Gotm21-Melee - Pregame Discussion

[Dislak]

let me know if i'm wrong, but check out this pic...looks to be that there is Ivory SE, SE of our start

edit: SE, SE I meant to type

 

[Lux_willow]

Or maybe Wool!

 

[Dislak]

don't think it's wool. If it were wool, there would be a smiley face in the middle of it and that would be visible. I can't see that with my picture and monitor. It's flatscreen at work (where I am right now) and I can't see anything by looking down on it. Course this could all change when I get back to my room.

 

[Svar]

I would agree with Ivory and I can see it on both my saved expanded screenshots.

 

[scubagtr]

I have yet to see whatever you all see in these pictures, but I do know that the forum's analysis of these starting positions is usually right on, so after a few more consenus votes, there WILL be Ivory there.

 

[rabies]

The pixel-reading ability on this forum is outrageous. Keep it up...its a huge benefit to those of us who stare at these pictures and don't see diddly-squat!

 

[Dislak]

so now that i'm back at home and away from my flat screen at work, i can't see the ivory either. But with the other screen i could....hmmm...very odd indeed

 

[mad-bax]

Originally posted by rabies
The pixel-reading ability on this forum is outrageous. Keep it up...its a huge benefit to those of us who stare at these pictures and don't see diddly-squat!

I know you're not supposed to quote an entire post, but I just have to second this one. It's spot on.

 

[denyd]

Mad-Bax & Dislak,

I wasn't able to see anything either until I did this:

go to start -> settings -> control panel -> display

change the display to 800 x 600

then open word and paste the .jpg start picture into the document and change the word display to 500% zoom

after that, I was able to see the in the S-SW tile (amazing)

 

[Stone Wolf]

I'm thinking the SE/SE tile is sheep. Ivory has a much more rounded shape to it, and the image that I see is more akin to the concave back of sheep.

Oh, and does anyone else thing that the W/SW/SW tile might have olives? I'm not sure of that one, but I think I can see the edge of the black portion of the resource.

 

[cracker]

Here is a picture of your minimap position in the world so you can use this knowledge to help you plan your inititial strategy:

 

[Svar]

You stuck us on Crete?

Originally posted by Stone Wolf
Oh, and does anyone else thing that the W/SW/SW tile might have olives? I'm not sure of that one, but I think I can see the edge of the black portion of the resource.

My initial guess for that tile was grassland covered by forest. In fact it looks like there are 4 tiles over there covered by forest and the only one not grassland is the coast one.

Now I'll have to do a test to see how cutting some of that forest affects the first few moves.

 

[denyd]

I'm beginning to wonder if there aren't about 15 islands about 2-3 tiles apart, each with a couple of resources and each with a lone CIV.

You've got to build galleys to explore / conquer. Enough room to build 6-10 cities, but not enough to become a world power without a little boat ride.

Quite a challenge for an aquaphobic !!!

 

[Stone Wolf]

Originally posted by Svar
You stuck us on Crete?




My initial guess for that tile was grassland covered by forest. In fact it looks like there are 4 tiles over there covered by forest and the only one not grassland is the coast one.

Now I'll have to do a test to see how cutting some of that forest affects the first few moves.

Yeah, it certainly could be forest. It looks a litle like olives, but there isn't a little gold bar where there should be if it's olives.

I'm also thinking that my first guess about the water may be wrong. I was hoping that it was an inland lake, but a bay or a close island seems more likely.

 

[southpawsc]

If this is an accurate Mediterranean map(although I have no idea if it will be or not) that would put us on the southern side of the Black Sea(Turkey). If this is the case though,not much of northern Med is on map, just maybe to top of Italy, and a lot of Egypt is in the map.

 

[CruddyLeper]

Originally posted by denyd
I'm beginning to wonder if there aren't about 15 islands about 2-3 tiles apart, each with a couple of resources and each with a lone CIV...

Well, could be... although I don't think they're QUITE that isolated...

Here's a hideous thought - maybe there aren't any ocean squares? Kind of makes the Predator naval moves very tricky.

Southpawsc - I really don't think the map will look anything like the real Med. Maybe a similar flavour (peninsulas and islands) but don't expect GOTMs to be like "real" maps - I thought that when I started playing and got a big surprise.

 

[zagnut]

I don't think we should expect an "accurate" Mediterranean map. Cracker lets the program develop the maps and then picks one that has the general characteristics of the historical area in which the human civ is located. Think of the last GOTM. It was a real stretch to imagine Spain in the location where we began. I think that is why the labels were on some of the tiles near the start. If you rotated that map 90% and placed a canal city (Gibraltar) to connect the inland sea to the ocean, you could get a fair representation of Spain's position in the real world. However, anyone not familiar with the game would never have identified that as western Europe.

Therefore, we should be realistic in our expectations. An accurate depiction of the Mediterranean is very unlikely to happen.

 

[HookEmHorns]

I agree that there is something SE, SE so the starting tile looks like a good place to settle. I plan to settle first to find out if fresh water lies north or south. If no water is visible and those are sheep to the south, I'll send my worker E to road, then to the sheep.

If those are sheep, once they and the lambs are irrigated, Athens will be generating 4 food per turn, a decent rate though not the optimal 5. Athens will also be a strong shield producer since the sheep and olives will generate 2 shields each.


With 15 civs, contacts will be very valuable so I'll start researching writing. Cash flow will not be very strong so I'll go min research.

 

[Boyd]

Re @DenyD's and others analysis of the SE SE "thing"...

I've got a pretty good screen and I followed the paste-zoom idea and the compared the shape to the resources discussion page...

Although I could not see any smilies the shapes correspond to wool so I'll gamble and be building where I start.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

I turned brightness and contrast to 100%, and I see ivory. However, moving SE will only mean losing contact with the Menudo/sheep/whatever for 10 critical turns, and missing the olives completely. I say either NW one tile, or dont move at all.