded near London
1770 Rob.->Labor->Flight; 426, 452, 295, 1703, 524, 1615
1772 Flight->Radio->Adv. flight; 824, 1266, 622
1774 Adv. Fl.->Amph. Warf.->Rockets; 19, 10, 816, 222, 130, 1218
1776 Rocket->Space->Plastics; 912, 1536(Gold), 254, 254
(French sneak attack, kill a crusader)
1778 Plast.->Comb. Weapons->Supercond.; Apollo built, 824, 36, 620, 534, 634, 1422, 172, 560, 204, 1574; bribe Orlean for 807g
1780 Supercond.->Stealth->Environment; 948, 36, 764, 763,
1782 Env.->Fusion->FT1; Uranium van produced; 372, 1574, 490, 34, 46, 620, 566
1784 FT1->Fundy->FT2(3480); first spaceship parts built; 9, 915, 367, 288, 76, 722, 105, 160, 140, 322
1786 FT2->FT3->FT4->FT5->FT6; Darwin & Adam Smith built; 242, 1034, 1260, 484, 412, 248, 190
1788 FT6->FT7->FT8; 2343, 167, 1384, 652, 258
1790 FT8->FT9; Somehow we missed FT10; 1096, 1120, 1260
1792 FT9->FT10->FT11; 225, 310, 255, 1112, 896, 445, 684
1794 FT11->FT12->FT13; 1363, 932, 164, 924, 622, 476, 734
1796 FT13->FT14->FT15; 1884, 288, 976, 500, 1148
1798 FT15->FT16->FT17; 322, 390, 288, 394, 1854, 1052
1800 FT17->FT18->FT19(4992); 1458, 1071, 297, 190, 1884, 1764; complete full-size spaceship; doing 4977 beakers by city science @ 60%, still resources left for two more universities
(Babylonian sneak attack, kill an engineer)
1802 FT19->FT20->FT21; spaceship launched! Scheduled to arrive in 1813; 614, 890, 1224, 1260, 772, 737; build some attack forces, increase science to 70%
1803 FT21->FT22->FT23; 932, 654, 1160, 968, 1932
1804 FT23->FT24->FT25; attack and capture Akkad (385g); 212, 226, 622, 1211, 720, 636, 1190, 1531, 1026
1805 FT25->FT26->FT27; 335, 864, 103, 738, 272, 270, 1376, 1472, 167, 286, 354; bribe Trondheim 1500(271), capture Uruk (174), bribe Ellipi 1488(313)
1806 FT27->FT28->FT29; Babylonian Democracy, 1038, 320, 976, 147, 200, 288, 366, 1010, 732; capture Ashur (210), Niniveh(172+WS), only Babylon City left
1807 FT29->FT30->FT31; 738, 134, 258, 3589(oil Moskau>World's End), 236, 178, 205, 370, 998
1808 FT31->FT32->FT33; 372, 978, 920, 204, 622, 779, 640, 490, 906, 424, 276; subvert egypt Alexandria 2*2513(309+Lady Liberty), subvert Heliopolis 2*1320, subvert New york 2*1500, Elephantine 2*907(GL)
1809 FT33->FT34->FT35; 72, 315, 334, 172, 701, 752, 326, 1700, 532, 932
(French Sneak attack, kill a musceteer)
1810 FT35->FT36->FT37; Take Paris (845), French civ destroyed, subvert Boston 2*520(245), take Babylon (766+HG+Eiffel+Hoover), subvert Memphis 2*780; 776, 40, 142, 232, 278, 292, 1084, 897, 380, 595, 1200, 1436
1811 FT37->FT38->FT39; subvert Pi-Ramesses; 362, 211, 667, 34, 476, 1752, 135, 1699, 854, 1099, 1026, 2156
1812 FT39-FT40->FT41; Manhattan built, tons of court houses built to increase score, subvert Philadelphia 2*337 ; 1298, 924, 1223, 2630 (Uranium)
1813 Alpha Centauri arrival

 

[Inkerman]

1776 Rocket->Space->Plastics; 912, 1536(Gold), 254, 254
(French sneak attack, kill a crusader)
1778 Plast.->Comb. Weapons->Supercond.; Apollo built, 824, 36, 620, 534, 634, 1422, 172, 560, 204, 1574; bribe Orlean for 807g

Brilliant!

