Gotm 68

[Duke of Marlbrough]

RETURN TO RINGWORLD

Six thousand years ago seven great civilizations of the past were transported to RingWorld to
compete for the honor of "Greatest Ancient Earth

Civilization". The masters of RingWorld have now lifted seven more groups of Earth citizens,
but this time they arrive with much more than before.

You are Hussein, leader of a group of Arabs who have suddenly woken up on this strange world.

A mapcase on the ground yields a rough terrain map of this mythical world.
Your greatest asset is the knowledge your people bring with you - use it wisely.

The game settings
Civilization: Arab (Green)
Map: 250x40, Round, same as GOTM67, Revealed
Difficulty: Emperor
Barbarians: Raging
Restarts: Off
Bloodlust: On (no spaceship option)
Scenario Mode: On (direct tech choices)
Tech Reward For City Conquest: Off

Starting Date: January 2020
Number of Turns: 300
Requested Saves: January 2030, January 2040, December 2044 (or closest)

Starting location:
http://civ2gotm.civfanatics.net/gotm_games/GOTM68.jpg

Starting Techs:
~ Almost All

Games will be due on October 14th, 2006.

Saved Game:
http://civ2gotm.civfanatics.net/civ2gotmdownload_68.shtml

Please be sure to follow the submission guidelines when submitting your game.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Sorry for the delay. The GOTM staff was trying hard to find a good balance between gameplay functionallity and the overall theme they were trying for.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Sounds very interesting. Thanks Duke.

By the way, December 2049 is turn 360. Elsewher, you say there are only 300 turns. One of these has to be a mistake. Please clarify.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

(Shamefully, instead of finishing off GOTM67 I have been thinking about GOTM68 since it has been posted.)

This is a very unique set up. We have played scenarios before where you get many (GOTM50: Aztecs on earth) or almost all (GOTM60: modern earth) techs but in those cases we also started with a number of cities, units, and infrastructure relatively in tune with our tech status. Here we are starting with no cities, no infrastructure, and just a single rifleman. We have to build an empire from scratch just like a normal game, but we have all the techs available right from the start.

This weird twist means that much of our intuition will not be applicable here. Think long and hard before starting and while you are playing.

Thanks to the GOTM staff for their efforts to keep us challenged.

 

[Ace]

Ali is right. For those of us who like modern warfare, this gotm is made to order. A quick look also shows no huts.

Ahhh, vital question...do the other civs have most techs too?

 

[Tanstaafl]

It has been a very long time since I tried a GOTM but I happened to check the forum and saw this one. It was very different and a very interesting play. But now I try to send my game results in but when I click on the "send them to the GOTM Staff." I get the error message: "Could not perform this operation because the default mail client is not installed."

Can't I just send the results in by the forum email system? Maybe I'll just click on the GOTM staff and try it.

Again, Great Game! Totally different approach to finding out where the other civ's were located.

 

[Ace]

(Shamefully, instead of finishing off GOTM67 I have been thinking about GOTM68 since it has been posted.)...

Rule number one: Always finish the current GOTM before the next one is issued or it becomes almost impossible to concentrate on the old one when a new one is just begging to be played.

#68 is a really devious setup. I have had to rethink my starting plan at least 3 times and I'm still not sure of the best approach to take. So many options, so many govs, and no warriors!

Oh yeah, and don't fall into the trap of thinking it is on King level, because it is really on Emperor. So happiness is much more of a problem.

 

[LordValuna]

So happiness is much more of a problem.

Happiness is no problem, just go Fundamental
The big question is how long to stay in Monarchy; with the 1 food cost for engineers.
Other question is what wonders do you need (if any), especially to get WLTP days when switching to Democracy?

 

[Magic_gorter]

Getting Michelangelo's will help to get WLTP. But Pyramids are also important to get those cities to size 3 a.s.a.p.
Building UN looks to me also handy. If it is possible you can trade maps and when in trouble you always have the options for peace.

I hope I have the time to play this one before I go on holiday.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Happiness is no problem, just go Fundamental
The big question is how long to stay in Monarchy; with the 1 food cost for engineers.
Other question is what wonders do you need (if any), especially to get WLTP days when switching to Democracy?

All good questions. That is what I meant by "think hard and long before getting started". Choice of governments, wonders, units, and to a lesser extent structures are all non intuitive here.

