Hero 01 NOTS landing.

[classical_hero]

The NOTS stands for No Optional Techs, Sid.

Now here is what a NOT game will do for you. This is taken from Comprehensive Guide to Variants

Definition: No Optional Tech (NOT) : You are not allowed to discover optional techs. Optional techs are those which are not needed to reach the next era, monarchy for example.

Well, doesn't sound like a challenge. But think over the complications. I list the most important features sorted by their importance:

a) The one and only one advanced type of government will be feudalism. With all the corruption and war weariness included. Have fun.

b) You never can build a knight or cavalry. So this game is essential near an infantry game. Have fun. In other words, clean your own continent before the ai reaches military tradition, or you are possibly toasted. (Up from demi god, this can be a problem even for experienced players)

c) You can never build a library, since literature is prohibited. This means, you can never build a university, since libs are required to build them. In other words: Your own research capabilities will humble you, and still you must avoid a cultural victory of other civs.

d) You will never be able to get cities above size 12, since sanitation is an optional tech. More important, you are not able to build battlefield medicine. So have fun with it.

e) Stealing technology will be difficult, expensive and comes along with a high failure rate, because you cannot build the intelligency agency. And this means, you cannot plant spies.

f) You can never mobilize your economy, since nationalism is optional. This may really humble you up from demi-god level.

g) You can never build a marine to take out this damn last island city of your opponents. Ok, usually not that important, but it's like a course in my games. Nearly always there's one of these ugly one-tile cities, and combined with war weariness this can cause problems.

h) If you capture the great library, you must raze this city, because there's the danger that you receive optional techs from it, and your entire game is toast. So, you cannot use the GB to boost your research, which is annoying up from demi-god.

i) You have no access to some important wonders like Smith or JSB, except you capture them, of course.

Believe it or not, but all the feature together, the difficulty of a level moves up around 2, so a simple monarch game usually becomes humbling as demi-god.
Personally, i still had no success with it above emperor, and with normal settings and luck i'm meanwhile able to beat deity on huge continent maps, so i guess, i'm a experienced player.

So check it out, it's quite annoying and evil

with kind regards
a fanatic

Is anyone up for this challenge? This is perhaps one of the most daunting challenges so far. How about this challenge, we must choose a civ that has a UU from an optional tech? Am I crazy in setting up this game? Who knows but we shall find out. I must say this also, this will be my first Sid game.

Version: 1.22

Turn Order
classical_hero
conquer_dude
Obormot
Mirc

Are you willing to join this great quest? We need two more players

We need to get the setting for this game.

Here are the potential civ that we can be with my additional variant being we must have a civ that has a UU that we cannot use. Also all scientific civs are out since we might get Nationalism.
Our choice: Chinese - Mil Ind

So now we need to choose our civ.

The map will be continents, standard, and everything esle middle of the road.

 

[conquer_dude]

I'm inininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininin.

Wait, so can we trade for those techs that we can't research, ex Military Tradition?

HOLY CRAP Sid, I'm so joining this.

 

[Tomoyo]

You can never have any optional techs, meaning you can't trade for them.

Good luck, and good bye.

 

[tupaclives]

Sweet mother of mercy

 

[madviking]

What if you play scientific?

 

[Tomoyo]

Then you can't ever reach the industrial ages.

 

[SimpleMonkey]

Holy moly! This is as insane as it gets! It's beyond Beyond Sid. Good luck with this one!

 

[Sima Qian]

Question about the NOT variant:

It seems like you won't be allowed to play a scientific civ either because of the risk of getting nationalism as a free tech.

But... what about the modern age? Are *all* modern age techs considered optional?

 

[Obormot]

I am willing to try this, but only if we play it on pangaea or continents. Archipelgo SID is not real SID.

What exploits are allowed? Are we going to use strict SG rules or are we allowed to screw AIs buy breaking treaties?

 

[tupaclives]

Question about the NOT variant:

It seems like you won't be allowed to play a scientific civ either because of the risk of getting nationalism as a free tech.

But... what about the modern age? Are *all* modern age techs considered optional?

I was thinking the same thing, after all, none of them are ' needed to reach the next era' as there isnt one!

 

[Andronicus]

I was thinking the same thing, after all, none of them are ' needed to reach the next era' as there isnt one!

but they are required to research future technology which could be considered the next era, thus maintaining the spirit of the challenge

I think I'll just lurk this one, I've never beaten sid and this appears significantly harder

Good luck

 

[scoutsout]

Sooo...is there a save or a screenie here?

@Classical Hero: You're nuts. I respect that. But you're still nuts.

 

[Mirc]

I must be mad to say this, but I'm in. Of course, if you accept me. I've never beaten Deity.

 

[classical_hero]

So far we have four intrepid people wanting to join this great adventure. So far we need to decide on what civ we want to be from the choose we have. I personally favour Chinese since we will be able to get extra military experince which i greatly needed in this game and with us being improve our terrain quickly. I was going to go for Japa but then I realised that the Rel trait is pretty useless.

 

[Mirc]

China is fine for me. But I don't know about the others.

 

[Obormot]

My favourite civ for sid is persia because of the UU (using fast units at sid is not good because you need artillery and persian UU is the only good slow UU). Also the extra tech is quite helpfull on sid for trading. But it is out because if we play a sci civ we cannot enter IA and we might need to get there. Since we cannot use immortals we should think about good traits for this. I think best traits for this are agri, mil and ind. Maya, China and Aztecs are all fine with me.

 

[Sima Qian]

Here are the potential civ that we can be with my additional variant being we must have a civ that has a UU that we cannot use. Also all scientific civs are out since we might get Nationalism.
Chinese - Mil Ind
Japanese - Mil Rel
Indian - Rel Com
Mongols - Mil Exp
Arabia - Rel Exp

Sneaky CH edited the first post to add an extra restriction. Persia, unfortunately, has a UU that is a required tech.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

In my wildest dreams. I think I'll lurk.

1,000 posts!!!!!!

 

[classical_hero]

This will start on the weekend since I am busy with work. So we have agreed to play as the Chinese.

 

[classical_hero]

Question about the NOT variant:

It seems like you won't be allowed to play a scientific civ either because of the risk of getting nationalism as a free tech.

But... what about the modern age? Are *all* modern age techs considered optional?

Modern techs are considered as required to get to the next age, which is future tech.