From the log from my game (referenced in post on 8th of this month but unpublished):

1776- Discover Rocketry -> Space Flight -> Plastics.
Sverdlovsk builds Adam Smith's Trading Co.
Vans for 204g, 783g, 832g, 923g, 240g, 98g, 209g.
Found Opera.
Give Conscription to Greeks. Lose rifleman to barbs.

1778- Discover Plastics -> Nuclear Fission -> Nuclear Power
Asda builds Apollo Program.
Vans for 96g, 970g, 386g, 168g, 965g, 67g.
Found Tesla, Krum, Offaly.

We discovered rocketry, space flight and plastics in exactly the same year, and built Apollo in exactly the same year too.

I am then a little quicker to launch because I have a bigger civ. One thing that size permits is quick building of the spaceship parts.....another thing is I felt the game had gone on long enough, and I very much wanted to finish by then.

Curious that starting with conquest and switching to spaceship worked out like this - is it the unusual situation, and perhaps a bit of fortune capturing a good SSC on the edge of a flat map and with Colossus and Copernicus?

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Curious that starting with conquest and switching to spaceship worked out like this - is it the unusual situation, and perhaps a bit of fortune capturing a good SSC on the edge of a flat map and with Colossus and Copernicus?

My intuition is that for big score this is the formula: limited conquest followed by space ship. Your targets of conquest should be wonder cities, aggressive civs, and some (but not all) big rival cities. What is very unusual in this case is that you may end up with not just the largest score (due to largest number of cities) but also the earliest victory.

 

[littlejimmy]

Ok, this was a lot harder than i expected. I need to develop my skills. Looking back I made a lot of mistakes early on. Lots of wasted shields because of my ignorance about the game options. Plus I didn't pay enough attention to the corruption. I think i need to build more cities early on. Any advice is appreciated.

4000 BC - found city, build a Settler first, research alphabet
3800 BC - research mapmaking - I'm going to do the ice hopping up to the north eastern island.
3400 BC - builds settler
3100 BC - english destroyed by mongols
2850 BC - buy the trieme
2550 BC - moscow builds warrior, start colossus
2050 BC - Landed on the Northeast Island with one settler.
1050 BC - Switch to monarchy
125 BC - Colossus in Moscow
1 AD - Philosophy
140 AD - Babylonians land near minsk! I did not expect anyone to send a trieme over here. I trade two techs with them.
160 AD - Ask the Babylonians to withdraw their troops. They do. Hopefully they won't find a way back.
760 AD - Made a fifth city up by the oasis
1730 AD - I'm building up an army of crusaders for an invastion. Sent a settler over to the little island southwest of top corner. but when i arrive i see irrigated land. I'm going to go back and get a diplomat and some crusaders instead.
1762 AD - I destroyed the city on that little island with just two crusaders. Brought the settler over and made my own city. I'm building Magellean's in Moscow. Probably should have built it up by the other cities so i could use caravans.
1774 AD - Greeks invade the little island with a Trieme. They just discovered Navigation so i guess they are not sinking anymore. Their Elephant and Knight almost kill my pikeman, but not quite.
1782 AD - Ok, Sending 6 Caravels down to the island just south. Looks like it's controlled by the greeks.
1784 AD - Babylonians discover gunpowder. This will make things more difficult.
1842 AD - Things are not going as well as I'd expected. I've invaded Greece but I probably needed twice as many units to get rid of them quickly. It's pretty late in the game for me to be at this level. I'm starting to wonder if I should build a palace up north. I think the long distance that all of my cities are from that capitol has really hurt my arrows. Maybe I should have done this a long time ago. I think I'll just keep charging forward.
1915 AD - I've finally taken over the greek's home island and just switched over to fundamentalism. I'm the most powerful civ now. The greeks were easily the most powerful enemy so i think i'm going to pull off the win. I might be in for a fight with the mongols.
1938 AD - I sent some diplomats over to check out the mongols. They aren't very advanced but they have a large empire. The Vikings declared war on me for no good reason so i spent some time wiping them out and delayed my invasion of the mongols.
1940 AD - Build Hoover Dam
1959 AD - I've taken over a large part of the mongol empire across the sea. the babylonians declared war on me after i finally finished off the greeks so i went ahead and destroyed them. that leaves me in full control of the right half of the map. Time to send everything west. There are americans and egyptians over there, too.
1965 AD - Mongols, Egyptians and Americans are allied against me. I've had two full transports sunk. I need to get some warships out there, i've been neglecting that.
1974 AD - I've made peace to start building up troops for a land attack on the western island. Egyptians and Americans starting fighting it out. Nice.
1983 AD - Egyptians Destroyed.
1985 AD - Americans destroyed.
1992 AD - Mongols destroyed. - Game Over
Score - 1354

