Immortal University 94 - Alexander

[ben-jammin]

some of the AI have a lot of room and still expanded towards me, like

Spoiler :

Persia or even Hammi. AC truly had no space here

.

I guess there is some like "box the human player in" somewhere in the code...

I'm almost certain there isn't.

 

[ben-jammin]

This is a fun map. With the philosophical trait, elephants in the capital and the nearby AIs boxing you in and claiming some really nice land it seems like the best path to victory is spelled out for you within the first 30 turns. It is possible to oracle construction on this map, but maybe only a 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 chance as you can't do it faster than Izuul did. But you can always play it safe and oracle HBR, or not go down the oracle path at all and beeline construction and do without elephants for the first leg of the military breakout. I gambled on oracling construction and that really made the game a breeze, I am seeing if the standard MT lib after the same opening war as Izuul makes for a faster finish than siege all the way. So far it seems like it will, if only marginally.

 

[Izuul]

It is possible to oracle construction on this map, but maybe only a 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 chance as you can't do it faster than Izuul did.

Speaking of that, i was actually compiling some info on Oracle dates to get an idea of what % chance you have of landing it on various dates on both Imm and Deity. I was trying to get dates from a mix of Youtube games (AZ so far), my own games, and some test games. It got put on the back burner for awhile, so I'm really lacking Imm data (10 games), but i do have 34 Deity games and the median data is 1600BC while the average date is 1580 BC. There were 6 2000BC and earlier Oracles with Izzy being responsible for 2 of them including a 2520BC, but also 5 1000BC and later including a 575BC by Ragnar. I did include a few games where the player built the Oracle, likely skewing the data a bit towards earlier dates.

Rough dates for various %chance of winning the Oracle.

90% chance - ~2040BC
75% chance - 1960BC
67% chance - 1880BC
50% chance - 1600BC
25% chance - ~1280BC

That's still not enough data to draw any conclusions (something like 100 games would be much better), but it should give you a pretty good idea for Deity. Immortal dates so far have been drastically slower (like 500 years slower and several were build by the player) though, again, I'm seriously lacking data there. I would be willing to wager, however, that 1480BC will win you the Oracle on Immortal over 50% of the time and possibly as much as 75%.

More to come (hopefully)!

 

[ben-jammin]

Speaking of that, i was actually compiling some info on Oracle dates to get an idea of what % chance you have of landing it on various dates on both Imm and Deity. I was trying to get dates from a mix of Youtube games (AZ so far), my own games, and some test games. It got put on the back burner for awhile, so I'm really lacking Imm data (10 games), but i do have 34 Deity games and the median data is 1600BC while the average date is 1580 BC. There were 6 2000BC and earlier Oracles with Izzy being responsible for 2 of them including a 2520BC, but also 5 1000BC and later including a 575BC by Ragnar. I did include a few games where the player built the Oracle, likely skewing the data a bit towards earlier dates.

Rough dates for various %chance of winning the Oracle.

90% chance - ~2040BC
75% chance - 1960BC
67% chance - 1880BC
50% chance - 1600BC
25% chance - ~1280BC

That's still not enough data to draw any conclusions (something like 100 games would be much better), but it should give you a pretty good idea for Deity. Immortal dates so far have been drastically slower (like 500 years slower and several were build by the player) though, again, I'm seriously lacking data there. I would be willing to wager, however, that 1480BC will win you the Oracle on Immortal over 50% of the time and possibly as much as 75%.

More to come (hopefully)!

I was just basing that "1 in 5 or 1 in 4" estimate on my own tries on this map. I actually got it on the first try at 13something BC, but decided to go back and try it a few more times. Not just to see if I got it, but to see if there was any faster way of getting it. There wasnt, the fastest by far seems to be a writing beeline so that the library + 2 scientists in the capital gets you through all the other techs faster. But in those attempts I mostly got beaten to the oracle between 1800 and 1500BC. This map has only one AI that starts with mysticism and he's not one of the religious zealots so I guess that helps your chances.

 

[Izuul]

Yeah, that's definitely possible. It's going to vary a good bit with the map and the other leaders present. If you meet Izzy and Capac in the first dozen turns of the game you should probably just forget about Oracle on Deity, and make sure you can get it very early before trying it on Imm. Pacal is another guy that I've noticed can get it really early.

 

[ben-jammin]

Justinian, too.

 

[Smilingrogue]

This map has only one AI that starts with mysticism and he's not one of the religious zealots so I guess that helps your chances.

Spoiler :

Wang is still an Oracle threat. Not to the level of Izzy or Pacal, but he loves Caste System. The fastest route to Caste is via Priesthood and it makes sense to Oracle it from there. He did so in 1720 BC in my game:

Spoiler :

Another underrated threat is Gilgamesh whose UB is unlocked by Priesthood. I have seen him build a relatively early Oracle.