For example, one of the biggest problems with early democracy is unhappiness due to ships and units out exploring. That problem does not exist here for transport ships. And little exploration is needed since the map is revealed and there are no huts. How soon should I then switch to democracy? Right away, maybe?

Another advantage of Democracy is that it is the only government that allows all your money to be spent on taxes which is what you want at the begining.

Another big issue is trade that many of us rely on heavily. The negative effects of navigation, invention, and flight outweigh the positive effect of freights. Furthermore, beaker contribution of the trade is next to irrelevant (only useful for increasing score through future techs).

Warfare is going to be challenging as well. Even for those who fight modern wars they typically do so with some tech advantage. Here the playing field is level (assuming the AIs have all the techs we do).

 

[dunnm]

Hello GOTMers

Very interesting game

think hard and long before getting started"

Yes loaded up the game last night and sat for almost an hour without making a move

Before I start I have a question about the 'oedo years' for this game. When will be the first time I can revolt without anarchy ?

Hope it is not bad form to ask for help with GOTMs

 

[Peaster]

dunnm - you can revolt in the third turn, and it takes effect in the fourth turn. Just like a normal game.

This thread has some good questions and observations! I have played to about 2025 already, so I'll wait and post my thoughts in a spoiler thread soon. I may have to replay the game to really understand this scenario. It is a nice challenge.

 

[LordValuna]

dunnm - you can revolt in the third turn, and it takes effect in the fourth turn. Just like a normal game.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt the OEDO turns come out nicely as its monthly turns

Revolt..........New Government
Mar.............April
July.............August
November.....December

 

[Ace]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt the OEDO turns come out nicely as its monthly turns

Revolt..........New Government
Mar.............April
July.............August
November.....December

You are correct. The Jan-Dec cycle makes it very easy to locate the Oedo years. IIRC, this was mentioned regarding a gotm game a couple of years ago.

 

[golem]

Thanks, Duke, this looks wonderful. I have to play this months.

 

[URUWASHI]

Well I am back , ended game 67 early this afternoon.
Was unable to finish games from previous months, been extremely busy.
This GOTM reminds me of GOTM 60.
Started the game at about 3 PM...and kept looking at the screen for about 1 hour , trying to figure the approach.
Then ....I came up with some very interesting solutions
It has been a really fun game, hope to finish it before the end of the month.

 

[Merlin_Pilgrim]

Hello out there,

as I am a somewhat new GOTM Player, I tried GOTM 68 - first time, good challange. Bit sad though that the AI has only be able to set up three cities the most when I finished the game.

By the way - the AI is trading maps. Just build the UN, go to diplomacy and give them little presents. I got every map straight away.

How can I post my saves?

Enjoy the game!

Merlin_the_Pilgrim

 

[Magic_gorter]

Welcome Merlin_the_Pilgrim. Always nice to see a new player. You can post you're game saves if you go to
http://civ2gotm.civfanatics.net/civ2gotmsubmit.shtml

On this site you get a description how to post you're game saves.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

The game has 300 turns in it. The final playable turn is November 2044.

 

[starlifter]

I see a lot of new (for me) faces! To all those, hello and "Welcome!"

I really think this map is great! It is good to see you still playing and doing a superb job, Duke!! And my congratulations to all those who have been playing Civ 2 GOTMs all this time (since I last played a GOTM in 2002), despite the plethora of "new" games of today (not to mention Civ 4 and Rome: Total War).

And wow, unquestionably, this is the most powerful trading map, and uber-powerful GOTM (in terms of crushing potential over the AI) I've ever seen!

OK, I've not seen any since GOTM 19, but this GOTM is trader's paradise, despite the new (new to me, that is) rules disallowing trade unit rehoming, and de-criminalizing the infamous FCT, LOL.

This is also going to be a heart-stoppingly fast game, if one wishes to do an early-conquer strategy. Basically, I'd expect those (if any) trying an early-conquer strategy (ending the game ASAP) in this GOTM to get tripled or quadrupled in GOTM score (or more) by a decent civ-builder.

Well, I've actually already started this GOTM (I'm in the late 2020's), and will post more about it in the spoiler thread, and I'll do the usual detailed log. This game is mostly about thinking, and actually very little random variation (since the huts are thankfully wiped and its post-invention, tech-wise).