Since I'm surely in last place I'm sure no one will mind me posting my score.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Ok, this was a lot harder than i expected.

I hope a lot more fun than you expected too.

3400 BC - builds settler

Did you try a size 1 settler?

2050 BC - Landed on the Northeast Island with one settler.
760 AD - Made a fifth city up by the oasis

5th? What took you so long? I landed much later around -1500 (because I sailed with 2 settlers) and by -300 I filled the northeast island with 7 cities.

140 AD - Babylonians land near minsk! I did not expect anyone to send a trieme over here.

Exact same thing happened to me. I made an alliance with them partially for that reason.

160 AD - Ask the Babylonians to withdraw their troops. They do. Hopefully they won't find a way back.
1730 AD - I'm building up an army of crusaders for an invastion.

That is a huge gap of nearly 90 turns. What were you doing?

1774 AD - Greeks invade the little island with a Trieme. They just discovered Navigation so i guess they are not sinking anymore.

The rule for sinking Triremes who are away from land does not apply to the computer players.

1842 AD - It's pretty late in the game for me to be at this level. I'm starting to wonder if I should build a palace up north. I think the long distance that all of my cities are from that capitol has really hurt my arrows. Maybe I should have done this a long time ago.

I was hurt big time by this too. But I switched to Republic and Democracy as soon as I could. You should have done the same and change government again if needed to wage war.

1915 AD - I've finally taken over the greek's home island and just switched over to fundamentalism.

Why not a switch to Fundamentalism sooner?

1938 AD - The Vikings declared war on me for no good reason ...

When you are most powerful, in late game the AI do this as well as make alliances against you.

1992 AD - Mongols destroyed. - Game Over
Score - 1354
Since I'm surely in last place I'm sure no one will mind me posting my score.

Congratulations for successfully getting to the finish line. You are correct that not being a contender for any of the top spots, revelation of your score is immaterial. As you get better of course you should not do that.

Since you joined late I guess that you have not had a chance to read other people's logs yet. Make sure you do that and compare notes. You can learn a lot from the logs. Feel free to ask questions if something does not make sense. Also create status reports at junctures like -2000, -1000, +1, ... (you see it in most logs) to allow a better comparison between your game and that of others.

Hope to see you in GOTM 150 soon.

 

[littlejimmy]

I hope a lot more fun than you expected too.

Did you try a size 1 settler?

yeah, i didn't know about that trick with the first city. i usually build a warrior first so it's never really come up.

5th? What took you so long? I landed much later around -1500 (because I sailed with 2 settlers) and by -300 I filled the northeast island with 7 cities.

i think i am too picky about my city locations. i only saw four suitable locations on that little island. this is something i am starting to learn from you guys. i believe i need more cities, closer together.

That is a huge gap of nearly 90 turns. What were you doing?

not much, unfortunately. trying to build up enough tech to invade with horrible corruption and only a few cities.

The rule for sinking Triremes who are away from land does not apply to the computer players.

i've always suspected that, but that pretty much confirms it.

Why not a switch to Fundamentalism sooner?

i think i didn't discover it until that late. i should have planned out my science better.

Congratulations for successfully getting to the finish line. You are correct that not being a contender for any of the top spots, revelation of your score is immaterial. As you get better of course you should not do that.

thanks, ali. i hope to improve my skills learning from you guys.