Is there any playthrough on YouTube that ends with a defeat?

[TaPele]

I'd like to watch a game that ends in a defeat since every playthrough I've watched always ends with a victory. I think wathing a lost game would help on how to play

 

[AcaMetis]

Well, spoiler for the outcome I suppose, but IIRC

Spoiler :

Lain did a playthough of an especially challenging Pacal II map that ultimately ended in a loss.

 

[Ita Bear]

Curious - what made it especially difficult?

Kind regards,
Ita Bear

 

[AcaMetis]

Honestly you can look at the first five minutes of that video and get a pretty good idea. That said a longer explanation would be

Spoiler :

the starting area is complete and utter garbage, the nearest neighbour is Kublai Khan (Holkans are a great counter to Keshiks, less good at attacking into aggressive melee units or arches backed by a unit spammer's Creative culture) and he's not even the problem. Cracked to the absolute gills Willem is the problem. IIRC in my test game he decided to Oracle Civil Service in the BCs or something crazy like that. If you want to try the map yourself or look at it in WB it should still be in Lain's Deity threat, at least I hope.

EDIT: Checked Lain's old threat, 1280 BC Civil Service in my test game. Also if you want to try the map yourself it's located here.

 

[Ita Bear]

Appreciate the write-up, thanks! I'm far from a Deity player though so I'd have to skip that. I'm rusty so I'd probably enjoy a tough Monarch map to play.

Kind regards,
Ita Bear

 

[sampsa]

Lain lost some, AbsoluteZero lost several. I'm not sure why you think you would learn more from those games though. In order to learn from losses, you'd need to understand exactly what the mistake was. And those would be the mistakes made by deity players, so they are complicated mistakes.

 

[TaPele]

Lain lost some, AbsoluteZero lost several. I'm not sure why you think you would learn more from those games though. In order to learn from losses, you'd need to understand exactly what the mistake was. And those would be the mistakes made by deity players, so they are complicated mistakes.

Yes. You're right, I think I didn't explain my point: for some reason I have the prejudice that once you've got to know THE path to victory, you will never lose again and hence, if you improve enough in the game, it would stop being challenging and funny. Since I hadn't seen any playthrough that ended in a defeat, I kinda reaffirmed that prejudice so being able to watch an experienced player losing would show me that I can improve in the game and the challenge would be still there

 

[floydmcw]

TheMeInTeam posted a video in which he was Boudicca on Immortal with a horrid start. (It was so bad an AI pity-gifted him a tech!) He tried to cottage jungle and use US to raise a massive army, but right when he was closing in on his victim there was some event (I forget which) that effectively ended his game.

 

[Mr_Trotsky]

I don’t necessarily enjoy watching losses more or think I learn more from them but I prefer not knowing how it’s going to end before watching the first video. I think Henrik is quite open about not uploading losses (or at least not all of them) but I like the fact that Lain uploaded everything he recorded. He was also very good at explaining what went wrong - even in games he ultimately won, if perhaps not as elegantly as his sky high standards demanded. For me this ability to reflect plays a huge role in improving and is something I struggle with. I often can’t really work out why I lost. Was it the right strategy badly implemented or should I have taken a completely different approach

 

[sampsa]

Yes. You're right, I think I didn't explain my point: for some reason I have the prejudice that once you've got to know THE path to victory, you will never lose again and hence, if you improve enough in the game, it would stop being challenging and funny. Since I hadn't seen any playthrough that ended in a defeat, I kinda reaffirmed that prejudice so being able to watch an experienced player losing would show me that I can improve in the game and the challenge would be still there

Reading between the lines, I think you now understand how wrong your thinking was. There is no THE path to victory, unless you are trying to always generate the same conditions (same leader, same map script, strong start etc) and even then there are details that make every game at least a bit different.

Btw you mean "fun", not "funny". They are not the same.

 

[TaPele]

Yes, I think now I see it

THE path to victory

I've always had in mind that tere existed A path to victory, or at least one that would work 9/10 times. I've been watching a lot of Henrik videos and I love how he plays. He's a master in the game. But I find that he's always thinking of getting to cannons or cuirassiers and destroy the AIs as if doing that was THE way of winning.

Btw you mean "fun", not "funny".

Ooops, yes you're right.

 

[sampsa]

I haven't watched a ton of Henrik videos, I mean I've tried but he is just too sloppy for my taste. I do appreciate the content he is providing though, even if it's not for me. <3

In general, the most effective way to win is to conquer more land. It's not only cannons or cuirassiers that are able to do it, but they are the most reliable choices I guess.

 

[Snowbird]

I've always had in mind that tere existed A path to victory, or at least one that would work 9/10 times.

I've been watching a lot of Henrik videos ... he's always thinking of getting to cannons or cuirassiers and destroy the AIs as if doing that was THE way of winning.

I am pretty sure his way works 9/10 times if done properly...

 

[ArchGhost]

Lain has a few...3 or 4? He had quite the streak going and he's still an amazing player that anybody who's newer can learn a ton from.

Spoiler :

He lost playing as...I think Pacal...where he had a more or less typical "Lain challenging" start -- stuck on a peninsula with a very close neighbor boxing him in. The game I'm thinking of, Freddy (of all people) wouldn't leave him alone and DoWed Lain like 5 times or more before he finally threw in the towel. It was brutal. He's beaten similar stifled or hard starts before, one with Churchill IIRC, so I was surprised. He's also taken down 20 city Modern era civs before in late game with no nukes, so I don't doubt he was doing his best.

He's lost a Tokugawa game. Someone might double check me on that though, because I know AZ has too.

Another he lost doing some AZ strats -- playing as Mansa on a peninsula, eventually vassaled Shaka and tried to feed him cheap military to upgrade and attack his targets for him. He did lose that one right? I've watched all his CIV4 content but it's been a minute

AZ lost at least one or two I can recall in his prime -- though IIRC at least one was just a rage-quit incident. He's lost more in recent times where he's not as in form but he's still amazing at being REALLY stubborn up until that point

Spoiler :

like rolling elephant/treb and misc non-gunpowder for a LONG time in his Roosevelt NC attempt

He also definitely lost a Mongols NC game, can't remember if it was GK or KK but Lain did the same game and beat it

TMIT has at least one loss on YT I think but his games are more difficult to find for whatever reason -- lacking playlists or the YT algorithm hates him, something...I can even find AZ's older games (the ones in 10-15mins pieces!) much easier


Not as familiar with Henrik or Imploading's content as I don't watch as much Civ4 anymore, but I do appreciate those guys for putting it out there for us!